Dallas Cowboys: Top 15 Quarterbacks All-Time

Dallas Cowboys Greatest Quarterbacks: Number Six – Craig Morton (1965-74, 47 starts)

Totaling 10,279 yards in parts of 10 seasons (47 starts, 101 games), Craig Morton was a very quality player in his time with the Cowboys organization.

He made things tough for head coach Tom Landry to decide at times as to who deserved to be the starting quarterback for “America’s Team” between himself and Roger Staubach, but from 1967-72, Morton made at least one start each season. In ’69, Morton made 13 starts, and he followed that with 11 starts in ’70. Then, in ’72, he also made 14 starts for the Cowboys.

The Morton and Staubach quarterback indecision of the ’70s is a great tale of the Cowboys’ history

Morton’s greatest season with the Cowboys came in the aforementioned ’69 season, where he went 10-2-1 as a starter, finishing with 2,619 yards on 162 completions. That season, he totaled 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

He also averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt and 16.2 yards per completion. The following season in 11 starts (14 games), he increased that ypc percentage to 17.8.

The Morton and Staubach quarterback indecision of the ’70s is a great tale of the Cowboys’ history, and it shows how solid of a player he was if he was able to force Coach Landry to go into a lot of seasons not knowing exactly who he wanted to be his starting quarterback.

Eventually, Morton lost out to Staubach for the full-time starter’s role and went to the New York Giants and later the Denver Broncos. Morton faced his former Cowboys teammates in Super Bowl XII while with the Broncos, where he and the Broncos lost to the Doomsday Defense of the Cowboys.

Morton retired following the ’82 season at the age of 39 after playing a total of 18 seasons in the league.

Next: Cowboys All-Time QBs: No. 5