In this ranking I will rank all the currently listed starting QBs based on just raw talent, not career accomplishments, not factoring in how injury prone they are, and not factoring in how much I trust them come postseason time.
- Lamar Jackson
Jackson has always been likely the most talented QB in league history and the only reason he is not on a G.O.A.T trajectory is because of his lack of production come playoff time. People always point out how Aaron Rodgers in his prime was likely the most talented QB in league history because of how good of a passer he was. Jackson’s peak passing season was nearly right on par with Rodgers’ best passing season. Rodgers holds the single season mark for the highest passer rating in a season in league history, while Jackson comes in at fourth on that list. Rodgers was always a solid but not spectacular runner of the football while Jackson is likely the best running QB in NFL history.
- Malik Willis
Willis is an essential doppelganger of Jackson as a talent; I view Jackson as 1A in terms of QB talent as a dual threat QB while Willis is perhaps 1B in that regard. Willis is not quite as tall as Jackson, being 1-2 inches shorter, but Willis is 10-15 pounds heavier despite being shorter with both QBs likely hovering around an elite 6-7% body fat, so Willis is the slightly bigger stronger player. Both players also ran a nearly identical 40-yard dash. There is an argument to be made that Willis is the more talented player than Jackson, but I gave Jackson the edge because of his experience and Willis’ lack of experience. Willis’ passing numbers in limited action on the field have been historic as well, posting a 130+ passer rating in 2-3 games worth of action outside of his rookie season, with the all-time single season record being 122.5.
- Jayden Daniels
Daniels, before the introduction of Malik Willis in this light was viewed as the next Lamar Jackson but clutch. Daniels had maybe the greatest rookie QB season in NFL history, leading the Commanders to the NFC title game in doing so. Daniels, however, had a sophomore slump missing more than half the season and looking subpar even when on the field. However, when watching them play one cannot deny how staunchly similar Jackson and Daniels look at the QB spot. Daniels is however not quite as talented as Jackson, being Lamar Jackson lite in a way, which is why Daniels finds himself at 3 and Willis, who I feel is just as talented as Jackson, finds himself at 2.
- Joe Burrow
Burrow is likely the most gifted passer of the football in the sport and is up there with the all-time greats in Manning, Brady, and Brees in terms of throwing the ball. Burrow has put up MVP numbers with regularity despite having poor offensive personnel outside of his star-studded wide receiver tandem. Although Burrow cannot do much in terms of running the football, throwing the football is still the most important thing and Burrow does it better than any QB in the sport in my estimation.
- Josh Allen
Allen has taught himself to be an elite thrower of the football while being one of the premier dual threat QBs in the sport. Allen, standing at 6 feet 5 inches and roughly 240 pounds, is the biggest and strongest runner of the football at the QB spot in the NFL. Allen has also shown the ability to throw it at an elite level as well. However, in terms of running the football he is not quite Lamar Jackson, and in terms of throwing the football, he is not quite Joe Burrow, which is why he finds himself at 5.
- Patrick Mahomes
Despite having accolades that no current QB in the sport even comes close to, I have always felt that there have been multiple QBs that have more raw talent than Mahomes does. Mahomes has not shown me the ability to perform at an elite level despite having poor offensive lines like Burrow has shown me. Mahomes cannot run the ball as effectively as Jackson with Jackson being just as good of a thrower as well. While Josh Allen is just more talented than Mahomes, being bigger and stronger and developing into just as good of a thrower. Mahomes has seen the success that he has seen because of his regular big-time performances in big playoff games, his health, and the Chiefs’ strong infrastructure. While he is still an elite talent nonetheless despite there being a handful or so or even more QBs more talented than he is. Mahomes’ lack of talent has unfortunately begun to show in the past 2-3 seasons as the Chiefs have had very average offenses with regularity despite having Mahomes at QB.
- Justin Herbert
Herbert is an essential clone of Allen as a QB talent, both being very big and strong standing at either 6 foot 5 or 6 foot 6. Both having huge cannons for arms while both consistently do damage in the ground game despite both having average speed at the QB spot. Herbert has not even won a playoff game yet because of the Chargers’ questionable organization and his lackluster postseason performances thus far.
- Matthew Stafford
Stafford along with Burrow is in the discussion for being the best raw thrower of the football in the sport. People forget that Stafford was a number one overall pick viewed as a generational type of talent who would be the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Since Stafford has gone from being in perhaps the weakest organization in the NFL in the Lions at the time to now an elite organization in the Rams, he has lived up to those expectations. Winning both a Super Bowl and league MVP honors in five seasons with the Rams after making just one pro bowl in over a decade with Detroit.
- Drake Maye
Maye, the league MVP runner up who came up just one short of winning MVP honors finds himself in the top ten. Maye is a big strong dual threat QB at the position who does consistent damage in the ground game despite having average speed. However, Maye does not feel quite as talented in that regard as the likes of Justin Herbert and Josh Allen, which is why he finds himself lower on this list.
- Jared Goff
Goff, with a good offensive line, is just as good if not a better thrower of the football than anyone in the sport including Joe Burrow. Goff has led historically great offenses and has come very close to winning it all with two separate franchises now. Because of his lack of athleticism and how poor he can look at times with a subpar offensive line, people forget he was a number one overall pick.
- Dak Prescott
One would be typically be surprised to find Prescott ranking this high despite having ordinary size, ordinary arm strength, and ordinary athletic ability. However, in terms of accuracy and smarts, he is up there with likely any QB in the sport. Over the past 4-5 years with multiple head coaches, he has put up MVP caliber numbers and has had Dallas as one of the premier offenses in the sport with regularity. This is despite having less than average offensive personnel on a perennial basis, and during the 2025 season having a rookie head coach and a rookie offensive coordinator as well.
- Jordan Love
Love was compared to Patrick Mahomes entering the NFL and has lived up to those lofty expectations from time to time with Green Bay. Jordan Love looked like an MVP caliber player in his first full season starting for the Packers and although he has not been able to maintain it, he has still looked very strong from time to time since then.
- Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence was picked number one overall and was thought of as the next all time great QB entering the NFL. Although Lawrence has not lived up to those lofty standards as of now, he has been far from a bust. When Lawrence has been healthy and has had the chance to click with a head coach, he has produced at an MVP level. However, his production in his career has been far too inconsistent for him to rank much higher than this as of now.
- Sam Darnold
The reigning Super Bowl winning QB is in a similar boat to Prescott, despite both having very ordinary physical traits, they find themselves in the top half of this list, as from an accuracy and football smarts standpoint, they are lethal. Darnold has led two elite offenses for two straight seasons now for two different franchises. Although the skill position players that Darnold had to work with in Minnesota were elite, the offensive line was average, and head coach Kevin O’Connell has certainly not proven to be McVay/Shanahan/Reid from an offensive head coach standpoint either. In Seattle, the team had a defensive minded head coach, and good but not great offensive personnel, and the team still had an elite offense that was likely just as good if not better than any in the sport led by Darnold.
- Caleb Williams
There is an argument to be made that Williams should be in the top 2-3 on this list but is too inconsistent of a thrower to do so. As a raw talent, Williams is perhaps the better version of Patrick Mahomes having a next gear in terms of running the football, while still having a very strong arm and playing with a ton of flare and improvisation. However, Williams has been far too inconsistent of a thrower thus far in the NFL to rank any higher than this. Williams completed less than 60% of his passes last season which ranked last of any full-time starter. Williams has ranked average to less than average in terms of passer rating in each of his first two seasons in the league thus far as well.
- Daniel Jones
From a talent standpoint and just in totality, Jones is perhaps the most underrated QB in the NFL. Jones in the one and only season he was given ideal offensive personnel and coaching, was leading the NFL’s top scoring offense in 2025 before he went down with injury. Jones during his time with the Giants was able to produce at a solid level despite having poor offensive line play at times. Jones is a very underrated dual threat QB who is akin to Josh Allen at the QB spot, with the gap between the two players being much smaller than one would otherwise think. Daniel Jones is an essential clone of Josh Allen at QB, just without as strong of an arm.
- Jalen Hurts
The Super Bowl winning Hurts finds himself quite low on this list despite leading Philadelphia to a Super Bowl title and having them as one of the top teams in the sport on nearly a perennial basis. Hurts as a runner is very similar to Josh Allen as a runner, where both are perhaps the two most strong/physical runners of the football at the QB position in the NFL. Allen is taller at 6’5 – 6’6 compared to Hurts at 6’1-6’2, but Hurts is faster running a high 4.5 40-yard dash despite being noticeably shorter to Allen’s 4.75 40-yard dash time. Hurts is not consistently great as a thrower or consistently great as a QB. However, in ideal circumstances his throwing ability and ability to play QB ranks up there with anyone. As he led the Eagles’ offense to over 50 points in the Conference Championship and over 30 points in the Super Bowl en route to winning it all, with the Eagles’ offensive coaching and personnel being as good if not the best in the sport, however. Hurts unfortunately finds himself this low because he is unable to overcome not so ideal circumstances. For instance, this past 2025 season the Eagles had a very average to a mediocre offense despite having elite personnel, as Hurts struggled to adjust under a rookie offensive coordinator.
- Brock Purdy
Purdy has consistently produced at a borderline MVP level for the 49ers with San Francisco consistently having elite offenses with him at QB. However, there is an argument to be made that his head coach Kyle Shanahan is perhaps the sharpest offensive mind in league history and consistently gets averagely talented QBs if not backup caliber QBs to produce at an elite level. There is very strong argument to be made that Purdy is just a high-end backup QB who was taken last in the draft for a reason and Kyle Shanahan could be doing this with many current backup QBs in the league. But despite that Purdy is an underrated athlete who is very accurate and has produced at an elite level for the 49ers.
- Kyler Murray
Similar to Caleb Williams and Trevor Lawrence, Murray is a former number one overall pick with generational talent who has underwhelmed in the NFL thus far but has been far from a bust. No QB in NFL history has ever had Murray’s combination of foot speed, arm strength, and refined throwing ability, not even Lamar Jackson. However, the fact that Murray is the most undersized starting QB in the sport and the Cardinals looked better without him last season, keeps him this low. However, if he can come into his own now being surrounded in elite offensive circumstances instead of the subpar ones he was consistently exposed to in Arizona, he could skyrocket up any QB rankings list.
- Baker Mayfield
The former number one overall pick has been maligned throughout his career for being an ordinary talent. As he is slightly undersized as a QB while not being much of an athlete. However, Mayfield in the one and only instance he was given an elite offensive coach in Liam Coen, produced at an MVP level and had the Bucs as one of the premier offenses in the sport. Mayfield’s performance in week 4 last season against the Seahawks who had the #1 scoring defense in the sport was likely the best performance that any QB had last season. Where Mayfield finished with a 134.7 passer rating and led the Bucs to 38 points on the road vs the league’s best defense in a win. In terms of arm strength and accuracy, Mayfield ranks up there with any QB in the sport.
- Jaxson Dart
Dart had a pleasantly surprising rookie season for the Giants finishing above average in terms of passer rating among qualified QBs and being graded as one of the 10 best running QBs in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. Dart had one of the better rookie QB seasons in league history and is in line to build off it going forward. Dart was able to play so well as a rookie despite having a head coach who was fired midseason and having his top two offensive skill position players go down to season ending injuries. With the Giants surrounding Dart with below average talent especially once the two aforementioned players went down with injury.
- Aaron Rodgers
The 40+ year old Rodgers is well past his prime but still produced at a high level at times for Pittsburgh last season. Rodgers during his prime/peak was perhaps the most talented QB in league history and still shows flashes of his prime form from time to time.
- Bryce Young
Entering the NFL being viewed as the next Russell Wilson, Young has had his ups and downs in the NFL. But from a raw talent standpoint, is still quite good in my estimation. Russell Wilson in his prime could be argued as the best overall QB in the sport who is a future hall of famer. Young and Wilson are both exactly the same height, but Wilson is slightly bigger and stronger while Young has a stronger arm. Young has shown he is capable of playing at an elite level from time to time but is far too erratic to rank much higher than this.
- J Stroud
The Texans’ QB had one of the greatest rookie QB seasons in league history but has however tailed off since then. Stroud is nothing special from a QB talent standpoint, having ordinary arm strength, size, and athletic ability. However, he is deadly accurate with arguably the quickest release in the sport. Perhaps his drop off the past few seasons was more-so due to subpar offensive circumstances as opposed to a lack of talent and he maybe deserves to be ranked higher than this.
- Kirk Cousins
The veteran Cousins who is currently listed as the starter for the Raiders finds himself on this list. Cousins in his prime was regularly a top 10 caliber QB who was amongst the most smart accurate throwers of the football in the sport. Cousins is now 37 years old however and has looked very subpar in his past two seasons with the Falcons. However, 37 years old for a QB who was never reliant on his arm strength or athleticism should still mean he is in his prime. Cousins if he can recapture his prime form is a solid starter who is amongst the smartest and most accurate throwers in the NFL. However, because of his subpar play the past two seasons he remains near the bottom of this list.
- Geno Smith
The new Jets’ starting QB is coming off an abysmal season where he led the NFL in interceptions thrown. However, that was with the Raiders, which was perhaps the most QB unfriendly environment in the sport. Not too long ago I felt as if Smith was perhaps the most underrated QB in the sport after he put together an MVP caliber season despite having a weak offensive. Smith is now on the wrong side of 35 years old, coming off a career worst season and was still a backup for much of his career as well. However, Smith can perhaps bounce back next season and jump higher on this list.
- Michael Penix Jr
Penix Jr is a remarkable talent at the QB spot who remains this low because he has not proven he can consistently throw the ball well enough on the NFL level. Penix Jr runs an outstanding sub 4.5 40-yard dash with the only starting QBs clocking in faster than that being Malik Willis and Lamar Jackson who are 1 and 2 on this list. Penix Jr also has a huge arm and has shown the ability to be very accurate at times in college. Just like Caleb Williams, in terms of raw physical talent, the Falcons’ QB has a strong case to rank in the top 3-4 of this list. However, part of determining my perception of a QB’s raw talent is how well I feel they consistently throw the ball. In his limited time in the NFL thus far, Penix Jr has really underwhelmed throwing the football. If he can prove to be a consistently better thrower, he could skyrocket up this list.
- Cam Ward
The number one overall pick before the 2025 season had enough talent to go #1 overall for a reason and showed glimpses of that talent from time to time as a rookie. Despite Tennessee having likely the worst roster and worst coaching staff in the NFL, Ward threw more than twice as many touchdowns as interceptions which is not easy to do. Maybe now that Ward heads into year 2 in the NFL with a very proven newly hired Brian Daboll as his offensive coordinator and the Titans drafting a wide receiver top 5 overall, he can come into his own and climb this list.
- Bo Nix
The Broncos’ starting QB feels more like a high-end backup or a bridge starter in my estimation. Nix has a strong arm with some athletic ability but feels like a very ordinary thrower of the football while being nothing special from a running standpoint. The success that Denver has seen over the past few seasons has been more so due to their elite defense, elite offensive line, elite coaching, and also Nix’s consistent clutch performances. However, in terms of pure talent, I have Nix quite low on this list among starting QBs.
- Jacoby Brissett
Brissett was thrusted into a starting QB role last season and played well. Brissett ranked above average among all qualified QBs in terms of passer rating throwing almost three times as many touchdowns as interceptions. Brissett is likely better suited as a backup or a bridge QB in all honesty, however.
- Tyler Shough
Shough had a strong rookie season despite being just an ordinary college QB prospect entering the NFL with ordinary talent being drafted in the high second round. Shough was graded as a better overall QB last season than Lamar Jackson, CJ Stroud, and Kyler Murray, despite being a rookie. Shough will need to prove it more heading into year 2 onwards in New Orleans, however.
- Deshaun Watson
Watson in his prime had an argument for being the best overall QB in the sport and was compared to Patrick Mahomes. Watson, however, had a litany of off-the field transgressions, multiple injuries, and even in his time on the field since, has seemingly forgotten how to play football. Consistently playing at not even a backup caliber QB level during his time on the field since his off-the-field downspirals occurred. However, Watson is still set to turn only 31 years old at the start of next season and from a logical standpoint should still be in his prime. Watson in his prime would warrant consideration to rank #1 of this list. However, because I have no idea what I am getting from him as almost all his recent performances on the field have not even been that of an NFL caliber QB, he rounds out this list at #32.
