NFL All-Time: Top 5 Greatest NFL Quarterbacks in Green Bay Packers History
A look at the greatest NFL Quarterbacks in the History of the Green Bay Packers Franchise
The Green Bay Packers are one of those lucky Franchises to have almost always had a solid Starting Quarterback for each era of their Existence. In this list, you’ll see the evolution and contrast of different eras. This list features three Hall of Fame (and one soon to be Hall Of Famer), Quarterbacks. From 1930 to the present day, the Green Bay Packers are the perfect embodiment of evolution for the Quarterback Position. We all know Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers are on this list, but who is Number 1 under the sun? What about Bart Starr? Is he Number 1? Let’s get right into this list to find out who ranks where.
Before we begin be sure to check out the NFC East All-Time Quarterback Ranking list below:
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Football Team
For the Top 5 Best Quarterbacks in the History of the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings take a look below:
You can also Check out the Top 50 Greatest NFL Quarterbacks of All-Time list:
For all other All-Time NFL Quarterback list archives you can check out below:
5. Lynn Dickey (1976 — 1985)
Career Stats with Green Bay Packers: 45–63–3 QB Record, 55.9 % Cmp., 23,322 Passing Yards, 141 TD, 179 INT, 70.9 Rate
Lynn Dickey was apart of a Historic Quarterback Draft class back in 1971. The 1971 NFL Draft was a great year for Quarterbacks. You had Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, and Dan Pastorini were all taken with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Overall Picks. Ken Anderson and Lynn Dickey were taken in the 3rd Round, and Joe Theismann later in the 4th. If your team needed a Quarterback heading into the 1971 Season, the 1971 NFL Draft was the place to be.
Lynn Dickey wasn’t a Superstar for the Packers by any stretch of the imagination. He was a very solid Starting Quarterback for them for 6 Seasons from 1980–1986. During that span, Dickey posted a 78.5 Rate and threw for 17,771 Passing Yards. Those were solid numbers, unfortunately, Dickey’s effort didn’t translate to many wins for Green Bay, as they only made one Playoff Appearance in his time there. Still, Dickey performed well in the Playoff for the Packers as he posted a 101.8 Rate, and threw 5 Touchdown Passes in just two games. He is a good start to this list of Historic Green Bay Packer Quarterbacks.
4. Arnie Herber (1930 — 1945)
Career Stats with Green Bay Packers: 40.9% Cmp., 8,041 Passing Yards, 81 TD, 106 INT, 50.1 Rate
We’re going way, way, way, way, back on this one. Most people reading this list have probably never heard of Herber. Let me rephrase for a second, most people reading this list wasn’t even alive when Herber played for the Green Bay Packers. Mr. Herber was one of the best Passers of his time. He was an NFL Champion, Pro-Bowler, and Hall of Famer. During his time as the Starting Quarterback with the Packers, Herber led the league in Completion Percentage twice, Touchdown Passes 3 times, and Passer Rating 3 times.
Herber’s Overall stats by today’s standards, aren’t impressive, but again it was a different league nearly 100 years ago. One of the most impressive things about Herber’s stats, however, is that for someone that only averaged 9.1 pass attempts for his career, Herber sure threw a lot of Touchdown Passes. In fact for his Career, Herber had a 6.9 Touchdown percentage, which would rank him 5th All-Time in NFL History if he had enough pass attempts to qualify.
Herber only threw 1,175 passes in his career, which makes his 81 career Touchdown Passes all the more impressive. It’s easy to forget a legend like Herber that played in an entirely different era of Football, but today, on this list of Greatest NFL Quarterbacks in Green Bay Packers history, we honor the late great Arnie Herber.
3. Bart Starr (1956 — 1971)
Career Stats (All with Packers): 94–57–6 QB Record, 57.4% Cmp., 24,718 Passing Yards, 152 TD, 138 INT, 80.5 Rate
Before the Super-Bowl was even a “thing” and before the NFL and AFL merged, Bart Starr was a part of the NFL during his time with the Green Bay Packers. It was a different time and era during his tenure. Led by Starr, The Packers were a dominant NFL Franchise and won 5 NFL Championships. Once the two leagues merged, Starr added to his trophy case, 2 Super-Bowl Championships.
In total, for his career, all with the Packers, Starr won 7 Championships. I don’t care what era you play in. That is very impressive. Starr was one of the greatest leaders ever to play the Quarterback Position. he has a knack for being clutch and coming up big for the Packers when they needed him most. He was the kind of Quarterback that could manage a game or completely take it over and will his team to victory.
What stands out about Starr’s production is his Completion Percentage and Passer Rating for his time. Starr had 4 seasons with a passer rating of over 90. He also had 4 seasons with a completion percentage of at least 60. Those are tremendous numbers for his era. Even more impressive is Starr’s playoff resume.
Starr was 9–1 for the Packers in the Post-Season with 15 Touchdowns against only 3 Interceptions. His career Passer Rating in the Post-Season is a phenomenal 104.8. Starr was great for the Packers when it counted most. His numbers don’t lie, and when you look at the totality of his career Starr was an All-time great Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, and of All-Time in the entire history of the league overall.
2. Aaron Rodgers (2005 — Present)
Career Stats (All with Packers): 126–63–1 QB Record, 65.1 % Cmp., 51,245 Passing Yards, 412 TD, 89 INT, 103.9 Rate, 3,271 Rushing Yards, 31 Rushing TD
Ah Yes! “The Baaaaad Man” Aaron “Freakin” Rodgers. Mr. “Discount Double-Check”. Call him what you want, as long as it’s Great. That is what Aaron Rodgers has been and continues to be for the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers is one of the most accurate quarterbacks to ever play the game. He’s the best of both worlds. A gun-slinger that rarely turns the ball over. His TD to INT ratio is 2nd best All-Time to only Patrick Mahomes, who hasn’t played nearly as long as Rodgers has.
Rodgers is a 9-time Pro-Bowler for the Franchise and has won two MVP awards. He has also delivered Super-Bowl Championship in 2010 and was the MVP of the game. In his 11 seasons as a Full-Time Starter for the Packers, Rodgers has had only one season with at least 10 Interceptions (his first year as a starter). That’s remarkable.
The ironic thing about Rodgers’ current tenure with the Packers, is the fact that they just drafted his potential replacement in the 2020 NFL Draft, Jordan Love, with the 26th Overall Pick in the 1st Round. That’s a huge investment for a Franchise to make on a Quarterback.
If you remember, Rodgers himself was a late 1st Round Draft pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Rodgers was drafted 24th Overall, with Legendary Quarterback, Brett Favre still on the team. Now history has repeated itself and Rodgers is the veteran trying to hold off a high-profile Quarterback, that was drafted high, to eventually replace him.
How has Rodgers responded? Well, in 2020 he threw for a career-high, league-leading 48 Touchdown Passes, a career-high, league-leading 70.7% Cmp., and his second-highest career, league-leading Passer Rating of 121.5. Rodgers is one of the front-runners for the 2020 MVP race and is still at the top of his game. Jordan Love may have to wait a while before getting his chance to be “the man”. That spot is safely secured by “the” bad man, Aaron Rodgers.
1. Brett Favre (1992 — 2007)
Career Stats with Green Bay Packers: 160–93 QB Record, 61.4% Cmp., 61,655 Passing Yards, 442 TD, 286 INT, 85.8 Rate
This one might trigger some people, but the truth is truth. And the truth of the matter is, that Brett Favre is the greatest Quarterback in Green Bay Packers History. He is the only Quarterback in the History of the Franchise to win three Straight MVP Awards. That’s unprecedented and rarely happens in the NFL.
Favre holds every major statistical Record in Franchise History and from the time he took over as the full-time Starter in 1992 until his last snap with the team in 2007, Favre never missed a start. He also made two Super-Bowl Appearances with the team and led them to a Super-Bowl win in 1996.
Favre’s legendary feud with former teammate and All-Time Great, Aaron Rodgers, is well documented. Favre was able to hold off Rodgers for three Seasons. That would be unheard of in today’s NFL. Especially when you consider that Rodgers was a 1st Round Pick in the 2005 NFL Draft at the time that he joined the Green Bay Packers, with Favre on the Team. Favre was a fan favorite across the NFL not just for the Green Bay Packers. He embodies the Franchise history and is the most prolific player to have ever played for the team. He was Aaron Rodgers before Aaron Rodgers and for that reason, he reigns supreme on this list.
There you have it! The Top 5 Greatest NFL Quarterbacks in Green Bay Packers History. Thanks for reading. If you liked this post please share it on your social media, make sure to follow me to get notifications of my newest or latest content and, also be sure to check out some more of my content below:
Jeffrey Genao is a Writer and Contributor for Top Level Sports. You can read more of his Content at Top Level Sports.
