Let’s rank the starting QBs in 2025

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Case and point supporting this. The games before and after the Bills Rams shootout which Stafford was quite good (320 yds 2 TDs) he had 183 yds vs the Saints and 160 yds vs SF. They won both games, but he was not a major factor. The biggest thing is in the post season he was really good again which does raise a QBs profile.

 

It's a good point that for a lot of Bills fans who only watch Bills games and the post season they probably saw the best of Stafford and that likely influences opinions. 

[corta765]

3 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It's a good point that for a lot of Bills fans who only watch Bills games and the post season they probably saw the best of Stafford and that likely influences opinions. 

He is at the point he may not have his true fastball anymore, but it really doesnt matter. When the lights are the brightest he balls and that is the best compliment any athlete can get. I also think the Rams load manage him now which will deflate a QBs numbers a bit but is a very smart idea.

 

Stafford gives me hope that Josh when his time comes to age can evolve and still be a really good QB that can win. Last season actually had me most excited with Josh to see him take what the opponent gives him rather then going for kill shots all the time. That will help him immensely extend his career.

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I think there is a fundamental inconsistency @Kirby Jackson and @HappyDays between having Mahomes 3rd or 4th based on "other guys playing better the last two years" and then still having Matt Stafford at #7 and #5 respectively. 

 

Over the past two seasons if you look at:

- passing yards

- completion rate

- touchdowns

- passer rating

- yards per attempt

 

Across ten data points over two seasons Matt Stafford is top 10 in exactly 1 of those ten - yards per attempt in 2023. 

 

I love Matt Stafford. He has had a great career and he will be an interesting HoF debate when he comes up in years to come. But over the past three seasons since he won that Superbowl he has been closer to the 15th best Quarterback in football than the 5th. I know he had the elbow injury in 2022 and that might be part of the explanation but I think he is what he is right now. I still have him in my franchise group but while for almost 10 years (even when he was in Detroit) I banged the drum that he was a top 6 Quarterback and at the top of that "best of the rest" category, I think he is towards the backend of that group now. 

 

 

FWIW I struggled the most with that tier of #5-#10. What made me put Stafford at the top of that tier is I think he is still the most consistent out of that group. I am not looking at stats and I am not factoring in his 2022 Super Bowl win. His arm power is still there and because he's played for so long he can diagnose defenses with the best of them. He had to deal with Kupp losing a step and Nacua being injured for much of the year, middling pass protection, and a below average defense.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

FWIW I struggled the most with that tier of #5-#10. What made me put Stafford at the top of that tier is I think he is still the most consistent out of that group. I am not looking at stats and I am not factoring in his 2022 Super Bowl win. His arm power is still there and because he's played for so long he can diagnose defenses with the best of them. He had to deal with Kupp losing a step and Nacua being injured for much of the year, middling pass protection, and a below average defense.

 

I don't think he was consistent at all in 2024. I think his best he still looked like the old Matthew Stafford. His worst he looked a lot like Rodgers did. Those games they won down the stretch they won on defense, with the Bills game a stark exception. Everyone else they were beating 12-6 or score of that nature. Their defense held the Vikings to 9 in the playoff win. 

 

I don't think there is any way he is the 5th best Quarterback in the NFL right now. Personally I don't think he is top 10 anymore, he is just outside that. 

[HappyDays]

13 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I don't think there is any way he is the 5th best Quarterback in the NFL right now.

 

Funny enough I don't think there's any way Hurts is the 5th best QB in the NFL right now. But you're weighing different factors more heavily than I am. I can't find reason to poke holes in anyone's list because there are a lot of different ways to approach the question. The top 4 is the top 4 in whatever order you want, and then from there it gets tricky. The way I look at is pretend each QB was on the Eagles last year. What would their record be? The top 4 might have had that team undefeated. From there I am ranking based on how I see their consistency and skill set.

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Funny enough I don't think there's any way Hurts is the 5th best QB in the NFL right now. But you're weighing different factors more heavily than I am. I can't find reason to poke holes in anyone's list because there are a lot of different ways to approach the question. The top 4 is the top 4 in whatever order you want, and then from there it gets tricky. The way I look at is pretend each QB was on the Eagles last year. What would their record be? The top 4 might have had that team undefeated. From there I am ranking based on how I see their consistency and skill set.

 

Fair enough. But in that matchup where they have exactly the same team I'd take 2024 Jalen Hurts over 2024 Matt Stafford in a heartbeat. Go back 3 years I'd have taken Stafford above most guys in the league but he isn't that player any more. 

[DJB]

This should have been put to a vote on each guy

[Virgil]

1. Mahomes (until he's actually beaten by anyone in the top 5, it's his)

2. Allen

3. Burrow (Could be 2a honestly)

4. Lamar (still don't trust him in the playoffs to not make the crucial mistakes)

5. Stafford

 

6-32.  Don't care

 

[Mister Defense]

I thought it was really funny how several had Lamar Jackson ahead of Patrick Mahomes!

 

And I wondered: if they had to pick a quarterback to lead their own NFL team, would they actually make that awful move and pick what is clearly a much lesser QB over Mahomes?

 

Makes zero sense--choosing a QB who seems to be THE reason his team does not make it to the Super Bowl over a QB who seems to be a seminal reason his team has--and why they have won three of them.

 

I think some did that because they resent Mahomes for his success against the Bills in the playoffs, but I cannot imagine many sentient adults thinking Lamar Jackson is a better quarterback than Mahomes.

 

 

[Kirby Jackson]

28 minutes ago, Mister Defense said:

I thought it was really funny how several had Lamar Jackson ahead of Patrick Mahomes!

 

And I wondered: if they had to pick a quarterback to lead their own NFL team, would they actually make that awful move and pick what is clearly a much lesser QB over Mahomes?

 

Makes zero sense--choosing a QB who seems to be THE reason his team does not make it to the Super Bowl over a QB who seems to be a seminal reason his team has--and why they have won three of them.

 

I think some did that because they resent Mahomes for his success against the Bills in the playoffs, but I cannot imagine many sentient adults thinking Lamar Jackson is a better quarterback than Mahomes.

 

 

I won’t speak for others but you don’t need to think for me. I think Lamar has been the better player over the last couple of years. 

[Billl]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I won’t speak for others but you don’t need to think for me. I think Lamar has been the better player over the last couple of years. 

So if you had to put your life savings on one QB to put together a game winning drive in a critical moment, you’re picking Lamar?

[billykay]

On 6/16/2025 at 12:51 PM, Kirby Jackson said:

Thought this would be a fun exercise. We all have opinions on different guys. Instead of using this thread to disagree with someone else’s list, go on record ranking the QBs how you see it as of today. Here’s mine: 
 

1. Allen

2. Lamar

3. Burrow

4. Mahomes

5. Daniels

6. Hurts

7. Stafford

8 Baker

9. Herbert

10. Dak

11. Stroud

12. Goff

13. Love

14. Nix

15. Purdy

16. Geno

17. Kyler

18. Tua

19. Darnold

20. Lawrence

21. Ward

22 Maye

23. Rodgers

24. Caleb Williams

25. Young

26. Penix

27. McCarthy

28. Fields

29. Russell Wilson

30. Richardson/Dimes

31. Flacco

32. Shough

I pretty much agree. I would move up Geno and Purdy, probably in front of Dak and Herbert.

[Kirby Jackson]

10 minutes ago, Billl said:

So if you had to put your life savings on one QB to put together a game winning drive in a critical moment, you’re picking Lamar?

No. If I had to pick a QB to QB a team for an entire season, Lamar would be my second pick behind Josh Allen. 

[GunnerBill]

13 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

No. If I had to pick a QB to QB a team for an entire season, Lamar would be my second pick behind Josh Allen. 

 

I went for the probably convetional; Pat; Josh; Joe; Lamar. 

 

I'd be absolutely delighted with any of the 4 for am entire season. But in the 1 crunch moment that is the order I'd take them

 

[Mr. WEO]

On 6/16/2025 at 2:45 PM, HappyDays said:

Chris Simms just did his top 40 QB countdown. This was his top 10:

 

Here's where I'm at, entirely based on their play right now not on their career. I put a line in between what I consider to be a significant drop off from one tier to the next.

 

1) Allen

2) Jackson

3) Mahomes

4) Burrow

-----

5) Stafford

6) Daniels

7) Stroud

8 ) Herbert

9) Goff

10) Mayfield

-----

11) Hurts

12) Murray

13) Prescott

14) Geno

15) Love

16) Nix

17) Tua

18) Purdy

19) Lawrence

20) Rodgers

-----

21) Maye

22) Darnold

23) Daniel Jones

24) Young

25) Penix

26) Wilson

27) Caleb Williams

28) Fields

-----

29) Ward

30) McCarthy

31) Browns QBs

32) Saints QBs

 

 

not bad.

 

Not sure how a anyone ranks Hurts over Goff.

 

Can't wait to see where Simms puts Taysom Hill this year!

[Billl]

6 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

No. If I had to pick a QB to QB a team for an entire season, Lamar would be my second pick behind Josh Allen. 

So you’re putting your life’s savings on guys who are a combined 0-5 against Mahomes when the season is on the line?  Josh is 7-6 in elimination games.  Lamar is 3-5.  Mahomes is 17-4, but you’re rolling with Lamar?

 

Nobody thinks Lamar gives his team a better chance of winning the Super Bowl than Mahomes.

[Big Turk]

On 6/16/2025 at 12:54 PM, boyst said:

Let me maul over this but my first reaction is tua is a lot better than giving credit for when he is healthy. 

 

Highly dependent on who they are playing. If it's a bottom feeding team with an undisciplined defense, he looks all-world. If it's a good team with a disciplined defense he looks pretty poor.

[Kirby Jackson]

16 minutes ago, Billl said:

So you’re putting your life’s savings on guys who are a combined 0-5 against Mahomes when the season is on the line?  Josh is 7-6 in elimination games.  Lamar is 3-5.  Mahomes is 17-4, but you’re rolling with Lamar?

 

Nobody thinks Lamar gives his team a better chance of winning the Super Bowl than Mahomes.

If I had to pick someone to play QB for the 2025 season, I’d pick Allen. Lamar would be next. Burrow would be 3rd and Mahomes 4th. Yes, that’s what I would pick. Mahomes hasn’t been the reason for their success over the last few years. He’s been good in the clutch and they’ve had crazy luck (12-0 in 1 score games). I think those other guys impact games more now than Pat does. You’re free to put out your list 1-32…

[transplantbillsfan]

I like this idea. One difficult thing to me is separating QB from situation. Are we ranking these guys in a vacuum? Tua in a Bruce Arians style offense might be bottom of the league while I think Allen would genuinely be able to operate at an excellent to Elite level in any offense.

 

I'm going to do my ranking in a vacuum, which I think is more interesting:

 

I'm also not doing 32. I'm not going to do rookies or 1st year players. Where would RG3 have ranked after 2012 vs where he ended up overall? So I guess I'm trying to treat this more holistically vs just last year.

 

1. Allen (I think he's been the best NFL QB for a few years now)

2. Mahomes 

3. Stafford (this one's biased. 2022 version I feel better)

4. Baker (He balls at every stop no matter the situation)

5. Herbert

6. Lamar

7. Burrow (openly hates being under Center... he's scheme specific)

8  Goff

9. Dak (probably underrated and should be higher)

10. Hurts

11. Darnold

12. Stroud (overrated)

13. Purdy

14. Geno.

15. Fields (I really kinda want to put him higher)

16. Tua

17. Lawrence (so overrated)

18. Richardson/Dimes

19. Young

20. Flacco

21. Rodgers

22. Russell Wilson

[Joe Marino]

I think Nick Wright should try this game.