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The Franchise QBs: Final rankings of the top signal-callers in Lions history

Detroit Lions

We've identified the top all-time quarterbacks for every NFL team and asked our NFL Nation beat reporters -- and you, the fans -- to help us determine each signal-caller's place in franchise history.

What follows is the final ranking of the top quarterbacks in Detroit Lions history, both from our NFL Nation reporter and our final fan polling. 

NFL Nation ranking:

1. Matthew Stafford

2. Bobby Layne

3. Greg Landry

4. Scott Mitchell

5. Gary Danielson

Matthew Stafford and Bobby Layne - are strong quarterbacks. The rest? Meh. Statistically, both Greg Landry and Gary Danielson make sense, yet both were under-.500 in their careers as Lions starting quarterbacks. Bill Munson was barely more than .500 (24-21-3) and the biggest question on this list. A case could be made for Scott Mitchell, the leading passer in two playoff seasons for Detroit - as many as Landry, Munson and Danielson combined. Mitchell is third in Lions history in passing yards (12,647) and fourth in touchdown passes (79). All this really shows, though, is how poor quarterbacking in Detroit has been for years. -- Michael Rothstein


Fan ranking:

All contextual numbers for each quarterback have been provided by ESPN Stats & Information.

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