Who are the Packers' greatest offensive players since 1950?

[Cheesehead]

Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers?


Already it's an age-old debate and it will likely continue to rage for another generation or more.


Through his weekly preparation, self-discipline, mental toughness and a skill set well suited for Vince Lombardi's offense, basically built around one play, the power sweep, Bart Starr is still the only quarterback ever to win five NFL championships in a decade. But his athleticism and arm strength were limited compared to some of his contemporaries and explained why he didn't receive more personal recognition until near the end of his career.


As a pure passer, Lynn Dickey's velocity, accuracy and touch could match – maybe even surpass – Favre, Rodgers or anyone else whoever played quarterback for the Packers. But Dickey's lack of mobility was partly, if not largely, why he had a 43-56-2 record as a starting quarterback and a 73.8 passer rating in his nine years in Green Bay.


Tobin Rote, the Packers' quarterback from 1950 to 1956, later led Detroit to an NFL championship, San Diego to an American Football League championship while winning league MVP honors in the process and Toronto to a conference championship in the Canadian Football League; and also could throw ropes and run like a fullback at close to 6-foot-3 and probably at least 10 pounds more than his listed weight of 211. But Rote didn't have the accuracy of the other quarterbacks mentioned here.


Favre and Rodgers have taken quarterback play to a new level in Green Bay. In fact, they have taken it to such a stratospheric high, they really should have ended all arguments about anybody else even being considered for the greatest player in Packers history.


Physically, they possessed all the necessary gifts for greatness. Mentally, quarterbacks don't come much more football smart than those two. And what really has separated them, from almost all quarterbacks in NFL history, is the ability to turn a broken play into a big play.


They've done it with contrasting styles. Favre was more spontaneous and unconventional. Rodgers always seems to be under control and maybe that's because arguably no quarterback in league history ever threw the ball more accurately and with more zip while on the move.


Here's another way to look at it.


How many other NFL quarterbacks besides Favre could have taken off on a helter-skelter scramble like he did in the 1993 wild-card game at Detroit before launching his game-winning rainbow to Sterling Sharpe? Or how many besides Rodgers could have thrown the laser beam to Jared Cook into what was literally a postage-stamp-sized window to pull out the 2016 postseason victory in Dallas?


Those were plays only marvelously gifted talents could have made and that's what it should take to be considered among the NFL's greatest of all time.


Charles Woodson said it best in the Packers' 10-part "Legacy" documentary: Favre was a gunslinger; Rodgers, a sharpshooter.


Together, they've won five Associated Press MVP awards in the last 26 years. So take your pick.


Favre is No. 1 here because his career is over and that eliminates the risk of ever having to reverse the order – like a "Dewey Beats Truman" headline – and would only require picking a new No. 1.


Here are my choices for the Packers' top 10 offensive players since 1950 when unlimited substitution was made permanent. The selections were based on the same considerations as the recent list of top 10 defenders.