NFL Quarterback Rankings 2026: All 32 Starters, Tiered
I ranked all 32 Week 1 starting QBs into tiers for the 2026 NFL season — from Allen and Burrow to the guys on the hot seat. See where your team landed.
Gavin 9 min read
Who Are You Rooting For This Season?
This is a NFL quarterback rankings 2026 list built the way I'd argue it with friends at a tailgate, not a stat-sheet printout. Some of it is film and numbers, some of it is genuine personal bias for guys I love watching. You're allowed to disagree — actually, please do, that's the fun part.
Here's the full breakdown before I get into the "why":
- S-Tier: Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes
- A-Tier: Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, C.J. Stroud, Bo Nix
- B-Tier: Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield
- C-Tier: Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, Tua Tagovailoa, Cam Ward, Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins
- D-Tier: Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers, Malik Willis, Bryce Young, Jacoby Brissett, Tyler Shough, Jaxson Dart
Now let's get into the reasoning tier by tier.
S-Tier: No Real Debate Here
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes.
Allen's my No. 1, and honestly it's not that close for me personally — watching him shrug off arm tackles and still uncork a 40-yard dime never gets old, and I'll happily die on that hill. Jackson is the other guy who's still physically dominant in a way defenses just can't fully game-plan for — different style, same "how did he do that" reaction from me every week. Burrow, when healthy, might have the cleanest pure passing motion in the league, and I genuinely enjoy watching him work through progressions; Cincinnati's ceiling has always been tied directly to his availability. Hurts keeps winning in ways that don't always show up pretty on a stat sheet, and Philly's built an offense that hides his weaknesses while amplifying his strengths — I've come around on him more than I expected to. Mahomes is the trickiest call — he's coming off a torn ACL and there's real injury risk — but even at 90%, he's still probably a top-five arm-and-brain combo in the sport, and I'm not betting against him.
A-Tier: A Very Good Season Away From S-Tier
Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, C.J. Stroud, Bo Nix.
Herbert has as much pure arm talent as anyone on this list, and I've always had a soft spot for how effortless his deep ball looks — the Chargers just need to keep building a roster around him. Stafford, at this stage of his career, is playing some of the cleanest football of his life, and it's genuinely fun to watch a guy this experienced still be this sharp — the reigning MVP conversation wasn't a fluke. Maye and Daniels are the two second-year guys I trust the most heading into year two; both looked like plus-starters as rookies, which is rare, and I'll admit I'm rooting for both of them a little. Stroud has a Rookie of the Year trophy and a rough sophomore year behind him — I think last season was the outlier, not this coming one. Nix is coming back from a serious injury of his own, but what he showed Denver before that was a legitimate franchise arrow pointing up, and I want to see more of it.
B-Tier: Solid, Dependable, Occasionally Frustrating
Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield.
This is the "good starter, not quite elite" tier, and there's no shame in it — most teams in the league would kill for a guy from this group. Prescott and Goff are steady, high-floor passers who elevate their offenses without needing to be the whole show; I don't think either gets enough credit for how boring-in-a-good-way reliable they are. Purdy's been a genuinely great value on his rookie deal, and I like watching him play within himself, though the sample size in a vacuum (outside that scheme) is still a fair question. Darnold's redemption arc is honestly one of my favorite stories in recent NFL memory — going from cast-off to a Super Bowl-winning starter in Seattle, that's the kind of stuff that makes you root for a guy. Lawrence and Love both flash top-ten upside in stretches but haven't strung together a full, consistent season yet. Mayfield's grit keeps Tampa competitive every single year, and I've always respected how much he seems to just love playing.
C-Tier: Real Questions Heading Into Week 1
Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, Tua Tagovailoa, Cam Ward, Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins.
Williams has the talent, but Chicago's rebuild is still very much in progress. Murray just won a training-camp competition over J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota, and the fit with Kevin O'Connell's scheme is a real, unanswered question. Smith is reliable but not the guy you're building a Super Bowl run around. Tagovailoa's injury history keeps this ranking cautious no matter how good the healthy tape looks — and Atlanta hasn't even fully closed the door on Michael Penix Jr. Ward gets a pass as a still-developing sophomore starter. Jones is working back from a torn Achilles, and Cousins is a solid vet plugged into a Raiders situation that's still finding its identity.
D-Tier: Prove-It Season
Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers, Malik Willis, Bryce Young, Jacoby Brissett, Tyler Shough, Jaxson Dart.
I want to be fair here — this isn't a "these guys are bad" tier so much as a "the questions outweigh the answers right now" tier. Watson getting the Cleveland job over Shedeur Sanders was one of the most talked-about QB decisions of the offseason, and it's fair to say a big chunk of the fanbase wanted a different outcome. Rodgers is a future Hall of Famer, and I'll admit there's still something fun about watching him sling it in year 21 — but Pittsburgh is banking on a 42-year-old holding up over a full season. Young and Willis are both still trying to prove last year's flashes were real, and I'm genuinely pulling for both of them to figure it out. Brissett, Shough, and Dart are, fairly or not, keeping seats warm — for a rookie, a returning vet, and a first-year starter respectively — until (or unless) the picture changes.
Storylines Worth Watching This Season
A few things are keeping this list interesting heading into Week 1. Mahomes' recovery timeline is the single biggest swing factor in the AFC West — a healthy Chiefs offense changes the whole conference picture. In Cleveland, the QB battle isn't over just because Watson got the Week 1 nod; if the offense sputters early, don't be shocked if Sanders gets a look before midseason. And Atlanta's ongoing Tua-vs-Penix situation might be the closest real quarterback competition left in the league right now. This ranking is a snapshot — by Week 6 it could look pretty different, and that's honestly part of what makes the QB position the most fun one to argue about every single year.
Once I had my tiers locked in, I wanted to actually see them laid out visually instead of just as a text list, so I used a free drag-and-drop tier list maker called TierMakerPro to turn this into an image I could share — it's the same tool I mentioned up top. There's a sports template with all 32 starters already loaded in, so I just dragged names into S/A/B/C/D, tweaked the tier colors, and exported a PNG — no sign-up needed. If you want to build your own version of this NFL quarterback tier list with Josh Allen (or whoever your guy is) sitting up top, it's free to mess around with.
Where Do You Have Your QB1?
That's my read on all 32 Week 1 starters heading into the 2026 season — and yeah, Josh Allen is the one I'm rooting for hardest all year, in case that wasn't obvious by now. If you've got a favorite you want to see stacked up against everyone else, you can go build your own version with the same tier list maker I used and put your guy right where you think he belongs. Would genuinely love to hear who you're rooting for and how you'd rank things differently — drop it in the comments.
FAQ
Q1: How many teams have completely new Week 1 starting quarterbacks compared to last season? A handful — Malik Willis in Miami, Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh, and Kyler Murray in Minnesota are the most notable new starters, while Deshaun Watson's return in Cleveland is technically a "new" decision even though he's been on the roster for years.
Q2: Who's better right now, Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson? Honestly, it's close enough that it comes down to preference — Allen's the bigger, more physical downfield thrower, while Jackson brings a different gear of pure speed and elusiveness. Both are legitimate MVP-caliber quarterbacks, and reasonable fans land on either side.
Q3: Is Patrick Mahomes actually going to play Week 1 after his ACL injury? As of now he's on track and has stated he wants to play, but it's genuinely a game-time-decision-level question. It's the biggest single storyline hanging over this entire ranking.
Q4: Is TierMakerPro free to use, and do I need to make an account? Yep — it's completely free and there's no sign-up required. You just open a template, drag the names into the tiers you want, adjust colors or labels if you feel like it, and export the finished image as a PNG.