John Elway is a Hall of Fame quarterback whose career earned a strong career value score of 78 in the Knox value model. Elway's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
Career Value · VORP
479 career value over replacement — #25 all-time of 4,695. 29.9/season above a replacement-level QB.
Pick #1 (Rd 1) · BAL · 1983 · +14.7 vs expected KV-H
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Season totals or exact team stints. Career totals count each season once.
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Y/A | AdjY/A | TD:INT | Rate | Sk | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | |||||
| 1983 | 23 | DEN | 11 | — | 123 | 259 | 47.5% | 1,663 | 7 | 14 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 54.9 | — | 28 | 146 | 1 | 5.2 | 3.6 | — | — | — |
| 1984 | 24 | DEN | 15 | — | 214 | 380 | 56.3% | 2,598 | 18 | 15 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 6.0 | 1.2 | 76.8 | — | 56 | 237 | 1 | 4.2 | 1.8 | — | — | — |
| 1985 | 25 | DEN | 16 | — | 327 | 605 | 54.0% | 3,891 | 22 | 23 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 1.0 | 70.2 | — | 51 | 253 | 0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1986 | 26 | DEN | 16 | — | 280 | 504 | 55.6% | 3,485 | 19 | 13 | 3.8 | 2.6 | 6.9 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 79.0 | — | 52 | 257 | 1 | 4.9 | 1.9 | — | — | — |
| 1987 | 27 | DEN | 12 | — | 224 | 410 | 54.6% | 3,198 | 19 | 12 | 4.6 | 2.9 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 83.4 | — | 66 | 304 | 4 | 4.6 | 6.1 | — | — | — |
| 1988 | 28 | DEN | 15 | — | 274 | 496 | 55.2% | 3,309 | 17 | 19 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 71.4 | — | 54 | 234 | 1 | 4.3 | 1.9 | — | — | — |
| 1989 | 29 | DEN | 15 | — | 223 | 416 | 53.6% | 3,051 | 18 | 18 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 7.3 | 6.3 | 1.0 | 73.7 | — | 48 | 244 | 3 | 5.1 | 6.3 | — | — | — |
| 1990 | 30 | DEN | 16 | — | 294 | 502 | 58.6% | 3,526 | 15 | 14 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 7.0 | 6.4 | 1.1 | 78.5 | — | 50 | 258 | 3 | 5.2 | 6.0 | — | — | — |
| 1991 | 31 | DEN | 16 | — | 242 | 451 | 53.7% | 3,253 | 13 | 12 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 75.4 | — | 55 | 255 | 6 | 4.6 | 10.9 | — | — | — |
| 1992 | 32 | DEN | 12 | — | 174 | 316 | 55.1% | 2,242 | 10 | 17 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 65.7 | — | 34 | 94 | 2 | 2.8 | 5.9 | — | — | — |
| 1993 | 33 | DEN | 16 | — | 348 | 551 | 63.2% | 4,030 | 25 | 10 | 4.5 | 1.8 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 2.5 | 92.8 | — | 44 | 153 | 0 | 3.5 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1994 | 34 | DEN | 14 | — | 307 | 494 | 62.1% | 3,490 | 16 | 10 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 7.1 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 85.7 | — | 58 | 235 | 4 | 4.1 | 6.9 | — | — | — |
| 1995 | 35 | DEN | 16 | — | 316 | 542 | 58.3% | 3,970 | 26 | 14 | 4.8 | 2.6 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 1.9 | 86.4 | — | 41 | 176 | 1 | 4.3 | 2.4 | — | — | — |
| 1996 | 36 | DEN | 15 | — | 287 | 466 | 61.6% | 3,328 | 26 | 14 | 5.6 | 3.0 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 89.2 | — | 50 | 249 | 4 | 5.0 | 8.0 | — | — | — |
| 1997 | 37 | DEN | 16 | — | 280 | 502 | 55.8% | 3,635 | 27 | 11 | 5.4 | 2.2 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 87.5 | — | 50 | 218 | 1 | 4.4 | 2.0 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | 38 | DEN | 13 | — | 210 | 356 | 59.0% | 2,806 | 22 | 10 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 2.2 | 93.0 | — | 37 | 94 | 1 | 2.5 | 2.7 | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 234 | — | 4,123 | 7,250 | 56.9% | 51,475 | 300 | 226 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 79.9 | — | 774 | 3,407 | 33 | 4.4 | 4.3 | — | — | — | |
Regular-season all-time ranks
Postseason all-time ranks
An all-time caliber quarterback (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with exceptional availability — almost never missed time. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.
Worth 479 points of value above a freely-available replacement quarterback — top 2% of all 4,695 ranked at the position. 16 of 16 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +29.9 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
16 seasons × ~29.9 surplus ≈ VORP 479
Jake Locker
QB
84% match
1983 Draft ClassmatesFull class →
Season honors and record seasons