NFL Top 100 in 2026 (UPDATED 9/4 - Josh #2, Garrett #1)

[Kirby Jackson]

1 hour ago, The Jokeman said:

Lamar needs to play a full 17 to rank higher as playing 13 gave him 21 passing TDs on the season which doesn't look great.  He also had his lowest completion percentage he had since his rookie year. 

But the list is based on where you expect him in 2026. Guys like Herbert, Goff, Maye, Lawrence, maybe Hurts and Dak are all going to rank ahead of him. That’s crazy. He belongs ahead of all those guys.

[BillyJoeBills]

Brock Purdy’s overrated; would be be average outside Shanahan’s offense.  Shanahan even made Mac Jones look good

[wjag]

19 hours ago, SCBills said:

I’m down for some Lamar Jackson slander, but at least be realistic. 
 

Any clowning of him starts and ends with.. but he’s clearly a Top 10 player in the league. 

Wow. 
 

 

well that should motivate the hell out of him.  From 2 time MVP to 69/100..

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Lamar Jackson is easily the single most overrated football player I have seen in some time. I have never once understood how he gets the credit he gets. As someone who watches every moment of nfl football that’s available to the general public, he’s an incredible runner. Always has been. Maybe the best runner regardless of position since Barry sanders. He’s not a good passer. I don’t care what stats people want to cherry pick. Watch the games. He only makes easy throws. He can’t throw outside the number, he never uses WRs. He throws passes up the seem to the TE. He uses very little of the field. The ball is never on time. Guys are wide open because of the threat of his legs. He completes passes to guys failing down instead of hitting them in stride constantly. Every WR that goes there mysteriously “stinks” He’s a great athlete and he’s an incredible runner. He’s an average passer and he’s not even on the same planet as the top tier QBs. He’s good and obviously better than most starting QBs. But he’s not in the same conversation as the Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford guys IMO

Edited July 14 by Brianmoorman4jesus

[Kirby Jackson]

15 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Lamar Jackson is easily the single most overrated football player I have seen in some time. I have never once understood how he gets the credit he gets. As someone who watches every moment of nfl football that’s available to the general public, he’s an incredible runner. Always has been. Maybe the best runner regardless of position since Barry sanders. He’s not a good passer. I don’t care what stats people want to cherry pick. Watch the games. He only makes easy throws. He can’t throw outside the number, he never uses WRs. He throws passes up the seem to the TE. He uses very little of the field. The ball is never on time. Guys are wide open because of the threat of his legs. He completes passes to guys failing down instead of hitting them in stride constantly. Every WR that goes there mysteriously “stinks” He’s a great athlete and he’s an incredible runner. He’s an average passer and he’s not even on the same planet as the top tier QBs. He’s good and obviously better than most starting QBs. But he’s not in the same conversation as the Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford guys IMO

But does he belong BELOW Lawrence, Dak, Goff, Maye, and Herbert? Jalen Hurts may be ahead of him as well. That’s a bit of a rhetorical question because of course he doesn’t belong below those guys but that’s where he’s coming in this year. He’s certainly not being overrated at the moment.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

38 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

But does he belong BELOW Lawrence, Dak, Goff, Maye, and Herbert? Jalen Hurts may be ahead of him as well. That’s a bit of a rhetorical question because of course he doesn’t belong below those guys but that’s where he’s coming in this year. He’s certainly not being overrated at the moment.

No I think this is the closest thing to accurate when it comes to him. Below Lawrence and Dak…no not to me. Herbert and Goff are about what he is to me. But I also don’t want a statue. The league left that behind so I wouldn’t want Goff. Maye? No GM in the league would take Lamar over Maye RN. For sone reason the media is terrified of criticizing Lamar and nobody would ever say that..not even close 

[Kirby Jackson]

8 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

No I think this is the closest thing to accurate when it comes to him. Below Lawrence and Dak…no not to me. Herbert and Goff are about what he is to me. But I also don’t want a statue. The league left that behind so I wouldn’t want Goff. Maye? No GM in the league would take Lamar over Maye RN. For sone reason the media is terrified of criticizing Lamar and nobody would ever say that..not even close 

But they are criticizing him. The players have him as the 69th best player in the league. Even his harshest critic would say that’s absurd. He is coming in below all those guys on that list. 
 

In the list of scouts, GMs and execs they ranked him as the 5th best QB behind Allen, Mahomes, Stafford and Burrow. That feels reasonable. What doesn’t feel reasonable is there were some people (or at least 1 person) that had him outside the top 10. That feels ridiculous.

 

At times, Lamar has been as good as anyone in the game. There are certainly some questions coming off last year. At the same time he’s a top 20 player and top 5 QB.

Personally, I don’t care where they put Lamar on whatever list. When these things are ridiculous it bothers me for some reason. When Mac Jones was voted on the list at 85, I showed equal disdain. I will be really frustrated when Drake Maye is way too high because they voted in November (or whatever) before his collapse in the playoffs. The scouts, GMs, and execs have him as QB 8. That’s a touch higher than I would but that’s reasonable. I think there’s a chance that he is a top 10 player overall on the player’s list. That’s equally ridiculous. 

Edited July 14 by Kirby Jackson

[2003Contenders]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

But does he belong BELOW Lawrence, Dak, Goff, Maye, and Herbert? Jalen Hurts may be ahead of him as well. That’s a bit of a rhetorical question because of course he doesn’t belong below those guys but that’s where he’s coming in this year. He’s certainly not being overrated at the moment.

I hear ya -- and while I agree with some of the folks that find Lamar to be over-rated, I do believe that this 69 ranking (if it is true) is low for him. Toward the end of last season, there were rumors around the league that Harbaugh was unhappy with Lamar, believing that he could have played through the injury that curtailed his season. I wonder how much of that may have played into the 2026 ranking?

[Process]

Even more ridiculous then Lamar's ranking is all the bills fan on twitter in uproar about it. We don't need to pretend to be all respectful now that Allen is widely considered the best QB in football. 

 

Lamar was hurt last year and sucked when he was healthy. If based on last season, 69 is very generous. 

[colin]

from what i've seen in candid podcasts where players talk to former players, nfl defenders figure they have a blue print for lamar, and step one is stopping the rushing attack.  for josh allen, the describe it as having a successful blitz, confusing him pre and post snap, covering well and taking the wide out threats away (easy to do last year when our wrs were not talented or healthy) and playing through the whistle.  basically, stopping allen requires excellence in all phases, stopping lamar requires frustrating henry and not getting caught in play action.

[DrDawkinstein]

Keep in mind the way the rankings work.

 

They ask players to list their "top 20" players across all positions.

 

So outside of the top-20, most of this list is just math based on who appeared more or less. I'm assuming after a down year, most players just left him off and listed guys from other positions.

 

I'm not much of a Lamar-believer. I've watched him quit on his team too many times. But this #69 does more to discredit the list than Lamar.

[Kirby Jackson]

24 minutes ago, Process said:

Even more ridiculous then Lamar's ranking is all the bills fan on twitter in uproar about it. We don't need to pretend to be all respectful now that Allen is widely considered the best QB in football. 

 

Lamar was hurt last year and sucked when he was healthy. If based on last season, 69 is very generous. 

It is based on where they think he will be in 2026. 

26 minutes ago, 2003Contenders said:

I hear ya -- and while I agree with some of the folks that find Lamar to be over-rated, I do believe that this 69 ranking (if it is true) is low for him. Toward the end of last season, there were rumors around the league that Harbaugh was unhappy with Lamar, believing that he could have played through the injury that curtailed his season. I wonder how much of that may have played into the 2026 ranking?

That probably played a role. If players thought he was “dogging it” a little they probably dinged him. This is an overcorrection. Lamar shouldn’t be at 2 again. He shouldn’t be at 69 either.  Somewhere between 15-20 and QB 4 or 5 feels reasonable.

[Mikey152]

3 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Lamar Jackson is easily the single most overrated football player I have seen in some time. I have never once understood how he gets the credit he gets. As someone who watches every moment of nfl football that’s available to the general public, he’s an incredible runner. Always has been. Maybe the best runner regardless of position since Barry sanders. He’s not a good passer. I don’t care what stats people want to cherry pick. Watch the games. He only makes easy throws. He can’t throw outside the number, he never uses WRs. He throws passes up the seem to the TE. He uses very little of the field. The ball is never on time. Guys are wide open because of the threat of his legs. He completes passes to guys failing down instead of hitting them in stride constantly. Every WR that goes there mysteriously “stinks” He’s a great athlete and he’s an incredible runner. He’s an average passer and he’s not even on the same planet as the top tier QBs. He’s good and obviously better than most starting QBs. But he’s not in the same conversation as the Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford guys IMO

I struggle with that, because on one hand you are right:  He is not a great drop-back passer.

 

On the other hand, he has more easy throws BECAUSE he is Lamar. He isn't a product of a system (like Purdy), but rather his own immense and highly unique skill. He isn't a plug and play QB that fits everywhere and you could argue that there is a cap on what he is capable of (and maybe that he is at risk of not aging gracefully) but it is hard to deny that his numbers are because of him even if he doesn't achieve them traditionally.

 

TLDR:  He might not be a top QB, but he IS a top football player.

[buffalo2218]

6 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Lamar Jackson is easily the single most overrated football player I have seen in some time. I have never once understood how he gets the credit he gets. As someone who watches every moment of nfl football that’s available to the general public, he’s an incredible runner. Always has been. Maybe the best runner regardless of position since Barry sanders. He’s not a good passer. I don’t care what stats people want to cherry pick. Watch the games. He only makes easy throws. He can’t throw outside the number, he never uses WRs. He throws passes up the seem to the TE. He uses very little of the field. The ball is never on time. Guys are wide open because of the threat of his legs. He completes passes to guys failing down instead of hitting them in stride constantly. Every WR that goes there mysteriously “stinks” He’s a great athlete and he’s an incredible runner. He’s an average passer and he’s not even on the same planet as the top tier QBs. He’s good and obviously better than most starting QBs. But he’s not in the same conversation as the Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford guys IMO

Good points. what gets lost in all the accolades he gets is the fact that like Burrow, his durability is rather suspect. I'm not just talking about injuries, but imo, I don't think he has the endurance to last all the way through the playoffs. To me, that's why his game drops off in the playoffs

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

3 hours ago, Mikey152 said:

I struggle with that, because on one hand you are right:  He is not a great drop-back passer.

 

On the other hand, he has more easy throws BECAUSE he is Lamar. He isn't a product of a system (like Purdy), but rather his own immense and highly unique skill. He isn't a plug and play QB that fits everywhere and you could argue that there is a cap on what he is capable of (and maybe that he is at risk of not aging gracefully) but it is hard to deny that his numbers are because of him even if he doesn't achieve them traditionally.

 

TLDR:  He might not be a top QB, but he IS a top football player.

I’d say I can almost not give bigger praise to a guy than saying he is the best runner I have seen since Barry sanders. Absolutely phenomenal athlete, all time great runner, excellent football player…not in the same world as the top end QBs. All things can be true 

[Sierra Foothills]

6 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Keep in mind the way the rankings work.

 

They ask players to list their "top 20" players across all positions.

 

So outside of the top-20, most of this list is just math based on who appeared more or less. I'm assuming after a down year, most players just left him off and listed guys from other positions.

 

I'm not much of a Lamar-believer. I've watched him quit on his team too many times. But this #69 does more to discredit the list than Lamar.

 

[eball]

I see the Ghost of Travis Kelce has made the list. 
 

I actually really like TK and think he’s a potential (if not ironclad) HOFer…but at this point he shouldn’t be on that list. 

 

Edited July 14 by eball

[BillsFan130]

2 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I’d say I can almost not give bigger praise to a guy than saying he is the best runner I have seen since Barry sanders. Absolutely phenomenal athlete, all time great runner, excellent football player…not in the same world as the top end QBs. All things can be true 

He doesn't fit the prototypical QB type like a Joe burrow, Tom Brady, Peyton manning etc. But he's a damn good QB.

 

There's a reason why he's won 2 MVPs and was runner up on another one.

 

Unconventional QB, but it works . I would even argue Josh and Mahomes are not your prototypical QBs either. (Although, not as unconventional as Lamar of course)

[BillsFan619]

Lamar Jackson is a good QB, no doubt about it. But, I don’t believe he’s as good as some have been giving him credit for over the past few years.

 

As JA rises as the #1 QB in many people’s minds, maybe some are starting to have a more realistic view of Lamar’s placement amongst today’s QBs.

 

Go Bills!

 

 

Edited July 15 by BillsFan619

[13 Seconds to Mars]

He’s a dynamic QB, but relies too much on his athleticism. I think he’ll start to flame out when he loses his elusiveness into his 30s. Receivers won’t be as open as they usually are because of the threat of his scrambling. But that’s really on him. Mike Vick had a career resurgence under Andy Reid when he lost a step because he learned to pass first. 
 

With that being said, I think dropping 67 spots is overkill. He’s still a top 10 QB. John Harbaugh’s post-season coaching was just as horrendous as McDermott’s, but on the offensive side. He’s never had an elite boundary WR either.
 

I am very intrigued to see what Lamar can do with a better coaching staff. It’s almost like Harbaugh purposely threw games. How many times has he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Buffalo alone?