Comparing Peyton Manning's Teammates to Brett Favre's and Tom Brady's Teammates

Who has had it better when it comes to teammates over their career, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? The answer to that most likely depends on your perspective and biases. But to try to test it, I looked back at all starters in every year where they were each the starting quarterback. I also added Brett Favre, who should be selected for the Hall of Fame tonight in his first year eligible.

It may surprise you that Tom Brady has a slight lead in both categories. Favre comes in with the worst set of teammates by this measure. Favre’s best set of teammates, if you go by Pro Bowlers and All Pros, was his first year in Minnesota in 2009, when he had four (Adrian Peterson, Steve Hutchinson, Jared Allen, and Kevin Williams) and eight–including those four–that made the Pro Bowl. The most he had in Green Bay was three All Pros (1998) and five Pro Bowlers (multiple years).

For Brady, it shouldn’t surprise you that 2007 rates the highest, with four All-Pros and seven Pro Bowl selections. For Peyton Manning, the peak year was 2005 (three all-pros and seven pro bowlers).

But not all pro bowlers are equal. It can be reputational. Some players might be good players who weren’t recognized as such yet. Some might have had a slightly off-year statistically or missed a few games, but were otherwise still great players. To test that, I also looked at teammates’ entire careers, and the following chart has three levels of teammates. First is those that made a pro bowl at some point, whether with the QB or not. Second level is those that were selected all-pro at least once, or made at least 3 pro bowls. And finally, the elite players, those selected all-pro at least three times in their careers and/or made 5 pro bowls.

Here is a summary of the number of times that those types of teammates played with each per year.

This one is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Manning played with more elite players per year than the other two. From Marvin Harrison to Reggie Wayne to Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, the Colts had some stars. But the depth of good players (those who would make a pro bowl at some point) was way behind the other two.

Favre was the opposite–fewer Hall of Fame type contenders and elite players over the course of his career, but more “pretty good” players. Brady falls in between those two on the spectrum. He averaged 0.5 fewer elite stars, but just over 1.5 more pro bowl types.