ProFootballTalk.com's Top 25 In 25

No. 21:  Steve Young.

Okay, now this list starts to get interesting.

In putting together our ranking of the best 25 players over the past 25 years, we paid careful attention to the number of guys from each position who were getting in.  The biggest challenge was at quarterback, where we identified twelve players worthy of inclusion.

In alphabetical order, they are Troy Aikman, Tom Brady, Randall Cunningham, John Elway, Brett Favre, Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Kurt Warner, and Steve Young.

And we decided that no more than six would qualify.  Why six?  Because that equates to roughly 25 percent of the entire field of 25.  So it just felt right. 

But getting the number down to the final six wasn't easy.

The first one to go was Randall Cunningham.  He was one of the most exciting players of his time, and his stunning return to the league as the leader of the 1998 Vikings, after spending time lugging marble countertops, was one of the most unlikely success stories in league history.  But he never won a Super Bowl -- he never even appeared in one. 

The next to go was Jim Kelly.  Sure, he made it to the Super Bowl four times.  But his overall stats don't stand out from the rest of the pack, and five more names had to drop.

The third man out was Warren Moon.  No Super Bowl appearances, stats that were inflated by a trendy offense, and too much movement from team to team fueled the decision.  The fact that he was on the wrong side of the most dramatic comeback in NFL history (a January 1993 playoff loss to the Kelly-less Bills) was the last nail in the coffin.

The fourth to go was Kurt Warner.  Though we talked him up in our initial item criticizing the USA Today compilation of the best 25 players, we now realize that three great seasons isn't enough to earn a spot among the best of the best from a full 25-year window.

It was nearly impossible for us to whittle out the final two.  Though many readers have lobbied for the inclusion of Tom Brady on the list, he hasn't even played in 100 regular-season games.  By the time he's done, he very well might be the best quarterback, and possibly the best overall player, ever.  But he has yet to do enough, in our opinion, to surpass Aikman, Elway, Favre, Manning, Marino, Montana, or Young.

And that brings us to the last man overboard.  We hated to do it, and we know we'll hear from plenty of angry Cowboys fans about it, but of the seven Hall of Famers left standing, Troy Aikman has the least impressive total credentials.

Yes, he quarterbacked three Super Bowl champions.  But he did it behind a dominant offensive line, and with one of the best all-time running backs and one of the best all-time receivers.  Even with those weapons, his career stats pale in comparison to those of Elway, Favre, Manning, Marino, and Montana.  Aikman's passing numbers mesh most closely with Young's, but Young outperformed Aikman across the board with his arm -- and it's not even close when factoring in Young's Vick-like running abilities.

So, as a result of a careful process of elimination, the six who'll make it onto this list are Elway, Favre, Manning, Marino, Montana, and Young.

Young gets the bottom rung on the ladder, by virtue of having the worst passing stats of the bunch.  Though he has earned one more Super Bowl ring than Marino, the former Fins quarterback retired with every major career passing record for a reason. 

Still, Young has nothing to be ashamed of.  In an era with an abundance of stellar quarterbacks, he isn't far behind a quintet of players who probably would be among the top ten passers in NFL history.  

Click here for No. 20.