Execs, coaches, scouts rank top NFL quarterbacks for 2026

817Gill said:
Makes sense, I can see him anywhere from the 6-9 range.

Issue is, outside of maybe 1 or 2 guys, you need a complete team and high end coaching staff to win big. There are little to no instances of good QB’s taking flawed rosters and average coaching to the promise land.

So unless you get some generational QB that allows you to cut corners, organizations need to be built correctly to win the big one.

He’s had some stinkers in the playoffs, but I don’t think he’s had more than a team or two in his time here built and coached well enough for deep playoff runs. Except for maybe two of those McCarthy/Quinn years we’ve had good but not great rosters and coaching, that’s just not going to cut it.

Unless you’re a top 2/3 guy you’re going to need the whole organization to be top tier to win big consistently in this league. Can try to replace Dak all we want, and I do want to see more from him in the postseason, but we aren’t going to break through without a sound roster and top tier coaching.

The odds of finding a top 2/3 QB are way slimmer than the odds of building a strong roster and coaching staff. Once you have a top 8-12 type guy, you focus on building the right team and coaching staff.

Darnold/Seahawks, Nix/Broncos, Hurts/Eagles, and Purdy/Niners are all examples of 8-12ish talent with elite coaching staffs and strong rosters able to make a AFCCG/NFCCG run. This is a much more replicable formula than hunting for a Mahomes or Allen and asking them to deliver us to glory.
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Those Quinn years were ****** teams, built to be front runners with little ability to respond after getting hit in the mouth.

The pass rush is great and all, but being soft up the middle in the playoffs will get you beat more often than not.
 
Hawkeye0202 said:
Oh please.......this whole salary argument is soooo misguided. Where were these arguments when Dak or any other QB played at an elite level on rookie contracts? These QBs don't pay themselves; owners choose to make the highest-paid players. That doesn't change the team's responsibility to give them as much support as possible to protect their investment. Hell, that's common sense....it's the nature of the position. There was a time when Tony Romo was the highest-paid NFL QB and guess what? We still have the same results today ( limited playoff success). Romo played 13 years and Dak is in his 10th year. That's 23 years........three head coaches but ONE GM and OWNER.

I'm done blaming players........they are interchangeable. I now see why many posters and fans blame Jerry.
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Nobody is saying Dak writes his own checks. Jerry deserves criticism for giving him that contract. But once you're making $60 million a year, the expectations change. That's true for every franchise quarterback.

And yes, teams should build around their QB. The problem is the bigger the contract, the harder it is to keep elite talent around him. That's literally how the salary cap works. Saying salary doesn't matter because "owners choose to pay them" ignores the reality that cap dollars are finite.

As for Romo, he was briefly the highest-paid QB, but not by today's standards. Dak's contract is consuming a much larger chunk of the cap than many championship quarterbacks have, and unlike Romo, he's now had 10 seasons to prove he can elevate a team in January.

Jerry absolutely deserves blame. He's the one who hired the coaches, built the roster, and signed the contracts. But that doesn't suddenly make Dak immune from criticism. Both can be true:

  • Jerry deserves blame for paying him.
  • Dak deserves blame for not consistently playing like a quarterback worth that investment when the games matter most.
That's why I don't buy the "it's all Jerry" argument. If you're paid like Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, or Lamar, you're going to be judged by that standard.
 
TheMarathonContinues said:
So Dak his whole career made 60 million? Rookie year Dak was making 60 million too? It’s his mental make up in 2016…but on 2026 it’s his salary. What about 2014? Or 2007? This is why I say it’s excuses. Even salary is an excuse. That’s an excuse for Stephen. They can’t build a team because of Daks salary despite wasting salary on players like Diggs or Jaylon Smith or La El Collins…..Zeke…..I can come up with over 100 million in wasted salary per year.

You notice how D Law or even Ware didn’t have the “mental make up”….until they left here?
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You're acting like I've only ever made one argument when I've made two separate ones.

In 2016, Dak wasn't making $60 million. My criticism then, and now, is that I don't think he has the mental makeup to consistently come through in the biggest moments. That's my opinion, and it's based on a decade of watching him in high-pressure games. His current salary has nothing to do with why I hold that opinion.

The salary argument is a separate point. Once you become one of the highest-paid players in NFL history, the expectations change because you're taking up a much larger percentage of the cap. That's not an excuse for Dak—it's actually the opposite. It means he deserves more scrutiny, not less.

And yes, the Cowboys have wasted money on other contracts. I agree with that. Bland, Zeke, Steele, Diggs; Jerry and Stephen deserve criticism for all of it. But that doesn't erase the fact that paying your quarterback $60 million limits roster flexibility too. Both things can be true at the same time.

As for Ware and D-Law, I never said players can't thrive elsewhere. My opinion is specifically about Dak at quarterback. If you disagree with my assessment of his mental toughness, that's fine. But stop pretending I've changed my argument. I haven't. My opinion on Dak's mental makeup has been consistent, and his contract is a separate discussion about the expectations that come with being paid like an elite franchise quarterback.
 
CowboysFaninHouston said:
actually at one point the niners had Montana and Young on the team....then there is that...just sayin
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And then what happened? They quickly chose one in part because of the dysfunction the situation was creating.

You might next point to the Packers who had Favre and Rodgers then Rodgers and Love. That fails as well as even though all 3 turned out to be hits only one was starting and nobody knew how good the guy in waiting would actually be.

Then there is our very own Dallas Cowboys when Landry was shuttling QBs play to play. How did that turn out?

Might I even mention Jimmy Johnson having to choose between Walsh and Aikman.

How about Romo/Prescott?

History clearly shows it's bad business to have two proven starting quality QBs on a roster.

It's completely irrational to suggest QB rankings should include references to 2nd and 3rd string guys who typically are either proven backups or unproven youth.

They are ranked out of the pool of starters. Not the pool of every single QB on a roster.
 
Rockport said:
Yet he is ranked amongst the leaders under pressure. So your claim doesn’t fit that skill of his.
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You do not seem to understand the difference between physical pressure (the rush, blitzes, being chased in the pocket) which he is pretty good at vs pyschological pressure , which causes him to not play well when the stakes are big and the "pressure" is on to perform. There is no ranking for that type of pressure, other than watching a QB thrive and raise their level of play (Aikman) or watching them wilt and become a shell of themselves (Dak).

Maybe one day you will get it.
 
Vtwin said:
Lol

Fact. There are 32 starting QB jobs in the NFL.

"If you have two quarterbacks you actually have none." John Madden.
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There are 32 starting jobs but there are 80 PLUS quarterbacks who have a chance to win them.

How do those 32 quarterbacks become starters? They have to win the starting job by outplaying the other quarterbacks, correct?

So out of 80 PLUS quarterbacks in the NFL, its a great thing for any quarterback to be top 10 best quarterbacks out of 80 PLUS quarterbacks.

Is it not?
 
Relayer said:
Top 10 doesn't really mean much if he is or not. Purdy has been to multiple nfccg. Hurts 2 SB and won one. They aren't even mentioned.
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Teams win championships. Ypu can have a HOF QB and still not win a SB. There’s several great QB’s who didn’t win a SB because the rest of the team wasn’t good enough
 
TheMarathonContinues said:
Maybe I got lost somewhere I thought the argument was Herber has underachieved all these years because of his line. I was just disagreeing it hasn’t been an issue. He’s had weapons. Last year was the exception.
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I thought you were referring to last year. I wouldn’t have called the chargers O good but they weren’t nearly as bad before the injuries.

I think what really hindered the chargers was more the on coaches. I think Herbert is a top 5 QB or better and will prove it with Harbaugh. I get to watch many chargers games and I see greatness coming. Don’t kill me for that opinion. Lol
 
Cowboy4ever said:
You do not seem to understand the difference between physical pressure (the rush, blitzes, being chased in the pocket) which he is pretty good at vs pyschological pressure , which causes him to not play well when the stakes are big and the "pressure" is on to perform. There is no ranking for that type of pressure, other than watching a QB thrive and raise their level of play (Aikman) or watching them wilt and become a shell of themselves (Dak).

Maybe one day you will get it.
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Listen, you’re a well known hater and hurling insults for no reason. I never replied to you. I’m not going to argue with you since it’s a waste of my time.
 
Rockport said:
Listen, you’re a well known hater and hurling insults for no reason. I never replied to you. I’m not going to argue with you since it’s a waste of my time.
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Hey! Arn't you supposed to be in church? Now, get! lmao
 
GINeric said:
So out of 80 PLUS quarterbacks in the NFL, its a great thing for any quarterback to be top 10 best quarterbacks out of 80 PLUS quarterbacks.

Is it not?
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As usual you have completely ignored context and moved the goalposts. I didn't even make this about Dak, you did. I made it about celebrating the top 30% and how diluted that is.

The context is, ranking the starting QB's in the NFL in relation to each other. The pool is starting QB's in the NFL. Find me one single "expert" who participated in this ranking who looked beyond the starters in his/her analysis. You seriously think they were looking at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th QB's on the roster list you posted earlier? Come on man!

By your "logic" we might as well just go ahead and include the entire population of humans on the planet. Dak is 6th out of 8 billion. That would put him in the top .000000075%! Context matters.

Your entire argument hinges on a technicality that requires the obvious intended context to be ignored.

Top ten QBs in the NFL equals top 30ish percent.

Your rabbit holing game needs work. I know a guy who can help.
 
Rockport said:
Listen, you’re a well known hater and hurling insults for no reason. I never replied to you. I’m not going to argue with you since it’s a waste of my time.
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Dude, I litterally quoted you in my response:

Rockport said:
Yet he is ranked amongst the leaders under pressure. So your claim doesn’t fit that skill of his.
Click to expand...
You do not seem to understand the difference between physical pressure (the rush, blitzes, being chased in the pocket) which he is pretty good at vs pyschological pressure , which causes him to not play well when the stakes are big and the "pressure" is on to perform. There is no ranking for that type of pressure, other than watching a QB thrive and raise their level of play (Aikman) or watching them wilt and become a shell of themselves (Dak).

Maybe one day you will get it.

And there is no insult hurled other than hoping you at some point understand the difference between the pressure you keep quoting rankings and the pressure that makes Dak wilt. Its a basic concept and I do hope you can one day grasp it. And I wouldn't argue with me either if I were you.
 
C.Cowherd has Dak at #12 on his new list
Allen
Mahomes
C.williams
Stafford
Herbert
Burrow
Darnold
Goff
Love
Maye
 
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