NFL: 30 greatest seasons from players 30 and older

NFL: 30 greatest seasons from players 30 and older: 6. Steve Young, 1993

After rarely seeing the field in his 20s sitting behind Joe Montana, Steve Young must have had a lot of extra stamina to work with in his 30s, as he was only starting to hit his stride. Young had already made the list once for this impressive age-31 season in 1992. Now, I have him landing at my number 6 spot of 30 greatest seasons over players 30 and older.

Now 32-years-old at this point, Young was shockingly entering just his second season as a full-time starter for the 49ers. If you were to only look at the box score, you might not understand why Young’s ’92 season would land so high on this list. However, what he was able to accomplish was still quite impressive.

Young may have only led his team to a 10-6 record that year, but his 4,023 passing yards were nearly 600 more than he had in his previous All-Pro season, and though he was a bit more careless with the football this time around, notching 16 interceptions, he led the NFL with 29 touchdown passes. On top of this, Young chipped in 407 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground with his legs – giving him close to 4,500 scrimmage yards. Additionally, Young led the league in yards per attempt (8.7), adjusted yards per attempt (8.4), and passer rating (101.5).

According to Pro Football Reference, Young’s approximate value of 23 was the highest in the NFL in 1993, and he showed just how valuable he was on the football field. The 49ers may have lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, but Steve Young was named a first-team All-Pro quarterback for the second consecutive season.