GGOATRANK
AthletesTeams

Kelly vs Dierdorf

Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.

GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
KellyWinner
84.8

Kelly wins: Dominance, Honours, Statistics

Dierdorf
84.8

Dierdorf wins: Peak, Longevity

Candidates
Locked to American Football

Shareable URL · /compare/jim-kelly-vs-dan-dierdorf

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Jim Kelly
84.8

Kelly leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Led Buffalo to four straight Super Bowls with the K-Gun offence.

1. Jim Kelly
84.8
2. Dan Dierdorf
84.8

Category breakdown

Season form · Touchdowns per season

Career timeline · Touchdowns 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 · Touchdowns per season
1. 🇺🇸 Jim Kelly5 seasons played · career day 1,825105 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Dan Dierdorf5 seasons played · career day 1,82516 touchdowns
-84.8% vs Kelly at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Kelly002241105201
🇺🇸 Dierdorf00131632

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricKellyRetiredDierdorfRetired
Super Bowl appearances4
Pro Bowls56
Career passing yards35,467
Career touchdown passes237
Career wins as starter101
First-team All-Pro selections3
Games played160
Seasons played13
All-Decade team selections1
Dominance w25%8280
Peak w20%9092
Longevity w20%8084
Honours w20%8482
Statistics w15%9088

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Kelly84.8
Dierdorf84.8
The people
Kelly
Dierdorf

Loading votes

Create a free account to vote and comment.

Sign in to vote

What do you think?

0 comments

Make your case for Kelly vs Dierdorf. 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.

More debates

Browse the rivalry hub →