Most Dominant Fantasy Players Since 1970: Quarterbacks

by Chase Stuart on June 18, 2019

The best fantasy QB ever

On Saturday, I looked at the top fantasy seasons by a running back since 1970. Today, let’s look at quarterbacks.

As a reminder, I am using the following scoring system throughout this series: 1 point per 20 yards passing, 1 point per 10 yards rushing/receiving, 5 points per passing TD, -2 points for each interception, 6 points per rushing/receiving TD, 0.5 points per reception. Let’s use Dan Marino 1984 as an example. That season, Marino threw for 5,084 yards and 48 TDs, while throwing 17 interceptions. He finished with no rushing touchdowns and -7 rushing yards, for a total of 459.5 fantasy points.

Now, Peyton Manning in 2013 threw for 5,477 yards, with 55 TDs and just 10 interceptions. Like Marino, he wasn’t doing much on the ground, with -31 rushing yards and 1 TD. That’s a total of 531.8 fantasy points, which remains the most fantasy points any single player has every produced in a season of fantasy football.

But in 2013, Manning was probably not even the most valuable player in fantasy football that season, even if he scored the most points of any player ever. That’s because in fantasy football, your value is based on how you perform relative to your peers, the bedrock of VBD, which measures a player’s value relative to the worst starter. When calculating VBD scores, in this series, I used the 12th-ranked quarterback, 24th-ranked running back, 30th-ranked wide receiver, and 12th-ranked tight end. This assumes that the average league starts 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2.5 WRs, and 1 TE.

In 2013, the 12th-ranked QB (after adjusting for games played) had 339.8 fantasy points, so Manning finished with 192.0 points of VBD. In 1984, the 12th-ranked quarterback had 252.2 fantasy points. Therefore, Marino had 207.3 points of VBD, making it a more valuable season than Manning.

The table below shows the top 200 fantasy seasons by a quarterback since 1970. For a full description of the methodology, including how VBD incorporates missed games and non-16 game NFL seasons, click here.

Rk	Quarterback	Year	Team	G	PassYd	PTD	INT	RshYd	RshTD	FP	VBD
1	Dan Marino	1984	MIA	16	5084	48	17	-7	0	459.5	207.3
2	Aaron Rodgers	2011	GNB	15	4643	45	6	257	3	488.9	201
3	Tom Brady	2007	NWE	16	4806	50	8	98	2	496.1	199.6
4	Peyton Manning	2013	DEN	16	5477	55	10	-31	1	531.8	192
5	Drew Brees	2011	NOR	16	5476	46	14	86	1	490.4	185.6
6	Steve Young	1998	SFO	15	4170	36	12	454	6	445.9	184
7	Randall Cunningham	1990	PHI	16	3466	30	13	942	5	421.5	169
8	Warren Moon	1990	HOU	15	4689	33	13	215	2	407	168.3
9	Steve Young	1994	SFO	16	3969	35	10	293	7	424.8	162.2
10	Daunte Culpepper	2004	MIN	16	4717	39	11	406	2	461.5	162.1
11	Dan Marino	1986	MIA	16	4746	44	23	-3	0	411	158.7
12	Peyton Manning	2004	IND	16	4557	49	10	38	0	456.7	157.3
13	Tom Brady	2011	NWE	16	5235	39	12	109	3	461.7	156.9
14	Patrick Mahomes	2018	KAN	16	5097	50	12	272	2	520.1	155.1
15	Daunte Culpepper	2000	MIN	16	3937	33	16	470	7	418.9	149.5
16	Kurt Warner	1999	STL	16	4353	41	13	92	1	411.9	145.3
17	Jeff Garcia	2000	SFO	16	4278	31	10	414	4	414.3	144.9
18	Brett Favre	1996	GNB	16	3899	39	13	136	2	389.6	140.5
19	Steve Young	1993	SFO	16	4023	29	16	407	2	368.1	135.8
20	Steve Young	1992	SFO	16	3465	25	7	537	4	362	135.8
21	Brett Favre	1995	GNB	16	4413	38	13	181	3	420.8	133.4
22	Ken Anderson	1975	CIN	13	3169	21	11	188	2	272.3	130.7
23	Dan Fouts	1982	SDG	9	2883	17	11	8	1	214	130.2
24	Steve Beuerlein	1999	CAR	16	4436	36	15	124	2	396.2	129.6
25	Peyton Manning	2006	IND	16	4397	31	9	36	4	384.5	128.3
26	Matthew Stafford	2011	DET	16	5038	41	16	78	0	432.7	127.9
27	Dan Fouts	1981	SDG	16	4802	33	17	56	0	376.7	126.6
28	Cam Newton	2011	CAR	16	4051	21	17	706	14	431.4	126.6
29	Joe Montana	1982	SFO	9	2613	17	11	118	1	211.5	125.8
30	Bert Jones	1976	BAL	14	3104	24	9	214	2	290.6	124.6
31	Neil Lomax	1984	STL	16	4614	28	16	184	3	375.1	122.9
32	Aaron Rodgers	2016	GNB	16	4428	40	7	369	4	468.3	122.5
33	Michael Vick	2010	PHI	12	3018	21	6	676	9	365.5	122
34	Don Majkowski	1989	GNB	16	4318	27	20	358	5	376.7	121.5
35	Jim Kelly	1991	BUF	15	3844	33	17	45	1	333.7	121.4
36	Ken Anderson	1974	CIN	13	2667	18	10	314	2	246.8	119.8
37	Joe Montana	1989	SFO	13	3521	26	8	227	3	330.8	118.5
38	Fran Tarkenton	1975	MIN	14	2994	25	13	108	2	271.5	117.7
39	Vinny Testaverde	1996	BAL	16	4177	33	19	188	2	366.7	117.6
40	Randall Cunningham	1988	PHI	16	3808	24	16	624	6	376.8	115.7
41	Roman Gabriel	1973	PHI	14	3219	23	12	10	1	259	113.1
42	Drew Brees	2013	NOR	16	5162	39	12	52	3	452.3	112.6
43	John Brodie	1970	SFO	14	2941	24	10	29	2	262	111.3
44	Greg Landry	1972	DET	14	2066	18	17	524	9	265.7	110.4
45	Roger Staubach	1978	DAL	15	3190	25	16	182	1	276.7	105.7
46	Cam Newton	2015	CAR	16	3837	35	10	636	10	470.5	105.6
47	Kurt Warner	2001	STL	16	4830	36	22	60	0	383.5	105.5
48	Aaron Rodgers	2009	GNB	16	4434	30	7	304	5	418.1	105.5
49	Drew Brees	2008	NOR	16	5069	34	17	-1	0	389.4	105.1
50	Andrew Luck	2014	IND	16	4761	40	16	273	3	451.4	105.1
51	Ken Anderson	1982	CIN	9	2495	12	9	85	4	199.3	104.1
52	Peyton Manning	2000	IND	16	4413	33	15	116	1	373.3	103.9
53	Drew Brees	2012	NOR	16	5177	43	19	5	1	442.4	103.6
54	Roger Staubach	1973	DAL	14	2428	23	15	250	3	249.4	102.2
55	Warren Moon	1991	HOU	16	4690	23	21	68	2	326.3	100.9
56	Brett Favre	1994	GNB	16	3882	33	14	202	2	363.3	100.7
57	Ken Anderson	1981	CIN	16	3754	29	10	320	1	350.7	100.6
58	Steve Young	1991	SFO	11	2517	17	8	415	4	260.4	100.6
59	Scott Mitchell	1995	DET	16	4338	32	12	104	4	387.3	100
60	Joe Montana	1985	SFO	15	3653	27	13	153	3	325	99
61	Rich Gannon	2000	OAK	16	3430	28	11	529	4	366.4	97
62	Dan Fouts	1980	SDG	16	4715	30	24	15	2	351.3	96.8
63	Roger Staubach	1975	DAL	13	2666	17	16	316	4	241.9	96
64	Ken Stabler	1976	OAK	12	2737	27	17	-2	1	243.7	95.8
65	Ken Stabler	1974	OAK	14	2469	26	12	-2	1	235.3	95.4
66	Lynn Dickey	1983	GNB	16	4458	32	29	12	3	344.1	94.6
67	Aaron Rodgers	2012	GNB	16	4295	39	8	259	2	432.1	93.3
68	Greg Landry	1971	DET	14	2237	16	13	530	3	236.9	92.8
69	Randall Cunningham	1998	MIN	15	3704	34	10	132	1	354.6	92.7
70	Fran Tarkenton	1970	NYG	14	2777	19	12	236	2	245.5	92.5
71	Joe Montana	1983	SFO	16	3910	26	12	284	2	341.9	92.4
72	Aaron Rodgers	2014	GNB	16	4381	38	5	269	2	438	91.7
73	Bert Jones	1975	BAL	14	2483	18	8	321	3	248.3	91.2
74	Jeff Garcia	2001	SFO	16	3538	32	12	254	5	368.3	90.3
75	Donovan McNabb	2004	PHI	15	3875	31	8	220	3	372.8	89.7
76	John Elway	1993	DEN	16	4030	25	10	153	0	321.8	89.6
77	Daunte Culpepper	2003	MIN	14	3479	25	11	422	4	343.2	89.6
78	Matt Ryan	2016	ATL	16	4944	38	7	117	0	434.9	89.1
79	Joe Theismann	1983	WAS	16	3714	29	11	234	1	338.1	88.6
80	Steve Grogan	1979	NWE	16	3286	28	20	368	2	313.1	87.7
81	Russell Wilson	2017	SEA	15	3762	32	11	550	3	399.1	87.7
82	Drew Brees	2009	NOR	15	4388	34	11	33	2	382.8	86.9
83	Steve Grogan	1976	NWE	14	1903	18	20	397	12	256.9	86
84	Brian Sipe	1980	CLE	16	4132	30	14	55	1	340.1	85.7
85	Randall Cunningham	1987	PHI	12	2786	23	12	505	3	299	85.3
86	Roger Staubach	1979	DAL	16	3586	27	11	172	0	309.5	84.1
87	Elvis Grbac	2000	KAN	15	4169	28	14	110	1	337.5	83.8
88	Tom Brady	2012	NWE	16	4827	34	8	32	4	422.6	83.8
89	Drew Brees	2016	NOR	16	5208	37	15	20	2	429.4	83.6
90	Danny White	1983	DAL	16	3980	29	23	31	4	333.1	83.6
91	Randall Cunningham	1992	PHI	15	2775	19	11	549	5	296.7	83.5
92	Roger Staubach	1977	DAL	14	2620	18	9	171	3	238.1	83.5
93	Fran Tarkenton	1974	MIN	13	2598	17	12	120	2	214.9	83.4
94	Donovan McNabb	2006	PHI	10	2647	18	6	212	3	249.6	83.3
95	Jim Zorn	1978	SEA	16	3283	15	20	290	6	264.2	82.7
96	John Elway	1996	DEN	15	3328	26	14	249	4	317.3	82.4
97	Brian Sipe	1979	CLE	16	3793	28	26	178	2	307.5	82.1
98	Mark Brunell	1996	JAX	16	4367	19	20	396	3	331	81.9
99	Dan Marino	1994	MIA	16	4453	30	17	-6	1	344.1	81.4
100	Brett Favre	1997	GNB	16	3867	35	16	187	1	361.1	81.3
101	Dan Marino	1991	MIA	16	3970	25	13	32	1	306.7	81.3
102	Tony Romo	2007	DAL	16	4211	36	19	129	2	377.5	80.9
103	Jim Everett	1989	RAM	16	4310	29	17	31	1	335.6	80.4
104	Dave Krieg	1984	SEA	16	3671	32	24	186	3	332.2	80
105	Matt Ryan	2018	ATL	16	4924	35	7	125	3	444.7	79.8
106	Terry Bradshaw	1978	PIT	16	2915	28	20	93	1	261.2	79.7
107	Joe Montana	1990	SFO	15	3944	26	16	162	1	317.4	78.8
108	Donovan McNabb	2000	PHI	16	3365	21	13	629	6	347.7	78.2
109	Mark Rypien	1991	WAS	16	3564	28	11	6	1	302.8	77.4
110	Billy Kilmer	1975	WAS	12	2440	23	16	34	1	214.4	76.7
111	Jim Hart	1974	STL	14	2411	20	8	21	2	218.7	76.5
112	Aaron Rodgers	2008	GNB	16	4038	28	13	207	4	360.6	76.4
113	Bill Kenney	1983	KAN	16	4348	24	18	59	3	325.8	76.2
114	John Hadl	1971	SDG	14	3075	21	25	75	1	222.3	76.1
115	Drew Brees	2006	NOR	16	4418	26	11	32	0	332.1	76
116	Randall Cunningham	1989	PHI	16	3400	21	15	621	4	331.1	75.9
117	Dan Fouts	1978	SDG	15	2999	24	20	43	2	246.3	75.3
118	Aaron Rodgers	2010	GNB	15	3922	28	11	356	4	373.7	75
119	Carson Wentz	2017	PHI	13	3296	33	7	299	0	345.7	74.4
120	Archie Manning	1972	NOR	14	2781	18	21	351	2	234.2	74.3
121	Dan Marino	1992	MIA	16	4116	24	16	66	0	300.4	74.3
122	Dan Marino	1985	MIA	16	4137	30	21	-24	0	312.5	73.3
123	Joe Montana	1984	SFO	16	3630	28	10	118	2	325.3	73.1
124	Steve Young	1995	SFO	11	3200	20	11	250	3	281	72.8
125	Steve Grogan	1978	NWE	16	2824	15	23	539	5	254.1	72.7
126	Philip Rivers	2008	SDG	16	4009	34	11	84	0	356.9	72.6
127	Rich Gannon	2002	OAK	16	4689	26	10	156	3	378.1	72.6
128	Joe Montana	1987	SFO	13	3054	31	13	141	1	301.8	72.5
129	Boomer Esiason	1985	CIN	15	3443	27	12	79	1	297.1	71.1
130	John Elway	1987	DEN	12	3198	19	12	304	4	285.3	70.7
131	Ken O'Brien	1985	NYJ	16	3888	25	8	58	0	309.2	70
132	Warren Moon	1995	MIN	16	4228	33	14	82	0	356.6	69.3
133	Roger Staubach	1971	DAL	13	1882	15	4	343	2	207.4	68.9
134	Archie Manning	1978	NOR	16	3416	17	16	202	1	250	68.6
135	John Hadl	1970	SDG	14	2388	22	15	188	1	224.2	68.2
136	Jeff Blake	1996	CIN	16	3624	24	14	317	2	316.9	67.8
137	Dan Fouts	1979	SDG	16	4082	24	24	49	2	293	67.6
138	Bobby Douglass	1972	CHI	14	1246	9	12	968	8	228.1	67.4
139	Marc Bulger	2006	STL	16	4301	24	8	44	0	323.5	67.3
140	Tommy Kramer	1982	MIN	9	2037	15	12	77	3	178.6	67.3
141	Bert Jones	1977	BAL	14	2686	17	11	146	2	223.9	67.3
142	Tom Brady	2015	NWE	16	4770	36	7	53	3	431.9	67.1
143	Boomer Esiason	1989	CIN	16	3525	28	11	278	0	322.1	66.9
144	Kurt Warner	2008	ARI	16	4583	30	14	-2	0	351	66.7
145	Jim Everett	1988	RAM	16	3964	31	18	104	0	327.6	66.5
146	Sonny Jurgensen	1970	WAS	14	2354	23	10	39	1	222.6	66.3
147	Joe Ferguson	1975	BUF	14	2426	25	17	82	1	226.5	66.3
148	Brian Sipe	1978	CLE	16	2906	21	15	87	3	247	65.6
149	Rich Gannon	2001	OAK	16	3828	27	9	231	2	343.5	65.5
150	Donovan McNabb	2002	PHI	10	2289	17	6	460	6	269.5	65.3
151	Fran Tarkenton	1976	MIN	13	2961	17	8	45	1	227.6	64.9
152	Warren Moon	1989	HOU	16	3631	23	14	268	4	319.4	64.2
153	Dan Fouts	1985	SDG	14	3638	27	20	-1	0	276.8	64.1
154	Vinny Testaverde	1998	NYJ	14	3256	29	7	104	1	310.2	64
155	Carson Palmer	2006	CIN	16	4035	28	13	37	0	319.5	63.3
156	Jay Cutler	2008	DEN	16	4526	25	18	200	2	347.3	63.1
157	Drew Bledsoe	1996	NWE	16	4086	27	15	27	0	312	62.9
158	Brian Griese	2000	DEN	10	2688	19	4	102	1	237.6	62.5
159	Eli Manning	2011	NYG	16	4933	29	16	15	1	367.2	62.4
160	Andrew Luck	2016	IND	15	4240	31	13	341	2	387.1	61.9
161	Jim Zorn	1979	SEA	16	3661	20	18	279	2	287	61.6
162	Brett Favre	1998	GNB	16	4212	31	23	133	1	338.9	61.4
163	Steve Bartkowski	1980	ATL	16	3544	31	16	35	2	315.7	61.3
164	Neil Lomax	1987	STL	12	3387	24	12	107	0	276.1	60.8
165	Boomer Esiason	1988	CIN	16	3572	28	14	248	1	321.4	60.3
166	Chris Miller	1991	ATL	15	3103	26	18	229	0	272.1	59.7
167	Carson Palmer	2005	CIN	16	3836	32	12	41	1	337.9	59.7
168	Brett Favre	2001	GNB	16	3921	32	15	56	1	337.7	59.6
169	Peyton Manning	1999	IND	16	4135	26	15	73	2	326.1	59.5
170	Rich Gannon	1999	OAK	16	3840	24	14	298	2	326	59.4
171	Jim Kelly	1989	BUF	13	3130	25	18	137	2	271.2	59
172	Tom Brady	2010	NWE	16	3900	36	4	30	1	376	58.8
173	Fran Tarkenton	1978	MIN	16	3468	25	32	-6	1	239.8	58.4
174	Michael Vick	2006	ATL	16	2474	20	13	1039	2	314.2	58.1
175	Dan Fouts	1983	SDG	10	2975	20	15	-5	1	224.3	58
176	Peyton Manning	2012	DEN	16	4659	37	11	6	0	396.6	57.8
177	Ben Roethlisberger	2018	PIT	16	5129	34	16	98	3	422.7	57.7
178	Mark Rypien	1989	WAS	14	3768	22	13	56	1	284	57.5
179	Jim Plunkett	1974	NWE	14	2457	19	22	161	2	202	57.4
180	Tommy Kramer	1981	MIN	14	3912	26	24	13	0	278.9	57.4
181	Roger Staubach	1974	DAL	14	2552	11	15	320	3	201.8	57.2
182	Steve McNair	2001	TEN	15	3350	21	12	414	5	319.9	57.1
183	Peyton Manning	2003	IND	16	4267	29	10	26	0	341.3	57
184	Tom Brady	2016	NWE	12	3554	28	2	64	0	320.1	56.5
185	Jim Plunkett	1973	NWE	14	2550	13	17	209	5	209.4	56.5
186	Dan Marino	1987	MIA	12	3245	26	13	-5	1	271.8	56.2
187	Kordell Stewart	1997	PIT	16	3020	21	17	476	11	335.6	55.9
188	Dave Krieg	1985	SEA	16	3602	27	20	121	1	293.2	54
189	Tony Eason	1984	NWE	16	3228	23	8	154	5	305.8	53.6
190	Robert Griffin	2012	WAS	15	3200	20	5	815	7	373.5	53.5
191	Dan Marino	1988	MIA	16	4434	28	23	-17	0	314	52.9
192	Peyton Manning	2014	DEN	16	4727	39	15	-24	0	399	52.7
193	Jeff Blake	1995	CIN	16	3822	28	17	309	2	340	52.7
194	Peyton Manning	2001	IND	16	4131	26	23	157	4	330.3	52.2
195	Boomer Esiason	1986	CIN	16	3959	24	17	146	1	304.6	52.2
196	Alex Smith	2017	KAN	15	4042	26	5	355	1	363.6	52.2
197	Daunte Culpepper	2002	MIN	16	3853	18	23	609	10	357.6	52.1
198	Fran Tarkenton	1972	MIN	14	2651	18	13	180	0	214.6	51.9
199	Steve McNair	2003	TEN	14	3215	24	7	138	4	305.5	51.9
200	Deshaun Watson	2017	HOU	7	1699	19	8	269	2	202.9	51.8

Peyton Manning has 9 seasons in the top 200, Dan Marino has 8, and then Roger Staubach, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Montana, Dan Fouts, and Drew Brees each have 7 such seasons. Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton, Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham, and Tom Brady each have 6 years in the top 200.

What stands out to you?

Tagged as: VBD

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