Where Does Denard Robinson Rank Among Michigan's 20 Best QBs Ever?

We recently put together a list of the top 10 most important players on the 2012 Michigan Wolverines roster. Of course, the No. 1 player ended up being quarterback Denard Robinson. After all, he is the guy that makes this offense go and has been the leader of the squad for the last two seasons.

But as of right now, where would he rank all-time among Michigan quarterbacks?

The Wolverines have had a ton of success over the years, and many great teams have been led by some very accomplished quarterbacks.

Although Robinson does have another season left to move up this list, here are the top 20 quarterbacks in Michigan history, including No. 16.

20. Stanley Fay

Stanley Fay played for the Wolverines from 1931-1933 and was a key member of the offense. He began his career as a running back, often running over opposing defenders and scoring many touchdowns. He was the key player for the 1932 undefeated national championship team.

In 1933, Fay moved to the quarterback position and made the easy transition, helping lead Michigan to another undefeated season and national championship.

19. Forest Evashevski

Forest Evashevski played quarterback for the Wolverines from 1938-1940. The problem is that the quarterback position was a little different back then, mainly including duties such as calling signals and blocking for the running back. Evashevski helped lead the way for running back Tom Harmon, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1940.

Evashevski was the definition of a leader, once making head coach Fritz Crisler run a lap because he was five minutes late to practice. Yeah, try doing that in today's world.

The Wolverines finished with a combined 20-4 record during the time Evashevski was the quarterback and went on to win the Big Ten Medal, which went to the best senior student-athlete.

18. Don Moorhead

Don Moorhead was the starting quarterback during the 1969 and 1970 seasons under head coach Bo Schembechler. He led the Wolverines to a 17-4 record as a starter and finished his career with 24 Michigan records under his belt, including most passes completed and most passing yards.

17. Howard Yerges

Howard Yerges had a chance to be on both sides of the fence, as he began his collegiate career at Ohio State, before transferring to Michigan in 1944 before the academic year. He began his Michigan career in 1945, leading the Wolverines to victories over Minnesota and Ohio State in replacing an injured Joseph Ponsetto.

In 1947, Yerges was selected to the First Team All-Big Ten and made sure his last game at Michigan in 1948 was a 49-0 blowout victory in the Rose Bowl over USC.

16. Todd Collins

Todd Collins only started two seasons for the Michigan Wolverines, but he made up for lost time. He won both bowl games as a starter in 1993 and 1994 and finished his career with a 64.3 completion percentage, which is the best in Michigan history and second in Big Ten history. He also had 14 games were he threw for over 200 yards, which was the most of any other Wolverine quarterback at that point in the program's history.

Collins threw for over 5,000 yards and 37 touchdowns throughout his four-year career at Michigan.

15. John Wangler

John Wangler played very little his first three seasons at Michigan. He was a backup for two seasons behind Rick Leach and then missed the entire 1978 season due to a pinched nerve in his neck.

In 1979, Wangler was still splitting time with B.J. Dickey, but it was Wangler who will go down in Michigan history.

It was in 1979, a game against an unranked Indiana team. The game was tied at 21 with only six seconds left on the clock. Wangler dropped back and hit a wide-open Anthony Carter, who ended up avoiding three tackles to high step into the end zone. Game over. It is a play that every Michigan fan has seen a thousand times.

Wrangler finished his short career with 2,986 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.

14. Pete Elliott

Pete Elliott was a football player, basketball player and played golf as well. During the four years he played football, the Wolverines finished with a 32-5-1 record, including the 1948 season, where he quarterbacked the team to a national championship.

With all of Elliott's athletic ability, he later became a head coach of teams such as Nebraska, Illinois and Miami. He was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

13. Tom Brady

When Tom Brady first enrolled at Michigan, he was listed seventh on the depth chart. He fought his way to the top and became a starter in the 1998 and 1999 seasons. He was an honorable mention All-Big 12 in both seasons and finished his career with a 20-5 record as a starter. He threw for over 5,000 yards and 35 touchdowns throughout his career.

The last game of his Michigan career was a 2000 Orange Bowl victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime. Brady threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns while completing 74 percent of his passes.

He is now considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time in NFL history.

12. Brian Griese

Brian Griese was not offered a scholarship from Michigan, so he walked on and had a very successful career. Often benched behind Scott Dreisbach, Griese saw very little playing time, except for when the starter got hurt in 1995.

Although in 1997, Griese managed to beat out Tom Brady for the starting position and led the Wolverines to a 12-0 record and a share for the national championship. He finished that season with 2,293 passing yards and 17 touchdowns while winning the Rose Bowl MVP.

Griese finished his career with a 17-5 record and went a perfect 3-0 against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

11. John Navarre

What did John Navarre not do during his career at Michigan?

He had to fight off quarterbacks such as Tom Brady and Drew Henson who were on the roster, which is a great accomplishment in itself. He started for three years at Michigan and held nearly every passing record imaginable when he was finished.

Navarre led the Wolverines to a Big Ten title in 2003 and was also the quarterback behind the biggest comeback in school history, a 21-point deficit against Minnesota.

10. Robert Timberlake

If you look at Robert Timberlake's numbers throughout his three-year career and compare them to today's numbers, they wouldn't look impressive at all. Timberlake finished his Michigan career with only 1,579 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns and 910 rushing yards. But it wasn't about the numbers with this guy; it was the fact he was a leader on and off the field and also participated heavily in special teams.

In 1964, Timberlake led the Wolverines to a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl victory and was also named a first team All-American.

9. Denard Robinson

I'm not sure Michigan has ever had a quarterback as talented as Denard Robinson is. He does it all offensively for this team, as he has been the leading rusher and passer for this team the last two seasons. In his three-year career, Robinson has thrown for 4,931 yards, rushed for 3,229 and scored 75 total touchdowns.

He holds several Big Ten records, NCAA records and school records, including most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback and total offense in a single game.

Robinson is one of the more exciting players this game has ever seen, and he has a great chance to continue to move up this list with a fantastic senior season in 2012.

8. Chad Henne

Chad Henne has not had a great NFL career so far, but that doesn't take away what he accomplished at Michigan. He holds the school records for pass attempts, passing yards and passing touchdowns. His 87 career passing touchdowns are second in Big Ten history. In 2006, Henne made the All-Big Ten second team.

Due to Henne's individual achievements, he may be a little higher on this list, but the fact that he was never able to beat Ohio State and was 1-3 in bowl games really hurts his overall career numbers.

7. Elvis Grbac

There are only two wide receivers in the history of college football to win the Heisman Trophy; the Wolverines have one of them in Desmond Howard. The quarterback that helped him earn that award was Elvis Grbac in 1991. That season, Grbac threw for 2,085 yards, 25 touchdowns and completed 65 percent of his passes.

Grbac led the Wolverines to two straight Rose Bowl appearances and retied as the Michigan leader in pass attempts, passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions.

6. Harry Newman

Harry Newman is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and for good reason. He led the Wolverines to a 24-1-2 record throughout his three years of play, including an undefeated season and national championship victory in 1932. That season, he also won the Douglas Fairbanks Trophy, which today, is known as the Heisman Trophy.

5. Bob Chappuis

Bob Chappuis did a little bit of everything for the Wolverines back in the 40s. He was listed as a quarterback and running back, but played a little bit of receiver as well. He finished his career with over 1,000 rushing yards and over 2,000 passing yards. He led the Wolverines in total offense in 1942, had to serve the country in World War II, came back in 1946 and continued the lead the team in total offense.

You may not consider Chappuis a true quarterback, but for somebody as valuable to this team and who threw the ball 225 times throughout his career, he deserves to be on this list.

4. Dennis Franklin

Dennis Franklin deserves to be high on this list just because of his 30-2-1 career record alone. Then, you throw in the fact he led his team to three top 10 finishes and three Big Ten titles, and Franklin will forever go down in Michigan history.

The dual-threat quarterback finished his three year career with 1,212 rushing yards, 2,285 passing yards and finished sixth in the Heisman voting in 1974. Franklin was the quarterback for some of the best teams ever put together in Ann Arbor.

3. Jim Harbaugh

You may know Jim Harbaugh as a successful head coach for Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers, but he was great before all that. Harbaugh started three seasons as quarterback for Michigan, throwing for over 5,000 yards and 31 career touchdowns. He was an All-American selection in 1986 and led the Wolverines to a 10-1-1 record in 1985, when Michigan finished No. 2 in the polls.

His 62.4 completion percentage is good for third in school history, and his passing efficiency was an NCAA record that stood for 12 years.

2. Rick Leach

Rick Leach started all four seasons under head coach Bo Schembechler and led the Wolverines to a 38-8-2 record. He was a three-time All Big Ten selection and was a Heisman candidate three times despite never winning the award.

Leach threw for over 4,000 yards and rushed for over 2,000 throughout his career. He set Big Ten records for total offense, touchdown passes, along with setting a Michigan record for most total touchdowns, with 82.

Leach also played baseball and ending up playing nine years in the Major Leagues with teams such as the Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.

1. Benny Friedman

Friedman played from 1924-1926 and is the only Michigan quarterback to be an All-American selection two times. He led the Wolverines to a 7-1 record twice and two first-place Big Ten finishes. He was considered by many to be the greatest passer of his era and was named to both the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Friedman was also the kicker for the Wolverines, which served them well in the 1926 game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The quarterback ended up throwing for two touchdowns in that game and then nailed a 46-yard game-winning field goal.