I wouldn't expect Elway to compare to today exactly but he was rarely a Top 5 guy in the era he played. Forget comparing him to Brady or Rodgers. Threw for 4000 yards once. Never threw more than 27 TDs. Didn't have that crazy of a TD to INT ratio - 1.3 to 1. He played in an era where many QBs were producing greater numbers than him, so it's not like I'm looking at today vs Johnny Unitas.
In his 16 years he finished in the top 5 in the NFL in :
CMP% - 2x
Yards - 4x
TD passes - 3x
QB Rating - 4x
BFD.
Good? Sure. Great? Not really. Proclaimed as one of the best QBs of all time. NFW.
I guess you can say his Broncos won a lot of games. But, he played when the AFC was considerably weaker. The AFC won exactly 2 Super Bowls in his 16 years, and those were of course Denver on the strength of Terrell Davis. He got curb stomped the other 3 games where he threw 2 TDs and 6 INTs, and even in the 2 wins he threw 1 TD and 2 INTs. 3 TDs 8 INTs in the Super Bowl. Clutch.
Overrated then overrated now. Was not even the most profilic passer of his era. Had a big arm, big teeth, and blond hair.
Really hard to give up sucking a guy off when he moves from college to the NFL.