18. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
We're slowly making our way up these quarterback rankings, and we've now hit the 'middle' tier. Jalen Hurts is No. 18 in our power rankings. The thing with Hurts is rather simple, in my opinion; he's a fine quarterback who possesses an above-average ability as a running quarterback, but he's a below-average passer and is someone who essentially needs a lot around him to be right to play well.
Hurts does have a couple of seasons where he's played well, but he has also continually been surrounded by top-tier talent, and that isn't an accident. As a pure passer, Hurts just does not scare opposing defenses - he has never thrown for 4,000 yards in a season and has also never thrown more than 25 touchdown passes in a year.
With AJ Brown now out of the picture, it feels like the 2026 season is going to be a bit of a 'tell all' with Hurts and if he's truly as good as some make him out to be.
17. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mayfield was electric for the Buccaneers back in 2024, but that is now two years ago, as the entire operation on offense took a nosedive in 2025. Mayfield has been a very solid quarterback for the Bucs in his three years as the starting quarterback, but he has seemed to have topped out at that top-12 range when he's playing his best.
He's clearly someone the Buccaneers are simply winning with, not necessarily because of, but he's also plenty good enough to not be a quarterback that his teams lose because of. Mayfield's No. 17 ranking, I believe, captures his overall talent nicely here.
16. CJ Stroud, Houston Texans
CJ Stroud was playing out of his mind as a rookie back in 2023, but he's been rather average in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Luckily, though, Houston has made the playoffs all three years of his career, winning the AFC South in 2023 and 2024.
Stroud being able to elevate his game back to that 2023 version would surely have the Texans as legitimate contenders, but if it's another 'ho-hum' average year for Stroud, the Texans would have absolutely zero reason to extend him and keep him for the long-term.
If he's treading somewhere in the middle of his rookie season self and the past two seasons, Houston could honestly be stuck in a tough spot.
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