We are officially in the thick of the offseason. 

The scouting combine and NFL Free Agency are officially in the rear-view mirror, and the NFL Draft is less than a month away. At this point, teams are deep into reviewing rosters and trying to figure out where to go from here. 

But for me, this is a time of year when I do something similar, yet different. I evaluate active position groups, and there is none more important than the quarterback position. 

With that being said, here are my top ten quarterbacks in the NFL heading into 2026: 

NOTE: This list is not based entirely on 2025 production, more so 2026 potential, and who I purely think are the best 10 quarterbacks in the league. 

1. Patrick Mahomes

Yes, it’s that simple. In any league Patrick Mahomes is in, he is the best football player on the planet. I don’t think it’s particularly close either. 

Even last year, a season Chiefs fans will want to forget about and throw away, I still saw Patrick Mahomes making incredible plays and the Chiefs, with one of the worst rosters in football, hanging around. 

Without Mahomes, the Chiefs were a disaster, losing to teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans, both of whom will pick within the top five of the NFL Draft. 

Yet, there are plenty of questions that haven’t been asked about the Chiefs. 

Questions about Andy Reid, Travis Kelce and the overall state of the franchise. 

When others panic with greatness, I remain patient. 

Yes, 2025 was not the Chiefs' year, but I still think 2026 definitely can be. Focus on the positives for a second. 

The 2026 Chiefs are playing a third-place schedule – A first in the Mahomes era.

The Chiefs went out and began addressing weaknesses in Free Agency by adding Super Bowl MVP and former Seattle Seahawks star running back Kenneth Walker. 

They also have picks No. 9 and No. 29 in the upcoming NFL Draft. This could be a springboard opportunity for the Chiefs to add more dimensions to their offense and bring an explosive playmaker to Arrowhead in 2026. 

Above all, use your eyes and look at the league. 

Mahomes will bounce back from his knee injury and showcase his talent for all to see. Just be honest with yourself, Mahomes is the face of the NFL, and once he is healthy, the Chiefs are always a favorite to be in the Super Bowl. 

It’s also amazing how Mahomes and Tom Brady’s careers align. When Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2008, it was clear: The Patriots needed a talent overhaul, and they got it through the draft. 

With the additions of Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and others, Brady reinvented his career and arguably had a better second half of his career. 

If the Chiefs want to win, they need to continue building something similar for Mahomes. 

2. Matthew Stafford

Let’s be clear, if this were based on what he did in 2025, Stafford would be the consensus No. 1 quarterback on my board.

Even though I am a Patriots fan and appreciate the season Drake Maye had, it was ultimately clear that Stafford was the MVP.

Take the regular season out of the picture, one where Stafford threw for 4,707 yards passing and 46 touchdowns.

Now, look at his postseason resume. 

Stafford engineered a playoff comeback win, throwing for 304 yards passing and three touchdowns in a road victory over Carolina – where the Rams seemed off-sync for almost the entirety of the game.  

Then Stafford went to Chicago and played an excellent game, even though the basic stats wouldn’t show it. 

Stafford’s high-level decision-making, including a throw to Davante Adams on the right sideline, which, in my opinion, was the throw of the year in the NFL, helped the Rams win that game.

Yet, in my opinion, Stafford's last performance was his best, but ultimately a losing effort against the opponent. 

Seattle’s defense, known as the dark side, ravaged opponents all season long, including in the 2026 Super Bowl, arguably their best performance, when MVP candidate Drake Maye and the Patriots were ground to a screeching halt. 

Over the course of the game, Stafford threw for 374 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions on 22-of-25 passing. 

In this game, Stafford also became the first player in NFL history to lose a playoff game with 350-plus yards, three-plus touchdown passes and no interceptions. 

Stafford also set an NFL season-high with 208 play-action yards passing in the game. 

Based on this information, I can see how this was Stafford’s best game of his career. 

Stafford is the last of the dying breed in the NFL; he’s the last of the pure pocket passing assassins that made 2010’s football the entertainment giant it was. 

If Stafford plays at this pace again next year, we may need to have a conversation about Stafford’s status amongst the games' greats at the quarterback position. 

3. Lamar Jackson

One of the most talented individuals to ever play the game. The bounce-back for Lamar Jackson will be one of my biggest storylines heading into 2026. 

Following a first-team All-Pro campaign in 2024, Jackson’s 2025 season was derailed by injury. 

With new head coach Jesse Minter and new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, the Ravens offense should be back as one of the most dangerous in the game with the pairing of Jackson and future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry. 

We all know what Jackson is capable of in this league. 

Frankly, I am more confident than ever following the 2025 season-ending loss in Pittsburgh, where Jackson in the fourth quarter went 6-of-8 for 172 yards and two 50-plus-yard touchdowns, with almost a perfect quarterback rating. 

Similar to the Chiefs, my questions about Jackson are front office related: Will the Ravens ultimately make the moves necessary at wide receiver to win a Super Bowl? 

His 2024 season might just be the most impressive quarterback season of my lifetime. The only thing that will stop Jackson in the long term is an injury. 

4. Josh Allen

If you want a baseball comparison for Josh Allen, it has to be Aaron Judge. 

For years, both players have proven they are at the top of their game. However, they’ve also found unparalleled heartbreak in big moments. 

Allen is a quarterback with generational-level skills. Allen could very well be the best dual-threat quarterback in the game today for his size. Standing 6-foot-5, Allen has imposed his will on defenses since he arrived in the league in 2018. 

Following his 2024 MVP campaign, Allen returned in 2025 with a similar passing season, throwing for 25 touchdowns and boasting a 102.2 passer rating – the second-highest of his career (107.2 in 2020).

Allen’s season was considerably impressive, considering his weaponry at skill positions was well below average. Granted, James Cook is a borderline top-five running back who led the NFL in rushing in 2025. 

But outside of Cook, Buffalo's situation last season wasn’t great, yet Allen still played like the best player in the league.

To solve this problem, the Bills and general manager Brandon Beane acquired veteran wide receiver D.J. Moore from the Chicago Bears in exchange for a second-round draft pick in the upcoming draft. This move pairs Moore with Joe Brady, his old offensive coordinator from his Carolina Panthers days, and the new Bills head coach. 

With the addition of Moore, I see no reason why the Bills shouldn’t be once again in those AFC title game talks with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. 

We all know the talent Allen has, whether it’s his jaw-dropping play-making ability or leadership. 

Allen continues to be one of the faces of the NFL for what he does on Sundays. 

Do the Bills need to do more to support their superstar quarterback? Yes. 

Does Josh Allen need to play better in the postseason? Yes. 

These questions can all be true, yet they can all be answered if one or two plays go Allen’s way in the postseason. 

5. Joe Burrow

There are zero excuses for Joe Burrow in 2026. 

Honestly, where I placed Joe Burrow on my list was emphatically the hardest decision I had to make. 

Burrow is the clone of how you’d want a quarterback to play. Burrow’s arm is terrific, and in the big moments when the game comes down to the end, he has shown up for the Bengals again and again. 

No matter how great a quarterback Burrow is, it is uncommon for the game's best quarterbacks to miss the playoffs three consecutive seasons. 

Granted, Burrow does have a warranted excuse for the 2025 season, as he missed nine games due to turf-toe injury, which required surgery. 

When Burrow is fully healthy, the Bengals are one of the best watches in the league. The 2024 season was a Burrow showcase, as he threw for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdown passes. 

But still, the Bengals missed the playoffs. 

My concern for Burrow's long-term is simple: How much longer does he truly want to play football? 

After multiple injury-riddled seasons, and with the way he has talked about the game, I get the impression that Burrow could very well clone Andrew Luck and retire at a young age.

6. Drake Maye

If you were to tell me in July 2025 that the New England Patriots would win 14 games, win the AFC, make it to the Super Bowl and Drake Maye would finish second in MVP voting, I would have laughed in your face and told you to stop talking about football. 

But sure enough, all of this happened. 

It’s still staggering to believe the number of moving pieces Maye had to work with from 2024 to 2025. 

From a coaching perspective alone, Maye went from Jerod Mayo to Mike Vrabel as head coach, and Alex Van Pelt to Josh McDaniels at offensive coordinator. 

People will try to make the same argument with an offensive personnel standpoint with the addition of Stefon Diggs for the 2025 season, but I tend to disagree, and that’s part of the reason why I was so stunned with the way Maye played in 2025. 

If you were evaluating the Patriots' personnel from a thousand-foot perspective, most experts would probably tell you that it is a bottom-tier offensive personnel group. 

Using almost every metric possible, Drake Maye was about as efficient as you could ask him to be. Deep-ball, accuracy or poise, Maye excelled in almost every facet of the game. 

The good news for Maye is that the Patriots' receiving room should take a big step up in 2026. 

With the addition of Romeo Doubs from the Green Bay Packers, I’m expecting big things out of Maye in year three.

7. Caleb Williams

Call me crazy, but I’m pushing my chips to the center of the table for Caleb Williams. 

So far, the former No. 1 overall pick has not had numbers that “jump off the page,” but the film and potential clearly do. 

Williams led one of the great roller coaster rides of a football team with the 2025 Chicago Bears, leading seven comeback wins and making remarkable throws, including one of my favorite throws to D.J. Moore in the back of the endzone to essentially claim the division for the Bears. 

Even in losses over the course of the season, such as the Sunday Night Football loss in Santa Clara to the San Fransico 49ers, Williams was superb and gave Bears fans tremendous promise for the future.

With losses in free agency for the Bears, specifically on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary, Williams will be asked to do even more in the Ben Johnson offense to help the Bears win football games in 2026, and I think he is more than ready to put the Bears on his back. 

I am concerned about the Bears losing Moore via trade, but Ryan Poles seems to have the Bears trending in the right direction from a front office perspective, so optimism should be through the roof for the Williams-led 2026 Bears.

8. Jayden Daniels

When I made this list a year ago, Daniels was my No. 4 quarterback. 

Following the greatest rookie season by any quarterback, in my opinion, and leading the Washington Commanders to an NFC title game appearance, 2025 was a major failure. 

If you had asked me a year ago which quarterback I’d want to start a franchise with, I would have considered Daniels when he was 100%. 

However, I am scared of the situation he is in with the Commanders. 

At this point, Terry McLaurin is a solid wide receiver. Outside of this, I think this offense is completely dreadful. 

Josh Connerly Jr. was one of the most unreliable tackles in the league a year ago, and it’s clear to see Larmey Tunsil is in the twilight of his career. 

I think the Commanders are a dysfunctional mess as well. 

After Daniels suffered an injury on Sunday Night Football against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Seahawks, it was clear that his season should have ended right there. 

A competent organization would make sure it did, protecting the face of the franchise in a lost 3-6 season at that point. 

Instead, they let Daniels continue to play, which could have been a tremendous mistake. 

It’ll be a new offense for Daniels as well in year three, as the Commanders moved on from respected offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in the offseason and promoted David Blough to the position. 

Yes, the quarterback David Blough you may remember from the Detroit Lions. 

The only reason I have any hope for Daniels is that when he is healthy on a football field, he’s a top-five quarterback all day long. 

9. Justin Herbert

Justin Herbert has all of the tools in the book. A Picture-perfect arm, underrated mobility outside of the pocket and incredible football smarts. 

If you were building a quarterback in a lab, it would look a lot like Herbert. 

However, when the lights have turned bright, we now have clear evidence that Herbert has not shown up for big moments and has delivered some of the worst performances of his career. 

In his three playoff games, Herbert has thrown two touchdown passes and four interceptions. 

Let’s be clear, though, this is not all on Justin Herbert. The offensive line, scheme and personnel clearly have not been up to standard for him. But, with the addition of Mike McDaniel as the new offensive coordinator and picking up center Tyler Biadasz in free agency from the Commanders, I honestly think Herbert will have a tremendous year. 

Yet Herbert does need to win a playoff game. It is simply unacceptable that he is entering his seventh season as a pro and still has not won a playoff game. 

10. Jordan Love

I mentioned roller coasters above when talking about quarterbacks, but Jordan Love’s season was truly one of those. If you watched Love on Sunday Night Football in Pittsburgh or watched him throttle the Lions on Thanksgiving, you would have walked away saying that Love is in the air. 

Yet, if you watched other games, such as his performance in Cleveland when he was held to just 183 yards passing, or his two-interception day in Denver, you’ll walk away saying, "Where is the consistency?”

However, Love’s last game may have been his best of his career in a losing effort. 

In the NFC Wildcard Game against the Bears, Love threw for 323 yards and four touchdown passes. 

This game ultimately showed what I think is holding Love and the Packers back from bringing the Lombardi back to Lambeau. 

In my opinion, Matt LaFleur is in over his head. 

The play-calling from LaFleur in this game down the stretch was about as abysmal as you could possibly imagine it, considering the way Love was throwing in the first half of the game. 

The Packers' defense did them no favors either, allowing 25 points in the fourth quarter. As the defense, without star edge rusher Micah Parsons, faded away in the Chicago wind. 

Still, Love has all of the tools to become a top-five quarterback. 

After all, his track record of showing up for important games in the postseason continues to get better, but until the Packers fix the problems that have been aching them since the Mike McCarthy days, I don’t see how Love can ultimately reach his full potential.