The Green Bay Packers have been the model franchise when it comes to top-tier quarterback play for a long time.
From Bart Starr to Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers and now Jordan Love, Green Bay has always had a knack for identifying the best signal callers available and keeping them with the franchise for many years after landing them.
Starr led the Packers from 1956 to 1971 where he completed more than 1,800 passes for 24, 718 yards and 152 touchdowns.
He led the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowl victories (1966, 1968) and was named the MVP in both games.
The Hall of Famer earned four Pro-Bowl selections and was named first-team All-Pro once, while picking up second-team All-Pro three times during his tenure in Green Bay.
After Starr hung up his cleats in 1971, the Pack struggled to find its next franchise QB. There was a revolving door of signal callers for almost two decades, until the Packers selected Brett Favre with the 33rd overall pick of the 1991 NFL Draft.
For three consecutive years, Favre and the Green Bay Packers felt almost unstoppable. They capped off the 1995 campaign with a trip to Super Bowl XXXI, where Favre completed 14-of-27 passes for 246 yards and two touchdown passes in the championship victory over the New England Patriots.
Brett Favre Starts New Era For Green Bay Packers QBs
Favre was named NFL MVP in three consecutive seasons (1995, 1996, 1997). For nearly two decades (1992-2007) Favre was one of the most prolific starting quarterbacks in the NFL. He finished his career in Green Bay with 11 Pro Bowl selections, three first-team All-Pro honors and holds the NFL record for most consecutive starts: 297 (321 including playoffs).
And in 2005, the Green Bay Packers selected Aaron Rodgers, with Favre still the starter at the time. After patiently waiting behind Favre, Rodgers took over as the full-time starting QB in 2008 and a whole new era of magic was about to begin.
In 2010, the Packers earned a trip to Super Bowl XLV—a game in which they won, 31–25, against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the game, Rodgers completed 24 of 39 pass attempts for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the win, and was named Super Bowl MVP for his performance.
As the Packers’ staring QB for 15 seasons, Rodgers led the team to winning seasons in all but three of those years.
He earned 10 Pro Bowl invites, four first-team All-Pro honors and was NFL MVP four times (2011, 2014, 2020, 2021). He holds three NFL records from his time in Green Bay: Single season passer rating: 122.5 (2011), lowest interception percentage in a season: 0.3% (2018) and consecutive passes without an interception: 402.
Statistically, Rodgers was the best compared to Favre or Starr. He finished his tenure in Green Bay with over 5,000 completions for just under 60,000 passing yards, with 475 touchdowns to just 105 interceptions. His overall completion percentage with the Packers is (65.3 percent) and he has an overall passer rating of 103.6.
It’s safe to say Green Bay knows what it’s talking about when it comes to elite quarterback play.
While Kurt Benkert only saw limited time on the field as a backup behind Rodgers for the Packers, the former Green Bay QB studied behind one of the greatest signal callers of all time. Earlier this week, Benkert put out his current NFL Quarterback Power Rankings with just a few games remaining in the regular season.
Former Green Bay Packers QB Kurt Benkert’s NFL Quarterback Power Ratings
With the NFL Playoffs inching closer, Benkert dropped a list titled “QB Power Rankings” and while there’s room for debate, he feels pretty spot on.
QB Power Rankings
1. Brock Purdy
2. Josh Allen
3. Lamar Jackson
4. Dak Prescott
5. Matthew Stafford
6. Patrick Mahomes
7. Tua Tagovailoa
8. Jared GoffInjured QB’s are left off for the week
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) December 19, 2023
The number one spot is indisputable at this point. Despite constant hate and scrutiny, 49ers’ QB aka “Mr. Irrelevant” Brock Purdy is playing in a class of his own. Last weekend’s performance made Purdy the runaway front runner for NFL Offensive MVP.
Purdy has thrown for 3,795 yards (2nd in NFL), 29 touchdowns (first in NFL) and just seven interceptions. His QBR of 76.0 is No. 1 amongst all NFL signal callers.
Everyone behind Purdy can be debated for the order in which the former Green Bay Packers QB has them listed. Benkert has Josh Allen at No. 2, even though Dak Prescott leads the Bills’ quarterback in every statistical category.
Lamar Jackson is ranked third, but his 3,105 passing yards rank 15th in the NFL and his 17 touchdowns rank 17th.
But the Bills and Ravens are hot and winning, a factor Benkert clearly places high when ranking the league’s top signal callers.
Patrick Mahomes may be having a “down year” in terms of what NFL fans have become accustomed to seeing from the Chiefs star, but to have him at No. 6 and behind Matthew Stanford is a bit head-scratching.
Mahomes has 3,703 passing yards (4th), 25 touchdowns (tied for 5th) and his QBR of 66.2 is 4th in the NFL amongst all quarterbacks.
In comparison, Stafford has 3,320 passing yards (12th), 21 touchdowns (10th) and a QBR of 62.8 (7th).
The Green Bay Packers may have had some great quarterbacks over the years, but it’s fair to question some of their judgement when ranking the top NFL QBs right now.
