Top 10 Giants quarterbacks of all time
Former Giants quarterbacks, clockwise from top left: Kerry Collins, Eli Manning, Ed Danowski, Phil Simms and Fran Tarkenton.
10. Daniel Jones
He never quite lived up to the billing as the heir to Eli Manning but Jones did lead the Giants to a playoff win in 2022 and while his record of 24-44-1 in the regular season is awful he ranks seventh all-time in franchise wins (or at least since NFL stats began crediting them to starting quarterbacks in the 1950s). He is also fifth in passing yards and seventh in touchdown passes.
9. Bennie Friedman
The team’s first star passer — and one of the league’s first — Friedman threw 20 touchdown passes in 1929, an NFL record that stood until 1942. He was first- or second-team All-Pro in each of his five seasons with the Giants.
8. Jeff Hostetler
One of just three quarterbacks to start and win a Super Bowl for the Giants, Hostetler replaced an injured Phil Simms late in a dominant 1990 season and made sure that they didn’t let up. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards with a touchdown in the 20-19 win over the heavily favored Bills in Super Bowl XXV.
7. Ed Danowski
The Riverhead High School product was the starting quarterback for the 1934 and 1938 NFL Championship teams. His 23-yard touchdown pass to Hank Soar was the winning play against the Packers in the 1938 title game.
6. Fran Tarkenton
His scrambling and passing were about the only exciting parts of a long era of Giants futility. In five seasons in New York he made the Pro Bowl four times, threw 103 touchdown passes, and ran for another 10.
5. Kerry Collins
In 2000, his second year with the Giants and first full year as a starter, Collins led the Giants to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXV. He and the Giants were overmatched by the Ravens in that game but his five touchdown passes in that year’s NFC Championship Game, a 41-0 win over the Vikings, was one of the team’s greatest postseason performances. Collins still ranks fourth in career passing yards and sixth in touchdown passes among Giants.
4. Charlie Conerly
He played his entire career with the Giants from 1948-61 during which he won Rookie of the Year in 1948, MVP in 1959, and was named a Pro Bowler in 1950 and 1956. He was the quarterback for the 1956 NFL Championship-winning team and played in four other championship games. Conerly ranks third in franchise history in pass attempts (2,833), fourth in completions (1,418) and third in yards (19,488) and touchdown passes (173).
3. Y.A. Tittle
He didn’t become a Giant until he was 35 years old but Tittle still had plenty of great football left, winning league MVP in 1963 and was first-team All-Pro from 1961-63. His 36 touchdown passes in 1963 still stands as the Giants’ single-season record. In his four years with the Giants they went to the NFL Championship three times but lost each time.
2. Phil Simms
Had he stayed healthy through the 1990 Super Bowl season and gotten the credit he deserved for that title he might be closer to the top spot. Still, second place isn’t all that bad. Simms’ toughness and resilience made him a fan favorite as he led the Giants out of the depressing 1970s and early ‘80s. His 22-for-25 passing game for three touchdowns and 268 yards to win MVP in Super Bowl XXI over the Broncos remains one of the top championship game performances of all time.
1. Eli Manning
Easily the gold standard for Giants quarterbacks, Manning remains in many ways the face of the franchise even years after his retirement. Manning won two Super Bowls — and MVP in both games — and leads the franchise in every meaningful passing statistic. His streak of 210 consecutive regular season starts and a franchise record of 236 regular season games played without ever missing one due to injury speak to his remarkable durability.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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