It really is amazing how similar these two have been through the first few years of their careers, especially considering the fact that both refused to play for the franchise that had the number 1 pick.
Year 1:
Completion percentage: Elway - 47.5%, Eli - 48.2%
TD/INT ration: Elway - 7 TDs/14 INTs, Eli - 6 TDs/9 INTs
Passer rating: Elway - 54.9, Eli - 55.4
Year 2:
Completion percentage: Elway - 56.3%, Eli - 52.8%
TD/INT ration: Elway - 18 TDs/15 INTs, Eli - 24 TDs/17 INTs
Passer rating: Elway - 76.8, Eli - 75.9
Year 3:
Completion percentage: Elway - 54.0%, Eli - 57.7%
TD/INT ration: Elway - 22 TDs/23 INTs, Eli - 24 TDs/18 INTs
Passer rating: Elway - 70.2, Eli - 77.0
Year 4:
Completion percentage: Elway - 55.6%, Eli - 56.1%
TD/INT ration: Elway - 19 TDs/13 INTs, Eli - 23 TDs/20 INTs
Passer rating: Elway - 79.0, Eli - 73.9
Also, both went to their first Superbowl in their 4th year (except Eli beat the favored Patriots and Elway got blown out by the favored Giants).
Fully agree...their careers are similar. But remember Elway played during a period that was a little tougher defensively IMO.
I actually believe Eli will put up better stats over his entire career, but again, it's a passer friendly league now more than ever. And that doesn't mean Eli is or will be a better QB. Elway is a Top 10 All Time.
Similarly, check out Troy Aikman's stats....again, not as good as you might suspect.
I also think looking at Elway's career in retrospect results in some bias when making the comparison. I'd be very interested to read what was written about Elway four years into his career. Compared to his contemporaries, Elway was 27th on the passer rating list in 1983, 17th in 1984 and 1985, and 11th in 1986 (his best year until much later in his career). Statistically he was regularly outperformed by luminaries such as Dave Krieg, Neil Lomax, Ken Obrien and several others that were nowhere near the QB he was.
Never were those QBs ever compared to Elway, but they would be to Eli today........