NFL

NFL quarterback power rankings: The AFC’s best and worst QBs with Aaron Rodgers joining loaded conference

For many years, the NFC was viewed as the better conference in the NFL. Now, the AFC has a stranglehold on that title.

Need proof to corroborate that statement? Just look at the quarterbacks that play in the conference.

The AFC is currently reaping the benefits of an influx of young, talented quarterbacks that have joined the conference over the last five-plus years. Teams have hit on many first-round picks at the position, with Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson standing out among the best.

Additionally, Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Garoppolo are defecting from the NFC to the AFC to further strengthen the conference’s quarterback depth.

In fact, it’s hard to find many flaws at all among the AFC’s top-10 quarterbacks. That will create a lot of competition within the conference and, as difficult as it is to believe, three of the top-10 quarterbacks will not make the playoffs. That means there will be several AFC fan bases sitting at home disappointed wondering what went wrong for them in 2023.

All that’s to say that the AFC is loaded at quarterback. That’s established. But which teams have the best signal-callers? The Sporting News is ranking the AFC’s top passers from best to worst. Here’s a look at which teams are best set up for current and future success.

MORE: Ranking the NFC’s 16 QBs from best to worst without Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady

NFL quarterback rankings: Best to worst in AFC

1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

It’s impossible to argue against Patrick Mahomes as the AFC’s best quarterback. No matter how many new entrants there are to the debate, the fact remains that Mahomes, 27, has won two Super Bowls and two MVPs in his five years as a starter. He may be the most physically talented quarterback to ever play and is on track to have one of the greatest quarterback careers of all time.

In 2022, Mahomes won his second MVP after completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 5,250 yards, 41 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He led the Chiefs to a 14-3 record — his fifth season with at least 11 wins in five years as a starter — and won his second Super Bowl.

The most impressive part of Mahomes feats in 2022? They were accomplished without Tyreek Hill at his disposal for the first time. He continued to win despite a downgrade in weapons, so it will be exciting to see if he can take another leap forward in 2023.

2. Joe Burrow, Bengals

There was a brief time during the 2022 NFL season when questions were asked about whether Burrow was better than Mahomes. This largely came after the Bengals won for a third consecutive time over Mahomes’ Chiefs within a calendar year, but it later quieted after Kansas City beat Cincinnati in the 2023 playoffs.

Still, there’s no doubting that Burrow is an elite quarterback. The Bengals starter finished fourth in MVP voting for the 2022 season and was named the Comeback Player of the Year after his stellar performance coming off a torn ACL in 2021. He led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2022 and has the highest completion percentage among qualified quarterbacks in NFL history at 68.2 percent.

Last season, Burrow led the Bengals to the AFC championship game and completed 68.3 percent of his passes for 4,475 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions despite having one game canceled as a result of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest.

Burrow is still just 26 and has plenty of room for growth. Given the strides he has made in each of his three NFL seasons, it’s exciting to imagine what he will be able to do as he goes head-to-head with Mahomes over the next decade.

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3. Josh Allen, Bills

You could certainly make a case for Allen to be the No. 2 quarterback on this list ahead of Burrow. The Bills’ starter was viewed as the potential top rival to Mahomes for a couple of years before Burrow’s breakout with the Bengals and success against the Chiefs.

Allen has a cannon of an arm and high-level mobility. He’s among the top running quarterbacks in the AFC and has been the driving force behind the Bills’ running game in recent season. He generated 762 rushing yards in 2022 and has recorded at least six rushing touchdowns every year since his rookie season in 2018.

Allen is also an excellent passer who has become the poster child for improving accuracy at the NFL level. His completion percentage peaked at 69.2 in 2020 but has since settled in at a solid 63.3 over the last two seasons. His one issue is with turnovers, as he has thrown 60 interceptions in his five NFL seasons and has a penchant for taking risky shots downfield and ignoring checkdowns. That remains his biggest weakness to date.

Even still, Allen’s talent is undeniable and he effectively was the Bills’ entire offense last season. He accounted for 4,283 yards, 35 touchdowns and 14 interceptions through the air while adding 762 yards and seven scores on the ground.

Like Burrow, he could have had better numbers if the Bills-Bengals game hadn’t been canceled; and like Mahomes, he has posted double-digit wins in each of his four full seasons as a starter. Now, he just needs to get to a Super Bowl to better compete with Burrow for the No. 2 spot on this list.

4. Aaron Rodgers, Jets

Some will argue that this is a bit high for Rodgers based on his performance last season. However, it is important to note that before the 2022 campaign, he had won back-to-back MVP awards and has four total in his career. He also won Super Bowl 45 and was MVP of that game, so he has a better pedigree than many of the younger quarterbacks on this list.

As mentioned, Rodgers is coming off a down 2022 season. The Packers went just 8-9 under his leadership and he completed just 64.6 percent of his passes for 3,695 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

That said, it’s worth noting that Rodgers dealt with a thumb injury to his throwing hand throughout most of the season. He also was playing without Davante Adams for the first time since 2013 after the receiver’s offseason trade to the Raiders, so his lack of proven receiving weapons certainly hurt him.

Rodgers is 39, so it is fair to wonder whether some of his lackluster performance from 2023 was due to age-related regression. Still, he is a top-tier talent and if healthy could return to form as one of the NFL’s better quarterbacks. That allows him to beat some of the conference’s young lightning rods.

Justin Herbert

5. Justin Herbert, Chargers

Herbert may not have as strong a record as Burrow, his draft contemporary, but his statistical output has been just about as good as that of the Bengals quarterback.

Herbert has made 49 regular season starts since entering the NFL and has averaged 4,888 yards, 33 touchdowns and 12 interceptions per 17 games played during his career. He completed a career-high 68.2 percent of his passes in 2022 and has never logged fewer than 4,336 passing yards in a single season.

Herbert has all the tools needed in a franchise quarterback. He has a good arm, solid accuracy and great mobility that allows him to move around in the backfield and make plays on the move. He has found success due to what has been, at times, shoddy offensive line play and at just 25, his ceiling remains sky-high.

All that said, Herbert has only led the Chargers to the playoffs once and has yet to lead them to a win. He will need to earn a playoff victory soon in order to avoid being written off as merely a great regular-season quarterback.

6. Lamar Jackson, Ravens

You could make the case that Jackson should be higher on this list. After all, he is one of just three active AFC quarterbacks to have won MVP— he did so in 2019 — and he is the best running quarterback in the NFL.

So, what is keeping Jackson at No. 6 on this list? His issue is twofold.

First, Jackson has struggled to stay healthy over the last couple of seasons. He has only played in 24 of 34 regular-season games while dealing with a plethora of injuries and he missed the team’s playoff loss to the Bengals in 2023 while nursing a knee injury. That problem could continue to follow Jackson, as he does run a lot and has a lighter frame at 6-2, 212 pounds.

Second, Jackson’s accuracy has regressed since his MVP campaign. He completed 66.1 percent of his passes that season but was only able to convert 62.3 percent of his passes last season. Too, his interceptions percentage has risen from 1.6 percent in his first two seasons to 2.7 percent over his last three, so he is more prone to turnovers than he once was.

Still, there is no denying that the still 25-year-old Jackson is one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the league when he’s healthy. He has run for 1,000-plus yards twice in his career and twice led the NFL in yards per carry. If he can stay healthy and get his accuracy back to 2019 levels, he will be in the MVP mix again for sure.

But for now, Jackson probably belongs just outside of the top-five quarterbacks in the AFC.

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7. Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

It’s hard to rank Lawrence on this list after just two seasons, but this seems to be the right spot for him. He was dreadful during his rookie year playing under Urban Meyer’s dysfunctional watch, but he made significant strides under Doug Pederson in 2022 that reminded everyone why he was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Lawrence completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2022. He was named to his first Pro Bowl, earned a top-10 MVP finish and led the Jaguars to an AFC South title with a 9-8 record.

Lawrence is a dynamic quarterback who is a great downfield passer and has the arm talent needed to make every throw at the NFL level. He can throw strikes on deep passes but his touch passing is elite-tier considering that he’s just 23 years old. That, plus his above-average athletic ability, should allow him to be a long-term starter in the NFL.

So, why is Lawrence only No. 7 on this list? It’s mostly about his rookie season, during which he completed just 59.6 percent of his passes and threw a league-high 17 interceptions compared to just 12 touchdowns.

Any quarterback would have struggled to find success under Meyer, and Lawrence has proven that he can overcome it. Still, we need one more great year from him to officially write off his rookie season as an aberration. At this time, his sample size is just a bit too small to place him over the likes of Jackson or Herbert.

8. Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins

Tagovailoa is another quarterback that could be higher on this list. He has posted a 21-13 record as a starter and has proven to be an accurate passer who has improved his touchdown total in each of his three years in the NFL.

Tagovailoa doesn’t have the biggest arm, but he is able to throw with excellent ball placement. That was part of what allowed him to post a league-best 105.5 passer rating in 2022. He distributed the ball effectively to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle while completing 64.8 percent of his passes for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The only thing that is holding Tagovailoa back is his health. He has never started more than 13 games in a single NFL season and has dealt with a wide-ranging variety of issues. That includes a few concussions that had him mulling retirement during the 2023 NFL offseason despite being just 25 years old.

That said, if Tagovailoa can avoid hits and injuries, he will have a chance to rise on this list given his high-end accuracy and elite ball placement skills. But the risk of another injury sidelining him — or worse, ending his career — drops him to the middle of the pack in these stacked rankings. 

Deshaun Watson

9. Deshaun Watson, Browns

If you were compiling this list after the 2020 NFL season, Watson would be a top-five look. Currently, he’s more the conference’s average quarterback, but he has a lot of upside.

Watson played in six games for the Browns last year after a lay-off of nearly two seasons while dealing with a contract dispute with the Texans and legal issues stemming from 23 civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and misconduct against him. He posted a 3-3 record in those contests while completing 58.2 percent of his passes for 1,102 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

On the surface, those numbers from Watson aren’t very good. That said, he improved as the season went on, demonstrating that he was likely just shaking off the rust as he returned to action for the first time since 2020. And during that season, he led the NFL in passing yards with 4,823 while completing 70.2 percent of his passes for 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Watson has a solid arm and is a natural thrower of the ball who, like Tagovailoa, has great ball placement and rarely misses his targets. Thus, he has a similar ceiling to the Dolphins starter and could remind people of his ceiling if he can stay on the field in what will be his age-28 season.

Watson also is creative on the move and has made numerous plays over the years that have made NFL fans say, “How did he do that!?” Case and point, this insane play from his Texans days against the Raiders.

10. Jimmy Garoppolo, Raiders

Garoppolo may not be one of the better quarterbacks in the AFC, but it will be very interesting to see how he fares when reunited with Josh McDaniels. Garoppolo played well in Kyle Shanahan’s quarterback-friendly offense, posting a record of 40-17 as a starter in San Francisco, but it remains to be seen if he will seamlessly slide back into McDaniels’ offense, which he worked in from 2014 to 2017 with the Patriots.

There’s reason to believe that Garoppolo will do just fine in that role. He isn’t an explosive quarterback by any stretch, but he has always been an accurate passer with good ball placement skills. He has decent mobility, though he isn’t a scrambler, and a good enough arm to be a quality NFL starter.

Garoppolo is effectively a jack-of-all-trades at quarterback, but he doesn’t have any elite traits. And the one drawback with him is that he has been injury-prone during his career, having played just one full season in 2019.

Still, it’s hard to find too much to complain about with Garoppolo. He should keep the Raiders’ offense functional in 2023; it’s just a matter of whether he will truly be an upgrade over Derek Carr or if he will just be a steady-handed presence who doesn’t raise the ceiling.

MORE: 15 worst value picks from the 2023 NFL Draft

11. Russell Wilson, Broncos

You could certainly make the case for Wilson checking in lower than this based on his performance last year. He looked lost at time in Nathaniel Hackett’s offense and posted career lows in completion percentage (60.5 percent), passing touchdowns (16), passer rating (84.4) and QBR (36.7) while guiding the Broncos to a disappointing 4-11 record in his 15 starts.

So, why is Wilson checking in at 11 overall above some younger quarterbacks with more potential? It’s because he had a strong decade-long career with the Seahawks before joining the Broncos. He has good mobility, escapability and is a good downfield thrower of the ball. He may have been in a bad situation given how poorly Hackett coached in Denver and how porous the blocking in front of him was (he was sacked a league-high 55 times in 15 games).

Sean Payton should give Wilson a chance to rebound in what will be his age-35 season. Perhaps the former Saints coach won’t be able to slow Wilson’s regression and he will plummet to the bottom of the AFC’s quarterback rankings after this year.

That said, his rebound potential is enough to keep him in front of some of the younger, less-proven quarterbacks in the conference for the time being.

12. Ryan Tannehill, Titans

Tannehill isn’t likely to excite many NFL fans when talking about AFC quarterbacks, and there’s a good chance that most fans would take any of the quarterbacks ranked below him if they were set to start a franchise today.

Even so, Tannehill has proven to be an efficient, winning quarterback during his time with the Titans. He hasn’t been explosive, but he has a very good arm, is an accurate passer and possesses enough mobility to keep defenses honest.

The issues with Tannehill are similar to those of Garoppolo. He doesn’t do anything at a really high level, so there are questions about just how much he can raise the Titans’ ceiling. And certainly, he isn’t worth the $36.6 million cap hit he is set to have in 2023.

But still, the Titans could do worse than Tannehill. And while they have added Malik Willis and Will Levis in the last two drafts in an effort to replace him, they should still get decent play out of the quarterback in his age-35 season.

C.J. Stroud

13. C.J. Stroud, Texans

Stroud hasn’t played a down in the NFL yet, so it’s difficult to project exactly where he will land among the AFC’s top quarterbacks. He has the potential to one day be near the top of the list thanks to his poise in the pocket, arm strength and his mobility, for which he doesn’t get enough credit.

Stroud completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 3,688 yards, 41 touchdowns and just six interceptions in his final season at Ohio State. He will need a bit of time to adjust from Ryan Day’s quarterback-friendly offense to a pro-style NFL system, but he has all the talent needed to develop into a quality starter at the next level.

The Texans will probably give Stroud a chance to start right away and hope that he can show progress throughout his rookie season. His floor may be low for 2023, but his ceiling will remain high during that season and beyond.

14. Kenny Pickett, Steelers

Some will not be pleased to see Pickett below Stroud on this list after the quarterback helped the Steelers earn a winning record in a rebuilding year. While Pickett did post a 7-5 record as a starter and generated some clutch, game-winning drives late in the season, he will need to continue to show growth after a less-than-stellar start to his rookie season.

In his first five games (four starts), Pickett completed a solid 67.9 percent of his passes but only turned them into 962 yards, two touchdowns and a whopping eight interceptions. Those turnover issues created consternation among Pittsburgh fans who wanted to see Pickett throw with a bit more force instead of trying to make each of his tight-window passes a quality touch pass.

As the year progressed, Pickett cut down on his turnovers. He threw five touchdowns compared to one interception in his last eight starts but saw his completion percentage dip to a lower bar of 59.4 percent. He will need to be able to combine his accuracy and ability to avoid interceptions to find high-level success at the NFL level.

Still, there’s reason to be encouraged by Pickett’s growth as a rookie. He seemed to improve from week to week, generated some clutch, game-winning drives late in the season and showcased good mobility, racking up 237 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

15. Mac Jones, Patriots

Figuring out Jones’ placement on this list was difficult. He didn’t play well in 2022, but he got absolutely zero support from his coaching staff, receivers and offensive line. Bill Belichick’s decision to employ Matt Patricia and Joe Judge as the team’s top offensive coordinators was disastrous, and that led Jones to get frustrated frequently with play-calling and execution.

Of course, not all of that was the coaching staff’s fault. Jones took more risks than needed in 2022 and tossed 11 interceptions in 14 starts as he struggled to read the field and diagnose coverages. If he can’t improve in that area in 2023 under Bill O’Brien, then it will become clear that he isn’t anything more than an average to below-average starter.

That said, Jones posted a strong rookie season with better coaching under Josh McDaniels. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and helped the Patriots get to the playoffs with a 10-7 record. He showcased good accuracy, solid ball placement and enough traits to be a quality starter even as more of a traditional pocket passer.

In many ways, Jones is the inverse of Trevor Lawrence. He’s not as talented as the Jaguars quarterback, but he started his career well before coaching capsized his second season. With better coaching, Jones can move back into the Jimmy Garoppolo range as a solid game manager who can be a fine starter for a playoff team.

But if he plateaus after his regression, that will prove that it was his rookie campaign that was the aberration, not his second season.

16. Anthony Richardson, Colts

It’s easy to get excited when looking at Anthony Richardson’s ceiling. He is one of the most athletic quarterbacks ever to be drafted and has the arm strength needed to make any throw on the field.

However, it is going to take the Florida product time to reach those incredible heights. Shane Steichen will be able to develop him and hone his accuracy, but that process won’t occur overnight. As such, he will likely endure growing pains during his rookie season that could make him look, at times, like the worst quarterback in the AFC.

A few years from now though, Richardson could find himself perched in the top half of these rankings and comparing favorably to the likes of Josh Allen and Justin Fields. But for now, he’s all about potential; and given the proven passers that are abundant in the AFC, it’s hard to justify ranking Richardson any higher than this.


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