The Josh Innes Show - What Golden Era QB's Should Get In?

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

So we talked about Eli. What about Drew Brees? What about Russell Wilson? What about Big Ben? Let's break em down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like people love the shit on Russ Wilson now because of what happened in Denver and Pittsburgh and with the Giants. And I get that because that was a bad stretch of his career. Do you realize if you took out the four years that Russ played outside of Seattle, which by the way, they went four and 11 one year in Denver, seven and eight, six and five, and he was 0.13 at one point this year. You're still floating around 500 with those two years in Denver and Pittsburgh. But if you take just the years in Seattle, this dude was 104, 53, and one. and this dude averaged how many yards per season throwing the football? A lot. His yards per game.

He was putting up 234 passing yards per game. Now they ran the ball extremely well, of course, too. How many touchdowns was he throwing per year? Like 30 plus touchdowns a year. If you want to start talking about Hall of Fame or Hall of Fame or Hall of Fame and start comparing resumes for Hall of Fame. Also, the guy went to two Super Bowl, should have won two. Doesn't have any MVP's.

but he won one should have won two. Like my first instinct is that Russ Wilson's not a Hall of Fame or just top of my head he's not. Because you give a lot of credit to the defense. But then you start looking around and you go, how many double-digit win seasons did my man have in Seattle? Let's count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight of his 10 years in Seattle, they won double digits. One, two, three, four, five of those were more than 11 wins.

and playoff wins and a Super Bowl and should have won another if not for a dipshit play call so to me like a guy if you're just trying to find for comparison sake I don't think Matt Ryan's a Hall of Famer I don't think Eli Manning is a Hall of Famer you start looking at Russ Wilson

and you see a guy that in his prime at the height of his powers my man won double the games he lost that's fucking remarkable I would imagine that winning percentage at some point I would, again, I get that that's a stat that goes to the quarterback and not the defensive, you know, like the quarterback gets a win-loss record and not the whole team.

I mean, the team does, but not individuals other than the quarterback. Let's look at this. Quarterbacks all-time winning percentage rank. I would imagine that Russ Wilson has to be top six or seven all-time. I mean, just in terms of wins leaders, he's not because guys have stayed around longer. So, for instance, like Tom Brady won 251 games. Russ Wilson's 12th. But give me the winning percentage.

I need winning percentage for quarterbacks. So as we talked about, let's say, and again, there's a certain number of games threshold. So certain guys are going to make this. And like they're not like Bob Lee is on there, right? So it's going to be kind of an unfair number because there's going to be guys that play 200 games versus guys that played 70, right? But we talked about Jalen Hertz winning percentage where he was all time. But let's see, where's Russ Wilson? I don't know where

Russ Wilson's winning percentages on this list because it only goes to number 25. But, I mean, again, you're going to have guys that only played 95 games, guys that only played, you know, 88 games like Steve, like Steve Bono's winning percentage of 680. The guy played 88 fucking games. Fuck off with Steve Bono. Give me a break.

You know, Jimmy Garoppolo, who played 85. So it's an unfair thing. So then what, let's then look, Russell Wilson. Let's do the math on it. The guy is 121 and 8. So he won 121 of his 200 games, basically. So he's factored into the decision in 202 games. So what is 121 divided by 202, right?

That's the number we'd have to do. Now we're doing math. 121 divided by 202. His winning percentage is about 60%. And that's a guy that's played over 200 games, who factored into the decision in over 200 games. We're not talking about a guy that factored into the decision, you know, 88 games like fucking Steve Bono.

But then let's look at it just in Seattle. Because I would base all of his Hall of Fame shit just on what happened in Seattle. I'm not going to punish the guy because the last four years of his career have been a disaster. And by the way, they were bad. They weren't all disaster.

If you look at the second season in Denver, guy threw for 3,000 yards, 26 touchdowns, eight interceptions. They went 7 and 8. in Pittsburgh he went six and five I mean these weren't awful years for the guy but let's look at it let's see he factored into the decision in 158 games

he won 104 out of 158 games so 104 let's see 104 divided by 158 divided by 158 dude won 66% of his games in his prime in Seattle so I'm just trying to trying to find you people because everybody wants to fight you over Eli Manning because he's super famous and his brother is Peyton and they're the mannings and they're everywhere.

Now do all of those comparisons for Eli Manning. The only thing that Eli Manning has going for him is that Eli Manning played in two Super Bowls and he had two dudes make miracle catches that won those Super Bowls. You have to ask yourself, how would you view these guys if Blank didn't happen? How would you view Eli Manning if the two catches didn't happen? He's the guy that went to two Super Bowls but didn't win two Super Bowls. How would you view him with the rest of his resume? And the rest of his resume isn't all that impressive. You look around what, what does he ever lead the league in?

You know what the answer is? Interceptions, thrice. That is the only thing the guy has ever led the league in. Picks. In a single season. The guy's a 500 quarterback. Again, he's been to four pro-boles aren't the end-all be-all. Like, if you look at the data and the awards and anything that even finishing top five in awards,

Man, he never did that shit. And yes, he's won two Super Bowl. Well, George, what about the Super Bowls? Okay. You know who else has won Super Bowls? Again, Trent Dilfer's won a Super Bowl. Brad Johnson has won one Super Bowl. Mark Rippin has won a Super Bowl.

Doug Williams won a Super Bowl. Jim McMahon won a Super Bowl. Joe Thaisman won a Super Bowl. or one Super Bowl, I should say. Not everybody who wins a Super Bowl is a Hall of Famer. Now, some people, I think, get elevated because of that. Like, I think Drew Breeze is very good. Would Drew Breeze be a Hall of Famer if they don't win that game against the Coles?

Probably, right? Like, I'd say he's, I mean, look, Drew Breeze never won the MVP, but Drew Breeze was also an offensive player of the year, and he was consistently top two or three in passing yards about the year. And there were years, and I think this is an important factor here. Again, this comes from someone watching the Saints. but there was that stretch where they went seven and nine three years in a row and one of the years Sean Peyton was out and all that.

There were years that Drew Breeze was all they had. The reason they were seven and nine is because of Drew Breeze. Because their defense, they had three years in a row and I think they were all, were they all Rob Ryan years, that the defense was dead last in the NFL and was God awful. But then you look at Drew Breeze, 13-time Pro Bowler, won a Super Bowl, was a Super Bowl MVP if you want to include that, comeback player of the year, man of the year, offensive player of the year twice. Like Drew Brees is a slam dunk Hall of Famer.

How many times did the guy lead the league in passing yards? Seven times. How many times did he lead in touchdown passes? Four times. How many times did he go to the playoffs? What was his record? Drew Brees was 172 and 114 in his career. Eli Manning was 117 and 117.

If Eli Manning played in New Orleans, nobody would have given a shit. That's all I'm trying to say here. There's an argument, if I had to guess, there's probably a chance that Matt Ryan, I get Matt Ryan and have the two Super Bowls, but if your argument is Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowls, then you have to acknowledge other people

who won multiple Super Bowls if that's the only thing you have to fall back on. Or won a Super Bowl, and that's the only thing you have to fall back on. I guess Philip Rivers is a Hall of Famer. Is an eight-time pro-bowler? Cool. No. He was an offensive player the year once. No.

His is a stack gobbler. Like, I love, I loved watching this dude play. But no, Philip Rivers is not a Hall of Famer, and he shouldn't be a Hall of Famer. He'll probably get in. But, like, to me, if you put Eli Manning in, then all of those guys I mentioned have to be in. I think you have to put in Matt Ryan. I think you have to put in. Drew is obvious.

But Russell Wilson, and Russell may be obvious. But like, these are the guys you've got to put in. You know, what about Ben Rothesberger? And what about Stafford? Stafford's going to be an interesting case because big picture, like, is he really a Hall of Famer? Like, if you really look at, like, the data on Stafford, who people kind of act as like a shoe in and he, you know, he's, you know, the MVP. But like, I get that he played in Detroit so you can't really punish a guy for, you know,

that team being dreadful. But is he a lock? Like, when you watch Matt Stafford or talk about Matt Stafford, do you think that Matt Stafford is a lock to be in the Hall of Fame? And I don't. Now, if he would have gotten in maybe again. in this year, maybe he's a lot. But like, I don't think that's a slam dunk.

You know, is Ben Ralthusberger a slam dunk? No. Like, he was a rookie of the year. And that's it. That's what he's done. He's got some Pro Bowls. And a lot of dudes that, I mean, there are dudes that make, look, you can't tell me about Pro Bowl and then tell me, hey, Shudor Sanders is in the Pro Bowl.

Well, once Shudur Sanders gets voted into the Pro Bowl, the Pro Bowls don't really matter. What's your all pro number? How many times were you an all pro? How many times? Those are important questions. You got a couple of those from Rothesberger. Actually, I take that back.

I don't believe he was ever an all pro. So you have to start looking at, and I'm trying to bog people down with numbers. But in any sport, we can't keep diluting these halls of fame by putting in marginal dudes because we don't want to hurt people's feelings or because the internet tells us or their fanboys say they should be. That's not the way this whole thing should operate. The way this whole thing should operate is you put in people who are truly, legends of the game. I don't think Matt Stafford is a legend of the game.

Matt Stafford's a very good player. I would not put Matt Stafford in the Hall of Fame. I would not put Ben Rothlisberger, who won two Super Bowls. I would not put Ben Rothlessberger in the Hall of Fame. Would you like to know how many times Matt Stafford ever led the league in anything? This year, 4,700 passing yards. That is the only time he has ever led the league in anything of significance. It is okay to be in the Hall of Very Good.

It is okay to not be an all-timer. It is okay to be someone that people look back on and question, boy, what if? But we can't just keep throwing everybody in. I mean, Bree's obvious. Then you start getting to the people who are slightly more interesting and debatable, but if your first instinct does not, hey, that guy's in, then he's probably not in. And the only reason we're still talking about Eli is because he's Eli and because his name is Manning. That's it.

I'm curious about Roma. Romo's not a Hall of Famer. like, like, Romo went to four Pro Bowls. He was a, you know, a third in the MVP race in 2014. Right. So, like, again, like, I'm not telling you that Romo's a Hall of Famer. He's not. But, like, I'm just looking at this list of the top players in 2013, the top passers.

You know, who could be interesting is Andrew Luck. He's not going to be in because he didn't play all that long. And, you know, he retired really early. He was really freaking good when he played, though, for that short amount of time he played. But big picture, also, Andrew Luck didn't lead the league in anything. He touched downs one year, went to some Pro Bowls, was the offensive player of the year in 2018, and then, you know, was done. So he's obviously not going to be a Hall of Famer, but like he would have been an interesting one, you know,

because I think a guy won 53 games, lost 33 of them in his career, you know, but injuries killed him. But again, that's a what if. That's more of a what if. You know who's going to be interesting, too, right? Like this, I'm intrigued by this. if you're looking at like trajectory, right? And that's kind of like who's going to do what. If you start looking at Jalen Hertz, I know it sounds ridiculous,

but you start thinking about Jalen Hertz. You talk about Super Bowls. Guy's been to two of them. He's won one of them. He's been the MVP of the Super Bowl. He's never been a guy that's led the league in anything. But oh, by the way, he's 57 and 25 in his career. Oh, by the way, his completion percentage is 65%.

Oh, by the way, the way he's trending right now, he averages 3,200 yards of games or 3,200 yards of season, guy throws for, you know, 20 a year, but he also runs for a good number of them. So, like, if Jalen hurts, and this is what's wild when you think about Jalen Hertz, because, like, people are willing to run him out of town and say, this guy's better, this guy's better, and that's why he's such an enigma in such an interesting discussion. But Jalen hurts on the path he is on right now, even if he never gets back to another Super Bowl. the last four years of his career

14 and 1 11 and 6 12 and 3 11 and 5 like this guy's if he continues down this path guy's a Hall of Famer right with the numbers he's going to put up depending on how long it goes now he may never play again maybe they'll say we actually think you suck

see you later that's possible too but it is like his will be one that's interesting because he's not been the MVP he was MVP runner up one year He's been to some Pro Bowls, but Pro Bowls don't matter. You know, he was a player of the year top three once. But what happens? I mean, the dude's been to two Super Bowls.

One of them, won the MVP in the Super Bowl. So his will be interesting, but who knows what's going to happen? Who knows if they just decide to part ways with him? I am forever enthralled by the story of Jalen Hertz. His story is one that's going to go down as one of the most fascinating stories ever. But anyway, more to come. Thank you.