Everyone knows that a Super Bowl on a quarterback’s resumé is a game-changer. Of the 27 modern-era quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (aka, quarterbacks who played a position we would recognize as “quarterback”), only twelve do not have Super Bowl rings. Of those twelve, four (Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, Norm Van Brocklin & Bob Waterfield) won NFL Championships and retired before Super Bowl I in 1967, one (Sonny Jurgersen) won an NFL Championship and retired during the Super Bowl era, and another (George Blanda) was primarily a kicker during the Super Bowl era. That leaves us with five quarterbacks – five passers who earned the NFL’s highest distinction without winning its ultimate prize.
And funnily enough, those five have some of the Hall of Fame’s best resumés (minus the Super Bowl, obviously). Fran Tarkenton was an MVP and was making scrambling “cool” well before the Michael Vicks and Cam Newtons of the world. Dan Fouts was one of the most prolific passers of his time and helped pioneer the high-octane passing offenses we’re familiar with today. Warren Moon put up even more passing yards during his career than Fouts. Dan Marino is the only player before 1998 to still remain in the top 10 in all-time passing yards, completions, and touchdowns. And lastly, Jim Kelly only went to four straight Super Bowls with the same team. I know he didn’t win any of them, but if getting into the Hall isn’t a reasonable consolation prize, I just don’t know what is.
What I’m getting at is this: without a Super Bowl ring, you better have a damn good reason why you’re knocking on Hall of Fame’s door. Fortunately, someone this year has the opportunity to check that important box with three or four measly wins in a row. Three or four wins – that’s it. That’s all that stands between cementing a legacy and fading into irrelevance…
But, championships aren’t all created equal (ask LeBron James and his “Bubble Championship” Lakers team). Some carry more weight than others, and some quarterbacks’ legacies will get slightly bigger boosts than others. Everyone remembers Drew Brees leading the New Orleans Saints to their first-ever championship in the post Hurricane Katrina season, but how many football fans could name the three different QBs that won championships with the Washington Redskins in the 80s and 90s?
Below is a breakdown of the fourteen starting QBs on teams that qualified for the playoffs, ranked by who would get the smallest legacy bump from a Super Bowl win, and who would have the greatest. Let's find out. Enjoy.
I’m Just Happy to Be Here
Mason Rudolph (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Rudolph taking over as starting QB for the Steelers has been one of the more slept-on storylines in the NFL, but it’s for good reason. Rudolph…isn’t good. And neither is the Steelers offense. If the Steelers win the Super Bowl (and there might not be a worse bet in all the NFL right now), you can be certain it won’t be because the offense started to do…well, anything at all. It’ll be because the defense started roundhouse kicking opposing offenses into the water cooler and Mike Tomlin continued pulling rabbits feet and horseshoes out of places that I really don’t want to think about. Rudolph will sleep happily either way, but for rest of us, he’d just be remembered as the backup QB who helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl that one time.
Great Job! Now Do It Again!
Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers)
Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins)
There was a time in the not-too-distant past where Purdy and Tagovailoa were both considered heavy-favorites for MVP. Granted, both ideas were and are batshit insane, but fortunately the Baltimore Ravens put those silly ideas to bed, walloping the Niners 33 - 19 and the Dolphins 56 - 19 in consecutive weeks.
While both of these players put up phenomenal statistics in 2023, their production was more a product of their outstanding supporting cast and the offensive wizards masquerading as NFL coaches named Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel. It’s not that they wouldn’t get credit for winning a Super Bowl, but they might be looking at 1 to 2% tops. At least if they win, their future MVP candidacy won’t be looked at like a complete farce.
Sadly for Purdy and Tagovailoa, NFL fans just aren’t ready to buy in yet. We like the teams. We like the coaching staffs. But the QBs? Show me more, please.
The Redemption Arc
Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
Both of these QBs were written off for dead. Mayfield helped lead the Browns to their first playoff win in eons, and after one injury-riddled season they punted him out of town for Deshaun Watson – of all people. At least Goff was traded for a decent human being in Matthew Stafford. It still probably doesn’t completely erase the pain of being scapegoated for the Los Angeles Rams’ loss in the Super Bowl, but man, that has to be a better feeling than whatever Mayfield went through.
Against all odds, both of these QBs have come out the other side better than ever: Goff set a career-high in completion percentage in 2023, while Mayfield set a career-high in completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns. Whatever their sins, they’ve paid for them.
A Super Bowl ring for Mayfield or Goff wouldn’t necessarily put them into the Hall of Fame, but they’d suddenly be on the right track. For Mayfield, a ring would make up for of the silliness and inconsistency of his early career. For Goff, a ring would certainly force us to reconsider whether he was really the problem when the Patriots abused the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. Maybe, juuuuuust maybe, Sean McVay was no match for Bill Belichick. Of course, I can’t say that right now. But in a month, who knows?
We’ve All Seen This Movie
Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)
It’s so unfair. Other teams like the Chicago Bears never get a franchise QB. And yet, it appears the Packers will once again be successfully transitioning from one franchise QB to another, just like they did when they forcibly removed the torch from Brett Favre’s still-warm-and-not-dead hands and bestowed it upon Rodgers. Did I say successfully? Maybe not 100% successfully…
But regardless, Jordan Love stepping in for the Packers this season has been one of the better storylines of the NFL season. With all the injuries to star players and lost seasons for expectation-laden teams, seeing the Packers find their stride under their young star QB was a joy. And if he wins the Super Bowl, his career will be mirroring Rodgers’ in such a stark and chilling degree that they might want to consider drafting Love’s replacement already.
All jokes aside, if Love gets a ring, he’ll jolt himself directly into the discussion of tippy-top tier QBs. He’ll give Packers fans collective amnesia and they’ll forget all about Rodgers, darkness retreats, and way-too-publicized trips to Peru. He will usher in another decade of Packers dominance in the NFC North, much to the chagrin of their rivals in Chicago, Minnesota and Detroit. And inevitably, he will finish his career somewhere else after the Packers draft his replacement in the first round six years from now.
Over the Hump
Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles)
Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
As two of the most talented QBs in the league, Hurts and Allen are both under some of the biggest microscopes too. For either one, getting a championship wouldn’t quiet all the doubters, but it would be enough to sleep easy.
Allen can’t seem to escape the idea that he’s too reckless – that he can’t help but put the ball in danger. Hurts can’t seem to stop getting injured – that, and he seems to have regressed as a passer from 2022. But get a ring, and voila, those problems don’t seem so pressing anymore, do they?
Allen would go from borderline top-three QB to arguably better than Patrick Mahomes, especially if the Bills beat the Chiefs head-to-head in the postseason. Hurts would thrust himself into that conversation as well, especially considering that this would be back-to-back Super Bowl appearances for him. It might not totally stamp their ticket to the Hall of Fame (more so Hurts than Allen), but if they add a championship to their already impressive resumés and continue to perform at the high level we are accustomed to, there’s no reason they couldn’t make a case as some of the greatest players of their generation, and some of the greatest players of all time.
And Just Like That, They’re In
Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
Joe Flacco (Cleveland Browns)
The idea that either Stafford or Flacco could have two Super Bowl rings in about a month is patently absurd and there’s no making sense of it. Just accept it and move on.
For years, these two wallowed in the “good, but not great,” categories of NFL QBs. Stafford definitely has had the better career, but by no means is he a sure thing for the Hall of Fame – even after winning a championship with the Rams. That goes doubly for Flacco. Despite their successes, neither has had the kind of career consistency that usually screams sure-fire Hall of Famer.
Of course, with two rings, that whole conversation changes. We have to start looking at Stafford much differently. His name will start to be thrown around as one of the most underrated and underappreciated players of all time. His Hall of Fame candidacy would be cemented immediately. He will have to be talked about with the same reverence as guys like Eli Manning.
As for Flacco, even a second ring wouldn’t necessarily put him into the same rarified air as it would Stafford, but he would certainly stamp his ticket to the Hall. That’s how significant a Super Bowl would be. With just one ring, Flacco’s just another forgettable QB who had one nice run. With two – and with two different teams – he’s officially, and unquestionably, a legend.
Houston, We Do Not Have a Problem
C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans)
It’s hard to describe how big of a deal it would be if Stroud led the Texans to win the Super Bowl this year. A rookie QB, with a rookie head coach, on a team that went 3 - 13 - 1 just last year – and they have a legitimate shot to win it all? How can I not be dreaming right now?
It’s never happened. And not only has a rookie QB not won a Super Bowl, but a rookie QB has yet to even make one. The last rookie head coach to make the Super Bowl was Jim Caldwell in 2009 with the Indianapolis Colts, and he had an in-his-prime Peyton Manning and a ready-made roster. And if the Texans actually manage to win it all after having that record last year…they will go down as the greatest one-year turnaround in NFL history, period.
So, the stakes are fairly high for young Stroud. He’s passed all of his tests so far and he’s wrapped up Offensive Rookie of the Year to boot. But if he can lead this Texans team to their first championship, he will instantly become the only acceptable answer to the questions, “Who had the greatest rookie season of all-time?” and, “If you could pick any QB to start a franchise with, who would you pick?” His Hall of Fame candidacy would get a massive head start, and Stroud would become one of the new faces of the league.
A Whole New Tier
Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)
Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
For each of these guys, winning a Super Bowl (or a third, in the case of Mahomes) would launch their careers and legacies into such stratospheric heights that aliens will undoubtedly contact us in no time.
Unlike the other QBs in the playoffs, Mahomes will absolutely be entering the Hall once his career is over. With two MVPs, two Super Bowl rings and two Super Bowl MVPs, his resumé already stacks up with some of the best to ever do it, but win a third and you suddenly start to run out of peers. Mahomes may very well already be in the conversation as one of the greatest QBs of all-time, but if he guides the Chief to another championship, that conversation will start to narrow down quite quickly.
As the QB for the Cowboys, the pressure on Prescott is enormous. Winning a Super Bowl wouldn’t keep that pressure at bay forever, but it would be a hell of a nice time off – especially for a guy who’s pretty much had his feet to the fire since day one. Prescott has always been on the bleeding edge of superstardom, and a championship with the Cowboys would turn him into the biggest name in all of football, eclipsing even Mahomes. But most of all, it would cause Stephen A. Smith to eat every last negative word he ever said about the Cowboys, and isn’t that alone worth it?
Lastly, we have Jackson, who would probably see the greatest career-legacy bump from winning a title of anyone. Right now, it’s basically the only thing not on his resumé. He’s about to win his second MVP, but without a ring and without any other real playoff success to speak of, he’s still not quite certified Hall of Fame material. Win it all, and Jackson’s a shoe-in. But it doesn’t stop there either. With the win, Jackson not only erases all the questions anyone ever had about his ability as a passer, but he also ends the idea that running QBs can’t win Super Bowls…forever. He will be forever remembered as a player who changed the game, and that’s bigger than any championship.
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