The NFL owes a lot to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes for becoming the new face of the league. He is leading it through this transition period as so many legends of the game have recently retired, including Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Drew Brees.
Once Aaron Rodgers, who was drafted in 2005 when Mahomes was nine years old, calls it quits, the old guard is officially old news.
You already hear the grumblings in the NBA about the playoffs being weak, the NBA Finals were hardly worth watching, and there are concerns about the quality of coverage in the new TV deals for a league where superstars LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant are on their last legs.
But the NFL continues to thrive, and Mahomes’ Chiefs are its biggest attraction – this is still true without Taylor Swift.
Mahomes is going on 29 and in his prime, he’s enjoying historic success, the team just won an exciting Super Bowl that went to overtime and set viewership records, and you can bet the biggest story going into the 2024 NFL season is if the Chiefs will pull off an unprecedented three-peat of Super Bowl wins. They already ended the longest drought in NFL history without a repeat champion.
For a change, there is no debating who the best quarterback in the NFL is. But who ranks in the top 10 behind Mahomes? This is harder to answer than usual when so many veterans have retired, some have been struggling, some have switched teams with mixed results, and there is an undeniable youth movement at the most important position in the game.
There have been 20 quarterbacks drafted with a top 33 pick by 18 different franchises since 2020. That sounds like a lot of young challengers to Mahomes for the throne, but so far, every challenge has been met.
Let’s break down the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL into tiers for the 2024 season, and let’s figure out how Mahomes has put himself in his own tier.
Tier 1 Quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes
We put it in the title. The top tier of quarterback play in the NFL right now is Patrick Mahomes.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
After completing his sixth season as a starter, there are already so many superlatives and records that you can attach to Patrick Mahomes. I won’t rehash them here. Instead, I just want to make two key points as there are plenty of Mahomes factoids included in the write-ups of the other 31 quarterbacks below.
First, the reason Mahomes could go down as the greatest to ever do it is that he has no discernible weakness in his game.
Say what you will about Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but defenses knew they’d have an edge if they could hit them frequently, or if they could jam the timing of their receivers and make them hold the ball, building impatience and increasing the odds for mistakes. They knew those quarterbacks could not run and create much out of the pocket.
But with Mahomes, some of the offense’s best YAC plays are the result of him buying time and finding an open receiver for a huge gain. He can run around and make things happen with the best of them. He also has evolved to play the quick game at a high level since the Super Bowl 55 loss to Tampa Bay and the way the league has adapted to two-high safety looks to specifically slow down Mahomes (and other quarterbacks) from beating them over the top.
Scoring and yards have both decreased three years in a row for only the second time since the 1970 merger (first since 1989-92). There are a variety of factors for that, including the lack of experienced quarterbacks in their current systems, but the league has certainly changed in defensive philosophy in recent years.
As expected, we have also seen Mahomes adapt to a different style than he had in 2018-20 with Tyreek Hill as his No. 1 receiver. But the backyard plays aren’t the only way he hurts defenses. His scrambles, especially in the postseason, have become so important to Kansas City’s success. Mahomes will probably never run for 700 yards in a season like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, but he is very selective and effective with his scramble choices. He’s also the hardest quarterback to sack right now despite the fact that mobile quarterbacks are often among the most sacked in the game.
Your best bet against Mahomes is to rush four defenders and do a good enough job in coverage to hope that he holds the ball extra long and makes silly choices, or the receivers drop the ball. A few defenses have been able to pull this off.
But there is no real blueprint against Mahomes because there is no weakness.
Okay, there may be one exception. Andy Reid won’t let him do the quarterback sneak – the most effective short-yardage play in NFL history – because he dislocated his kneecap in a freak accident in 2019. That’s one flaw in the Chiefs’ plans, but we saw Mahomes overcome it with a designed run on 4th-and-1 in overtime of Super Bowl 58.
Speaking of that game, it is the moment that declared the Chiefs a dynasty and Mahomes an all-time legend with his third Super Bowl win. He also became the first quarterback in NFL history to have multiple game-winning touchdown passes in overtime in the postseason.
That’s why our other point is that Mahomes has done perhaps the greatest job in modern NFL history of enhancing his legacy while limiting the success of his peers.
Consider this list for the largest team scoring differential since 2019 (regular season only):
- Buffalo Bills +684 (no Super Bowls)
- Baltimore Ravens +647 (no Super Bowls)
- San Francisco 49ers +583 (0-2 in Super Bowl vs. Chiefs)
- Kansas City Chiefs +574 (3-1 in Super Bowls)
This is a great start since it shows that the Chiefs have not been the most balanced, dominant team in the regular season since 2019 despite winning three Super Bowls. But by going 6-0 in the playoffs against these teams, they have fully earned their dynasty status by knocking out their main contenders.
That number for Buffalo (+684) is historic as it is the highest point differential in any 5-year span in the salary cap era (since 1994) for a team that made zero Super Bowl appearances out of it. That’s the result of the Chiefs going 3-0 against the Bills in the playoffs with Mahomes dominating their defense, including the 13-second game in 2021.
That number for Baltimore is also the fifth highest since 1994, so that’s another big win in keeping Jackson out of the Super Bowl. Of course, Mahomes has given the 49ers fits in the fourth quarter of two Super Bowls now, making sure he didn’t give a ring to the gaudy stats of Jimmy Garoppolo and Brock Purdy in that Kyle Shanahan offense.
The last two years especially put Mahomes on a pedestal from his peers, because he wasn’t supposed to be at his best, and they still could not stop him from a repeat (among other hardware):
- In 2022, Mahomes lost his No. 1 wideout (Tyreek Hill) via trade, had a below-average defense, suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first playoff game, and he still outplayed Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts in the championship games to win his second ring.
- In 2023, Mahomes had a new offensive coordinator, and a receiving corps that led the league in dropped passes, he was the No. 3 seed and an underdog in three straight games, and he had to go on the road against the Bills and Ravens in the playoffs, and he still finished with a walk-off touchdown pass in the Super Bowl against the No. 1 seed.
The Chiefs were by no means rebuilding these last few years, and they finally gave Mahomes a great defense in 2023. But these were not their best teams on paper, and they still found a way to get it done both years in an era where no one repeats in the NFL.
What happens when Mahomes actually has a super team that’s elite on offense and defense? That could happen in 2024 if the offensive improvements work, and if the defense remains one of the best in the league. They haven’t had that kind of team yet under Reid and Mahomes.
We’ll see how much longer the Chiefs can extend this run, and how long until the narrative turns to belittling their competition. In the meantime, Mahomes is in his own tier, something you really could not do for any other quarterback in the Super Bowl era.
Tier 2 Quarterbacks: The Proven
Our Tier 2 quarterbacks are a pair of uniquely talented 2018 draft picks with a proven track record of stacking playoff appearances and who have had MVP-caliber seasons as dual threats who are often their team’s best runner.
Both face that lingering issue of trying to break the Five-Year Rule, meaning no team has ever won its first Super Bowl by starting the same quarterback for the same coach for more than five seasons. This is Year 7 for these quarterbacks with their defensive-minded coaches. An offensive coach has won the last five Super Bowls.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
While it took him some extra time to break out, Josh Allen has been the second-best quarterback in the NFL since 2020. People are going to point to Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers winning multiple MVP awards since Allen’s been in the league, but neither of those players has been as valuable, durable, or as consistent as Allen in the last four years. He hasn’t missed a start to injury since his rookie year.
In some seasons, Allen’s 2020 breakout year, his most consistent season to date, would have been MVP-worthy. Allen’s 76.6 QBR in 2020 would have led the league in 2021 and 2023. People just weren’t so sure it was believable yet, but he has more than backed it up with his play since. He also finished No. 2 in QBR behind Mahomes in 2022 and No. 3 last season.
Since 2020, Allen has averaged 4,385 passing yards, 34.3 touchdown passes, 617 rushing yards, and 9 rushing touchdowns per season. Those are insane numbers. Steve Young for the 1998 49ers is one of the only quarterback seasons that comes close to hitting those averages as a dual threat.
Allen is the closest thing we have to a modern-day gunslinger like Brett Favre, and yes, sometimes that leads to too many turnovers. He still needs to clean that up, but let’s not be hysterical. Turnovers have not plagued Allen in the playoffs where he has thrown 21 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. Half of those picks came in a win against the 2022 Dolphins, and another came in the final, meaningless minute of a 27-10 loss to the Bengals a week later. The game was already decided and that was Buffalo’s only turnover of the game.
Buffalo did not have a single turnover in two playoff games last year against the Steelers and Chiefs, the same thing the offense did in the 2021 playoffs when it had the best offensive performance in NFL history. Against the Patriots and a Bill Belichick-coached defense, Allen was 7-for-7 at leading touchdown drives in the cold and snow in a 47-17 win.
That 2021 postseason should have been the early career-defining moment for Allen, who led 12 touchdowns on 16 drives against the Patriots and Chiefs. But after putting Buffalo ahead with 13 seconds left in Kansas City in the divisional round, Mahomes still found a way to force overtime where he then won the coin toss, and Allen never saw the ball again. The outcome even forced a rule change for overtime in the playoffs so that won’t happen again that way.
In the two seasons since the Bills have not been as fortunate in the playoffs, and last year, Allen again was snakebitten against the Chiefs. Kicker Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard game-tying field goal with 1:43 left in a 27-24 loss. People are going to criticize Allen for the throws he made on that drive before the field goal, but do you think Justin Tucker misses that kick for Lamar Jackson? Does Evan McPherson miss it for the Bengals and Joe Burrow? Not likely. Allen easily performed the best of the four quarterbacks who faced the Chiefs last postseason.
Allen has performed the best in the playoffs of any active quarterback not named Mahomes. But Mahomes and the Chiefs have been his roadblock three times now in January. Let’s just hope the Bills continue finding ways to get this team in those games because Allen is going to have more pressure on him after the team traded Stefon Diggs to Houston this offseason.
We have seen Allen go into Arrowhead and throw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns in three straight games in 2021-22. He’s 3-1 in the regular season against the Chiefs but 0-3 in the playoffs despite having better numbers in the playoff games.
The Bills rely so much on Allen, who has responded with four straight division titles and advanced to at least the divisional round every year since 2020. But it’s past time that Sean McDermott’s defense has his back in one of these January matchups with the Chiefs.
Holding the Chiefs to 17 points would also likely work. Allen’s not asking for a completely stacked team to win a Super Bowl like Favre had in Green Bay in 1996. Just a little help at getting over the Kansas City hump is all he needs like many past greats before him received from their teammates.
That’s how it is supposed to work in the ultimate team game.
3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson is one of the most unique talents in NFL history. That is why most teams don’t know how to handle him, and he has won over 75% of his games in the regular season. It helps to be playing for a well-run Baltimore franchise that prides itself on old-school football with running the ball and playing great defense. Last year, the Ravens became the first defense since the merger to lead the league in points allowed, sacks, and takeaways.
But the postseason is always a different story, and it’s the same sad story each time as well for Jackson and the Ravens. The defense did its job last year, roughing up C.J. Stroud in the divisional round, then after a bad start against the Chiefs, the Ravens held them scoreless after halftime (17 points for the game).
But there was Jackson, much like in 2019 when he won MVP and had the No. 1 seed, looking totally lost against the Chiefs. Indecisive about when to run. Inaccurate when he threw it. He could only muster 10 points after the Ravens were blowing good teams out down the stretch of the season.
A dream season in his lap, Jackson wasted it in a 17-10 loss to fall to 2-4 in the playoffs. More concerning, it was the fourth time in a row that the Ravens scored their season-low in points in the playoffs with Jackson at quarterback. This is historically bad as no other prominent quarterback has done this in more than a third of their playoff appearances, let alone 4-for-4 like Jackson has.
Hopefully, people can admit now that he won the MVP by default in 2023. It was not a strong year for the award. Everyone kept playing themselves out of it, and once Brock Purdy threw four picks on Christmas night against Baltimore’s vaunted defense, that gave Jackson the green light to snag a second MVP. It’s one of the weakest seasons to ever win the award.
But it seems like when the Ravens get this award in Jackson’s hands, they go out of their way in the playoffs to make him look like this dominant quarterback instead of doing what works most of the season. If he runs the ball like he did against Houston and only passes for 150 yards, who cares as long as you score points and win? He doesn’t need big passing numbers, and the Chiefs were vulnerable against the run last year. Their strength on defense was the pass rush with Chris Jones and the coverage by those corners.
What did Baltimore do? The running backs had 6 carries in the entire game despite the Ravens never trailing by more than 10 points. That’s absurd. It was like in 2019 when the Ravens choked against Tennessee, and Jackson set a single-game NFL record with 83 dropbacks. For who? For what?
They win as a team in the regular season, yet they try to make Jackson into something he’s not in the playoffs. It’s frustrating. By adding Derrick Henry this offseason, that should at least ensure they do not finish a playoff game with 6 carries again.
But if Henry is powering the offense, does that mean Jackson should deserve more credit if they’re making the job easier for him? That’s the conundrum in Baltimore right now. Egos need to be held in check, but it’s a tough balance as you’re never going to get great enough to throw the ball to win these types of games if you’re still built around the run. It’s not 2000 anymore.
Jackson’s history against the Chiefs is very poor. He is 1-4 and a Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumble with the Chiefs in game-winning field goal range in 2021 is the only reason it’s not 0-5.
We need to see way more efficient play from Jackson in the postseason instead of these low-scoring, wire-to-wire losses he keeps having with frightening consistency.
In a weird twist of fate, the Ravens replaced Joe Flacco with a far superior regular-season quarterback, but also a much worse postseason one.
Tier 3 Quarterbacks: The Young Guns
This tier is most likely to spark some controversy with the order of the players. But the important thing to remember is that being in the same tier, the right tier, is more important than the specific order. These things can change quickly, but this is largely the young guns, everyone under 30 except for one player, who are trying to break into the higher tiers as quickly as possible. We have a lot of the stellar 2020 draft class here.
Historically speaking, this tier could be the one most likely to win the Super Bowl this season when you consider no one’s ever done a Super Bowl three-peat and the existence of the Five-Year Rule.
4. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
We touched a lot on the Justin Herbert narrative last week. The goal was never to put him in the top three quarterbacks in the NFL right now. It was to show that he has drawn the shortest straw when it comes to team support among the quarterbacks from the 2020 draft class. This is clouding the way people perceive these quarterbacks, and after four seasons, you would have a hard time confidently expressing why Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, or Tua Tagovailoa is a definitively better player than Herbert.
With respect to Jordan Love in Green Bay, this 2020 draft could turn out like 2016 when Dak Prescott was the Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was the best one out of the gate just like Herbert was in 2020. But Prescott did not improve on that year for some time, and in 2017, Carson Wentz of the Eagles got all the hype on a team that reached the Super Bowl (with Nick Foles taking over after Wentz was injured).
In 2018, it was Jared Goff’s turn to get the shine with the Rams during a Super Bowl season in Sean McVay’s offense. But soon enough, the pendulum swung back to Prescott in Dallas. He got better and he is widely regarded as the best quarterback in that draft class today.
Maybe this happens for Herbert too, but his unique problem remains playing in the shadow of Mahomes and the Chiefs in the same division. That’s not something any other quarterback we ranked in the top 26 has to deal with right now. Being in the same division almost means you’re starting the year playing for a wild card at best if you’re the Chargers.
Herbert also has the second-worst defensive support of any active quarterback. His average defense has ranked 23.3 in points per drive allowed, a far cry from Jackson (5.3), Allen (6.8), Burrow (14.3), Tagovailoa (14.8), and Hurts (18.3).
With head coach Jim Harbaugh coming to replace Brandon Staley, Herbert finally has a chance for a real team to support him and ease the burden of being the quarterback who averages the most pass attempts per game in NFL history.
Even last season, Herbert was an afterthought in an injury-shortened year where he was 5-8 as a starter. But he had three games with a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter only for the Chargers to blow the lead against the Dolphins, Titans, and Packers. Herbert also led five straight touchdown drives against Detroit, but after tying the game at 38, Herbert watched his defense give up a game-winning field goal at the end. That’s four games where he largely did his job and still lost.
In 2023, Herbert’s 64.1 QBR ranked No. 5 in the league and was barely behind Lamar Jackson (64.7), who won MVP. Imagine if the defensive fortunes for the Harbaugh brothers reversed and the Chargers had a No. 1 unit like the Ravens had? It’s a total pipe dream, but Herbert would gladly settle for anything above average on defense this year.
That would be a first for him. Dealing with Mahomes and the Chiefs is still a big problem, but no one can deny that Herbert has played well against that team. Add Harbaugh to the mix and a new look on both sides of the ball, and maybe things will finally change for the Chargers.
One can only hope.
5. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
If you agree with the idea that we can only judge a quarterback on what he’s done in the NFL, then what would you say about a quarterback with this resume in two seasons?
- In his first NFL start, he opened up a 35-0 lead against Tom Brady’s Buccaneers and won by 28.
- In his first playoff game as a rookie, he threw for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns, numbers not seen by a rookie in the playoffs since Sammy Baugh in 1937.
- He suffered a season-ending type of injury on the first drive of the NFC Championship Game that required offseason surgery, ending his chance to become the first rookie quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
- In his first full year as a starter, he led the NFL in QBR, passer rating, yards per attempt, touchdown pass rate, yards per completion, and adjusted net yards per attempt.
- He led his team to 84 points and threw 8 touchdowns with no picks in two wins against his team’s biggest conference rivals in highly anticipated games (Cowboys and Eagles).
- Down 21-17 late in a divisional round playoff game, he led a game-winning touchdown drive with 1:07 left where he accounted for 58 of the 69 yards.
- Down 17 points in the second half of the NFC Championship Game, he led his team to a 34-31 win.
- In the Super Bowl against a top-ranked defense, he became the only quarterback in NFL history to lead three go-ahead scoring drives in a losing effort in a playoff game. No one else in Super Bowl history had more than one go-ahead drive in a loss.
- His 9.2 yards per attempt and 111.4 passer rating are the highest in NFL history (min. 600 attempts).
- His passing success rate (53.4%) is the highest since 1994, edging out Patrick Mahomes (52.6%) and Peyton Manning (51.4%).
- He is 22-5 (.815) in games where he threw at least 20 passes.
In any other scenario, this quarterback would receive widespread praise as the next big thing in the NFL, a worthy rival to Mahomes.
But in Brock Purdy’s case, you mention that he was the last pick in the 2022 draft and plays in Kyle Shanahan’s system, and people immediately want to discredit everything he’s done.
We touched on this before the Super Bowl, and while Purdy was not spectacular in that game, he played well enough to win and put his team in position to win multiple times.
There are valid reasons to be skeptical of Purdy’s numbers given what Jimmy Garoppolo did in similar circumstances in this system in 2019 and given the fact that the 49ers have the most talented roster in the league. Would Purdy be doing exactly this anywhere else in the NFL? Very unlikely.
But how many more games does Purdy have to sustain historical success before he gets credit as being a top quarterback in the NFL? That would be nice to know going forward seeing as how he’s still only 24 years old.
A devastating injury and a game-winning drive led by Mahomes against Purdy’s defense in overtime are the only things stopping him from possibly having a pair of Super Bowl rings in two seasons.
But even if you want to judge Purdy at his lowest, there was a game in Cleveland last year that wasn’t going well against a strong defense. Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey were out with injuries, and Purdy still found a way to drive the offense (with Brandon Aiyuk and Jajuan Jennings) down the field late for a 41-yard game-winning field goal. Rookie kicker Jake Moody missed the kick and the 49ers lost 19-17.
Some people have spent the last 20 years swearing that the best quarterback in NFL history was the 199th pick in the 2000 draft and was coached by the best to ever do it. I’m not going to let draft status and the presence of Kyle Shanahan deter me from thinking Purdy is a legitimate quarterback with great potential.
Maybe Purdy is the natural successor to Brady in the NFL. The only thing we know for sure is he won’t go down as the LOAT (Luckiest of All Time). Brady was injured in his first Conference Championship Game, his team still won, and he was able to play in the Super Bowl that year. His defense also wouldn’t have wasted three go-ahead drives in the Super Bowl like the 49ers did.
6. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
It is fitting that Joe Burrow was the first NFL draft pick of the 2020s because so far, his career has been emblematic of the way people are trying to fit a narrative to prop up the new era of stars.
Everything old is new again:
- Patrick Mahomes is Tom Brady because his dynastic team wins at the highest rate with the best coach (and best tight end), and he always seems to find a way to pull it out.
- Josh Allen is Ben Roethlisberger because he makes backyard football plays, bounce off defender’s contact, and sometimes that leads to foolish turnovers.
- Lamar Jackson is Michael Vick because he can run for 1,000 yards and effortlessly fling the ball deep, but scoring points in the playoffs has been an issue.
- Justin Herbert is just another Drew Brees/Philip Rivers (read: Chargers quarterback), who puts up stats and loses games because the Chargers have no defense or reliable kicker.
- Dak Prescott is Tony Romo Part Deux, meaning he can throw for 400 yards and Dallas will still fall short under Jerry Jones’ watch.
- Brock Purdy, like Jimmy Garoppolo before him, is just a more handsome version of Matt Schaub, a Shanahan system quarterback.
If Mahomes is the new Brady, then who gets to be the new Peyton Manning to rival him? Some might say that’s Burrow, the passing savant, and savior drafted No. 1 overall with the best wide receiving corps in the league. Someone who actually has stood up to the dynasty in a playoff game and made an 18-point comeback in an AFC Championship Game like Manning’s Colts did to the Patriots in 2006.
The “quarterback with more rings on a better team against the better field general” is a tale as old as time in the NFL. It happened in the 1960s with Bart Starr vs. Johnny Unitas, in the 1970s with Terry Bradshaw vs. Roger Staubach, in the 1980s with Joe Montana vs. Dan Marino, and in the 1990s with Troy Aikman against take your pick of Steve Young or Brett Favre.
But Brady vs. Manning (2001-2015) became the greatest of these rivalries because it was a real battle for 15 years. There were so many No. 1 seeds, MVP awards, touchdown records, and Super Bowls on the line there. So, of course people are going to want to get it going with the next generation and we know Mahomes must be involved.
The problem is neither Mahomes nor Burrow fit well into either role of the classic rivalry:
- Mahomes has Brady’s rings with Manning’s superior efficiency stats and consistency.
- Burrow lacks Manning’s efficiency, durability, and consistency, but he’s had some of Brady’s luck in the postseason with his defense making game-changing turnovers in clutch moments and his kicker delivering from long distance (but no rings to show for it yet).
- Brady was the quarterback known for setting up game-winning field goals in the playoffs early in his career while Burrow failed to get the Bengals into field-goal range on the two biggest drives of his career in Super Bowl 56 against the Rams and the 2022 AFC Championship Game in Kansas City.
- Some call him “Joe Brrr” but he has one win in the NFL when trailing in the final 8:00 of the game, and he has never thrown a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of seven playoff games.
- Burrow’s success against the Chiefs (3-1 record with every game decided by exactly 3 points) has been largely built on his defense doing the best job at stopping Mahomes in the clutch, similar to how Bill Belichick’s defense used to thwart Manning’s Colts in 2003-04.
There are traits that are similar to the past, but they’re not matching up to either defined role. They’re all over the map. This is what happens when the quarterback with the best stats also happens to be the one winning the most rings (Mahomes), a rare occurrence in NFL history.
Burrow is more like Marc Bulger without a dome, or Carson Palmer with better PR. Someone who tore his ACL in his rookie season instead of the first drive of his postseason career like Palmer unfortunately did in January 2006 after an incredible season.
The rush to crown Burrow as the top rival of Mahomes based on a few head-to-head games has been ridiculous. The stats are not there yet for Burrow, who has never ranked higher than 10th in QBR since advanced metrics hate sacks, and it has been proven that quarterbacks have more control over sacks than their offensive line does. The clutch moments haven’t been there yet either to justify his nicknames.
Bengals fans have every right to be happy about having Burrow, especially after so many years of Andy Dalton. Going to back-to-back title games is a big achievement for any team, let alone Cincinnati.
But Burrow has some flaws to fix. He must stay healthy, and the good news is his injuries look flukey enough to not be concerned about a repeat. This could be like Matthew Stafford, who was injured his first two seasons and then didn’t miss a game the next eight seasons. But Burrow does need to cut down on the sacks he takes, and we’ll see him adjust to a new offensive coordinator for the first time this year.
Burrow has already put a lot of pressure on himself in 2024, claiming he’ll give people something to talk about and reclaim the AFC North. We’ll see if he does it, or if someone like C.J. Stroud is ready to step in as the next main rival for Mahomes.
Maybe even a more appropriate Manning comparison if Mahomes settles into the villainous Brady role going forward.
7. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Hurts was a great way for the Eagles to free themselves of Carson Wentz in 2020. He is a superior leader, runner, and all-around playmaker. The Eagles have made the playoffs in all three seasons that Hurts was the full-time starter.
But he is not without his flaws. Hurts’ best playoff game is actually the Super Bowl he lost to the Chiefs, a 38-35 game in which he just needed one more possession to force overtime or possibly win it. But a weak flag by the refs extended Kansas City’s drive to use most of the clock, so we didn’t really see what he could do after tying the game on his previous drive.
Of course, the play people remember most from Hurts is the unforced fumble that was returned for a touchdown. That’s a tough one. But he played well, better than he did in the playoff games they won. In fact, Hurts has yet to win a playoff game where the Eagles allow more than 7 points.
Hurts also didn’t improve his passing last year. His interception rate more than doubled, he locked onto A.J. Brown too much, and his success rate barely moved from 2022. The team also imploded down the stretch after getting away with some close wins during a 10-1 start that never felt sustainable.
Where would this offense be without the Tush Push, their cheat code for every short-yardage call? They execute it better than anyone. The good news is the NFL has no current plans to ban it. The bad news is center Jason Kelce retired after a Hall of Fame career, so we’ll see if it’s still as good with Hurts behind a new center. He has had a great offensive line to this point.
Hurts is strong, but you have to wonder how sustainable it is to run the ball over 150 times a season as he has averaged since 2021. There was already a scary shoulder injury in December 2022 that nearly cost him the playoff run, and there were rumblings last season that he was playing hurt during the collapse. Hurts is only 92 carries behind Donovan McNabb’s career total (616). He might want to take a lesson from McNabb, who took on more of a pass-first approach to his game in Year 6.
8. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
What C.J. Stroud did as a rookie on the Texans last year was incredible. If not for a concussion against the Jets that cost him 2.5 games, we might be talking about this as hands down the best rookie quarterback season ever.
Stroud led the NFL in passing yards per game (273.9) and lowest interception rate (1.0%), an impressive combo to begin with, but even crazier to do it as a rookie. He showed the team they could lean on him like in November when he went 3-1 while averaging 366.5 passing yards per game, including a rookie record 470 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 39-37 win over Tampa Bay.
His defense was only slightly above average, his running game was 29th in yards per carry, and he made his unproven receivers better. He had three receivers go off for 140 yards in multiple games, something no offense in NFL history had ever done before. He won a division title game on the road in Week 18 in Indy, and he shredded a good Cleveland defense in the playoffs.
Still a long way to go to get past Baltimore, but the Texans upgraded in the offseason. They added Stefon Diggs to give the receivers another major weapon, and they kept offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik in town. With the potential to be a stronger team on both sides that can challenge the likes of the Chiefs, Ravens, and Bills, Stroud could be the MVP this year as the maestro with the deepest set of weapons in the NFL.
He’ll get his first shot at the Chiefs in December.
9. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love is the NFC equivalent of C.J. Stroud as his first full year as a starter was a great success even if it didn’t start that way. He was great in a Week 18 game to clinch a playoff berth, and he shredded Dallas in the wild-card round. He had an upset brewing in San Francisco, but his teammates let him down with a missed field goal and blown lead before he threw a season-ending interception that would make Brett Favre blush.
But the future looks bright for Love, who should be getting MVP buzz for the way he ended 2023 on such a tear with his young offense showing real and sustainable improvement. His favorite receiver is the open one.
The reasons he ends up just behind Stroud are because Stroud did it in the tougher conference as a true rookie with a rookie coach. Love had three years of learning this offense and some live reps in real games, and coach Matt LaFleur is a proven winner.
But these guys could be dueling in a Super Bowl someday soon. Just think of the possibilities for this season alone. Love was the only quarterback to score more than 24 points against Kansas City’s defense last season. Imagine if the Super Bowl is a rematch of Super Bowl I between the Chiefs and Packers with Love trying to uphold the 1965-67 Packers as the only team to have a three-peat in NFL history.
It looks like the Packers have struck gold again.
10. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
To be honest, Dak Prescott was going to kick off the next tier since he didn’t fit the under 30 theme here. But he is coming off his best season where he was an MVP candidate, so let’s give him some respect. Quarterbacking the Cowboys is a thankless job these days.
Prescott has been legit since the beginning when he had arguably the best rookie season ever by a quarterback. He has gotten better under coach Mike McCarthy, but there are some demons that just won’t go away for Prescott. Aaron Rodgers has been an issue for the Cowboys for many years, and more recently, this team can’t get past the 49ers.
Prescott had a horrible game in prime time in a 42-10 loss in San Francisco. The Cowboys beefed up their record against a lot of bad teams, then we watched Prescott fold again in Buffalo in a 31-10 loss where he threw for just 134 yards. It took him until the fourth quarter to break 100 yards that day. The Cowboys also came up short in a loss in Miami, effectively ending the MVP campaign for Prescott, who finished just one-tenth behind Brock Purdy for the league lead in QBR.
But in the playoffs, the dominant Cowboys fell behind 27-0 to the No. 7-seeded Packers after Dak threw a pick-six in front of a stunned crowd. Dallas became the first team to lose to a No. 7 seed, and the Cowboys still haven’t advanced past the divisional round since the 1995 season.
It just seems like no matter how good the stats are in the regular season, the Prescott-era Cowboys fall apart in the playoffs. Maybe they need everyone to write them off so they can surprise people in a deep playoff run.
But there does seem to be a clear ceiling with this team with Prescott at quarterback.
Tier 4 Quarterbacks: Used Goods
In this tier, 80% of the quarterbacks have changed teams since 2021, and 80% have suffered a season-ending injury since 2022.
This tier also includes a couple of Super Bowl winners who are among the oldest quarterbacks in the league. That’s the problem with this group. Everyone is either past their athletic prime, has been seriously injured recently, or they have been accused of folding when the play breaks down and they have to work out of the system.
But in the right situation, health permitting, you could still go far with one of these quarterbacks.
11. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Since winning the Super Bowl in the 2021 season, we have seen Matthew Stafford struggle through an injury-shortened 2022, and last year didn’t start much better with a 3-5 record before the bye despite rookie receiver Puka Nacua doing an excellent job.
Through nine games played, Stafford was completing 59.2% of his passes with 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. But after turning it around down the stretch, he threw 17 touchdowns to 3 interceptions in his final 7 games, posting a 5-2 record and just coming up short in the playoff loss in Detroit.
If the Stafford who finished the season in good form can show up for all of 2024, then the Rams should be back in the playoffs with a chance to do some damage. But at 36 years old, time is not on his side. Not everyone wants to play until they’re 45 while still throwing the most passes in the league like Tom Brady. There’s a lot of wear and tear on Stafford’s body. His career total of 36 missed games to injury are the most among active starters in the NFL.
12. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Aaron Rodgers could be the hardest quarterback to rank in 2024. Career-wise, he’s No. 1 or No. 2 in the league. Only Mahomes can compare to what he’s done in an obvious first-ballot Hall of Fame career with four MVP awards.
But we haven’t seen Rodgers play at a high level since 2021. He had the worst season of his career in Green Bay in 2022, then he tore his Achilles just four snaps into his 2023 debut with the Jets. Now he’s going on 41 years old, coming off a serious injury, and is a couple of years removed from high-caliber play.
Oh, and he’s still trying to make a passing offense happen for the Jets, who haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010. If you were skeptical of how Rodgers would perform last year, you have every right to be more skeptical this year after what happened.
But if he stays healthy? It could work out with some decent receivers, an improved running game, and an offensive line, and the defense should still be solid. He is the betting favorite for Comeback Player of the Year, which would be an ironic award for him to win given his struggles to produce comeback wins in his prime for the Packers.
13. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
You might owe Jared Goff an apology if you thought he was just a footnote in the 2021 trade involving Matthew Stafford and the Rams. Goff has led a top-tier offense the last two years, and he had the Detroit Lions of all teams a drive away from reaching the Super Bowl. He probably would get there if Josh Reynolds didn’t have two horrendous drops in the second half of that blown lead in San Francisco. It also would have helped if the Lions had anything close to a respectable defense.
Goff is living the good life with a new contract, he got married, and the Lions are still slight favorites to repeat as NFC North champions. He’s not just a product of Sean McVay’s offense.
Sure, he still scares you when he turns into a turnover machine like he did in losses to the Bears and Packers, but you can win games with Goff.
14. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
With so many young quarterbacks getting huge contract extensions, Tua Tagovailoa still waits for his as he enters his fifth and final year on his rookie deal in Miami. Coach Mike McDaniel does seem like the one maverick who would trust his system over anything and forego inking Tua to a deal that would likely be over $55 million per season to get on par with the deals for Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, and Justin Herbert.
Tagovailoa had multiple concussions in 2022 that threatened his long-term career, but he was able to stay healthy for all of 2023. Unfortunately, the Dolphins still faltered against most of the good teams on the schedule, getting swept by Kansas City and Buffalo in the process. The Dolphins have not won a playoff game since the 2000 season.
Tagovailoa is a tough read as he went from having receivers with no separation in 2020-21 to playing with arguably the fastest offense in league history in 2022-23 with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. We haven’t seen him in a “normal” situation yet, and maybe we never will in Miami depending on how things shake out.
A deal will probably get done soon, but you can understand the hesitation from the Dolphins.
15. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Kirk Cousins is a financial legend in NFL lore as he worked out another deal with huge guaranteed money to go to Atlanta. Unfortunately, the Falcons did him no favors by drafting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick. That means any game-ending interception or losing slump is going to start the calls for Penix to take over, so Cousins is going to have that pressure breathing down his back.
But his job should be safe for at least a season or two in Atlanta. He was playing really well last year for the Vikings, and he will have weapons at each level in Atlanta. But you could argue it’s a downgrade from what he had in Minnesota, which was also a pass-friendly system.
Still, Cousins has seen everything and knows how to lead a passing attack. He’ll be a big improvement over Desmond Ridder and is in a winnable division. But his habit of staying very close to a .500 record year after year is hard to shake, and how successful this is depends on how well the Falcons build up their defense.
Might have been nice to add a top-edge rushing talent like Dallas Turner or another wideout like Rome Odunze instead of Cousins’ eventual replacement at quarterback.
Tier 5 Quarterbacks: Situationships
Our largest tier, everyone here has been to the playoffs at least once in their NFL career. But they’re a little Jekyll & Hyde, so can you trust them to get back, or is their peak a close divisional round loss these days? Better question: How many of these quarterbacks do you honestly see starting for this team in 2025?
This situationship tier could be one that’s heavy on stopgaps and bandages until these teams part ways and find their next quarterbacks.
16. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Many people are higher on Trevor Lawrence, including the Jaguars given they extended him to a record-tying contract worth $275 million. But he is going to have to start playing better than he has through three seasons to justify that deal.
Even when he had his breakout season in 2022, the Jaguars were 3-7 at the bye. They relied on some huge comebacks and a 7-game losing streak by the Titans to make the playoffs, including a couple of defensive touchdowns to win games against the Cowboys and Titans. Lawrence only led his offense to 13 points in a must-win game at home in Week 18, then he threw four interceptions in the playoffs to fall behind 27-0 to the Chargers before rallying again for a win.
Those kind of comeback antics did not carry over to 2023, and despite an 8-3 start, the Jaguars missed the playoffs. Lawrence, who was injured against the Bengals, was supposed to take off with the addition of Calvin Ridley, but the two did not have a great connection. His 56.1 QBR was identical to his QBR in the 2022 season.
People are already flocking to C.J. Stroud as the new alpha in the AFC South. We’ll see what Lawrence has to say about that this season. But the Chiefs are also an issue for Lawrence. While many of his young peers have played well against that defense, Lawrence is 0-3 and has led the Jaguars to 15.3 points per game in those meetings.
Willing to move him up a tier with a better season, but for now, this is the spot.
17. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Few quarterbacks in NFL history have a career arc as weird as Geno Smith’s. He was a 2-year starter with the Jets, then his teammate broke his jaw with a sucker punch, and he basically lost his job after that. He was stuck behind some of the most durable quarterbacks ever in Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, then he finally got a shot in Seattle in 2021 when Russell Wilson was injured for the first time in his career.
Smith had a career year in 2022 when he threw 30 touchdowns and led the NFL with a 69.8% completion rate while leading the Seahawks to the playoffs, an unexpected feat all around. He regressed some last year but was still within the ballpark of his 2022 season.
He might never have it in him to pull off an Eli or Nick Foles-type run through a postseason, but if new coach Mike Macdonald can improve the defense, then Smith has the weapons around him to apply some pressure on the 49ers in the NFC West.
18. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Expectations were not high for Baker Mayfield last year, but in his debut with Tampa Bay, he set career highs in yards (4,044) and touchdown passes (28). He helped the Bucs win the division again and a playoff game too over the Eagles.
He is serviceable enough under the right circumstances, but we’ll see how he fares after losing offensive coordinator Dave Canales to the Panthers. At least he’s used to coaching changes in his career.
19. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
For being a No. 1 overall draft pick, Kyler Murray generates very little buzz these days. Maybe it’s because, in five years as a starter, we haven’t really seen him elevate his game to a higher level outside of that 7-0 start in 2021.
Since that 7-0 start, Murray has thrown 31 touchdowns in 26 games and averages 6.5 yards per attempt. He’s still fun to watch as a scrambler, but his passing has not been up to par.
The Cardinals drafted him a new No. 1 wide receiver in Marvin Harrison Jr. who should be great, but the team is going to have to take a close look at Murray this season to see if he belongs in the long-term plans or if he needs a change of scenery.
20. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
When Russell Wilson joined the Denver Broncos in 2022, that should have led to some great matchups with Mahomes and the Chiefs. Instead, the Broncos had the worst offense in the league and Wilson had the worst season of his career. Adding Sean Payton as the coach last year was supposed to fix Wilson, but it was a marginal improvement, and the team opted to take a record amount of dead money rather than bring him back.
Going on 36 years old, Wilson is now with the Steelers, who haven’t had a losing season since 2003. They love playing close games under Mike Tomlin, something Wilson lives for as the engineer of 43 game-winning drives.
It could be a good fit, but if it’s a disaster, he’s going to get benched for Justin Fields and may never start in the NFL again just like Donovan McNabb after he left the Eagles in 2010. That ruined McNabb’s Hall of Fame case, and the same could happen to Wilson, who once looked like a lock for Canton.
Wilson should still be one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but something has been off with his game for several years now. Maybe the loss of speed and accumulation of sacks have taken their toll.
It’s a huge year for his future.
21. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
All Derek Carr ever wanted was a winnable division and a good defense. He got those things in New Orleans in 2023, and the team still missed the playoffs. Now they’re being written off this year with Kirk Cousins joining the Falcons and Baker Mayfield having a better debut season in Tampa.
Carr didn’t really heat up until the last month of the season when he threw 12 touchdowns in a 3-1 finish. After a decade, we have a good read on what Carr is all about. The Saints could surprise people this year if he pulls out a few close wins that were absent in 2023, and if the defense stays above average.
But will it lead to the Saints hosting the Super Bowl in their home stadium in February? Well, he’s never been that guy.
22. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
While the Giants made the playoffs in 2022, it’s hard to say Daniel Jones had a real glow-up under coach Brian Daboll, who had the strategy to enhance Jones by featuring less of him. Jones averaged a career-low 200.3 passing yards per game that season, and the unusual success in close games helped that team to a 6-1 start. Jones had more game-winning drives in 2022 than the rest of his career combined.
But you could already see the decline in the second half of that season, and last year was a total disaster after the Giants extended Jones to a contract worth $40 million per year. Now the GM is reportedly putting this season as the one that will decide Jones’ future after an ACL tear, a significant injury for someone who is best known for his running ability.
The Giants drafted LSU’s Malik Nabers as wide receiver has been a struggle for the team during Jones’ tenure. But counting on your quarterback to have a breakout season in Year 6? Good luck with that.
23. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Remember when Deshaun Watson and the Texans were up 24-0 on the Chiefs in the 2019 AFC divisional round playoffs? It’s been all downhill from there for Watson, who was supposed to be one of Mahomes’ best rivals.
He asked for a trade out of Houston, and that was even before we knew about the allegations of sexual misconduct from over two dozen women. Still, Watson found a trade to Cleveland, which gave him the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history in 2022.
But despite head coach Kevin Stefanski getting the best out of Baker Mayfield, Jacoby Brissett, and a spirited Joe Flacco run last year, the offense has simply not worked with Watson. Through 12 starts, his completion percentage in Cleveland has dropped 8.0 percentage points, and his yards per attempt has fallen from 8.3 to 6.5.
While there is still time for Watson to turn things around in Cleveland, you could easily make the case that this is the worst trade in NFL history.
Tier 6 Quarterbacks: The Jury’s Still Out
Most quarterbacks who become stars show it in their first or second season as a starter. Our next tier has the 2023 draft picks who did not show star quality in their rookie season, but the potential is there for a breakout season in 2024.
After how bad Jared Goff was as a rookie in 2016, you cannot rule anyone out after one season.
24. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
It is so difficult to judge Anthony Richardson’s rookie season as he only made it through 100% of the snaps in 1-of-4 games played. In two other games, he was injured after only playing a third of the snaps. We just haven’t seen enough to get a feeling for his consistency as a passer and ability as a runner.
But the potential is there, and we saw coach Shane Steichen do great things with so many backups on offense last year. Now imagine if Richardson can stay healthy and we see him play with Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., and the Colts drafted Texas wideout Adonai Mitchell in the second round.
The Colts were a drive away from winning the division from Houston. Let’s see if Richardson can steal some of C.J. Stroud’s thunder this year.
25. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
That was definitely a bad rookie season with few bright moments for No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young. But he had pretty much nothing to rely on outside of Adam Thielen playing well.
The Panthers upgraded their interior line with free agents, added Diontae Johnson (Steelers) and rookie Xavier Legette to the receiving corps, and drafted top back Jonathon Brooks. Most importantly, they hired Dave Canales as their head coach, who helped Geno Smith (2022 Seahawks) and Baker Mayfield (2023 Buccaneers) to career seasons the last two years.
It wouldn’t be the craziest turnaround story ever given the winnable nature of the NFC South, but Carolina is one of those teams where you should be preparing for a significant leap forward in quarterback play this year.
If not, then yikes. Young over Stroud will start to go down as one of the all-time draft mistakes.
26. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Will Levis tied an NFL record when he threw 4 touchdown passes in his debut game against the Falcons. Unfortunately, he only threw that many scores over his final eight starts last year.
But he did throw for 327 yards on a Monday night in Miami where he led one of the most improbable 14-point comebacks in history. The situation around Levis has improved as he’s been given an offensive-minded rookie coach (Brian Callahan), a new No. 1 wide receiver (Calvin Ridley), a younger running back with more receiving ability than Derrick Henry (Tony Pollard), and a top left tackle prospect in the draft (JC Latham).
Expectations may still be low, but if there’s a quick turnaround here, we’ll know why.
27. Aidan O’Connell/Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders
This is the only team we’re listing with two starters because it is legitimately unclear who will play the most this year. That’s why you could argue the Raiders have the worst long-term quarterback situation in the league as Aidan O’Connell was a marginal fourth-round rookie last year, and Gardner Minshew is a stop-gap journeyman who can only take you so far.
The funny thing is Minshew had a better rookie season as a sixth-round pick for the Jaguars in 2019 (21 touchdowns, 6 interceptions) than the four 2023 rookie quarterbacks in this tier. But he came up short in the season finale at home against Houston with the division title on the line.
Would you really expect anything different this year in an AFC loaded with quarterbacks?
Tier 7 Quarterbacks: The Rookies
Our final tier is the five rookie quarterbacks who were drafted in the top 12 picks in April. There was a sixth one drafted in that group, but we’re not including Michael Penix Jr. because, unlike the Falcons, we remembered Kirk Cousins exists.
Some might see it as an opportunity to brag by ranking a rookie higher than an established player, and chances are some of these rookies will perform better than the quarterbacks in the higher tiers this season.
But this whole list has been driven by facts and demonstrated NFL ability. Since the 2024 rookies haven’t even made it to training camp yet, we have to stick them at the bottom for now.
28. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
In May, we concluded that former Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams is walking into the best situation of any quarterback drafted No. 1 overall in the common draft era. He has without question the best-receiving corps for such a rookie, and as long as the Bears improve even just slightly on defense, he should have the best overall team.
He also was the consensus-best quarterback in his class, he has +140 odds at FanDuel to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the Bears are favored to go over 8.5 wins for a winning record. That’s something that only Andrew Luck (11-5 for the 2012 Colts) has done as a rookie No. 1 overall pick.
Expectations are going to be higher than usual for Williams in his rookie season, and it is understandable to be skeptical of a franchise that has been searching for their Sid Luckman replacement since 1950.
But it will be interesting to watch the Bears for a change.
29. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
It might be a rougher year for Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick, compared to Williams. He has to bring some excitement to a Washington franchise that is the only team in the NFL not to have an 11-win season in the salary cap era (since 1994).
But Daniels had some unbelievable numbers in college last season, and he will have to prove his dual-threat running style translates to the pros. Too many videos of him taking ridiculous hits in college that won’t work out well for him at the NFL level.
We’ll see if new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury can settle him down. Kingsbury was the coach for the 2019 Cardinals when Kyler Murray, another mad scrambler, won Offensive Rookie of the Year even if that was a down year for rookie quarterback play.
30. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
There’s a lot of speculation that J.J. McCarthy will ride the bench to start his rookie season in Minnesota. At least until Sam Darnold wears out his welcome. But we should see McCarthy soon enough, and there is reason to think he has a shot at being solid in a quarterback-friendly offense that has some great receivers in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
McCarthy wasn’t asked to throw often at Michigan out of necessity, a luxury he is unlikely to enjoy in Minnesota. But head coach Kevin O’Connell will likely ease him into the lineup and make sure he’s getting plenty of play-action looks.
31. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
The Patriots are moving on from the Bill Belichick era with a high draft pick in Drake Maye, who has his work cut out for him behind a rookie coach in Jerod Mayo. The skill players are still among the weakest group in the league as Belichick did not leave the cupboards stocked on his way out after a 4-13 season.
Maye is going to have to play some hero ball this year. Don’t expect him to be coddled as well as Mac Jones was in his rookie year in 2021. The Patriots were built better to play elite defense and run the ball that season.
32. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
We acknowledged in the previous tier that the Raiders could have the worst long-term quarterback situation in the league. To the delight of the Chiefs fans, here are the Broncos ranked dead last with Oregon rookie Bo Nix, who the team chose after taking on a record $85 million in dead cap money by getting rid of Russell Wilson.
But it will be fun to see what head coach Sean Payton can do with a legitimate rookie quarterback who set a single-season completion percentage in the NCAA last year. We’ve seen Payton work with Drew Brees all those years in New Orleans, and in the last few years, it’s been the likes of Teddy Bridgewater, Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian, Taysom Hill, and a zombie version of Wilson.
Nix may have been a reach at No. 12, but let’s see what the coach can do in molding a rookie from Day 1.
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