Capping off USA TODAY High School Sports’ look at some of the greatest quarterbacks in high school football history, we’re ranking the five best QBs to come out of the Western region of the United States.
These QBs played for schools from the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. All high school stats are courtesy of Max Preps.
An arguable note: seven-time Super Bowl champion and the sport’s all-time greatest competitor Tom Brady played for Junipero Serra (Calif.) but is excluded because he didn’t truly become Tom Brady until he was already in the NFL – and these rankings are all about how the players performed in high school.
More All-time HS QB rankings:
East region
Southeast region
Midwest region
Southwest region
1
John Elway – Granada Hills (Calif.) 1978
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Now a household name for football fans, Elway got his start playing for Granada Hills (Calif.) in high school after transferring from Pullman (Wash). He won All-Los Angeles City Section honors in his Junior year. In college he played for Stanford, winning Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1982. He was picked No. 1 overall in the draft by the Baltimore Colts the following year. However, Elway forced a trade to the Denver Broncos, where he made nine Pro Bowls and won two Super Bowls. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the class of 2004.
2
Terry Baker – Jefferson (Ore.) 1958
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Baker played his high school ball at Jefferson, where he led his team to two consecutive undefeated seasons and national titles in 1957 and 1958. At the next level he played for Oregon State and won the 1962 Heisman trophy. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the next year’s NFL draft but wound up only starting four games in three seasons with the Rams.
3
Pat Haden – Bishop Amat (Calif.) 1970
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At one point Haden was the nation’s all-time HS passing leader with 7,633 total passing yards. Like Leinart, he went on to play for USC at the college level, winning three national championships. Leinart was only a seventh-round draft pick coming into the NFL, but he managed to stick around for six seasons, posting a 35-19-1 record and making the Pro Bowl in 1977.
4
Matt Leinart – Mater Dei (Calif.)
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Leinart played QB at Mater Dei, still one of the top high school football teams in the country. He led the Monarchs to a Southern Section championship, then won the Heisman and a national championship at USC. The Arizona Cardinals made him the No. 10 overall pick in the draft and he went on to play 33 games in the NFL between several different teams.
5
Max Browne: Skyline (Wash.) 2012
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Browne led Skyle to three straight Washington state championships, throwing for a total of 12,951 yards and 146 touchdowns. Browne also went to USC for college, serving as a backup behind eventual top-three NFL draft pick Sam Darnold then transferring to Pitt for his Senior year.
