Top 36 NFL Quarterbacks (2024)

Spoiler alert, Daniel Jones isn’t on the list. It’s been six years- he’s not good. Reports out of New York say Lock has a legitimate chance to win the job, and he should.

O’Connell surpassed my expectations when he took over midway through the season in 2023. Is he a long-term answer? No, but he’ll hang out in the league for 8-10 years if he can consistently be plugged in and be a serviceable quarterback.

I’m very skeptical about the Steve-O style of play that Daniels embodies. Washington has seen that movie before- it’s called “Robert Griffin III.” Plus, Daniels isn’t nearly as talented coming out as RG3 was. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

I won’t be surprised if we see Howell this season. Remember, this is a guy who was leading the NFL in passing yards for a nice stretch in 2023. The random influx of interceptions is an issue that needs to be resolved, but I’m still a proud member of the Sam Howell hive.

Young was really set up to fail last season. The revolving door at playcaller, the coaching staff getting replaced, and his No. 1 target being prehistoric Adam Thielen were all pretty big obstacles for a rookie to overcome. Now, he has Diontae Johnson and Jeffrey Boomhauer- whoops, I meant Xavier Legette- to throw the ball to. Plus, Dave Canales as the singular guiding hand for Young at head coach will benefit him. He’s low on the list, but I’m hopeful he’ll make a nice leap forward.

It’s actually hilarious that the Browns made the playoffs last season and are going to be worse because they are getting back the guy they gave $230 million to. If one more person tries to talk me into Watson being good, I’m going to proudly walk into the sea. The last time he played well, Corona was just a beer.

McCarthy is another one of these rookies where I’m the living embodiment of the Michael Scott meme where he has that very nervous, skeptical look on his face. Luckily for McCarthy, he has a very good head coach and playcaller in Kevin O’Connell, as well as the best receiver in football, a good running back, and a good tight end. He was a lot of guys to carry him, similar to what he had at Michigan (insert evil Grinch smile).

Ah, the old relief pitcher. I know I made that analogy in my piece on non-football comparisons for quarterbacks (which you can read by clicking right here. What a segue, I’m great at my job). Brissett is a perfect guy to have in a room with Drake Maye and Joe Milton- a reliable vet who’s been around several blocks.

Speaking of Joe Milton, Will Levis is like if Joe Milton was a guitar, but was more fine-tuned. Levis has two gears. He’s either heaving a grenade across enemy lines or playing catch with a small child and throwing a tunnel screen. Having Brian Callahan to continue working out those kinks to develop more of an intermediate passing game will do him a lot of good.

Minshew is the answer to the question “What if all of the Trailer Park Boys became one person?” Credit to the free-spirited quarterback, though. He had the Colts within one game of a playoff berth. Now, a lot of that credit also goes to Shane Steichen, and going from Steichen to Luke Getsy is like going from a new Ferrari to a scooter.

Joe Flacco has aged gracefully and is just further prove that a nice beard can fix anything. He’s the best backup quarterback in the league, and will be great insurance for the Colts.

Drake Maye is going to be very fun to watch. A lot of people compared his play style to Justin Herbert, and in terms of just how they play the game, that’s a fair comparison. He has the highest ceiling of all the quarterbacks in this class, even if he isn’t the top performer right off the bat.

2023 was far better for Wilson than 2022, but not enough for the Broncos to want to keep trudging along with him. Now in Pittsburgh, this will likely be his last stop in terms of having the chance of being a starting quarterback. There’s still something there- 26 touchdown passes don’t just happen- but don’t expect the old Russ to show up.

Fields is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the game. Now with Pittsburgh, if and when he becomes the starter, we’ll be able to see him in a competent offense throwing to good weapons rather than having (no disrespect) Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown as his top two receivers before D.J. Moore showed up last season.

Smith came down to Earth a little bit after his dream of a 2022 season. He’s still a fine starter, but the clock is certainly ticking on Seattle finding their guy of the future.

The Bears are giving Williams all the tools he needs to succeed. D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen, a good pair of tight ends in Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett, and a defense that has really nice players at all three levels. If Williams performs, the Bears could be a sneaky wild-card team.

It’s a shame we only saw four games of Anthony Richardson last year. If he remains healthy, though, this is a unicorn at quarterback and he will climb the ranks of the best quarterbacks in football.

We’ve seen the peak of the Tua Tagovailoa experiment. For two consecutive years, the Dolphins beat up bad-to-mediocre teams in the regular season, never had a big statement win, and lost in the Wildcard round. Unless Tagovailoa shows he can lead this team deep into January, it would be unwise to give him huge money.

Last year I was very snarky towards Mayfield, so it feels only right that I eat my words and congratulate him on earning a big pay day. He also now has four really capable receivers to distribute the ball to. I do wonder, though, how the offense performs without Dave Canales.

I can’t wait to read all the comments from 49ers fans who point out all the statistics and advanced metrics that Purdy was near the top of the league in. I’m not going to repeat what I, and several others, have said since the beginning of this mania- Purdy is good, but he is elevated but everything around him.

Murray being healthy for a full season throwing to Marvin Harrison Jr.? I don’t know what their record will be, but I know they won’t be boring.

How about instead of banning Tik Tok, we ban the phrase “Tush Push.” Hurts and the Eagles fell apart in the final six weeks of the 2023 season, so he slides down the list ahead of the 2024 season.

Few things had me more ready to run through a wall for any player than when the Lions rallied around Jared Goff before and after their playoff victory over the Rams- the team that traded him away for Matthew Stafford. Goff threw 30 touchdowns and over 4,500 yards, and if not for a few questionable decisions by Dan Campbell, the Lions probably make it to the Super Bowl.

Cousins was on pace for nearly 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns before he tore his achilles because God forbid we have nice things in this world. In an offense that will be very similar to the one he ran in Minnesota, while also having Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London, Cousins will thrive and so will the Falcons- even if their draft was historically bad, I mean why are you drafting a quarterback at No. 8 when you just paid a- you know what, I’m not going to rant again.

I’m more than happy to acknowledge that Dak has been tremendous in the regular season, and just had a year in which he led the NFL in touchdown passes. But, like we’ve grown accustom to, Dallas fell apart in the playoffs and lost to the No. 7 seed Packers. Not only did they lose, they were mauled. Until Prescott and the Cowboys win games that matter, it’s hard for me to take them seriously as Super Bowl threats.

Alright, all of the Trevor Lawrence slander I’ve seen this offseason needs to stop. Lawrence had the Jaguars as the AFC’s No. 1 seed after an 8-3 start before things went south. Lawrence suffered a sprained ankle against the Bengals and wasn’t himself for the rest of the year. He threw 14 interceptions- seven of them came in the final four games of the year when he was beat up and dealing with injuries. I’m looking forward to seeing him shut up a lot of naysayers this season.

Love has quickly become one of my favorite players to watch. He has such nonchalant confidence in his ability to fit the ball anywhere he wants, especially when it comes to balls downfield. He was fifth in the NFL in yards on passes with at least 25 air yards, per Sports Info Solutions. Love was also second in the NFL in touchdowns with the youngest group of weapons in the NFL. This isn’t a situation of “Well, let’s wait and see if it wasn’t a fluke.” No. Love is the real deal, and already one of the best quarterbacks in the game.

I remember how things went for Aaron Schatz when he didn’t give Lamar Jackson his MVP vote, so I can only imagine how folks will feel when they see Jackson as my No. 7 quarterback. I’m not going to sit here and crap on Lamar- he’s very good. I will point out, though, that it seemed like the Ravens were trying to prove a point against the Chiefs. The point being that they didn’t need to run the ball to beat Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes, they could do it with Lamar throwing them to victory- they were sadly mistaken. Jackson is also 0-4 in playoff games when his opponents score more than 13 points. For as much as we may rag on Dak Prescott, we don’t seem to do that for Lamar Jackson. So while we can acknowledge that Jackson is a tremendous athlete and talent, he needs to start winning big games.

Watching Matthew Stafford in the second half of 2023 was like watching a Pokemon evolve in real time. From Weeks 12-18, he was fourth in the NFL in EPA per play (min. 100 plays) and made the Rams one of the most dangerous offenses in the league. Imagine if the Rams pull off an acquisition for another receiver and get a big three at wideout for Stafford to distribute to. Sign me up.

Stroud is that dude. Similar to Love, you don’t need to see another sample or worry about a massive fall off. He’s terrific. The Texans were a tire fire and Stroud had them in the Divisional round of the playoffs as a rookie. Now with Stefon Diggs, along with Nico Collins and Tank Dell, 2024 NFL MVP C.J. Stroud is a very real possibility.

The Chargers found out just how important Herbert was after he got hurt when they gave up a billion points to the Raiders and didn’t win a game without Herbert. If you’ve read my work this offseason, you know how I feel about the Chargers’ additions of Greg Roman and all the former Ravens- it makes no sense. Knowing my luck, though, the year I finally stop drinking the Chargers Kool-Aid is the year it’ll taste the sweetest.

Burrow’s another guy that people have just forgotten about this offseason. Maybe it’s because guys like Stroud and Love showed up to the scene and tore it up immediately, but Burrow and the Bengals were a few plays away from beating the Chiefs in consecutive AFC Championship Games on the road. The Bengals are my early pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and No. 9 is the biggest reason why.

Allen is the only quarterback in history to have four consecutive seasons with 40 total touchdowns. He led the NFL in total touchdowns last year, and willed Buffalo to win its final five games and win their fourth consecutive AFC East title. He is the best dual-threat quarterback in the game, and he may have the biggest arm in the game. People can talk about the turnovers all they want- lots of great quarterbacks threw picks. When that quarterback also makes 5-10 plays a game that no one else can, I’ll take my medicine with the turnovers. Allen is terrific, and only one quarterback in the game can claim to be better.