Elite QBs are franchise QBs with consistency. Elite QBs (Peyton, Brady, Brees, Rodgers) are going to be in the playoffs and competing for super bowls almost every year.

 

Franchise QBs (Eli, Flacco, Romo, Cutler, Stafford) also have that extra gear in them to carry a team to a victory and to an occasional super bowl if they get clicking at the right time.

 

BONUS TIER:

QB purgatory (Dalton, Schaub, Alex Smith, Mark Sanchez) is the worst kind. Good enough to win a bunch of regular season games and often 'lead' a team to the playoffs if surrounded by good talent, but not good enough to carry a team to a super bowl. Also, not bad enough to get you a top pick to get a franchise QB prospect. Usually misleads a team into giving them a big second contract that the team regrets quickly. At least a good half decade of franchise potential wasted.

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