3. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Drake Maye comes in at No. 3 in our power ranking with training camp approaching. Maye was flat-out marvelous last year, but we do have to mention the insanely easy schedule. The opponents do matter, so while we are clearly giving a lot of credit to Maye for his season, there is reason to believe that a tougher schedule is going to have Maye regressing a little bit.
With that said, Maye’s accuracy in 2025 and overall skill set are things that make him a rather easy projection going forward. Maye should continue to be, at worst, a top-10 quarterback in the sport, but he was the second-best quarterback in the NFL last year, so we’ll actually knock him down a spot and put him third.
With his limited sample size, he’s obviously not going to be nearly as proven as the two other players on this list.
Maye and the Patriots won 14 games last year and advanced all the way to the Super Bowl. It was quite a turnaround from 2024, but even as a rookie, Maye was a lot better than people think.
How Maye performs in 2026 could end up being one of the biggest questions with the remaining offseason we have left.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen is a superhuman quarterback and is No. 2 in our power rankings. Allen’s Buffalo Bills once again fell short in the playoffs. The Bills have been in the postseason every year since 2019, also having won the AFC East from 2020-2024.
At this point, we all know the story with Allen and the Bills. He’s a generational quarterback, one of the best dual-threat passers to play the game, but simply has not been able to get over the hump for whatever reason.
Until the Bills do that - at least advancing to the Super Bowl, we’ll continue to have the same exact conversation. Allen is an exceptional quarterback, but he does tend to have a few games every year where he’s simply horrendous.
Fortunately for the Bills, he’s a top-tier quarterback most of the time and should keep that up in 2026.
1. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
The reigning MVP of the league comes in at No. 1 in our power rankings. Matthew Stafford flirted with 50 touchdown passes last year in the best season of his career. Had Los Angeles been able to play a bit better on defense down the stretch, they likely would have won the Super Bowl. Adding Myles Garrett, Jaylen Watson, and Trent McDuffie this offseason should help the Rams field the most complete team in the NFL, so we’re all going to be watching the Rams as the likely favorite most of the year.
And with how excellent Stafford was in 2025, it’s hard not to be encouraged about how good he could be in 2026 as he creeps closer to 40 years old.
Final Thoughts
What does stick out as rather obvious with these quarterback rankings is that there are a lot of competent passers in the league. While there are not many truly elite players at the position, the league is filled with starters who know what they are doing.
There are a lot plenty enough young players at the position that could develop and create a situation where the quarterback talent is nearly a surplus. With that said, there are always going to be teams that struggle to find the long-term answer, and that won't ever go away.
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