Lions All-Time Top 5 QBs: Blursed.

Independence Day is the new Thanksgiving as the Lions take center stage! Come for Layne-versus-Stafford, stay for the 10-minute Mellotron and 12-string guitar interlude.

I attended a concert by my favorite Genesis tribute band during the compilation of this Lions countdown. Genesis tribute bands do not play the band’s radio singles from the mid-1980s like “That’s All” or “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight.” They play long, chewy prog-rock epics from the 1970s like “One for the Vine” or “The Fountain of Salmacis,” often scrambling shorter parts of these lengthy compositions into medleys the way Genesis itself often did in concerts.

What this intro about somewhat-impenetrable medleys of 1970s chestnuts has to do with this countdown is left to the reader to decide.

1. Bobby Layne

Bobby never lost a game. Some days, time just ran out on him. – Attributed to Doak Walker.

When Bobby said, “Block,” you blocked. And when Bobby said, “Drink,” you drank. – Yale Lary.

If I want a beer or two, I'm not going to sneak around some back-alley joint. I'm going to walk in the front door of the best place in town. – Layne, from his New York Times obituary, 1986.

Layne was the Ken Stabler-meets-Brett Favre of the early 1950s. He was larger than life, craftier than a fox, drunker than hell and one step ahead of the rest of the NFL. He led the league in passing yards in 1950 and 1951. He led the Lions to championships over the Paul Brown/Otto Graham Browns in 1952 and 1953, then took them most of the way to a third championship before getting hurt in 1957. He is generally credited with inventing the hurry-up offense. He was a superstar in one of America’s most vibrant, prosperous, important cities. He helped put pro football on the cultural map.

Topps 1956 Bobby Layne card. Image now public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Layne is responsible, as much as any one player can be, for the success of the Lions. He is a fierce, relentless competitor who has been the heart of the Lions since he joined the club in 1950. He was a first draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 1948 but was sold to the New York Bulldogs for $50,000, probably the highest price ever paid for a professional football player. He came to the Lions in a trade which included a player and $37,500 as Layne's price. His teammates have a tremendous respect for Layne, with good reason. The cocky, tough Texan is generally regarded as the finest clutch player in professional football. His ebullient behavior off the field has never affected his play; he works as hard after a long night of living it up as he does after a full night's sleep.

"Actually, Bobby doesn't live it up any more than most players," a veteran observer of the Detroit club said the other day. "He just doesn't bother sneaking around. He goes in the front door at nightclubs and he comes out the front door. He doesn't spare himself the next day, either. He runs as hard and works as hard as any player on the team." – Tex Maule, Sports Illustrated, December, 1957.

Layne is best known for: a) the hurry-up offense; b) drinking roughly as much per week as an entire freshman dormitory (Too Deep Zone editor JW found this clip of Art Donovan discussing Layne’s drinking habits with Johnny Carson); and c) The Curse of Bobby Layne, which has allegedly hung over the Lions since his abrupt departure. I wrote at length about the third item (and touched upon the other two) for Bleacher Report in 2016.

Layne was then arrested for drunk driving just before the start of the season. Layne was reportedly driving on the wrong side of the center lane with five passengers (two men and three women) in the car and his headlights off. He reportedly kept poking the officer who pulled him over in the shoulder, forcing the hand of a patrolman who, in those days, might have given a famous quarterback a police escort home instead of a mug shot.

According to Detroit Athletic Co., Layne later claimed that he "only" drank six highballs that night and that the officer mistook his Texas drawl for slurred speech. Layne was acquitted in December. Again, 1950s football takes some getting used to. – Mike Tanier, Bleacher Report, October, 2016.

Per Layne’s New York Times obituary, a sign appeared in the Lions locker room the next day reading ''Ah ain't drunk, Ah'm from Texas.''

My Bleacher Report feature reads so much like part of our current series (and is free), that I feel no need to reinvent the wheels of the 1957 Thunderbird. Read it if you want more on Layne and the curse. If not … There are hundreds of words about guys like Eric Hipple coming for you sickos.

2. Matthew Stafford

I searched for excuses to rank Stafford ahead of Bobby Layne. I never found one.

Stafford holds the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and 11th best single-season passing DYAR figures in Lions history since 1980. He might rank ahead of Layne on this countdown if he held the first, second or third-best figures. (I will reveal who holds them as we go.)

Stafford ranked fifth-through-tenth in the NFL in passing DYAR six times as a Lions quarterback. He might rank ahead of Layne if he ranked first-through-fourth more than zero times.

Stafford led zero Lions playoff victories in three appearances. It became fashionable to criticize Stafford’s supporting casts when folks erected rickety Hall of Fame arguments after he led the Rams to the Super Bowl. When the Lions lost to the Cowboys after the 2014 season, Stafford’s teammates included Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, Ziggy Ansah, Golden Tate, Reggie Bush, Dominic Raiola and a young Darius Slay. The 2011 Lions featured Johnson, Suh, Raiola, Cliff Avril, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Jeff Backus, Nate Burleson and others. A better-than-yesteryear’s-legend quarterback should have been able to muster a playoff win or two with supporting casts like those.

Stafford led a stacked Rams team to a championship. I might entertain arguments that he is a better overall quarterback than Layne, who spent his late career stumbling into Steelers practices with epic hangovers. But as a Lions quarterback? Greatness is as greatness does. Stafford threw for gobs of yards and was one of the most impressive pure passers in the NFL during the 2010s, but he produced spotty results by historical standards. Layne won championships and helped define how the position is played. ‘Nuff said.

3. Jared Goff

The 2024 season was the most successful Lions campaign since 1957, and Goff posted the third-highest passing DYAR figure in Lions history (since 1979). He played well enough to lead the Lions to the Super Bowl if not for some fourth-quarter fumbles and fourth-down dropped passes by teammates.

Goff also played very well in 2022, posting the second-highest DYAR total in Lions history. He will rank third all-time in Lions passing yards and touchdowns by early October at the latest. I have no trouble placing him here. The next segment will help explain why.

Goff is one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks from a clean pocket but is below-average to bad when consistently pressured. That sounds like a trite observation, since all quarterbacks are better when the circumstances around them are better. But most quarterbacks who are as easy to rattle as Goff only look like semi-efficient game managers when everything is optimized. Conversely, most quarterbacks who can execute at Goff’s level in ideal circumstances are more resourceful when forced to scramble or improvise. Goff can elevate an offense, but he can also sink it.

I wonder how many other quarterbacks on our list who have complex legacies were like that. Brian Sipe? Craig Morton? Ken O’Brien? Terry Bradshaw, perhaps? (Subscriber Coboney on the DVOA Discord mentioned John Hadl, and he fits the broad description.) It’s hard to tell from old sources, because reporters and columnists of yesteryear were not statheads or film scholars. But when I research talented quarterbacks of yesteryear who kept getting yanked and reinserted by their coaches, I wonder how many of them played behind miserable lines and just needed a fighting chance to drop and throw without getting walloped.

In fact, we’re about to meet one-to-four (or maybe six) such quarterbacks.

4-7. Suite: Bill Munson, Greg Landry, Gary Danielson, Eric Hipple

Before the dawn of real free agency in 1993, NFL teams could hold onto the rights of players as long as they wanted. The draft, back in the days of hand-written scouting reports and Stone Age college strategies, was also much more of a crapshoot than it is today. The AFL and rapid expansion brought lots of competition and roster turnover in the 1960s. But from the start of the merger in the late 1960s until the arrival of free agency, NFL rosters were relatively static compared to nowadays, and it was possible to keep a quarterback controversy going for many years. Not advisable, mind you, but affordable and, for a poorly-run organization, preferable to the alternative of trying to search for better alternatives.

We’ve seen a few never-ending controversies already in the Top 5 series: Steve Grogan versus Matt Cavanaugh and Tony Eason; Bill Kenney versus Steve Fuller and Todd Blackledge; Jim Plunkett versus Marc Wilson. The Lions, however, mired themselves in the greatest controversy of them all: a four-way, two-decade clusterhump orchestrated by owner William Clay Ford and the often overmatched men who worked for him.

Our story opens in 1968 with the Lions, now a decade removed from the Bobby Layne era, trading aging quarterback Milt Plum and some veterans for backup quarterback Bill Munson, who had played the previous season for the Rams on the “reserve clause” of his contract. (Teams retained the rights to an unsigned player for one year at a 10% pay cut; think of it as a reverse franchise tag.) The Lions drafted University of Massachusetts star Greg Landry 11th overall in that same year.

If the price for Munson (two full years removed from his last start) sounds steep and the Rams’ efforts to keep him extra-Machiavellian, keep in mind that the NFL and the new AFL spent the 1960s rapidly expanding to beat each other to media markets, creating increased demand for quarterbacks. If a dozen new teams sprouted up tomorrow, guys like Jake Browning or Mason Rudolph might spark a bidding war.

Munson held Landry off in 1968. Landry replaced him in 1969. Munson started the 1970 season. Landry finished it. Landry seized the starting job in 1971 and reached the Pro Bowl, but Munson stuck around. When Landry played poorly in 1973, Munson replaced him. Landry got injured in the 1974 preseason, and Munson reclaimed the starting job.

It happens that way when quarterbacks and a team can’t win enough to satisfy anybody. Munson might win, then get injured or flip; whichever, it seemed his pattern. In the intervals, Landry would do the same.

For a while, Landry was immensely popular with the public. Not only was he big and handsome, he was a powerful runner who gave the offense another dimension. All that ended abruptly; a torn knee restricted his running, and he became just another guy in the huddle.

Never did Munson or Landry make anyone confident they would make the team a winner. –George Puscas, Detroit Free Press, Sept 21, 1990.

Another guy in the Lions huddle: 49ers castoff Joe Reed, alternately described as a “country-western” and “gospel” singer by sources. This clip might explain the confusion:

Reed replaced Munson for a few games when Landry was injured in 1975. “While Reed has captivated Lion fans with his uninhibited play-calling, he tends to perform erratically,” Sports Illustrated wrote at the time.

The Lions traded Munson after the 1975 season. Landry won Comeback Player of the Year in 1976. Landry’s numbers that year don’t look like much now – 2,191 yards, 17 touchdowns, just 8 interceptions – but this was the height of the NFL’s Dead Ball era. Landry was one of the NFL’s most efficient passers, though he was trapped on a bad team whose only stars were aging cornerback/return man Lem Barney and tight end Charlie Sanders.

Despite Landry’s comeback, Ford was dissatisfied. He criticized Landry for not “being able to hit the ground” with his passes. He was caught on tape of saying that Landry had to be pulled from the final game of the season because "We didn't want another el-foldo." Ford publicly announced his intention to trade Landry without consulting head coach Tommy Hudspeth, then publicly stated that he would fire Hudspeth if he objected.

Ford did not find a trade suitor for the injury-prone 30-year old he publicly slagged. He didn’t draft a potential replacement, either. Nor did he fire Hudspeth, at least until 1978. Instead, the Lions just limped along, with Landry slowly giving way to Gary Danielson.

Danielson went undrafted after an uneventful career at Purdue. He knocked around the World Football League for a few years without distinguishing himself. He landed on the Lions roster in 1976, replacing Landry when new coach Monte Clark inaugurated a “youth movement” after the Lions started the 1978 season 1-5. Danielson played well. Landry was traded to the Colts.

And then Danielson suffered a knee injury in the 1979 preseason. Reed, still singin’ the blues (or whatever) on the Lions bench, pulled a stomach muscle in the season opener. Jeff Komlo, a ninth-round pick from the University of Delaware, started for the Lions for most of the 1979 season. The Lions went 2-14.

Danielson returned in 1980. More importantly, Heisman Trophy winning running back Billy Sims arrived, while defensive lineman Bubba Baker became one of the NFL’s fiercest pass rushers. Danielson handed off well, and the Lions finished 9-7, their first winning season since 1972.

The Lions opened up the 1981 season with Danielson under center, but he suffered a non-throwing hand injury in October. Komlo was ineffective in relief, so the Lions turned to Eric Hipple, a fourth-round pick from Utah State in 1980. In his first start, against the Bears on Monday Night Football, Hipple threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns, plus two rushing touchdowns, in a 48-17 rout. The Lions were now Hipple’s team.

You would think that both Danielson and the Lions would wish to part ways at this point. Yet Danielson signed a one-year contract for the 1982 season. Hipple started that strike-shortened season. Danielson finished the regular season. The Lions went 4-5 but qualified for the loopy postseason tournament the league concocted for that year. Hipple got the start. Washington pummeled the Lions.

You would think that both Danielson and the Lions would wish to part ways at this point. Indeed, Danielson nearly signed with the USFL’s Arizona Wranglers. But the Lions offered him a three-year contract. “I have to give the Lions credit,” he said, per a UPI report. “They could have lost me and got nothing for the team, but they didn't. They forked out some money and kept me.

“I don't know if I'll be with the team (next season),” he added, indicating he might be traded. “But at least they did something good for the team.”

The Lions did not trade Danielson. They used him as a relief pitcher instead, with Clark pulling Hipple whenever he was playing poorly, which was often. A fading Sims and a tough defense led by Doug English coaxed the Lions to a playoff berth. Hipple suffered a knee injury in the season finale. Danielson threw five interceptions in a playoff loss.

Despite his quasi-success in 1983, Hipple began the 1984 season as a third-stringer behind Danielson and someone named Mike Machurek. The previous December’s knee injury was only part of the issue. “Eric Hipple has less leadership than Curly of the Three Stooges,” Clark said of Hipple. Yet Hipple remained on the Lions roster and started a late-season game when Danielson was injured.

You would think that both Hipple and the Lions would wish to part ways at this point. Yet Hipple signed a two-year extension. “'I'm very happy with the signing,” Hipple said, per a UPI report. “It gives me a vote of confidence and eliminates the uncertainty of my future here. It also gives me the opportunity to continue to produce as a Detroit Lion in what I believe is the greatest sports town in the country.”

The good news for Hipple was that Danielson was finally gone: the Lions traded him to the Browns. The bad news for Hipple was that the Lions also traded for longtime Bills starter Joe Ferguson. Ferguson got hurt early in 1985, and Hipple was free to finish 20th in DYAR under new head coach Darryl Rodgers.

“Talk about a checkered career!” John Weyler wrote of Hipple for the L.A. Times in 1986. “This guy’s media-guide biography could be used to signal the winner at the Indy 500. He has been heralded as a savior one minute and ridiculed the next. He has been booed more often than pro wrestling’s bad guys.”

Hipple remained a mediocre starter in 1986, but the Lions drafted Iowa superstar Chuck Long 12th overall that year, so this is a good time to bring this two-decade odyssey of mediocrity to a close.

Phew.

None of the quarterbacks we just covered was very good, though the pre-injury Landry may have been destined for a fine career. Ford was a doofus and a meddler who could not attract quality coaches or personnel guys. The Lions were so devoid of talent that the folks mentioned in this segment – Barney, Sims, Bubba, English – were just about the only players from that long era with any historical relevance whatsoever. Yet the Lions noodled along, often hovering around .500 because the NFL of the 1970s and early 1980s was full of teams just like them.

Wayne Fontes became the Lions head coach in 1988. Barry Sanders arrived in 1989, when Fontes installed the run ‘n’ shoot with the help of offensive guru Mouse Davis. That leads us smoothly into our final segment. But history tells us that Hipple was STILL in Detroit in 1989; he threw three interceptions in a Week 5 loss to the Vikings that year. Fontes burned through several quarterbacks during Sanders’ heyday, so the chain of quarterback controversies that began in 1968 remained unbroken when the Lions signed …

8. Scott Mitchell

… for three years and $11 million, based on some strong performances in relief of Dan Marino in Miami. Mitchell became the Lions starter in 1994 and was so terrible that teammates plotted against him.

We were playing Green Bay in Milwaukee. We were getting beat, 24-3, at that time and he just stunk up the place. He’s throwing interceptions, just everything. So I looked at Kevin Glover, our All-Pro center and I said, “Glove, that is it.” I said, “I’m getting him out the game.” . . . So I got the gator arms on the guy at the last minute, he got around me, he hit Scott Mitchell, he did something to his finger . . . and he came out the game. [Lions backup quarterback] Dave Krieg came in the game. – Lomas Brown, ESPN radio, December, 2012 (quotes from Pro Football Talk).

After Brown admitted to his 1994 mutiny, sleuths like Andy Barall at the New York Times scoured the tape of that Lions-Packers game and found out that Brown was not even blocking Sean Jones (the defender who registered the hit) on the play in which Mitchell suffered his injury. Jones did have an unimpeded rush on Mitchell, however, because Brown blocked another defender. Did Brown blow an assignment on purpose and misremember the details? It does not matter: Brown felt strongly enough about Mitchell’s poor play that he told a self-incriminating story about it 18 years later. If he didn’t actually mutiny on the field, he surely did in his heart. (Mitchell and Brown eventually buried the hatchet.)

Mitchell’s 1995 campaign was the greatest passing season in Lions history, per DVOA. Mitchell threw for 4,338 yards and 32 touchdowns. His supporting cast included Barry Sanders, Herman Moore and Brett Perriman, plus Pro Bowl linemen Brown and Glover, in a deradicalized version of the run ‘n’ shoot offense. Brown, ever the saboteur, guaranteed a victory when the Lions faced the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs.

Chris Berman and Tom Jackson can take it from here:

Sanders got the Lions back to the playoffs in 1997. Oops, I meant Mitchell. No, I meant Sanders. Anyway, Mitchell went 10-of-25 for 78 yards and an interception in a loss to the Buccaneers.

Mitchell should probably rank ahead of the Landry Suite quarterbacks based solely on 1995. I would have put him there if not for his horrendous playoff performances. If Landry had Sanders or Moore to work with, he would have done much more than get pulverized in the playoffs. At the very least, his own line would not have been inspired to work against him.

9. Charlie Batch

Batch replaced Scott Mitchell and battled through the post-Barry Sanders years. He was an oft-injured game-manager type on a bad team. He later became a respected backup for the Steelers and an active leader in the NFLPA.

10. Rodney Peete

Married Holly Robinson. Also had some isolated moments of brilliance during the run ‘n’ shoot era, then eventually played well in Jon Gruden’s Eagles offense. Better than Joey Harrington.