Troy Aikman was a hall of fame quarterback who played 12 years for the Dallas Cowboys. In this case study, I will attempt to break down his career by looking at each of his seasons individually and by separating Aikman’s career into 3 sections, The Early Struggles, The Dynasty, and The Finish.
The Early Struggles
Troy Aikman was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1989 NFL draft to the Dallas Cowboys. With high expectations, Aikman got off to about as bad of a start as you could imagine. Aikman played 11 games his rookie season and went 0-11, throwing for 9 touchdowns and 18 interceptions as well as fumbling 6 times. I ranked Aikman as the 31st best quarterback in the 1989 season and there were only 28 teams at the time!
His second year, Aikman went 7-8 with 11 touchdowns, 18 interceptions, and the number 26 ranking for the best QBs of 1990.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1989 | DAL | 11 | 31 | Bad/backup |
| 1990 | DAL | 15 | 26 | Bad/backup |
| 1991 | DAL | 12 | 10 | Great |
His status as a former number one overall pick allowed him more leniency than most quarterbacks, but it was becoming clear that he would have to turn it around sooner rather than later if he wanted to keep his job. The next year, Aikman put up by far his best year to date, finishing as the 10th best quarterback and having a Great Season. This third year leap was proof the Cowboy’s patience with him was warranted and he had finally put his early struggles behind him.
The Dynasty
After his promising 1991 season, Troy Aikman’s level of play exploded! Over the next four years Aikman played the best football of his career. In 1992, Troy Aikman had the best season of his career. He played all the games, finishing the year 13-3 and was the second best quarterback in the NFL only behind Steve Young. To cap off his most impressive regular season of his career, Aikman went on to win the Super Bowl 52-17 over the BIlls.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1992 | DAL | 16 | 2 | All Pro |
| 1993 | DAL | 14 | 3 | Elite |
| 1994 | DAL | 14 | 13 | Good |
| 1995 | DAL | 16 | 8 | Great |
The following year, Aikman was once again one of the best, finishing as the 3rd best quarterback and captaining the Cowboys to their second straight Super Bowl win over the Bills 30-13. After having a slightly down year in 1994, for his standards, and losing in the NFC Championship game to the 49ers. Troy Aikman rebounded to put together another top 10 year and a run through the playoffs ending in a Super Bowl win over the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17. This championship officially cemented the Cowboys 1990’s dynasty and made Aikman one of the NFL’s all time greatest playoff performers.
The Finish
After the 3rd championship, Troy Aikman’s play slipped a little. While he never completely dropped off until his final season 5 years later, he also never got back to being a top 10 quarterback.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1996 | DAL | 15 | 12 | Good |
| 1997 | DAL | 16 | 15 | Good |
| 1998 | DAL | 11 | 13 | Good |
| 1999 | DAL | 14 | 14 | Good |
| 2000 | DAL | 11 | 32 | Bad/Backup |
Over the next four years, Aikman was consistently above average but never great, collecting four straight good seasons and finishing between the 12-15 best quarterbacks every year. His final year, Aikman was not himself, going 4-7 and throwing 7 touchdowns to 14 interceptions.
Overall
Troy Aikman had a relatively short career playing just 12 seasons and had only 9 years where he was above average(Top 16). In those years he had 1 All Pro, 1 Elite, 2 Great, and 5 Good seasons. What defined his career though was not his regular season success but his mountain of playoff success. He is just the 4th quarterback to win 3 or more Super Bowls. Using the JTA career scoring system, Aikman finishes with 61.5 career points, which places him solidly amongst the hall of famers. Due to the shortness of his career, combined with the limited number of top tier seasons, Aikman finishes as the 24th best quarterback all time, and the 16th best quarterback post merger. However, Aiman also finishes his career as the second greatest Cowboys quarterback of all time only behind Roger Staubach.