"Every example you cite in your post comes from the NFL of yester-year. It's fool's gold to try to compare QBs of the ground and pound era and the new high flying NFL we're seeing todayThe game has changed. It's a passing league now. QBs are putting up RIDICULOUS numbers. Why? Is it because these QBs are better than the Kelly's, Montana's, and Youngs? Maybe some are. But it has way more to do with the nature of the game. Kelly played in a time where a DB could literally rape the WR he was covering, punch his mother in face and still not get called for a penalty. Now, if a DB breathes on a WR it's an automatic first down."
Wouldn't the reasons you cite make it easier to be a QB in today's NFL? Therefore one could conclude that those QBs of "yester-year" had to be better? Would Brady be in the same conversation with Unitas if he had to take the kind of hits Unitas did?