The NFC is not nearly as deep at the quarterback position as the AFC. We look at the latest NFL Power Rankings for the NFC’s signal-callers in 2022.
The quarterback landscape in the NFL has changed dramatically over the last two offseasons. The power shift in the NFL has moved primarily to the AFC where Russell Wilson has now moved along with Matt Ryan, and Deshaun Watson will also presumably be back in the fold for the 2022 season barring league investigation.
Compared to the AFC, the NFC is a much more top-heavy conference in terms of quarterback play. Obviously, this conference boasts two of the NFL’s all-time greats at the position but how are all of the quarterbacks sorted out from top-to-bottom?
We’re going to rank every QB in the NFC from worst to best.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 16: Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers
Yes, this post was written after the Marcus Mariota move.
Yes, Sam Darnold is the worst starting quarterback in the NFC, maybe the NFL in general.
On the AFC quarterbacks version of these NFL Power Rankings, Zach Wilson was number 16. If you had to choose today, would you take Sam Darnold and his situation with the Panthers or would you take Wilson and his situation with the Jets?
The Panthers failed to acquire Deshaun Watson and any other veteran QB they may have been interested in this offseason so far. They still have a shot at Baker Mayfield if they want, and I do think that would give them a boost on this list by a couple of spots.
The Sam Darnold trade last year was simply terrible for the Panthers. For two seasons in a row now, Darnold has played in just 12 games and has thrown nine touchdowns in those games with an interception percentage over three.
It just might not be in the cards for Darnold, who will still just be 25 this season.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 15: Marcus Mariota, Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons have now drifted into the realm of irrelevancy after the Matt Ryan trade to the Indianapolis Colts.
In consecutive years now, the Falcons have traded staples of the franchise and the trade of Matt Ryan for just a third-round pick? Well, that one stings.
There is no question that the Atlanta Falcons are rebuilding under second-year GM and head coach tandem Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith. The question at this point is how the franchise will decide to move forward from arguably the most important player in recent franchise history.
Matt Ryan may not have been the difference-maker he once was at the QB position, but he is still Matt Ryan and many expect him to thrive with the Colts, who have a much better all-around roster around him.
For Marcus Mariota, the opportunity with the Atlanta Falcons is something he’s been waiting for for a couple of years. The former Oregon Ducks superstar QB and second overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft once looked like he was destined for NFL stardom, but he fizzled out in 2019 and hasn’t had a starting opportunity since then.
Now, he will get the chance in Atlanta with Kyle Pitts as his number one (only?) target and Cordarrelle Patterson out of the backfield.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 14: Daniel Jones, New York Giants
As difficult as it was to rank the top half of AFC quarterbacks, it was perhaps just as difficult to rank the bottom half of NFC quarterbacks.
Daniel Jones has not been good in his first three NFL seasons, but the New York Giants also haven’t had the best of luck in terms of the health of their roster, the play of their offensive line, and the coaching in New York has not been great, either.
The Giants have now hired Brian Daboll as their new head coach and that move could pay huge dividends for Jones, who has been a turnover machine through three NFL seasons.
Daboll helped turn Josh Allen into a legitimate MVP candidate with the Buffalo Bills and did a great job of creating an offense to suit Allen’s skill set while he was still learning and growing through failing forward.
Jones has not had the luxury of failing forward in New York. It’s really been more an issue of just struggling with no real signs that he’s going to take that next step.
As a result, could we see the Giants go after a QB in the 2022 NFL Draft?
I don’t think that will be the case.
With the addition of Tyrod Taylor to backup Jones (or maybe start…), I think the Giants are playing the long game toward 2023.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 13: Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
There’s no real way to sugarcoat it — Justin Fields’ rookie season in Chicago was terrible.
The Bears’ coaching staff did not put Fields in a position to succeed, by any means, but Fields also didn’t rise to the occasion when his number was called.
He started 10 games for the Bears, throwing seven touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions while fumbling a whopping 12 times as well.
Matt Nagy is gone as the Bears’ head coach and former Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is in. Former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy has joined Eberflus staff as the Bears’ new offensive coordinator and even just looking at this as a “devil you don’t know” situation, you have to think Fields is going to be in a better spot in 2022, right?
The Bears’ offensive skill talent needs to be upgraded. Their offensive line is still a massive question mark.
Hopefully, a scheme change will be exactly what the doctor ordered for Fields, who is a tremendous talent.
Still, in his rookie season, I think we saw some of what made NFL teams hesitant on Fields and his NFL projection. While he’s very gifted physically, the NFL is a different beast and it will absolutely consume young quarterbacks without the right pieces in place around them.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 12: Drew Lock, Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks traded Russell Wilson, which will go down ultimately as probably the worst move in franchise history.
Wilson was the heart and soul of the Seattle Seahawks franchise for the last decade and the ownership decided it was more worthwhile to keep Pete Carroll around than to keep letting Russ cook.
As a result, the Seahawks are now projected to go into the 2022 season with young Drew Lock and potentially a rookie as their starting QB options. Given the fact I have covered the Broncos for Lock’s entire career, I will say I am at least intrigued by this move.
Lock is in the final year of his rookie contract and he has had plenty of good moments for the Denver Broncos. He’s also had plenty of terrible ones.
Lock’s inconsistency is what ultimately led to him being “benched” for Teddy Bridgewater in 2021. The previous coaching staff in Denver preferred a more risk-averse option, and they got it.
Lock might be a bit of a gunslinger but his high moments still make me think there’s a chance he could be a decent NFL starter if he can limit turnovers.
Now, he’s got an established duo of receivers to get the ball to in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks also acquired Lock’s former 2019 NFL Draft classmate Noah Fant, and they re-signed Will Dissly.
I like the weapons in Seattle and I think Lock has a better situation than the guys on this list before him.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 11: Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints, as this post was being put together, re-signed Jameis Winston to a two-year deal worth $28 million.
Not a bad contract from a team that was almost $75 million in the hole to start the 2022 offseason.
Winston was on pace, prior to his knee injury last season, to throw for over 50 touchdown passes. Will the absence of Sean Payton affect his production and progression?
The Saints are a pretty well-rounded roster but they need to give Winston some more weapons in the passing game.
Coming off of a knee injury, I hesitated to put Winston even this high on the list but I think what he showed early on in the 2021 season warranted a decent ranking. If he can continue to progress, not only will Winston ascend on this list but the Saints will be back in contention in a fairly weak NFC South.
Do I love the price point at $14 million per season? Not really, but someone had to close the gap between the low-end of the highest-paid starters at around $20 million AAV (Derek Carr) and the high end of the bad starters (Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick) which is around $10 million AAV.
Winston could be a bargain for the Saints if he can give them a full season of the production he was on pace for in 2021.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 10: Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders
Initially, I’m sure some will scoff at Carson Wentz being ranked even this high on a power ranking of NFC QBs.
Yes, Wentz was bad down the stretch for the Colts last season.
Still, how many quarterbacks in the NFL threw 27 touchdown passes and helped their teams to nine wins?
That’s worth something.
For the Washington Commanders, it was worth Wentz’s entire salary and two valuable draft picks. I can’t say I blame them as this is a franchise that has been starved for decent quarterback play for the longest time.
They have not been able to find anyone to be a long-term option for them and it’s been tough to watch from an outside perspective. Robert Griffin III was a blip on the radar. Kirk Cousins never felt like a long-term option for this franchise.
Carson Wentz honestly just feels like par for the course for Washington. He feels like a short-term fix but not a long-term answer. There was once a time when it looked like he would be a long-term star for the Eagles, but here we are and he’s struggling to find a firm footing with anyone.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 9: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
I might be a bit higher on Jared Goff than others.
Over the course of the 2021 NFL season, I found myself watching more and more of the Detroit Lions. For a while there, we were all wondering if they were going to win a game.
The Lions kept competitive in a lot of games as the season progressed, and they even won three of Goff’s final five starts last season.
It might be his play down the stretch that prompted me to put him this high on the list.
In the final five games of the 2021 season, the Lions were 3-2 and Goff completed 69.57 percent of his passes for 1,136 yards, 11 touchdowns, and just two interceptions.
It felt like the Lions really took a step forward after the Josh Reynolds acquisition and the emergence of Amon-Ra St. Brown as the season wore along. Heading into the 2022 season, Goff now has DJ Chark in the fold to get the ball to and help create offense for Detroit.
Maybe I’m being overly optimistic here. I am not going to sit here and say that Goff is a superstar and he proved it last season, but he played good football down the stretch and there’s hope that he can keep that level of solid play going into 2022.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 8: Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers
Alright, this is probably going to be the most controversial placement on these NFC QB power rankings.
Why is Trey Lance ranked so high?
Simply put, I have more faith in the Kyle Shanahan offense to support Lance than the other QBs that have preceded him on this particular list.
I think Lance is going to thrive in San Francisco as the QB1, even if it takes some time.
He may not hit the ground running, but having a year to learn behind Jimmy Garoppolo, to ingest the offense, to get to know his teammates, and to get acclimated to life in the NFL could help Lance tremendously.
Coming out of North Dakota State, we know that Lance had every tool you could ask for from a young quarterback. His arm talent is outstanding. His athleticism is off the charts. His football IQ is great.
Playing in an offense orchestrated by Kyle Shanahan with all of the playmakers the 49ers have at his disposal?
I think Lance is primed to thrive and help keep this 49ers team in contention.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 7: Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles shocked a lot of people in the 2021 season when they won nine games and made it to the playoffs with Jalen Hurts as their primary quarterback.
After his rookie season in 2020, many felt like the Eagles would do anything and everything to move on from Hurts in 2021 but they didn’t. They stuck with him, built the offense around him, and gave him a legitimate WR1 in De’Vonta Smith.
Hurts did a good job.
He showed nice improvement from his rookie season, throwing 16 touchdowns in 15 starts with nine interceptions. He also added 10 rushing touchdowns.
Hurts’ ability to win as a dual-threat certainly made the Eagles’ offense a more dynamic unit in 2021 and it appears as though they are okay with moving forward and seeing how far this rabbit hole goes.
Hurts is a good leader, he’s shown progression, he’s a great athlete, and Nick Sirianni obviously believes in his offense.
If Hurts is able to help the Eagles to the playoffs again in 2022, he might just earn himself a big-money contract.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 6: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Wins are not a quarterback-specific stat, but it’s really frustrating the way Kirk Cousins-led teams are always seemingly average.
The Minnesota Vikings have had issues beyond their QB1, but Cousins has consistently hovered around 8-8 or 9-7 as a starting quarterback since the 2015 season.
His numbers would seem to indicate that the Vikings should be winning more games. He threw for 4,221 yards and 33 touchdowns last season and had the lowest interception percentage of his NFL career to date (1.2).
Cousins completes passes at a high rate, throws a lot of touchdowns, doesn’t make a lot of mistakes with the ball, and yet his teams simply cannot get over the proverbial hump.
What is the deal here?
The Vikings are paying a lot of money to see if they can figure out the missing ingredient. Cousins has to put up or shut up this season, or his time in Minnesota could come to a close sooner rather than later.
An 8-9 record or even 9-8 simply won’t cut it. Cousins has been paid like a star quarterback, but the Vikings have been unable to assert themselves in a division with only one other legitimate competitor.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 5: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
It’s been a drama-filled offseason for Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
The former Heisman winner and number one overall pick deleted all Cardinals images from his social media and apparently was trying to send a message about his contract situation.
The Cardinals went ahead and extended GM Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury, but Murray awaits any sort of payment.
Last season, the Cardinals looked like they might be the best team in the NFL for a good chunk of the year. Unfortunately for Arizona, it ended in disappointment and with a division rival winning the Super Bowl.
Without Russell Wilson in the division, the Cardinals now have at least a slightly clearer path to the playoffs again in 2022 but what are they going to do about the drama with Murray?
At this point, I’m not sure he’s proven himself worthy of a Mahomes-like extension, or maybe not even a Josh Allen-like extension.
Then again, what price is too much for the Cardinals to have stability at a position that has plagued them for decades? They might just need to pay up for Murray, keep him happy, and put all their eggs in that basket.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 4: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott suffered a bad leg injury in the 2020 season, but that didn’t prevent the Dallas Cowboys from backing up the Brinks truck and giving him a massive new contract.
Prescott signed last offseason for four years, $160 million with $126 million guaranteed.
He had certainly proven himself worthy of that contract before the injury, which he suffered while playing on the franchise tag.
Although Prescott still got a new contract, at the time, he was the prime example of why players absolutely loathe the tag.
The Cowboys did right by Prescott, giving him a four-year deal with basically three-plus years of it fully guaranteed. He will again have the opportunity at a big-money contract now in his early 30s.
Prescott did his part after signing the contract by going out and throwing 37 touchdown passes, helping lead the Cowboys to an NFC East division title and a playoff appearance.
Unfortunately, that’s right where it ended.
The Cowboys were a massive playoff disappointment and Prescott certainly has to shoulder his share of the blame. He completed less than 54 percent of his passes in a playoff loss and the Cowboys’ offense looked lost against the 49ers, scoring just 17 points on their home field.
It was not a good showing for Dallas, but after winning 11 games in the regular season last year, Prescott remains one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL overall, certainly one of the four best in the NFC.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 3: Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Well, Matthew Stafford did it.
For years, people wondered what it might look like for Stafford to get a shot outside of Detroit. It always felt like that franchise was the ceiling preventing Stafford from truly showing the rest of the NFL world what he was capable of.
A trade to the Los Angeles Rams proved to be exactly what Stafford needed to unlock his full potential.
He was outstanding in Sean McVay’s offense, and he was outstanding in the Super Bowl for the Rams as they beat the Cincinnati Bengals to become NFL champs.
Now in his age-34 season and coming off of a season in which he tied his career-best of 41 touchdown passes, the expectations will be for Stafford to be an MVP candidate once again for the Rams.
Now, he will get to try and repeat as a Super Bowl champion instead of try and keep digging the Detroit Lions out of a hole they’ve been in basically forever.
Stafford did his part in Detroit, and the Lions franchise did right by him by trading him to a place where he could thrive as they prepared for a full-scale rebuild.
Stafford looks like he’s hit a second wind in his NFL career and perhaps we haven’t even seen the best of him yet. How good can he be in year two with McVay as his play-caller? We’re fixing to find out.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 2: Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The GOAT is back, Jack.
Thank goodness Tom Brady came back, or the NFC QB picture would be an absolute shambles.
As alluded to previously, the NFC is a top-heavy quarterback group and the two best players at the position in this conference are also two of the oldest players in the NFL.
Tom Brady is still playing at an MVP level, however, and his position on this list is firm.
Aaron Rodgers is the back-to-back MVP, but Brady won the Super Bowl with the Bucs just two seasons ago, and beating him in the playoffs is still going to be a monumental task for anyone and everyone that takes on the Bucs.
And the Bucs just keep on reloading.
Coming off of his 21st NFL season, Brady looks as good as he ever has. He threw 43 touchdown passes last year, the most he’s thrown since 2007 when he hit 50.
I think Brady could hit 50 touchdown passes again with a 17-game regular season and if the Bucs are going to contend again in 2022, he just might.
This man is about to play his 22nd NFL season and he’s defying Father time with every pass he throws. It’s truly a remarkable sight to behold.
NFL Power Rankings, NFC QB no. 1: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
The back-to-back MVP reigns supreme over his peers in the NFC.
Heading into the 2022 offseason, there were major questions about whether or not Aaron Rodgers would even be back with the Green Bay Packers.
Within the last couple of weeks, Rodgers has made known his intent to come back to the Packers, and Green Bay turned around and traded away Rodgers’ favorite weapon, Davante Adams.
It was a stunning trade, to be certain, and we all wait with bated breath to find out what Rodgers himself thinks about it. At the time of this piece being written, we have yet to hear from AR12 on the departure of Adams, but by re-signing in Green Bay, there’s no way Rodgers was left in the dark on this kind of move…
Right?
Regardless, Rodgers is coming off of his second straight MVP season without his number one receiver and the player he obviously trusts the most in this offense. The Packers are going to have to do something to supplement the loss via free agency and/or the 2022 NFL Draft, and I think they will.
Can Rodgers win a third MVP award in as many seasons? This will be his toughest task yet.
For the time being, he remains undoubtedly the best quarterback in the NFC and possibly the NFL as a whole going into the 2022 season.