The annual QB tier rankings from The Athletic

[JESSEFEFFER]

Joe Burrow's hidden flaw is sack avoidance.  He is good to great at everything else so the inclination is to blame the OL but the same thing existed at LSU.  I think he was better in 2024 but I can't find the numbers to back that up.

[buffblue]

3 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He was incredible last year. The last time a QB played anything like that well and missed the playoffs because of the ineptitude around him was 2015 Drew Brees. 

I don't disagree with that. He did have an outstanding year. And it's totally appropriate to consider him one of the Elite 4 - I'm just saying that I believe him to be the clear #4 of that group

[BarleyNY]

10 hours ago, dcinmuncie said:

Burrow is great, no doubt 

 

but he also throws to 2 number one receivers.

 

no one other than maybe Philly has better top two receivers 

imagine Josh or Lamar in that situation? 

Burrow also has a terrible OL in front of him that gets him beat to a pulp all season. And no semblance of a defense to help him. It’s him, Chase, Higgins and nothing else.

[Captain Hindsight]

10 hours ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

No idea how Stafford made it into the top tier. 

 

There's a pretty large gap after Allen/Mahomes/Jackson/Burrow. Whatever order you want to put those guys in, they are a clear cut above the rest of the league. 

Stafford is great and has been for a long time. I wouldnt be shocked if he fell of a cliff this year tho. Lots of reports abot back injuries for him

2 hours ago, dcinmuncie said:

Someone already mentioned this, but the more eye popping thing are the 3 idiots who had Josh second tier and the 4 idiots who had Lamar 2nd tier 

 

clearly they have no effing idea what they are watching 

 

I’ve seen the ravens without Lamar. It’s not good 

I’ve seen Buffalo without Josh in preseason and end of season. It’s unwatchable 

When Burrow was out, Jake Browning looked like a damn good starter

Edited August 12 by Captain Hindsight

[Sierra Foothills]

1 hour ago, Captain Hindsight said:

Stafford is great and has been for a long time. I wouldnt be shocked if he fell of a cliff this year tho. Lots of reports abot back injuries for him

 

When Burrow was out, Jake Browning looked like a damn good starter

It would be kinda funny if Stafford fell off a stage.

 

 

[GoBills808]

6 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

Burrow is not only amazingly good, he literally has the highest completion percentage in NFL history. He is not the same player as Allen or Mahomes, but he is as good as them, more or less. At a certain point, it becomes a matter of personal preference.

the hype for AFC jared goff never ceases to amaze

[Jauronimo]

4 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

Burrow also has a terrible OL in front of him that gets him beat to a pulp all season. And no semblance of a defense to help him. It’s him, Chase, Higgins and nothing else.

His backup Oline steam rolled our Dline in the playoffs.  

[GoBills808]

2 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

His backup Oline steam rolled our Dline in the playoffs.  

our starting dline no less

 

if you want to get blackout drunk on Sundays have a beer every time Burrow throws short of the sticks on third down

[DCOrange]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Who is voting Matthew Stafford into Tier 1? It's not a lifetime achievement award ffs. It's a problem these things always have. NFL GMs are slow to move guys down. Seen it in previous editions with Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers to mention but two. 

 

Matt Stafford was underrated in his prime partly because he spent so long on bad Lions teams. And now it has flipped the other way. He is not a tier 1 Quarterback at this stage of his career. Not even close. 

The best part is Stafford moved UP into Tier 1 this year. He gained 5 Tier 1 votes compared to 2024. He wouldn't be my choice but I do think he has an argument for being the 5th best QB in the league right now, but #5 is simply nowhere near the same tier as the top 4.

Edited August 12 by DCOrange

[Billl]

10 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

Burrow is not only amazingly good, he literally has the highest completion percentage in NFL history. He is not the same player as Allen or Mahomes, but he is as good as them, more or less. At a certain point, it becomes a matter of personal preference.

In the last 5 seasons, Burrow’s record when trailing at the start of the 4th quarter is 4-23. 

[BarleyNY]

5 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

His backup Oline steam rolled our Dline in the playoffs.  

They sure did. But that says more about how the Bills prepared and played than anything Bengals related. 

[dave mcbride]

3 hours ago, Billl said:

In the last 5 seasons, Burrow’s record when trailing at the start of the 4th quarter is 4-23. 

Josh Allen is 3-14 in the same situations. It’s mostly a meaningless stat.

 

[T.E.]

21 hours ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

No idea how Stafford made it into the top tier. 

When Stafford is "on," he's as good a passer as anyone in the league. Look at the game against us last year for example.

[Sierra Foothills]

5 minutes ago, T.E. said:

When Stafford is "on," he's as good a passer as anyone in the league. Look at the game against us last year for example.

 

This is true but by itself, it doesn't make him a Top 5 QB.

 

Also Sando's tiers doesn't quite take into account fragility.

 

What are the chances that Stafford is healthy for 17 regular season games?

 

[GunnerBill]

7 hours ago, T.E. said:

When Stafford is "on," he's as good a passer as anyone in the league. Look at the game against us last year for example.

 

That was simply not how he played for most of last season. He had 3 or 4 great games and a lot of meh. He has been great. I used to argue how underrated he was. But he isn't the 5th best QB in football right now. No way.

7 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

Josh Allen is 3-14 in the same situations. It’s mostly a meaningless stat.

 

 

Except it shows why Pat is still the number 1 despite not being quite as sharp the past two years. His ability to meet the moment is greater than anyone else. 

[dave mcbride]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

That was simply not how he played for most of last season. He had 3 or 4 great games and a lot of meh. He has been great. I used to argue how underrated he was. But he isn't the 5th best QB in football right now. No way.

 

Except it shows why Pat is still the number 1 despite not being quite as sharp the past two years. His ability to meet the moment is greater than anyone else. 

Maybe. It also suggests that the Chiefs are pretty much never down by more than one score late in games. So much of this stat depends on point differential going into the 4th. If you’re down 23-10, you’re likely to lose no matter how well you play. 13-10? Not so much.

[GunnerBill]

30 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Maybe. It also suggests that the Chiefs are pretty much never down by more than one score late in games. So much of this stat depends on point differential going into the 4th. If you’re down 23-10, you’re likely to lose no matter how well you play. 13-10? Not so much.

 

For sure, but a lot of the other top teams are rarely down that big either. We know, for instance, the Bills have lost once by more than a score over like 3 seasons now so most of their losses are close going into the 4th. My guess is if you crunched the numbers of Philly and Baltimore that would be similar. 

[Doc Brown]

On 8/11/2025 at 9:54 PM, PetermansRedemption said:

Mahomes in tier 1 over Lamar and Allen is a joke. He is clearly the 4th option after last season. 

We complain about Allen not having enough help but they really asked a lot out of Mahomes last year.  The worst left tackle situation in the league.  WR1 and WR2 on the depth chart both miss most of the year having to rely on a rookie.  An aging TE was his best weapon but he wasn’t the TE he once was.  Lost his RB1 for a lot of the year and signed Hunt off the street.  Same with Juju who no other teams wanted.  I don’t want it to happen but last year might be his absolute floor statistically for as long as he’s in his prime years.  

[BRH]

Burrow being in the "top 4" kind of reminds me of how Paul Pierce tried to get himself into the GOAT discussion with MJ, Kobe, and LeBron.

[GoBills808]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

For sure, but a lot of the other top teams are rarely down that big either. We know, for instance, the Bills have lost once by more than a score over like 3 seasons now so most of their losses are close going into the 4th. My guess is if you crunched the numbers of Philly and Baltimore that would be similar. 

this is a made up stat, as is yours unfortunately

 

for example we lost to the bengals in the playoffs and ravens last year by more than one score