The Most Underrated QB’s in My Opinion

 

Most of the time when people want to talk about quarterbacks, they want to talk about the best of all time and rightfully so. They would talk about Joe Montana, Tom Brady, John Elway, Johnny Unitas, Roger Staubach and Dan Marino.  I am going to talk about more of the unsung quarterbacks. Some might even be in the Hall of Fame, but never seem to be mentioned when listing great quarterbacks.

When thinking of All time greatest quarterbacks, Kurt Warner is rarely if ever mentioned in the conversation.  Kurt Warner burst on the NFL scene in 1999 when the starter Trent Green was injured in the Preseason, he was pressed into service. Nobody even his coach Dick Vermeil knew what to expect.  What happened was nothing short of a miracle for the former arena league football star.  Warner went on to lead the Rams who were awful in 1998 to a 13-3 record and threw for 4353 yards along with 41 TD and only 13 Int.  This was the most out of the blue season anyone could have imagined. He won the NFL MVP for this as well.  Kurt’s best weapon was Marshall Faulk who would rush for 1381 yards and also catch 87 passes for 1048 yards.  He also had Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Bruce had 77 catches and 12 td and Holt has a burner had 52 catches and 6 td.  This offense did not score under 20 points all season until the NFC Championship game. Warner kept being clutch with some late game comebacks vs Tampa in the Championship game and then in the Super Bowl vs the Titans when the game was tied at 16 in the 4^th quarter. He threw an 80 yard TD pass to Isaac Bruce that was the game winner 23-16 in what is remembered as the game where the Titans got stopped at the one yard line on the last play of the game.

Warner would lead the Rams to another Super Bowl in 2001 when he won MVP again throwing 36 TD and 22 Int. He still had the same nucleus from 1999 but this team was upset by the upstart NE Patriots and their great defense. Ty Law picked Warner and took it for a TD to help lead NE to a 20-17 upset.  Things started to unravel for him in St Louis then. He got banged up and never won another game in ST Louis after going 35-7 in his first 3 years in St Louis.

In 2004 He went to the NY Giants and played okay having 5-4 record and 6 TD and 4 Int. Then out of the blue he was replaced by rookie QB Eli Manning. Kurt being the class act that he is, supported the move and helped Eli prepare to play.  It seemed that Warner’s career was winding down but he surprised us all with what happened in Arizona.

Although he is probably the best QB in Arizona Cardinals History, Warner started slowly in 2005 and 2006 win 3 of 15 games as a backup and part time starter throwing 17 TD and 15 picks over these two years.  In 2007 his career started to get back to his Rams days. Even though he was only 5-6 for a bad Arizona team, he did throw for 27 TDs and 17 picks and over 3400 yards in only 11 starts. He was really helped by Larry Fitzgerald who caught 100 passes and 10 TDs and Anquan Boldin with 72 catches and 9 TD.  Edgerrin James had 1222 yards rushing and 7 Td.  This team had a good nucleus and with potential to be really good.

Then in 2008 it came together, at least offensively for the Cardinals. Even though they were only 9-7, Warner at age 37 had a great season.  He threw for 4583 yards with 30 TD and 14 int.  He still had the Pro Bowl WR in Fitzgerald with 96 catches and 12 TD and on the other side Boldin with 89 catches and 11 TD.  The running game was mediocre but with that great passing game, anything was possible.  The playoffs started and Warner went on to beat Atlanta, smoke Carolina and then Philadelphia to get to their first Super Bowl ever.  The Cardinals put up a huge fight with Warner throwing for 407 yards and 3 TD against a very good Steelers defense. Ben Roethlisberger led Pitt to a GW drive in the last minute with a pass that Santonio Holmes tip toed in the end zone for a 27-23 victory.

Warner finished his career with another good year in 2009 throwing for 26 TD and 14 Int and Arizona actually winning 10 games for the first time since 1976.  For his career Kurt Warner had a 76-53 record including playoffs and had 208 TD and 128 int and a 93.7 QBR. To me Warner overcame adversity to be successful in 2 cities and had a very good career.

Another underrated Quarterback in my opinion is Dan Fouts. Fouts played for the SD Chargers from 1973-1987. Hi first 5 years he was unremarkable not even being a regular starter. Then in 1978 his career took off. He threw for 2999 yards and 24 TDs for his first good season of 5 remarkable in a row.  His main receivers during this era were John Jefferson, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow Sr.  These targets would usually get open frequently for Fouts. Later on Wes Chandler and James Brooks were added to the mix.  Starting in 1979-1981 the Chargers were a good team that averaged 11-5 seasons. Fouts was ahead of his time by throwing for 4082, 4715 and 4802 yards in an era when if you threw for 3000 yards you were having a good season. He also threw 87 Tds and 65 ints.  Fouts was successful somewhat in the playoffs and got to 2 AFC championship games in a row during this time. Unfortunately the Chargers lost to the Raiders and Bengals.

One game that stands out though was in the 1981 playoffs vs the Dolphins in what may be the greatest game ever played in Miami. SD raced out to a 24-0 lead and were cruising when the Dolphins made a huge comeback. The most memorable play was a pass from backup QB Don Strock to Duriel Harris at about the 35 yard line last in the half, as the play ended, Harris flipped the ball to Nat Moore and Miami scored a TD to make the score 24-17. This is called the famous hook and ladder play.  The Chargers actually fell behind 38-31 but Fouts would not give up. In the waning seconds he threw a TD to James Brooks to tie the game at 38.  In overtime both teams had a chance to win. Even Kellen Winslow who was dehydrated blocked a Uwe von Schamann FG.  Winslow had probably the best game of his career with 13 catches 166 yards and was unstoppable when it counted. Fouts threw for 433 yards and 3 Tds.  Charlie Joiner had 7 catches for 108 yards and Wes Chandler had 6 catches for 106 yards. The unsung James Brooks had 4 catches but 2 were for TDs.  Eventually this epic game ended with the Chargers winning 41-38 in the best game that I ever saw. I remember it being on Christmas vacation right after New Years on a Saturday Afternoon.

Fouts had some more decent passing seasons but never played in another playoff game due to the Chargers talent thinning out. Even though his final career numbers for TD passes of 254 and 242 interceptions are not eye popping, but he was as exciting a QB for throwing the ball in NFL history. He did also throw for over 40,000 yards and is 11^th of all time currently. He played in a much harder era to throw the ball than now where everything is geared to passing where the rules were different than now. You can not even breathe on the WR (tongue and cheek) without getting pass interference. Back then the Mel Blounts, Lester Hayes and Ronnie Lott would pound the WR and get away with it. Now these guys would get all illegal contact and PI penalties.  This is a credit to Fouts and the Chargers how successful their passing attack was in a mainly balanced offensive attack for most teams back then.