Greatest quarterback debate continues

Fans love to debate who was the greatest this, that or the other, and with Matthew Stafford much in the news of late, the discussion about UGA’s all-time greatest quarterback comes up frequently. The Athens Banner-Herald has put a new twist on the discussion by surveying Bulldog football insiders on Georgia’s greatest quarterback ever. Some of the answers, particularly, Vince Dooley’s, may surprise you. The overall winner in the ABH survey is David Greene, the winningest QB in NCAA history, followed by sentimental choice Buck Belue (a national championship is hard to trump), Fran Tarkenton, Charley Trippi (yeah, he played quarterback as well as halfback), Johnny Rauch, Eric Zeier, D.J. Shockley and Stafford. If I’m pinned down on the subject, I have to equivocate a little by saying it depends on whether you’re talking Georgia’s greatest college quarterback or greatest quarterback, period. As a college QB, I don’t think you can argue with the cool reliability and winning record of Greenie, so I’d go along with the results of the survey. But if you take their entire career as a quarterback into consideration, not just their time in Athens, I don’t see any way Tarkenton doesn’t top the list by a mile. Feel free to continue the debate. …

Elsewhere, USA Today says that if Stafford is the Detroit Lions’ first-round draft pick, history is stacked against him. … The Diamond Dogs suffered a rare road loss at Jacksonville State Wednesday, going down 9-7. That’s only their third loss on the road so far this season. The other two were also in the state of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. Let’s hope Perno’s Pups get over their problems with that state before the SEC tournament in May in Hoover. Meanwhile, the road gets tougher this weekend with three games against a tough Ole Miss team.