NFL's Top QBs After 2025 Draft

Top pick Cam Ward and the rest of the quarterbacks selected in the 2025 NFL draft haven't earned the right to be considered upper-echelon league signal-callers just yet.

With the draft complete, though, this feels like an appropriate time to gauge the elite at the most critical position in American team sports.

Using the old eyeball test along with a wide array of common, rate-based and advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference and Stathead, here's how we view the NFL's top 10 quarterbacks as the next phase of the 2025 offseason gets underway.

12. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

AP Photo/Maria Lysaker

I alluded to the "eyeball" test, which is that "it" factor we can't really quantify. Tua Tagovailoa is lucky that's not all I relied on here, because he wouldn't make the cut under those circumstances. 

The 27-year-old continues to face major questions about his ability to stay healthy as well as his lack of clutch performances.

The Dolphins were only 1-5 against playoff teams in 2023, and the offense was significantly less productive than usual in those games.

Tagovailoa was also startlingly ineffective in a first-round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. And in 2024, he again missed more than a handful of games and struggled in key spots against the Bills in September (three interceptions) and the Texans in December (four turnovers). 

That said, we’re still talking about the reigning NFL leader in qualified completion percentage with the second-best on-target rate in the league. He is a 2020 top-five pick who has also led the league in passing yards, yards per attempt and passer rating at earlier points in his career. 

When on, he can be one of the most efficient and productive passers in the NFL, so we're giving him one more year on the fringe of this list. 

I would probably take Matthew Stafford over him right now, and Bo Nix and others over him if I were starting a franchise and had a choice, but the former is too far past his prime and other recent high picks aren't accomplished enough yet.

Tagovailoa is in a sweet spot, but he's on thin ice entering what is likely the most critical season of his NFL career.

11. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Jordan Love's case is also a tad confusing due to his lack of consistency in Green Bay, as well as the fact that he is awesome in some metrics and struggles in others. 

The 26-year-old had the NFC's second-highest QBR in 2024 after throwing 32 touchdown passes in 2023. But he also posted a bottom-10 completion percentage this past season, and each of his two full years to date have been glaringly uneven (he salvaged 2023 in December, and his 2024 campaign would have been downright ugly if not for a midseason hot streak). 

One reason I'm still giving Love the benefit of the doubt, though, is that the support hasn't been there for him. He's had one of the 10-highest qualified drop rates from his pass-catchers in each of the last two seasons, and only Daniel Jones' receivers dropped passes more frequently than Love's in 2024. 

Maybe new addition Matthew Golden will help change that and Love can finally put it all together in 2025. The ingredients are there.

10. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

Meanwhile, a considerable amount of high support early in his career might have inflated Brock Purdy's rating, and now it's possible the shine is coming off ahead of his fourth season in San Francisco. 

Surrounded by stellar weapons and under the tutelage of Kyle Shanahan, and with opposing defenses generally not knowing what to expect, Purdy was magnificent in 2023 and 2024.

The 25-year-old's 111.4 passer rating during that stretch is enough to keep him on this list, as he remains the highest-rated passer in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 1,000 attempts. 

However, with injuries plaguing the 49ers across the board in 2024, Purdy was merely the NFL's 13th-highest-rated passer while ranking 17th in qualified completion percentage and throwing 12 interceptions in 15 games. 

In fact, in his first 14 career games, he threw 22 touchdown passes to just four interceptions. In his 26 starts since then, that ratio has dropped to a much more pedestrian 42-to-23. 

Purdy's overall success and potential keep him in the bottom portion of this list, but I'm not convinced it will last. There's a good chance we've already seen the best of the 2022 final overall pick.

9. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

As Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, C.J. Stroud threw interceptions on a league-low 1.0 percent of his 499 pass attempts while completing a conference-best 4.7 air yards per completed pass attempt.

The 23-year-old had a triple-digit passer rating in the fourth quarter or overtime of one-score games and an AFC-best 123.4 passer rating on deep passes as the Texans won the AFC South.

During a sophomore slump last season, the 2023 No. 2 overall pick more than doubled his pick rate while ranking in the bottom 12 among qualified quarterbacks in completion rate and passer rating. 

Stroud’s numbers fell off a cliff pretty much across the board. 

That's enough to send him to the bottom third of this list, but not enough to completely cloud a ridiculous rookie campaign, especially considering he was the most pressured quarterback in the league as the Houston offensive line struggled throughout the year. 

Still, Stroud will have to rediscover some of that 2023 magic in 2025 or he will lose the distinction of being considered a top-10 quarterback.

8. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.

After an OROY season in which he posted similar numbers to Stroud in 2023 while leading Washington to the playoffs, Jayden Daniels is essentially the Texans QB without the sophomore slump. 

Only Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow posted higher QBRs, and Daniels was consistently the man in clutch situations despite a good-not-great supporting cast (only Patrick Mahomes led more fourth-quarter comebacks, and he posted a 106.4 passer rating in the fourth quarter of one-score games). 

That said, we can't assume the LSU product will keep it rolling in 2025. He could encounter obstacles just as Stroud did, even though the Commanders have smartly added to his arsenal as well as his offensive line this offseason. 

For now, Daniels holds a spot in the second tier of elite NFL signal-callers.

7. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

AP Photo/Mike Mulholland

Jared Goff is unique to this section of the list because he doesn't have the trajectory of the younger quarterbacks surrounding him on both sides.

And frankly, it wouldn't take more than an awful 2025 campaign to cause him to disappear entirely from this list in 2026 a la Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford. 

For now, though, we're talking about a 30-year-old who was the NFC's highest-rated passer while completing 72.4 percent of his throws for a Super Bowl contender in 2024.

Goff was also off the charts with a jaw-dropping 128.9 passer rating on third down, and that's not completely new for a veteran with a superb 102.7 passer rating dating back to the start of the 2022 season. 

Is it concerning that the 30-year-old threw three interceptions in a dud playoff loss to the Commanders? For sure. The Lions will need him to improve on his career playoff passer rating of 85.1 or that regular-season success from the last few years won't amount to much. 

This is another case in which 2025 will be critical.

6. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

AP Photo/Maria Lysaker

Justin Herbert still isn't a top-tier superstar quarterback, but the consistent veteran took a significant step forward in Jim Harbaugh's offense last season. And there's plenty of reason to believe he will continue to build on that in 2025. 

The 27-year-old put together a career year with 23 touchdown passes, only three interceptions and a triple-digit passer rating despite the fact that only Aaron Rodgers' receivers dropped more passes in 2024. And that happened even though he wasn't exactly supported by superstars while getting acclimated to a new system. 

On top of that, among 20 quarterbacks who attempted at least 75 deep passes in 2024, Herbert ranked No. 1 with 12 deep touchdown throws and a deep passer rating of 117.0. 

The 2020 No. 6 overall pick has put together a stable career despite constant change around him, and now he's showing signs of taking off with this regime.

Don't be surprised if Herbert makes another leap in 2025.

5. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

He may be far from your typical franchise quarterback, and it's fair to wonder just how effective he'd be without such a dominant supporting cast, but Jalen Hurts has become one of the most uniquely productive offensive players in the sport. 

The 26-year-old may have thrown just 18 regular-season touchdown passes, but he was a top-five-rated passer who scored 14 times as a rusher and generated more than 600 rushing yards and double-digit rushing touchdowns for the fourth year in a row. 

The reigning Super Bowl MVP was also at his best when needed most, posting a 112.8 passer rating in the fourth quarter of one-score games and leading a Philadelphia offense that averaged 36.3 points per game in the playoffs. 

Throw in the fact that Hurts played an instrumental role in getting the Eagles to two recent Super Bowls while compiling 20 career playoff passing/rushing touchdowns to only three interceptions, and he's a no-brainer top-five QB entering 2025. 

4. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

AP Photo/Ashley Landis

Some hard-to-believe facts about Patrick Mahomes: 

• Among 36 qualified passers, he ranked dead-last in the NFL with 2.8 completed air yards per attempt in 2024. And that was actually a slight improvement from 2.7 per attempt in 2023. 
• Among 20 quarterbacks who attempted at least 75 deep passes (throws 15-plus yards downfield) in 2024, he ranked 19th (ahead of only Anthony Richardson) with a passer rating of 46.1 on those attempts. 
• He’s thrown an AFC-worst 25 interceptions the last two seasons combined. 
• In that same time frame, his 93.0 passer rating ranks 20th among 33 qualified passers 

On paper, Mahomes has been a mediocre quarterback since the start of the 2023 season. So, why is he still ranked fourth on this list? 

Well, as one of the most accomplished and talented players in NFL history, he still gets some benefit of the doubt. And it helps that the two-time MVP has saved himself over and over again.

The 29-year-old led an NFL-best five fourth-quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives in 2024 alone, he posted a 110.4 passer rating on third down, and he again found a way to get the Chiefs to the Super Bowl. 

Eventually, even that stuff won't be enough. Let's see if Mahomes can bounce back in his age-30 season and maintain his spot among the top tier.

3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Joe Burrow is often overlooked in exercises like this one, likely because the Bengals have failed to make the playoffs the last couple of seasons and he missed a large portion of the 2023 campaign. 

That clouds the fact that Burrow still has six playoff wins and a Super Bowl appearance under his belt, as well as racking up a league-high 43 touchdown passes while ranking third in passer rating and QBR in 2024. 

It’s hard to hold that lack of team success against the 2020 No. 1 overall pick considering he had a 115.1 rating in the fourth quarter of one-score games, a 110.6 rating on third down and a 115.8 rating on deep passes this past season (ranking in the top four in all three specialized categories). 

The 28-year-old's 103.3 passer rating since the start of 2021 ranks No. 1 among all qualified QBs who have been active during that stretch, with only Lamar Jackson within three points of that total. 

Burrow's moment is coming. You can feel it.

2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

AP Photo/Adrian Kraus

This winter, Lamar Jackson was so close to becoming the youngest player in NFL history to win three MVP awards. Instead, he settled for a third first-team All-Pro nod at age 28 after putting up the fourth-highest-rated passing season of all time. 

The four-time Pro Bowler can do it all with his arm and legs, and he is well on his way to the Hall of Fame. It's hard to find a problem here, aside from the fact that he's never come close to winning a championship. 

There's still plenty of time for that, though, and it's important to remember this is a team sport. And in his defense, a player who struggled in big spots earlier in his career but posted a 122.5 passer rating in two 2024 playoff games, the Ravens again fell just short in a tight road loss to the Bills. 

If Jackson can stay healthy (and he generally has the last two seasons), it will all come eventually.

1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

AP Photo/Matt York

Unlike Tagovailoa at the start of this list, Josh Allen has "it." 

Has that resulted in a Super Bowl win or appearance yet? No, but it still feels like it's only a matter of time for the 2024 MVP. 

Allen has been consistently spectacular for half a decade. The Approximate Value metric at Pro Football Reference registers him as the most valuable player in the NFL since the start of 2020, and by a significant margin over Mahomes and Jackson. 

And while Jackson might be the more electric and prolific rusher, Allen actually has nearly twice as many career rushing touchdowns (65) as the Baltimore QB (33). 

This could go either way. Admittedly, it's a toss-up between Allen and Jackson, who posted identical league-best QBRs of 77.3 as the NFL's two premier MVP candidates in 2024.

Allen has just been a little more reliable overall and done a little more lately, but it's an open competition entering the 2025 campaign.