Ranking the Top 5 Left-Handed Quarterbacks in NFL History (2024)

There has never been an abundance of left-handed quarterbacks throughout the course of NFL history. In fact, only 33 have ever appeared in an NFL game, and only two of those have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A dozen others have been drafted but never saw any regular-season action.

And until Michael Penix Jr. takes Kirk Cousins' job with the Atlanta Falcons, Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins is the only regular lefty starter in the league at the moment.

But while they are rare, a handful of southpaws have shined in the NFL. Three have been named NFL MVP, and two of those three have guided their respective teams to a Super Bowl title, those being the same two who've been enshrined in Canton.

We took a look at every left-handed quarterback in NFL history and compiled a list of the top five based on their overall contributions to the league.

1 Steve Young

Steve Young is a three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time MVP

After spending the early part of his NFL life underperforming and backing up the legendary Joe Montana, Steve Young turned himself into a legend.

A two-time WAC Offensive Player of the Year at BYU, Young played for a brief time with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL but later became the property of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had selected him with the first pick in the supplemental draft in 1984.

Young endured two tough seasons with the Bucs, going 3-16 as a starter and throwing 11 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions in his 19 starts.

When the Buccaneers selected quarterback Vinny Testaverde with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft, Young became expendable. Tampa Bay traded him to the San Francisco 49ers, who brought him in to back up Montana, who'd already won two titles and was on the cusp of winning two more.

From 1987 to 1990, Young made just 10 starts for the Niners but showed plenty of promise by going 7-3. Montana injured his elbow during the 1990 playoffs and missed the entire 1991 season, opening the door for Young, who went 5-5 in 10 starts and led the NFL in passer rating (101.8) for the first of four straight seasons. He injured his knee during the season and missed six starts.

In 1992, with Montana still on the roster, Young had the first of seven straight Pro Bowl seasons, earned the first of three consecutive First-Team All-Pro selections, and won NFL MVP. He went 14-2, led the league in touchdown passes (25) and completion percentage (66.75), and also racked up a career-high 537 rushing yards.

The Niners had seen enough to know they didn't need Montana any longer and dealt him to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 1994, Young earned his second NFL MVP and led the 49ers to a victory over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl 29, throwing a record six touchdowns in the 49-26 romp en route to winning Super Bowl MVP.

Young went 91-33 in his career with the 49ers and was a seven-time Pro Bowler, a six-time All-Pro selection, a six-time passer rating leader, a five-time completion percentage leader, and a four-time touchdown passes leader. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

2 Ken Stabler

Ken Stabler was an NFL MVP and a Super Bowl champion

Ken Stabler was taken in the second round of the 1968 draft by the AFL's Oakland Raiders and became the game's first truly great left-handed quarterback in the years that followed the 1970 merger.

After spending time backing up Daryle Lamonica, Stabler took over the starting job in 1973, going 8-2-1 in his 11 starts and earning the first of his four Pro Bowl selections. He led the NFL in completion percentage that season (62.7%) and threw 14 touchdown passes.

He followed that up with a spectacular 1974 campaign that ended with him leading the league with 26 touchdown passes, helping him earn NFL MVP honors. From 1974 to 1977, Stabler led the Raiders to double-digit-win seasons every year, going an incredible 42-9 in that stretch.

In 1976, Stabler finished third in the MVP voting after going 11-1 and leading the league in completion percentage for a second time (66.7%). He then led the Raiders to a Super Bowl 11 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

After spending 10 years with the Raiders, Stabler played two seasons with the Houston Oilers before finishing his career playing three years with the New Orleans Saints. His career regular-season record as a starter was 96-49-1.

Stabler was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

3 Boomer Esiason

Boomer Esiason was MVP in 1988 and led the Bengals to a berth in the Super Bowl

Like Young and Stabler, Boomer Esiason won an NFL MVP award but never earned a Super Bowl ring, although he took the Cincinnati Bengals to the title game in the 1988 campaign.

Esiason was the first quarterback selected in the 1984 NFL Draft but wasn't taken until the second round at No. 38 overall. He made four starts as a rookie, going 3-1, before taking over as the full-time starter in 1985.

After going 7-7 in '85, Esiason put together a Pro Bowl season in 1986, winning 10 games and throwing for 3,959 yards and 24 touchdown passes. In 1988, Boomer had his career year.

The Bengals won the first six games of the season and ultimately finished 12-4. Esiason was the leader of the NFL's highest-scoring offense, throwing 28 touchdown passes and leading all quarterbacks with a 97.4 rating. With playoff wins over the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills, the Bengals reached Super Bowl 23 to face the 49ers.

The Bengals held a 16-13 lead in the waning minutes, but Joe Montana led a 49ers drive that allowed San Francisco to pull out a 20-16 victory. Despite the Super Bowl loss, Esiason was named MVP of the '88 season.

Esiason left the Bengals after the 1992 season and hooked on with the New York Jets, with whom he had a Pro Bowl season in 1993 despite going 8-8. He played three years with the Jets and then played a year with the Arizona Cardinals before returning to Cincinnati for one final season with the Bengals in 1997.

Esiason finished his career with an 80-93 regular-season record but threw for 37,920 yards, the most of any left-handed quarterback in NFL history.

4 Michael Vick

Michael Vick became the first QB to ever rush for 1,000 yards in a season

Michael Vick proved to be dangerous with both his arm and his legs. Arguably the best running quarterback the NFL has ever seen, Vick rushed for more than 6,000 yards in his career and became the first NFL quarterback to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season in 2006, when he also threw for 2,412 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Vick changed the game with his explosive speed and his rocket arm. The top pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, the Virginia Tech alum was selected by the Atlanta Falcons and became the full-time starter in 2002. He had a Pro Bowl season that year, going 8-6-1 and throwing for 2,936 yards and 16 touchdowns, also rushing for 777 yards and adding eight TDs on the ground.

In 2004, Vick went 11-4 in his 15 starts and finished second in the MVP voting after throwing for 2,313 yards and tossing 14 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 902 yards and three touchdowns. In 2006, as mentioned, Vick ran for a career-high 1,039 yards.

Vick then famously missed the next two seasons for his role in a dogfighting operation but returned to the NFL in 2009 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2010, he earned his fourth Pro Bowl season, going 8-3 and earning Comeback Player of the Year.

Following his time in Philly, Vick had one-year stints with the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers and ended his career with a 61-51-1 regular-season record.

5 Mark Brunell

Mark Brunell turned the expansion Jaguars into an instant contender

Mark Brunell faced a tough task when he came to the Jacksonville Jaguars from the Green Bay Packers in 1995, but he had plenty of success. After watching him back up Brett Favre in Green Bay for a year, the expansion Jaguars traded for Brunell, who turned the new franchise into an instant contender.

In Jacksonville's second year of play, Brunell led the Jags to a second-place finish in what was then the AFC Central with a 9-7 mark, earning a Pro Bowl selection by leading the NFL with 4,367 passing yards while completing 63.4% of his passes.

For the next three seasons, Brunell led the Jags to a winning record and they won the division in both 1998 and 1999. In '99, the lefty led Jacksonville to a berth in the AFC Championship Game, doing so by helping his team to a 62-7 blowout over the Miami Dolphins in the Divisional Round. The Jags lost the AFC title game to the Tennessee Titans.

After going 3-7 as a starter in his first season with Jacksonville, Brunell went 41-17 from 1996 to 1999 and earned three Pro Bowl selections.

Brunell remained with the Jaguars through the 2003 season after Byron Leftwich took over as the starting quarterback. He played eight more years with three different teams, most notably four seasons with the team now known as the Washington Commanders, and finished his career with a regular-season record of 78-73.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.