Story by
Tony Owusu
Thu, July 16, 2026 at 11:01 PM UTC·4 min read
Every summer, ESPN drops its annual survey of NFL executives, coaches, and scouts ranking the league’s top positional talent, and every summer, the collective football world loses its mind
With training camps still weeks away and the news cycle running on fumes, these rankings are designed to keep the lights on and the arguments firing. This year, Jeremy Fowler gathered ballots from over 70 high-level league
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On Monday, they revealed their top 10 quarterback rankings—and to say the league’s front offices have lost the plot is an understatement
While it’s easy to get blinded by historical reputations, projecting the 2026 <a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/7-shows-like-widows-bay-to-watch-while-waiting-for-season-2/” title=”7 Shows Like WIDOW'S BAY To Watch While Waiting for Season 2″>season requires looking at who these players actually are today. The league’s power brokers apparently looked at the tape and decided to let nostalgia write their ballots
I’m not buying it. Before we dive into my heavily revised top five, here is the official, deeply flawed top 10 that ESPN’s panel put together:
Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs
Matthew Stafford – Los Angeles Rams
Joe Burrow – Cincinnati Bengals
Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens
Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys
Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers
Drake Maye – New England Patriots
Jared Goff – Detroit Lions
Caleb Williams – Chicago Bears
Re-ranking the 2026 top 5 NFL quarterbacks
It took three consecutive pedestrian seasons for Patrick Mahomes to drop out of the top spot in this year’s rankings, but if we are going off what he has done lately, number 2 is probably still too high for him, so he’s gotta come lower
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The easiest change to make was taking Joe Burrow off the list since he only played in 8 games last season
Here is my rank of the top-5 NFL quarterbacks heading into 2026
Matthew Stafford – Stafford benefits from a quarterback-friendly offense run by head coach Sean McVay, but Stafford undoubtedly makes that offense even better. His command of the game at this stage in his career is reflected accurately in the MVP numbers he put up last season. Stafford was the best quarterback I saw play last season
Josh Allen – Allen is still the most physically imposing quarterback in the league, and ESPN’s rankings have had him top-3 for three consecutive years. While Allen still does turn the ball over a bit more than you’d like (10 interceptions, 7 fumbles with 3 lost), he still passes the eye test almost every time
Dak Prescott – As much as it hurts as a Commanders fan to place a Cowboy this high, Dak Prescott had an absolutely astounding bounceback season in 2025. He was third in the league in passing yards, fourth in touchdowns and tied for third in fourth-quarter comebacks. He does still play for Dallas, however, so the team didn’t make the playoffs
Patrick Mahomes – Mahomes failed to crack 4,000 passing yards for the second consecutive year by about 400 yards after doing so in six consecutive seasons. But he did also miss three games this season. While he wasn’t back to being the superhuman cheat code that annually placed him at the top of these (and most other) rankings, he was damn close. Still, 11 interceptions and a QB rating that was the lowest of his career since he became a full-time starter means he is lower on my list than he usually is.
Jared Goff – this is where the list gets a bit tricky. Do I think Jared Goff is the fifth best quarterback in the league? No. But he did have a top-5 season statistically last year with 4,564 yards, 34 touchdowns and only 8 picks. The only player in my top-5 with a lower interception percentage than him is Stafford. His passer rating was third in the league, though his QBR places him near the bottom of the league
The top-4 of this list were easy, but once you factor in injuries, the second half of the top 10 is a lot harder
This list is a mix of looking back at previous production and where I believe these quarterbacks currently rank in their careers
Related: Jayden Daniels snubbed as third-best QB from draft class
This story was originally published by Lindys Sports on Jul 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Lindys Sports as a Preferred
