As the NFL playoffs get set to kick off this upcoming weekend, we have to acknowledge that this is one of the best years in recent NFL history in terms of the overall level of quarterback play for the 14 teams that made it to the dance.
Sure, we're being deprived of Joe Burrow in the postseason, but maybe win another game, Bengals. How about that? We may not be getting the exact group of the 14 best quarterbacks in the NFL for this year's playoff slate, but this is a really good all-around lineup with a fun combination of veterans and guys who have been there, done that as well as a group of young and hungry players ready to prove themselves.
As we get into the postseason, how would we rank each of the quarterbacks for the 14 teams that ended up making it?
NFL Power Rankings: Russell Wilson the worst of the 14 quarterbacks to make it
14. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
With all due respect to Russell Wilson, who is one of the best to ever do it, I think there’s almost no question that he’s the worst quarterback in the 2024 NFL playoffs. Now, that doesn’t mean he isn’t or hasn’t been good all year, or that he’s not capable of making some clutch plays.
He’s capable of it, and when you’re in the playoffs, you’re not often going to have any true “duds” at the quarterback position. But NFL Power Rankings are all about recency bias and what has Russ done for us lately? He’s not been cooking in December/January.
After helping get the Pittsburgh Steelers to an 8-3 record and looking like he might win NFL Comeback Player of the Year (or get recognized in some way), Wilson has been in a free fall, an absolute nosedive over the last handful of weeks. The Steelers have scored 17 points or less in four straight games and they went from having a pretty nice lead in the AFC North to dropping out of the 3rd seed, then dropping the 5th seed in Week 18 with their loss to the Bengals.
And Russ has been a huge reason for that.
13. CJ Stroud, Houston Texans
This isn’t 2023 anymore and people need to stop talking about CJ Stroud as though it is 2023. It’s at least a little funny that Stroud has struggled so badly since trying to “big brother” Caleb Williams early this season and I think it’s safe to say at this point that Stroud hit the dreaded sophomore slump in his second NFL season.
He has the least impressive numbers of any quarterback in the playoffs this year (including Russ) and his ceiling is the only reason why he’s being ranked above Wilson. I think Stroud is going to get up for this game against the Chargers and we could see him step up and play at a top-10 overall QB level. That guy is in there somewhere.
But this is a player who just came off of a season in which he had four games without a single touchdown pass. His TD percentage dipped this season. His interception percentage spiked a bit. He took a higher percentage of sacks in 2024.
It was an unexpected and disappointing regression from Stroud in 2024 which has me wondering if the Texans are the most overrated team in the entire 2024 postseason.