This is an\u00a0especially\u00a0fun time to talk quarterbacks. We have yet to see teams take a single snap in training camp \u2014 let alone in a padded practice. And this year, there\u2019s no real consensus on which QBs are among the elite. There\u2019s even less consensus around the quarterbacks ranked from No. 9 to No. 19. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But that\u2019s what makes the ranking \u2014 and ensuing conversation \u2014 so compelling. Patrick Mahomes no longer lays claim as king of the NFL \u2026 or does he? Josh Allen is obviously the best QB on the planet right now \u2026 or is he? And Drake Maye has established himself as the best QB from the vaunted 2024 NFL Draft class \u2026 or, wait, did Caleb Williams? \u2026 Or then again, is that still Jayden Daniels? Now that I think about it, don\u2019t count out Bo Nix! There\u2019s a lot to consider. For now, this ranking is an early look forward to Week 1. Who will be ready? Which QBs have been set up to succeed? And which QBs have a track record of success despite their surroundings? With those questions held at the fore, let\u2019s rank the NFL QB1s as of today. Previous: QB Stock Market: One Burning Question for Every 2026 Starter If the quarterback competition between Shedeur Sanders and Watson is close \u2014 as it appears to be \u2014 will the Browns go with the beleaguered young guy who could be their future? Or will they favor the embattled veteran in a last-ditch effort to get some return on their investment (from the hundreds of millions of dollars and the traded draft picks)? I\u2019m genuinely not sure. The sensible decision is to go with Sanders. The Browns could see what the second-year QB can do with first-team reps. They might as well see how Sanders fares alongside their first three draft picks from this past spring: offensive tackle Spencer Fano and wideouts KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, each of whom went in the top 40. But the longer this QB competition carries on, the more I begin to wonder if the organization is deadset on recouping some value from Watson amid what is universally considered the worst NFL trade of all time. And so maybe they\u2019ll let him spin it. To further complicate matters, a deep 2027 QB class looms over this decision. For all the stress and scrutiny that\u2019ll go into Watson versus Shedeur, the most likely outcome is that the Browns will select a QB in the top five picks of next year\u2019s draft. And in that sense, it\u2019s fair to wonder if any of the Browns\u2019 current QBs will get a serious shake. There\u2019s still so much to like about Mayfield, who is accurate, smart and a die-hard, dedicated winner. Maybe he\u2019s a system quarterback, but he has staying power (and versatility to operate in multiple systems) because of his situational awareness and risk management. I think back, for example, to his performance in Week 5 oflast year when the Bucs didn\u2019t need Mike Evans \u2014 who is now with San Francisco \u2014 to beat the Seattle Seahawks, 38-35. Then look at the next week, when Mayfield and the Bucs lit up the 49ers without Evans or Chris Godwin. There\u2019s still reason for optimism surrounding the Bucs. But optimism can\u2019t stray into delusion. Mayfield is playing on an expiring deal in an offense that\u2019s on its fourth offensive coordinator in the QB\u2019s four years with the Bucs. They don\u2019t have an obvious replacement for Evans, and so without their downfield threat, their passing game could grow condensed, with an emphasis on the quick game. Can Mayfield win sustainably with that identity? If he doesn\u2019t, will the Bucs begin to think about the 2027 NFL Draft class. It\u2019s a pressurized situation in Tampa. The Bears appear to plan as carefully as any team in the NFL. That\u2019s why coach Ben Johnson came at such a premium price. And his skills include quarterback development and optimization. So it\u2019s hard not to trust Johnson\u2019s plan for Caleb Williams,\u00a0which the coach relayed to me at owners\u2019 meetings. It starts with lifting the completion percentage and addressing accuracy and decision-making for Williams (and drops from his receivers). And while it won\u2019t end there, that should make a sizable difference in staving off regression from a Bears team that seemingly did nothing but win close games \u2014 often despite playing from behind. Williams will have to steady his game, preserving the magic that has made him special in the fourth quarters of games \u2014 while excising the inexplicable misses and perhaps even limiting the moments when he tries to do too much. But with Williams\u2019 talent and Johnson\u2019s coaching, it\u2019s hard to imagine the third-year QB going anywhere but up. That ranking in the NFL 100? Woof! Jackson landed at 69th in NFL Network\u2019s anonymous, players-only ranking. The Ravens QB and two-time NFL MVP was only three spots ahead of receiver (and teammate) Zay Flowers \u2014 and ranked lower than linebacker Jordyn Brooks (67th) and receiver Chris Olave (64). Make that make sense. I dare you. We did learn just how important Lamar\u2019s health is to his game. His athleticism is one of many things that make him great, and with the injuries piling up \u2014 and his insistence on playing through them \u2014 he didn\u2019t look like himself for much of last season. Maybe people are afraid that Jackson will turn into the next Cam Newton: elite one day and washed up the next. But I\u2019m here to say that this isn\u2019t the new normal for Lamar. He\u2019s still just 29 years old. He really doesn\u2019t take big hits, opting to slide away from contact. He doesn\u2019t have an injury history beyond the hamstring and back from 2025. If he can get that hamstring right, he\u2019ll make a comeback this year and jump back into the players’ top-10 list. Kenneth Walker III, whom Kansas City signed in free agency this offseason, is a great running back. He is not the Chiefs\u2019 offensive cure-all. This offense is likely to struggle again in 2026, and certainly at the outset. I understand that Mahomes is a generational talent. I respect the heck out of that talent, perhaps substantially more than most. But that talent has very little to do with his physiological recovery from an ACL injury. It\u2019s an injury that sets back even the most dedicated and diligent athletes. Take Tom Brady, for example. He set a record in 2007 with 50 passing touchdowns. He tore his ACL in the first game of 2008. And then in 2009, he threw for 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions \u2014 one pick away from his career high (14). It took him time to return to form. This is all to say that we should temper expectations around Mahomes\u2019 return. He won\u2019t be himself. His offense \u2014 which was as bad as ever last year \u2014 won\u2019t suddenly return to its glory simply because of a top-tier running back. This is still a very messy situation in KC. And while I think Mahomes will be a good and steady force in 2026, I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll wow in Week 1. And I don\u2019t know that he\u2019ll regain his magic until late in the season. If there\u2019s one game that complicates Burrow\u2019s 2025 season, it\u2019s Cincinnati’s matchup against Baltimore in Week 15. He put up a stinker \u2014 with two interceptions (and one pick-six) and no touchdowns \u2014 in a shutout loss to Lamar Jackson\u2019s desperate squad. It was one of the few games that mattered for Burrow in a campaign cut in half by injury, and he struggled tremendously. Burrow was trying to do too much to help the Bengals make the playoffs when they were unable to help themselves. Cincy fell to 4-10 and was officially eliminated. And for the rest of the season, Burrow tore apart crappy defenses without any stakes or pressure. That said, aside from that Ravens game, it\u2019s hard to hold last season against him. He was injured, as usual. And his defense was garbage, as usual. Coach Zac Taylor is still fighting against the club’s perennial tradition of starting the season slow. Elite quarterbacks should be able to overcome some of these issues \u2014 but certainly not all. And Burrow\u2019s numbers were really impressive, given he played in only eight games. So looking forward, there\u2019s one question surrounding Burrow: Given that history has a way of repeating itself, is it foolhardy to expect something different in 2026? It\u2019s not. I promise. The Bengals invested in their defense this offseason, which should alleviate some of the scoring pressure that Burrow has felt in recent years. It could bring balance to the offense. And it could finally bring Cincinnati\u00a0not just into the playoff bubble but atop its division. If Burrow is the guy he\u2019s been in the past, the Bengals could (and should) win three of their first five games. And it\u2019ll be thanks to Burrow\u2019s established rapport and explosiveness with his two star receivers, Ja\u2019Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is an\u00a0especially\u00a0fun time to talk quarterbacks. We have yet to see teams take a single snap in training camp \u2014 let alone in a padded practice. And this year, there\u2019s no real consensus on which QBs are among the elite. There\u2019s even less consensus around the quarterbacks ranked from No. 9 to No. 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}