Ranking all 32 NFL starting quarterbacks ahead of the 2024 season
The NFL season is just around the corner, and now, all 32 teams have officially named their starting quarterbacks for Week 1. Only three different quarterbacks have won the MVP award over the last six seasons, so there is clearly elite talent at the most important position in the NFL. However, the signal-caller position is also arguably deeper than it has ever been before.
The league has put an emphasis on the passing game in recent years, and a number of young quarterbacks have stepped up and established themselves as franchise players. Six rookie quarterbacks were even drafted in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, as teams are doing whatever it takes to find the quarterback who can lead them to glory.
Historically, it has taken an elite quarterback at the helm in order for a team to win a Super Bowl. In fact, the clear-cut best passer in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes, has won the championship game in each of the past two seasons. Even so, almost every quarterback set to start the season has a legitimately intriguing skillset that gets fans excited for the upcoming season. In this article, we are going to rank all 32 starting quarterbacks from first to last. This ranking takes into account both the previous production of these quarterbacks as well as how much we think they have regressed or improved leading up to this season.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
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There isn’t a sane NFL fan out there who doesn’t believe that Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. In fact, Mahomes is on the trajectory to become one of the best NFL players ever. You can even argue that he is already there. Mahomes now has six seasons as the Chiefs starter under his belt.
During that time, he has led the Chiefs to at least the AFC Championship Game every season, and he has won the Super Bowl three times. That includes championship victories in each of the last two seasons. Right now, every other team is just trying to figure out what they can do to slow down Mahomes, and there doesn’t appear to be a solid solution.
The former 10th-overall pick threw for 4,183 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. His numbers were actually down, considering he threw for 5,250 yards the season prior and had a year with 50 touchdown passes under his belt already. Even so, Mahomes has transformed to the point where he isn’t reliant on just putting up jaw-dropping numbers (which he is still more than capable of doing), and instead he is able to do whatever it takes to win games.
Mahomes statistical down year (which was still great in comparison to his peers) last year can be pinned up to his supporting cast being the worst it has ever been. The Chiefs signed Hollywood Brown in free agency and drafted Xavier Worthy in the first round, though, so he should have more than enough weapons this year. The influx of talent and speed means no one would be surprised if Mahomes adds a third MVP trophy to his collection after this season.
2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
We only ranked Lamar Jackson as the eighth-best quarterback in the NFL heading into last season. The Ravens star proved that was a dumb decision, as he went out and won his second MVP award. Everyone knows that Jackson can run the football. He has unmatched speed for his position, and his elusiveness and an ability to make defenders miss makes him a nightmare to try and tackle.
It is Jackson’s arm that deserves more recognition, though. His 3,678 yards through the air last season were a career-high, but Jackson still managed to only throw seven interceptions. Jackson’s accuracy, decision-making, and ability to read a defense have all improved since he first came onto the scene.
3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen hasn’t been able to get to the Super Bowl yet, and a lot of fans hold that against him. Fair or not, winning oftentimes is considered a quarterback statistic. Regardless, Allen’s lack of postseason success is similar to NBA players in the ’90s who had to get past Michael Jordan, as no one has figured out how to beat Mahomes’ Chiefs. There is no denying that Allen is one of the most talented players in the NFL, and that is why we rank him as the third-best quarterback in the league.
Allen is an athletic freak of nature. He stands 6-foot-5 and has a cannon of an arm that makes him one of the best deep ball throwers in the league. Amazingly, he has also already proven himself as an all-time great rushing quarterback, too. Allen runs the ball with physicality. His 53 rushing touchdowns are 24 more than Lamar Jackson, a running-minded quarterback who many consider to be the greatest rushing signal-caller since Michael Vick. Allen and Jackson were drafted in the same 2018 draft class.
Allen put up big numbers with his arm last season, too. He threw for more than 4,000 passing yards (4,306) for the fourth straight season, and if he threw one more touchdown than the 29 that he did, he would have had his fourth straight 30-plus passing touchdown season.
The 2024 season is a big one for Allen. His numbers were actually a lit bit down last year, and now he won’t have the luxury of Stefon Diggs catching his passes. Allen needs to prove that he can win in the postseason, or he will risk slipping in these rankings come next year.
4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow has a case as the second-best quarterback in the NFL, but the fact that he only played 10 games for the second time in his four-year-long career last season doesn’t help his cause. Still, it is clear that Burrow is an absolute beast who is capable of taking over a game anytime he steps foot on the gridiron.
In his two healthy seasons in 2021 and 2022, Burrow threw for a combined 9,086 yards and 69 touchdowns. He even led his team to a Super Bowl appearance. Burrow has unmatched escapability, which allows him to extend plays, and he is incredibly accurate at all three levels of the field. Burrow has a chance to re-confirm that he is a megastar who deserves to be ranked above everyone not named Mahomes this year.
5. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
It may come as a shock to see C.J. Stroud already ranked within the top five best quarterbacks in the NFL, but we don’t think we are jumping the gun here. Stroud just had one of the best rookie seasons ever passing the pigskin. He became only the third passer in the last 50 years to lead the league in both passing yards per game and touchdown to interception ratio, proving he can be both aggressive downfield and still be a smart decision-maker.
Tom Brady and Joe Montana were the other two quarterbacks who qualified for that metric, so Stroud is in elite company. If Stroud didn’t miss two games with injury, he might have won the MVP award. From here on, he should only get better, and now he is surrounded by an even more stacked offense that now includes Stefon Diggs. Houston’s receiving corps this year is one of the best in the league. It is very possible that Stroud establishes himself as a megastar and cements a claim as one of the faces of the NFL.
6. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Herbert has all of the talent in the world, but he could be in for a tougher season than he is used to. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler, Herbert’s three best weapons over the years, all left town. Those departures leave Los Angeles with arguably the worst depth chart at the skilled positions in the NFL.
Herbert has the talent to put up big numbers even without help, but he wasn’t even able to win with his big three, so he will surely see a statistical drop-off this year. Herbert is still one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL, and perhaps Jim Harbaugh gets the team headed in the right direction, but for now, we have to rank Herbert lower on this list than we did last year.
7. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
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Jalen Hurts had an up-and-down year in 2023, as he has never looked better passing the ball, but his team also fell off of a cliff towards the end of the season. We think the Hurts that we will get in 2024 is closer to the best version of himself. That version of Hurts led the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2023.
Questions arose about if Hurts was an NFL quarterback when he was coming out of college. He has certainly answered those questions. Now, he just needs to prove whether he is or isn’t an elite quarterback. Right now he is just on the outside looking in on that claim. It is also worth mentioning Hurts’ tush-push play. The quarterback sneak move that he has mastered is one of the most unstoppable in football.
8. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Jared Goff has turned his game up a notch with the Lions. With the Los Angeles Rams, Goff didn’t live up to the hype of a number one overall pick, but he has looked like one of the best quarterbacks in football with the Lions. Goff ranked in the top five in both passing yards (4,575) and passing touchdowns (30) last season. He hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, either.
9. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa is a tough player to rank. On one hand, some think he is the product of having arguably the best receiving corps in the league. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle always tend to be open, yet we’ve seen Tagovailoa under-throw them on plenty of occasions. Additionally, Tagovailoa is a major injury risk. He has had multiple scary injuries throughout the majority of his career.
On the other hand, Tagovailoa is accurate, and he still tends to hit his deep threats. He also changed up his training last year, which led to his first healthy season. Tagovailoa led the league in passing yards (4,624), and he added 29 passing touchdowns to boot. He has always put up impressive numbers when he has been on the field, so ranking him as the ninth-best quarterback feels just about right.
10. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
There are a lot of question marks in regards to Aaron Rodgers for the 2024 season, but ranking him outside of the top 10 would have just seemed wrong. After all, Rodgers is only three seasons removed from winning back-to-back MVPs, an incredibly rare feat in the NFL. At his best, Rodgers can get off any throw from any arm angle and deliver it on time and on target. He has a rocket arm and has been terrorizing the NFL for nearly two decades.
With that said, Rodgers tore his achilles on only his fourth offensive snap last year in what was his first season with the Jets. He made only one passing attempt, and it dropped to the turf. Rodgers is 40 years old, and players that old don’t have a great track record coming off of major injuries.
It is more than possible that Rodgers still has something left in the tank. The Jets have gone all in on him bringing them postseason glory, and other NFL legends, including Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, have found success post-injury near or into their 40s in the recent past. However, it is hard to predict if Rodgers will regress or complete one of the best bounce-back seasons ever this year.
11. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford may be 36 years old now, but he still has a cannon of an arm. Stafford returned to form last season after getting healthy, and he proved he still has plenty left in the tank. A fall off will likely happen sooner than later for Stafford, but we don’t think this will be the year. The 2008 first-overall pick is one of the most statistically dominant players we’ve ever seen.
12. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
People are all over the board on Brock Purdy. Some fans rank him much higher than this because of his consistent ability to win football games, while others rank him lower than this as they think anyone under center would be able to find success on a roster as talented as the 49ers.
We think the 12 spot is just right. Even if you think Purdy is somewhat of a game-manager, you can’t deny the impact he has had early in his career. Purdy won the first 10 regular season games of his career, and he even threw for 31 touchdowns last year. With players like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk on the 49ers roster, Purdy hasn’t had to make too many daring plays, but he has done exactly what Kyle Shanahan has needed him to do.
13. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
This feels low for a player who led the league in touchdown passes last season (36). However, the Cowboys might not even view Prescott as their long term quarterback, and he could hit the open market after this season. Prescott’s Cowboys have always underperformed when it matters most.
Even so, Prescott always leads a high-octane offense. He has thrown 96 touchdowns in the last three seasons, and another monstrous statistical season could prove us wrong for ranking him this low. After all, Prescott is probably over scrutinized because of the team he suits up for.
14. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Caleb Williams is only a rookie, so the fact we have him ranked as the 14th best starting quarterbacks for 2024 goes to show how much of a generational talent people think he is. The former Heisman winner was viewed as one of the best prospects in recent memory, and some even think he has Patrick Mahomes-type potential.
Rookie QBs do tend to struggle in year one, and it will be hard to even have a first year as great as C.J. Stroud’s was last year. Then again, Williams is extremely talented, and the Bears brought in the talent around him to set him up for success. Stroud created the blueprint on how to find immediate success, so Williams might become a top-10 quarterback sooner than later, although you never truly know how well college players will translate to the professional level.
15. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
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Coming out of Clemson, Trevor Lawrence was viewed as one of the best quarterback prospects ever. He hasn’t been quite as dominant as fans were expecting, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a solid player. After a poor rookie season, Lawrence has put up solid numbers in the last two years. Lawrence will need to create more big plays to take his game to the next level, though.
16. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love only has one season as a starter under his belt, yet the Packers already trusted him with the biggest contract in terms of average annual value ($55 million) in NFL history. While that is certainly a risky deal to hand out, it goes to show you how much Green Bay believes in Love as a true franchise superstar.
Love started his career as the backup to Aaron Rodgers, as Rodgers did to Brett Favre years earlier. Love proved the time learning from an all-time great on the bench was a good decision, as he threw 32 touchdown passes last season. That was the second most in the NFL. Fans should expect even more improvement this season, and if his 2024 numbers are as impressive as his 2023 statistics, then we will have no choice but to catapult Love up this list. He needs to prove it for a little bit longer before we can consider Love as a top-10 quarterback, though.
17. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Kirk Cousins is one of the tougher players to rank on this list. For years he was solidified as a good but not great quarterback, but one who was probably underrated around the league. Last season, Cousins took his game to new levels and was on pace to have his best season yet.
He was leading the league with 18 touchdowns last season before he went down with an achilles injury. Like Aaron Rodgers, Cousins is on the wrong side of 35 and coming off arguably the hardest injury to come back from, and that hurts his ranking here. Even so, the Falcons gave him a big contract, so they feel confident that he will return to form. Then again, the Falcons had a weird offseason, considering they also drafted a 24-year-old rookie quarterback (Michael Penix Jr.) in the first round despite giving Cousins a four-year deal.
18. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Admittedly, I have a soft spot for Kyler Murray, so I wanted to rank him even higher than this. Murray is an excellent scrambler who can make big plays outside of the script. However, he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations of being a first-overall pick, and he is coming off a season where he missed half of the year because of injury. Murray didn’t blow anyone away once he returned from his ACL injury, either, so the 2024 season will be a big one for Murray in proving that he can become an elite quarterback.
19. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Ranking Baker Mayfield as low as 19 on this list is heartbreaking, considering he was named to the Pro Bowl last year. We couldn’t justify putting him above the rest of the players on this list, though. The former first-overall pick had a career year last season, but he was playing on his fourth team in three seasons.
In his “prove it” season last year, Mayfield avoided fading out of the league and earned the title of franchise quarterback. He will always be a high-risk, high-reward player, but he has seemingly found a home in Tampa Bay.
20. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
Prior to going down with an injury last season, Anthony Richardson was looking like the second best rookie quarterback. He is a freak athlete for the quarterback position who is capable of running through defenders. However, his run-first mentality led to a number of injuries last season, including a season-ending one.
Richardson might have to change up his style and become more conservative when running the football if he is to stay healthy for an entire season. He has the arm talent to become more reliant on the passing game.
21. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
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Geno Smith is one of the great comeback stories in NFL history. He only lasted two seasons as the Jets starter back in 2013-2014, and then he spent six seasons as a backup before he got another chance. He earned that chance with the Seahawks, and it has paid off for the team in Seattle. Smith has made the Pro Bowl in each of his two seasons starting for the organization.
Still, we can’t justify putting him above most of the players ahead of him on this list, and a high-ceiling player like Anthony Richardson could be due for a breakout campaign that catapults him into superstar status. Smith is good, but he isn’t quite elite. His numbers did fall back to Earth in 2023 after he was among the statistical league leaders in 2022. Regardless, the fact that a back-to-back Pro Bowler only ranks as the 21st-best quarterback illustrates just how stacked the quarterback position is in 2024.
22. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
There is a significant drop off in talent from the top-21 to Deshaun Watson here as the 22nd-best starting quarterback. That is surprising to say, as Watson was once viewed as one of the up-and-coming stars in the NFL. His days with the Texans are long past, though, and it has been a rocky road ever since.
Contracts disputes, off-the-field drama, and a trade request resulted in Watson ending up with the Browns, and despite all of that, they still gave him the biggest contract in NFL history. His massive contract has made his injury-plagued tenure in Cleveland look horrible. Watson has not performed since becoming a member of the Browns.
Watson only has 2,217 passing yards through his two seasons with the team. During that time, he only has five more touchdown passes than interceptions, and he has missed more games with injury/suspension than he has games played in. Even so, Watson is still only 28-years-old, so it is fully possible he gets back on track and re-establishes himself as one of the best signal-callers in the game.
23. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
Derek Carr’s resume isn’t bad. He has a lot of game-winning drives to his name in addition to four Pro Bowl nods. Overall, Carr has thrown for 39,100 yards and 242 touchdowns. Even so, Carr has always been a middle-of-the-pack quarterback, and he is only trending in the wrong direction. Carr lingers around 4,000 passing yards per season, but he always leaves fans craving more.
24. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Both the 2023 and 2024 NFL Drafts were historic when it comes to quarterbacks. Back in Will Levis’ draft class, a record 12 quarterbacks were taken in the first five rounds. Levis was the first gunslinger taken in the second round. Levis has a cannon for an arm and he showed flashes of brilliance last season. His first start in particular was memorable, as he threw four touchdowns in his debut. Levis has loads of potential, but he needs to show us more to be ranked any higher than this.
25. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels has the potential to be much better than this ranking, but it is too early to put him any higher. Rookie passers tend to struggle, and although Daniels was viewed as a great prospect, he wasn’t thought of as generational like Caleb Williams.
Although he didn’t have a perfect season, Sam Howell actually put up surprisingly big numbers in Washington last year, so it is possible that Daniels does explode onto the season with the Commanders. He does have both the arm talent and the ability with his legs to make an impact from day one, but the team surprisingly trading Jahan Dotson before the season doesn’t help his cause.
26. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
We can’t justify putting Bo Nix above Jayden Daniels on this list, considering Daniels was the second overall pick, and Nix was only the sixth first-round rookie selected. Even so, Nix has looked great during the preseason, and he might blow everyone’s expectations away. The Oregon product is coming off a season where he broke the single-season NCAA completion percentage record. His accuracy remains intact, and the rookie has also shown off a willingness to throw the ball deep down the field during the preseason.
The rookie was named the starting quarterback by head coach Sean Payton after he won the quarterback battle with Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson. Now, he will become the first rookie gunslinger to start Week 1 for the Broncos since John Elway.
27. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young had a disastrous rookie campaign that is already making him look like one of the worst first-overall picks ever. There is obviously time to turn it around, and the Panthers quarterback still has tons of potential, but year one was not a good sign of things to come. The undersized quarterback looked outmatched as a rookie, and it resulted in the Panthers finishing with the worst record in football.
Because they traded up for Young in 2023, that left the team without a high draft pick. Young must quickly turn things around or he will be headed to NFL Draft bust territory.
28. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
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The Giants still owe Daniel Jones money for the next three seasons, and they pay him handsomely. That makes New York’s quarterback situation less than ideal because Jones is far from an elite quarterback. In fact, we think he is one of the worst quarterbacks slated to start in 2024.
Before going down with an injury last season, Jones only had 909 yards and two passing touchdowns in six games. He had a disastrous start to last year’s season, and five years into his career, he hasn’t shown much to make us believe he will improve.
29. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers held a quarterback competition between two players who were thrown away by their previous teams. The Bears let Justin Fields go for next to nothing, while the Broncos were as desperate as any team ever to get rid of their quarterback, which was Russell Wilson.
The two received another chance in Pittsburgh, but this doesn’t seem like a “one’s man’s trash is another man’s treasure” situation. The quarterback competition extended past the final preseason game because neither player separated themselves and clearly earned the job. Unfortunately, Wilson seems washed up, and Fields has proven his arm will never match his ability with his legs.
Mike Tomlin did announce Wilson as the team’s starter, but don’t be surprised if Fields is given a chance at some point throughout the season.
30. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
Sam Darnold was lined up to start for the Vikings even before J.J. McCarthy tore his meniscus. For the most part, fans have only seen the version of Darnold who didn’t live up to draft expectations. He busted out as a member of the Jets, and he was mediocre at best with the Panthers.
However, reports suggest that Darnold has improved since then. The coaches raved about what he showed off in practice during his stint with the 49ers, and now he has a chance to prove his success in practice can translate to the real deal. The fact that this is Darnold’s third real chance and his fourth team overall leads us to believe he simply doesn’t have it in him to become a franchise quarterback, though, so we rank him as the 30th-best quarterback for the 2024 season.
31. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders had two options to start at quarterback in 2024, and neither of them is very good. Gardner Minshew is one of the better backup quarterbacks in the NFL, but he continuously proves that he is better suited for reserve duty than full-time starting gigs. Aidan O’Connell was given a chance to start in Las Vegas last year, but he underwhelmed.
The team settled on Minshew as the starter, which is probably the better option if the team is trying to win now, but it is less beneficial for player development. Minshew is a fan favorite because of his mustache and unique personality, but he is far from an elite quarterback. In fact, we think the Raiders have the worst quarterback situation in football. Only one team ranks below them, but that team has an elite prospect waiting in the midst.
32. Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots
The Patriots held a quarterback competition, and head coach Jerod Mayo made a curious decision when selecting his starter. The Patriots were the last team to announce who would start for them in Week 1, but we now know that passer will be Jacoby Brissett. Brissett is a backup level quarterback who has stumbled into starting gigs on a number of different teams around the league, but he was actually outplayed by rookie Drake Maye during a lot of the preseason.
Maye’s game could use some refinement, so there is a case to be made for him learning from the bench, but we think development happens during game action. Considering the third-overall pick is not only the future of the position for New England, but he has also outplayed Brissett as of recent, the decision to announce the veteran as the starter is a confusing one.
If Maye had been named the starter, the Patriots could have gotten a boost on this list, but we think Brissett is the worst starting quarterback in 2024. He is only a bridge option, though, so it might not be long until Maye is handed the reins.
The post Ranking all 32 NFL starting quarterbacks ahead of the 2024 season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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