Who is the best quarterback to come out of Texas High School football? We did a poll back 2 years ago, and the winner, by a lot, was Sammy Baugh. This past year, we’ve seen the topic debated a lot and we thought we’d share the list again and have a vote.
*NOTE: This list, and your vote, is based on their NFL career, not how well they played in high school. For that reason, you won’t see names on here like Kyler Murray (though in a few years he might make the list). Currently, there does seem to be an obvious top 5.
Top 5 NFL QB’s All-Time From Texas
Drew Brees: Westlake High School / Austin, Texas
When we asked on social media who is the best QB ever from Texas, Drew Brees was mentioned by far the most. Brees was the first NFL QB to pass for over 80,000 yards and currently is second all-time to Tom Brady with 80,358 yards passing. He was the first QB to surpass 80,000 yards. He is second all-time in passing touchdowns, to Tom Brady, with 571. He is third all-time in passer rating, behind Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson. He is the all-time leader in both pass attempts and completions. Brees has one Super Bowl win and Super Bowl MVP (Super Bowl XLIV). He has made 13 Pro Bowls and was 1 First-Team All-Pro. He has led the league in passing yards 7 times and passing touchdowns 4 times. He has 4 of the top 10 all-time most passing yards seasons.
Patrick Mahomes: White House High School / Whitehouse, Texas
It may be too early to consider Patrick Mahomes the best quarterback ever from Texas because his career has not been long enough, but he’ll be a contender in a few more years and does have some accolades that others on this list do not have. Mahomes has one Super Bowl win and one Super Bowl MVP (Super Bowl LIV) and led his team to a second Super Bowl. He was the 2018 NFL MVP (Drew Brees has never won an MVP). He has matched Drew Brees in First-Team All-Pro selections with one. In 2018, he threw 50 touchdown passes. He is a 4-time Pro-Bowler and one-time NFL Passing leader.
Bobby Layne: Highland Park High School / Dallas, Texas
The former Texas Longhorn, Bobby Layne played in the NFL for 14 years. He played one year with the Chicago Bears in 1948 then the New York Bulldogs in 1949. He then most notably played for the Detroit Lions from 1950-58 in which he won 3 NFL Championships. He finished his career playing 4 years with the Pittsburgh Stealers. He was First-Team All-Pro 3 times and made 6 Pro Bowls. He was also a kicker, leading the league in field goal accuracy in 1956 and 1957.
Sammy Baugh: Sweetwater High School / Sweetwater, Texas
Baugh was perhaps the first great passing QB in pro football. He won our 2019 poll for the Texas QB Goat. He was the Washington Redskins quarterback from 1937-52. He also played defensive back and was a punter. As a Punter, he has the all-time single-season yards per punt average at 51.4 yards, perhaps the longest-standing NFL record. He led the league in punting yards 5 times, and on defense, he led the NFL in interceptions with 11 in 1943. As a QB, he has the all-time record for most passer rating titles with 6. He was first-team All-Pro 6 times and won 2 NFL Championships. Also worth noting, in college, at TCU, Baugh was the start of the Football, Basketball and Baseball team. He got his nickname, “Slingin’ Sammy,” while playing baseball, not football.
Y.A. Tittle: Marshall High School / Marshall, Texas
Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr., known as “Y.A.” held every passing record in the books when he retired in 1964. He was a 7-time Pro-Bowler, 4-time all-pro first-team, one-time AP Player of the Year, and one-tine NFL Player of the year (the last two are an equivalent of him being a 2-time NFL MVP). He is tied for the record for most passing touchdowns in one game with 7. He led the NY Giants to three straight NFL Championships games but was never able to win one. He led several of the most prolific offensive teams in NFL history. Little known fact, he coined the phrase, “alley-oop,” a play in which the QB throws the ball to a player who jumps up in the air to catch it. The phrase later became more popular in basketball.
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by KP Kelly, Kevin Kelly, K.P. Kelly
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