The NFC West is a loaded division, and it's probably going to continue being the best in football in the 2026 NFL Season. The top three teams in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all have valid reasons going for them to make a deep playoff run, and it would not at all be a shock if any if these three clubs won the NFC this year.
Obviously, things are a bit different for the Arizona Cardinals at the moment, as this team might not only be the worst in the NFL, but are trapped in this division. The story would be a little bit different if the Cardinals had a franchise quarterback, but they have the total opposite of that right now.
As we continue with our NFL power rankings, let's power-rank the four starting quarterbacks in the NFC West for the 2026 season.
Power-ranking the NFC West starting quarterbacks for the 2026 NFL Season
4. Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals
It would honestly be malpractice if the Cardinals did not get rookie signal-caller Carson Beck into the starting lineup at some point in the 2026 season. Jacoby Brissett is a fine bridge quarterback, but that's all he's been and will continue to be. With Brissett as a backup, for example any NFL team would be boasting a top backup option.
But if you're asking Brissett to win you a ton of games, that isn't going to happen. For Arizona in 2025, Brissett's counting stats were great. He completed nearly 65 perfect of his passes and threw for 23 touchdowns, earning a 94.1 passer rating. There are many NFL teams who would love that kind of production from their starting quarterback.
The Cardinals, though, went 1-11 in Brissett's 12 starts, and the journeyman quarterback has a career record of 20-45, so he's nothing more than a backup who has started a ton of games. He's actually never finished a season with a winning record in any year he's started games. He's also played for a whopping six NFL teams and is closing in on 15,000 career passing yards, so that could be a small accomplishment he could hit in 2026. He also has 76 career touchdown passes, so he's just 24 away from 100.
He's been a successful backup quarterback in the NFL since being a third-round pick back in 2016, but, once again, that is all he is. Brissett will continue to be our No. 4-ranked quarterback in the NFC West throughout the 2026 season.
3. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
I had a hard time deciding who to slot at the No. 3 spot in our NFC West quarterback rankings, as it's pretty obvious who the best passer in the division is. Brock Purdy has been a winner ever since entering the NFL via the Mr. Irrelevant pick back in the 2022 NFL Draft.
As quickly as he was the final pick in the NFL Draft, Purdy was starting in the Super Bowl in 2023, his second year in the league. Purdy has a 30-15 record as a starter thus far, and a 5-3 playoff record, which are both stellar marks. He's failed to throw more than 20 touchdown passes in each of the last two seasons, and he's never played a full 17 games in the NFL.
However, the 104 passer rating is absolutely notable, and Purdy has never finished a season with a passer rating below 96. It's not super clear if he's being elevated by the personnel around him, but he's a solidly respectable, franchise quarterback and No. 3 in our rankings.
2. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
No quarterback has won more games in the regular season over the past two years than Sam Darnold, who has gone 28-6 as the starter with the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks in 2024 and 2025. Darnold helped lead Seattle to the Super Bowl this year, so he comes in at No. 2 in our power rankings.
Darnold is better at throwing the ball down the field than Purdy, and does have a stronger arm. I would also say that Darnold's ceiling is slighty higher than Purdy's, but not by much.
The veteran quarterback did turn the ball over too much in 2025, but that really didn't matter in the end. The one thing that would really help Darnold ascend into that next tier is continuing to carry his winning ways and overall production into 2026. If he can sustain this even longer, we'll have to have more lofty conversations about Darnold.
1. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
The reigning MVP and perhaps a future Hall of Famer, Matthew Stafford comes in at No. 1 in our power rankings. Stafford and Darnold join in the NFC West as the two starting quarterbacks with a Super Bowl title.
Stafford flirted with 50 touchdown passes in 2025 and simply played the best football of his career. He's got high-end arm talent and is continually able to fit the ball into windows that shouldn't be possible. Given how good he played in 2025, a regression would still have him as a top-10 passer in this league.