Not many people may realize it, but the New York Giants are historically a breeding ground for elite quarterback play. Phil Simms. Eli Manning. Hopefully Jaxson Dart follows that trend down the line, but these QBs have resulted in the G-Men becoming one of the most illustrious franchises in NFL history.
The Giants have four Super Bowls to their name, which is impressive in itself, but their QB track record doesn't get enough love from NFL fans: until now. In Bleacher Report's ranking of the 99 best quarterbacks of all time, Big Blue was well-represented with five different passers making the cut.
Here's how the rankings shook out pertaining to the current and former Giants:
- No. 95: Jeff Hostetler
- No. 44: Phil Simms
- No. 25: Russell Wilson:
- No 24: Eli Manning
- No. 13: Fran Tarkenton
You could argue that the Giants were one of the best-represented teams on this list. Teams like the Chiefs, Packers, Steelers, and Patriots have more signal-callers near the top of the list who are definitely better, but I don't think anybody in the tri-state area should be complaining about this result.
The Giants' QB track record is much better than most fans realize
Hostetler making the list is awesome to see after leading the Giants to the Super Bowl after Simms went down in 1990, since he never really gets talked about. Then again, if Scott Norwood's kick splits the sticks, Giants fans would be the only fanbase who remembers him, but being four spots ahead of Ryan Tannehill is pure disrespect.
As for Simms, being behind Cam Newton, Donovan McNabb, and Randall Cunningham doesn't sit right with me. Newton's 2015 MVP campaign was elite, but he was trounced by a historically good defense in the Super Bowl, yet he's ahead of Simms despite having two Super Bowl rings to his name.
Even guys like McNabb and Cunningham may have been more talented, but you can credit the two-time Pro Bowler for two different Giants' Super Bowl runs, while they never accomplished as much with the Eagles. Maybe it's my fandom or Giants bias talking, but that makes zero sense, in all honesty.
Manning and Wilson is where my opinions get interesting. As much as I love Eli and think he's earned his spot in Canton, I don't think he deserves to be ahead of Danger-Russ. Even with how washed he looked in 2025, in his prime he was a different beast, and more dangerous than Manning ever was.
Eli has the extra ring, more career passing yards, and a longer prime, but the Seahawks came one boneheaded play-calling decision from tying the two QBs in rings. So even though Father Time has caught up to the 10-time Pro Bowler in recent years, this debate is a lot closer than people imagine.
The weird part is that one's a consensus Hall of Famer and one isn't, so this should be proof that Manning deserves his spot in Canton one day. The two-time Super Bowl MVP has been disrespected too often, but if Russ will certainly receive a gold jacket once he choses to hang it up, he should too.
The list wasn't perfect, but at least it was nice to see the Giants have so many players in those conversations.