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All Atlanta Falcons Starting QBs: Complete List

Theo

In 1965, the Atlanta Falcons were born when the NFL awarded ownership to Rankin Smith Sr., executive vice president of Life Insurance Company of Georgia.

Since then, it’s no coincidence that the Falcons have spent much of their storied history looking for more than just insurance at the game’s most important position: quarterback. Atlanta has had some talented passers within the organization, but only five of them have ever thrown for more than 10,000 yards in their Falcons careers.

Of course, the all-time great of the bunch is Matt Ryan, who leads the franchise in passing yards with an impressive 59,735. Ryan also ranks No. 1 in franchise history with 367 touchdown passes, 120 wins, 5,242 completions and over 269 passing yards per game.

But what about the other players? It’s easy for fans to remember someone like Ryan, and even players like Michael Vick or Steve Bartkowski. What about all the other players who started a game under center for Atlanta? There have been quite a few, so let’s take a little trip down memory lane.

To make things easier, we’ve broken down the story by decade. Let’s go back to where it all began.

Falcons starting quarterbacks from 1966 to 1969

Name (seniority at ATL)

Start this decade (career begins with ATL)

Randy Johnson (1966-1970)

35 (37)

Dennis Claridge (1966)

3 (3)

Terry Nofsinger (1967)

1 (1)

Steve Sloan (1966-1967)

1 (1)

Bob Berry (1968-1972)

14 (50)

Bruce Lemmerman (1968-1969)

2 (2)

Fun fact: Randy Johnson’s middle name is “Klaus.”

Falcons starting quarterbacks from 1970 to 1979

Name (seniority at ATL)

Start this decade (career begins with ATL)

Bob Berry (1968-1972)

36 (50)

Randy Johnson (1966-1970)

2 (37)

Dick Shiner (1971, 1973)

8 (8)

Pat Sullivan (1972-1975)

4 (4)

Kim McQuilken (1974-1977)

7 (7)

Steve Bartkowski (1975-1985)

50 (121)

Scott Hunter (1976-1977)

13 (13)

June Jones (1977-1980, 1981)

5 (5)

Fun Fact: Bob Berry threw one more touchdown (57) than interceptions (56) during his time in Atlanta.

Falcons starting quarterbacks from 1980 to 1989

Name (seniority at ATL)

Start this decade (career begins with ATL)

Steve Bartkowski (1975-1985)

71 (121)

Mike Moroski (1979-1984)

7 (7)

David Archer (1984-1987)

23 (23)

The Turk Schonert (1986)

5 (5)

Scott Campbell (1986-1990)

9 (11)

Erik Kramer (1987)

2 (2)

Chris Miller (1987-1993)

30 (66)

Jeff Van Raaphorst (1987)

1 (1)

Steve Dils (1988)

3 (3)

Hugh Millen (1988-1990)

1 (3)

Fun fact: Steve Bartkowski once led the league in touchdown passes (31) in 1980 and completion percentage (67.3) in 1984.

Falcons starting quarterbacks from 1990 to 1999

Name (seniority at ATL)

Start this decade (career begins with ATL)

Chris Miller (1987-1993)

36 (66)

Hugh Millen (1988-1990)

2 (3)

Scott Campbell (1986-1990)

2 (11)

Billy Joe Tolliver (1991–1993, 1997)

10 (10)

Wade Wilson (1992)

3 (3)

Bobby Hébert (1993-1996)

25 (25)

Jeff George (1994-1996)

35 (35)

Tony Graziani (1997-1999)

5 (5)

Steve DeBerg (1998)

1 (1)

Danny Kanell (1999-2000)

3 (8)

Chris Chandler (1997-2001)

40 (67)

Fun Fact: Chris Chandler made the only two Pro Bowls of his career while with the Falcons in 1997 and 1998. Those two seasons were also the only ones where Chandler threw at least 20 touchdown passes.

Falcons starting quarterbacks from 2000 to 2009

Name (seniority at ATL)

Start this decade (career begins with ATL)

Chris Chandler (1997-2001)

27 (67)

Doug Johnson (2000-2003)

11 (11)

Danny Kanell (1999-2000)

5 (8)

Michael Vick (2001-2006)

67 (67)

Kurt Kittner (2003)

4 (4)

Matt Schaub (2004-2006, 2016, 2018-2020)

2 (3)

Joey Harrington (2007)

10 (10)

Chris Redman (2007, 2009-2011)

6 (6)

Byron Leftwich (2007)

2 (2)

Matt Ryan (2008-2021)

30 (222)

Fun fact: Michael Vick previously held the NFL single-season rushing record by a quarterback with 1,039 in 2006, before Lamar Jackson passed him in 2019 (1,206 yards).

Falcons starting quarterbacks from 2010 to 2019

Name (seniority at ATL)

Start this decade (career begins with ATL)

Matt Ryan (2008-2021)

192 (222)

Matt Schaub (2004-2006, 2016, 2018-2020)

1 (3)

Fun Fact: Matt Ryan was an iron man, missing only three games in his entire career with the Falcons.

*All information presented was compiled from the Sports Reference database

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