Quarterback is arguably the most important position in sports. If you don’t have a reliable signal caller, then it can make it nearly impossible to have a successful football team, even if you have an outstanding defense or running game. With the 2025 NFL season on the horizon, it’s time to start previewing the upcoming campaign.
Here are my top 10 quarterbacks entering this season, based on a combination of recent performance and career trajectory.
Quarterback Rankings: Who Are the Top 10 Starters Entering This Season?
10. Justin Herbert
Let’s start with something controversial right away. Many fans and most experts would have Justin Herbert much higher on this list, but I on the other hand, almost left him off entirely for C.J. Stroud. However, Herbert might be the best regular-season quarterback in non-clutch situations. His 91.0 overall Pro Football Focus grade over the past three seasons ranks sixth, which is more than enough for Herbert to sneak into my top 10.
In standard game situations outside of late-game or high-pressure moments, Herbert owns the second-highest passing grade in the league. With that said, the lack of playoff success is a big issue for me, and I need to see him perform better in the big games first before I consider moving him higher up. With another year under Jim Harbaugh and improved weapons around him, we’ll see if Herbert can finally get over the hump.
9. Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield has pulled off a remarkable career turnaround. After bouncing back in 2023, he delivered the best season of his career in 2024, earning an 85.9 overall PFF grade.
He’ll now be working with his third offensive coordinator in three years in Tampa Bay and his fifth since 2022, but the struggles of 2021-2022 feel firmly in the rearview mirror. His 2024 campaign also featured one of the wildest plays of the season, completing a pass with one of the league’s top pass rushers draped all over him.
8. Jared Goff
Jared Goff has piloted one of the NFL’s most productive offenses over the past two seasons, earning an 84.8 passing grade over that span, the seventh-best in the league.
We’ll soon find out how much of that success was tied to Ben Johnson, now the Chicago Bears head coach, but the results speak for themselves. Goff has easily been a top 10 quarterback over the last two years.
7. Jayden Daniels
Perhaps I’m crowning Jayden Daniels a bit too early, as plenty of quarterbacks have had standout rookie seasons only to regress in their sophomore season, with Stroud being a recent example of that.
However, what separates Daniels from most quarterbacks is his poise under pressure and in clutch moments late in the year. His rookie campaign was arguably one of the best we’ve ever seen, with his 90.6 overall grade making the highest ever recorded by PFF for a rookie quarterback. The potential is there for him to move even further up this list soon.
6. Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford certainly isn’t coming off his best season, with his 74.7 overall grade in 2024 reflecting that, but what keeps him comfortably in the top 10 is his complete command of the Los Angeles Rams offense.
Despite playing behind a shaky offensive line and losing multiple weapons to injury, Stafford was still a drive away from knocking off the eventual Super Bowl champions in the divisional round. When he is locked in, Stafford is as good as anyone in football.
5. Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts’ 2024 campaign, which was capped by an impressive Super Bowl run, was a return to form after a turbulent 2023 season. A year earlier, Hurts too often pressed in high-leverage moments and struggled under pressure, but he certainly flipped the script this past season, showing poise and control even when things broke down around him.
After a slow start, he found his rhythm and delivered when it mattered most. Over the past three seasons, his 91.5 overall grade ranks fifth among all quarterbacks. With a Super Bowl win added to his resume, Hurts has now put some separation between himself and the guys chasing him for the fifth spot.
4. Joe Burrow
The only real knock on Joe Burrow is that he hasn’t entered a season at full strength in years. However, when he’s right, there may be no one better. Burrow’s 93.5 passing grade and 95.2 overall grade over the past three seasons lead all quarterbacks, and his 51.3 percent success rate over that span ties Josh Allen for second-best in the league.
If the Cincinnati Bengals can field even a league-average defense, Burrow would give them a real shot at winning the AFC every year. He may even be too low on this list, but I need to see Burrow make the playoffs as consistently as the guys ranked above him first.
3. Josh Allen
Allen’s 95.4 overall grade over the past three seasons ranks first among all quarterbacks. His 91.4 passing grade in that span is third, behind Burrow and Lamar Jackson. Despite losing his top two receivers from 2023, Allen didn’t miss a beat in 2024, delivering his most complete season yet and earning his first MVP award.
Allen comes in at third here, but realistically I would call it more of a 2B, as it’s a coin flip between him and the quarterback I have ranked second on my list.
2. Lamar Jackson
Jackson is coming off the best season of his career and had one of the highest-graded quarterback campaigns in PFF history, finishing 2024 with a 94.9 overall grade. While Allen was more than deserving of winning the MVP award, many feel that Jackson was just as, if not more, deserving of the honor.
The two-time NFL MVP remains the most dynamic player at the position, blending elite arm talent with unmatched rushing ability. The only lingering blemish on his resume is his postseason record. If Jackson can translate his regular-season dominance into playoff success and capture a Super Bowl, he’ll cement his place among the NFL’s all-time greats.
1. Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes still holds the top spot, but the margin has never been slimmer. His passing grade over the past two seasons sits at 86.0, a strong number but a step below the elite level we saw from 2018 through 2022.
The supporting cast hasn’t always helped, particularly at wide receiver, but it’s fair to say his otherworldly level of play we saw from him a few years ago is starting to get further and further away in the rearview mirror. With that said, no one blends poise, playmaking, and postseason performances like Mahomes, which is why he remains at No. 1 entering 2025, even if the field is closer than ever.
