It's not likely that we see the same QBs in the playoffs in 2025 that we saw in 2024. Let's rank last year's postseason passers.
The NFL is definitely going to see a new crop of playoff quarterbacks when the regular season is over, but it's likely that a handful of the 2024 playoff QBs are again in the postseason when 2025 rolls around. It's virtually impossible to win a Super Bowl without a high-end QB, and teams have really gotten aggressive in trying to find their franchise guy.
Let's power rank the playoff quarterbacks entering the 2025 NFL Season.
Ranking all 14 playoff QBs for the 2025 NFL Season
14. Russell Wilson
Now on his third team in as many seasons, it's honestly a miracle that we saw Russell Wilson in the playoffs back in 2024. Now on the New York Giants, Wilson's NFL career may be entering the final year or two, as if he can't make it with New York, he may have to accept a backup job to keep playing, and he doesn't seem like the one to do that.
13. Sam Darnold
Sam Darnold played quite well for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, but he collapsed down the stretch, and there is a reason why the Vikings did not bring him back. Darnold is now on the Seattle Seahawks and isn't in nearly as good of a situation he was in last season. He's 13th in our power rankings.
12. Jalen Hurts
Someone will have to tell me why Jalen Hurts is seen as an elite QB by many. He is constantly propped up by an elite offensive line, running game, and WR room, yet he's not produced eilte results and has honestly just been along for the ride with the Eagles deep playoff runs.
They'd have won multiple Super Bowls at this point with a great or elite quarterback. Jalen Hurts is good at best and is 12th in our power rankings.
11. Jordan Love
It feels like Jordan Love could be a boom or bust quarterback in the 2025 NFL Season. Love broke out in 2023 but did regress a bit in 2024. The Green Bay Packers are on the right track, but their QB taking the next step is really the one thing that'll decide their season.
10. CJ Stroud
CJ Stroud had one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history in 2023 but did regress in 2024. The inept offensive line was a huge reason for that, so the Houston Texans totally remade the unit in the offseason. Only time will tell if Stroud and the offense can figure something out. Houston is in a place where they've got a lot of room for growth in 2025, as they could absolutely get themselves into contention.
However, if the OL moves weren't the right ones, this team could be back at square one.
9. Justin Herbert
Justin Herbert has been in the playoffs two times in his NFL career and has honestly gotten embarrassed. I have said for multiple years now that he is just a bigger version of Kirk Cousins. Constantly an efficient QB near the top of most metrics, Herbert and his teams disappear in the postseason.
Something has to change, right? Well, I guess not...
Anyway, Justin Herbert is not elite and is a perfectly 'good' QB who comes in at no. 9 in our rankings.
8. Bo Nix
Bo Nix threw for the fifth-most touchdown passes in the NFL last year and was honestly on a tear in the second half of the 2024 NFL Season. The Denver Broncos may have an elite QB on their hands, but he and the team have to go out and prove themselves again - can Denver take that next step into contention and even compete for the AFC West.
Nix is probably a bit better than you think and is right in the middle of our QB rankings for 2025.
7. Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield threw over 40 touchdowns, completed over 70% of his passes and threw for 4,500 yards. Folks, that is flat-out insane, but his offensive coordinator, Liam Coen, is now the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, so it's not a guarantee that Mayfield can bring that production again.
One of the more efficient QBs in the NFL since the start of 2023, Mayfield is seventh in our power rankings and is just not quite up there with the best of them.
6. Matthew Stafford
Approaching 40 years old, Matthew Stafford is still slinging the rock at a high level and has played better in recent years than the statistics might indicate. The Los Angeles Rams are among the best teams in the NFL and did go 9-3 following a dismal 1-4 start in 2024.
If the Rams can avoid the injury bug early in the season, this team could find themselves deep in the playoffs this season. Stafford is sixth in our power rankings.
5. Patrick Mahomes
Production-wise, we just have not gotten a great version of Patrick Mahomes. Now yes, this is still Patrick Mahomes, but we've now had two years in a row of him finishing with a passer rating below 95. He's also failed to hit 30 touchdown passes in each of the last two years and didn't hit 4,000 yards passing in 2024.
This is still one of the greatest QBs of all-time, but it is worth wondering if he's actually regressing a bit. The Kansas City Chiefs still figure to be a top team in the NFL and are surely again primed for a deep playoff run.
4. Jayden Daniels
Jayden Daniels might be the closest player we may ever get to Lamar Jackson, besides Jackson himself. Daniels quickly put the league on notice and honestly finished the 2024 NFL Season as a top-5 quarterback. He and the Washington Commanders are absolutely Super Bowl contenders in 2025 and could flirt with the NFC East title as well.
3. Jared Goff
Jared Goff is a pure pocket passer and is darn good at it. He has helped revive this Detroit Lions franchise and has them on the doorstep of a Super Bowl. If not for mounting injuries on the defensive side of the ball in 2024, the Lions may have indeed found themselves playing in the final game of the season.
As they get players back on the field, we could see Detroit regain their grasp atop the NFC, and I truly do not believe Goff is going to take much of a step back even with Ben Johnson no longer being in the picture. Goff is arguably the best QB in the NFC and is third in our power rankings.
2. Josh Allen
Josh Allen won the MVP award in the 2024 NFL Season but is not quite atop the NFL quarterback hierarchy. He and the Buffalo Bills have not beaten the KC Chiefs in the playoffs during the Allen/Mahomes era, and that's really been the only thing in their way.
Many thought that the 2024 NFL Season was going to be 'the year' for Buffalo, but it wasn't. Can this team get over the hump in 2025?
1. Lamar Jackson
The best quarterback in the NFL and the no. 1 ranked QB in our power rankings, Lamar Jackson is a generational and Hall of Fame talent. Already the best running QB in NFL history, Jackson threw for 41 touchdown passes against just four interceptions in 2024.
Four!
I have no idea how Jackson didn't win the MVP award, but here we are. The Baltimore Ravens have a 'one of one' player on their hands but have not won multiples games in the postseason since 2012, so that's a problem.