In the NFL QBs play and outsized role, but really the NFL is more about organization leadership. The well led teams with good owners hire good GMs who hire good coaches and draft well. It is an incredibly fair league because of the salary cap and draft process. Successes tend to be true organizational successes versus a single individuals incredible play.

Small market MLB teams have learned that they can make a run by losing year after year and building a pipeline of high draft picks, trade for a few key players, and try to make a playoff run before the young players rookie contracts expire and the music stops.The Yankees of the World have struggled to adapt to this because their fans expect them to be competitive every year. So they never get the high draft picks and are forced to pay multiple times the amount small market teams pay players to remain consistently competitive. It is predictable if you pay attention to where teams are in the rebuild / tear it down cycle.