Every football fan knows that Penn State is Linebacker U. and that USC is Tailback U. So why don't we know definitively which NFL franchise has had the most success at a given position? (That was a rhetorical question. I don't know the answer.) Here's what I do know, though: We need to fix this right now.
We'll start with quarterback. And, since this is the NFL, we'll use the NFL's current playoff structure for our pseudo-tournament. I've listed the guys I think rank as the five best at the position for each franchise, then ranked which team's quintet "wins" their division. Just like the NFL Playoffs, I've also selected two wild cards.
NFL "Best QB" Standings
(x - division winner; y - wild card)
NFC East
x - Dallas Cowboys (Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Tony Romo, Danny White, Don Meredith)
y - Washington Redskins (Sammy Baugh, Sonny Jurgensen, Joe Theismann, Mark Rypien, Billy Kilmer)
Philadelphia Eagles (Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham, Ron Jaworski, Norm Van Brocklin, Michael Vick)
New York Giants (Phil Simms, Eli Manning, Y.A. Tittle, Charlie Conerly, Kerry Collins)
NFC North
x - Green Bay Packers (Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Bart Starr, Lynn Dickey, Don Majkowski)
y - Minnesota Vikings (Fran Tarkenton, Daunte Culpepper, Tommy Kramer, Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham)
Chicago Bears (Sid Luckman, Jim McMahon, Jay Cutler, Jim Harbaugh, Erik Kramer)
Detroit Lions (Bobby Layne, Gary Danielson, Scott Mitchell, Erik Kramer, Rodney Peete)
NFC South
x - New Orleans Saints (Drew Brees, Archie Manning, Bobby Hebert, Aaron Brooks, Jim Everett)
Atlanta Falcons (Matt Ryan, Michael Vick, Steve Bartkowski, Chris Miller, Chris Chandler)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Doug Williams, Brad Johnson, Josh Freeman, Vinny Testaverde, Trent Dilfer)
Carolina Panthers (Jake Delhomme, Kerry Collins, Steve Beuerlein, Rodney Peete, Matt Moore)
NFC West
x - San Francisco 49ers (Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Brodie, Jeff Garcia, Y.A. Tittle)
St. Louis Rams (Kurt Warner, Roman Gabriel, Jim Everett, Pat Haden, Marc Bulger)
Arizona Cardinals (Jim Hart, Neil Lomax, Kurt Warner, Jake Plummer, Charley Johnson)
Seattle Seahawks (Matt Hasselbeck, Dave Krieg, Jim Zorn, Warren Moon, Jon Kitna)
AFC East
x - Miami Dolphins (Dan Marino, Bob Griese, Jay Fiedler, David Woodley, Earl Morrall)
y - New England Patriots (Tom Brady, Drew Bledsoe, Steve Grogan, Tony Eason, Babe Parilli)
New York Jets (Joe Namath, Ken O'Brien, Chad Pennington, Vinny Testaverde, Mark Sanchez)
Buffalo Bills (Jim Kelly, Joe Ferguson, Jack Kemp, Doug Flutie, Drew Bledsoe)
AFC North
x - Pittsburgh Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger, Terry Bradshaw, Neil O'Donnell, Kordell Stewart, Bobby Layne)
Cleveland Browns (Otto Graham, Bernie Kosar, Brian Sipe, Frank Ryan, Vinny Testaverde)
Cincinnati Bengals (Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Carson Palmer, Greg Cook, Jeff Blake)
Baltimore Ravens (Joe Flacco, Trent Dilfer, Steve McNair, Kyle Boller, Vinny Testaverde)
AFC South
x - Indianpolis Colts (Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Bert Jones, Earl Morrall, Jim Harbaugh)
Tennessee Titans (Warren Moon, Steve McNair, Dan Pastorini, George Blanda, Kerry Collins)
Jacksonville Jaguars (Mark Brunell, David Garrard, Byron Leftwich, Quinn Gray, Jonathan Quinn)
Houston Texans (Matt Schaub, Sage Rosenfels, David Carr, Tony Banks, Dave Ragone)
AFC West
x - San Diego Chargers (Dan Fouts, Phil Rivers, John Hadl, Drew Brees, Stan Humphries)
y - Oakland Raiders (Kenny Stabler, Jim Plunkett, Rich Gannon, Daryle Lamonica, Tom Flores)
Kansas City Chiefs (Len Dawson, Trent Green, Bill Kenney, Joe Montana, Steve Bono)
Denver Broncos (John Elway, Jay Cutler, Jake Plummer, Craig Morton, Brian Griese)
Wild-card round
Divisional round
NFC Championship Game
AFC Championship Game
Super Bowl
Packers vs. Colts (Site: Heinz Field -- why, you ask? Because the banks of the Three Rivers are the birthplace for Hall of Famers Unitas, Namath, Montana, Marino and Kelly.)
