Who is better, Tarkenton or Thomas?
Fran Tarkenton leads with a GOAT score of 81.9 against 81.8 for Thurman Thomas — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Tarkenton vs Thomas
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Fran Tarkenton above Thurman Thomas: 81.9 vs 81.8. Fran Tarkenton leads on Longevity, Dominance. Thurman Thomas leads on Honours, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
TarkentonWinner
81.9Tarkenton wins: Dominance, Longevity
Thomas
81.8Thomas wins: Peak, Honours
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/fran-tarkenton-vs-thurman-thomas
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Fran Tarkenton
81.9
Tarkenton leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Fran Tarkenton
2. Thurman Thomas
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Fran Tarkenton5 seasons played · career day 1,82512,018 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Thurman Thomas5 seasons played · career day 1,8266,316 touchdowns
-47.4% vs Tarkenton at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Tarkenton | 0 | 0 | 1,997 | 4,592 | 12,018 | 23,140 |
| 🇺🇸 Thomas | 0 | 0 | 881 | 2,125 | 4,829 | 10,762 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Tarkenton81.9
Thomas81.8
FAQ
Where does Thomas beat Tarkenton?
Thomas scores higher on peak, honours. Tarkenton leads on dominance, longevity.
How is the Tarkenton vs Thomas score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Tarkenton: 81.9, Thomas: 81.8.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Tarkenton vs Thomas. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.