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.
12. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Call it a hot take if you want but Bo Nix has been fantastic this season and is closer to a top 10-12 overall quarterback in the NFL than he is to being one of the worst QBs in the league as some would have you believe.
Nix just finished a rookie season in which he had the 2nd-most passing touchdowns ever for a rookie with 29, falling just short of Justin Herbert’s record of 31. And that’s with Nix not throwing a single touchdown pass in the first two games of the season. He’s operating Sean Payton’s offense very well, and he’s hitting throws to every level of the field despite the Broncos not having a good or consistent running game all season.
One thing that Nix has done better than almost any other QB in the league this year? Avoiding sacks. It’s going to be fun to see how he does in that regard against the Buffalo Bills on the road.
11. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels was sensational all year for the Washington Commanders, but especially late when they needed him to come through in clutch situations against the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons.
Daniels hasn’t looked like a “rookie” out there and it’s fantastic to see how much he’s grown since his time at Arizona State when he first popped on the NFL radar.
He finished his rookie year as one of just two rookies in NFL history (Bo Nix being the other) to lead his team to 10 or more wins, account for 30 or more touchdowns, and account for over 4,000 total yards of offense. In fact, Daniels broke Robert Griffin III’s rookie rushing record and has already proven himself to be one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the NFL and one of the toughest players at the position to defend.
10. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
I don’t know that there’s any reason to be overly low on Jordan Love after the season we just saw from him, but you have to take at least a little bit of pause after the injuries he went through this year and the fact that his interception percentage spiked up a bit.
Love is still one of the top gunslingers in the postseason and he’s got a great combination of moxie and talent that makes him and the Packers both very dangerous as the 7th seed in the NFC this year.
One thing Love has done a lot better this year than he did last year? He’s not taking as many sacks. He took 30 sacks (already a low number) in his first year as a full-time NFL starter and he only took 14 sacks this season, less than one per game he played in. That’s a huge advantage entering the postseason.
9. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
Sam Darnold had himself a fantastic season for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, but had his worst game of the year at the worst possible time.
Aaron Glenn and the Detroit Lions’ banged-up, battered defense shut Darnold and the Vikings down in a game with the #1 seed on the line. And to be fair, the Lions are a tough team and they played juiced up against the Vikings on Sunday night.
But people are wondering – maybe justifiably so – if the clock struck midnight on Darnold’s Cinderella season in that game. Nobody is immune to the occasional bad game, obviously, and Darnold could very well bounce back in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. But it’s worth noting that he completed less than 44 percent of his passes against such a beaten up defense in such a high-stakes game going into the playoffs.
The Rams are going to see what the Lions just put on tape and send a lot of extra defenders at Darnold.
8. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Herbert just had probably the most boring “great” season you will ever see. It was Herbert’s best year in terms of touchdown percentage since 2021 and it was the best year of his career in terms of interception percentage. He threw just three interceptions on over 500 passing attempts this season.
Herbert didn’t always have to do “everything” for this Chargers team. They’ve had balance all year. They’ve played great defense all year. The weight of the world hasn’t been on Herbert’s shoulders but in games where the Chargers have needed him to come through, Herbert has proven he can do that.
With their backs against the wall against Denver a few weeks ago, he played arguably his best game of the season. Can he do it again on the road to open the playoffs against the Houston Texans?
7. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield is and has always been an absolute gamer. When you need a play to be made, he’s going to move heaven and earth to go and make it.
He’s like a real-life version of Paul Crewe from The Longest Yard in the way he plays. You are going to have to take the good with the bad but Mayfield has given the Bucs a lot more good than bad, helping them win consecutive division titles since he’s been there despite two different offensive coordinators.
And coming off of a year in which he threw 41 touchdown passes, I think the Bucs could make noise again in the playoffs. It’s going to be tough in the first round with the Commanders coming to Tampa Bay, but Mayfield knows how to spread the ball around and he will light up the scoreboard.
6. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
I think the production of Jalen Hurts this year (when on the field) has been extremely underrated and it’s time for folks to take notice.
Hurts is already one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the entire NFL and one of the toughest players to defend, but when you combine his dual-threat abilities with career-high efficiency as a passer? You’re asking for trouble as a defense.
Hurts set a career-best with his TD percentage this year, he lowered his interception percentage, and he set a career-high with a 103.7 QB rating. Hurts added another 14 rushing touchdowns to give him a whopping 32 total TDs on the season despite playing in just 15 games due to a concussion late in the year.
That concussion has perhaps added a bit of a wrinkle into the expectations for Hurts since we haven’t seen him on the field in a bit but his experience leading this Philly team to the Super Bowl gives him another edge.
5. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
The game has slowed down for Jared Goff, who is one of the best pure pocket passers in the entire NFL playoffs right now.
Goff isn’t the best “playmaker” at the quarterback position. He’s not the most dynamic guy. He’s not the best dual-threat. But as a point guard of this Detroit Lions offense, he’s perfect. And that’s exactly what he needs to be.
Goff will absolutely destroy defenses that aren’t on top of their game or getting pressure on him. When he has time in the pocket, he’s going to absolutely feast with so many receivers who get open and so many players who can create when they get the ball in space. He may have one of the “easiest” jobs of the QBs in the postseason given the talent around him.
4. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
I’m going to go down on the Matthew Stafford ship. I am always going to believe in this guy when it comes to high-stakes games until he hangs up the cleats.
We saw Stafford win the Super Bowl in his very first year as a member of the Los Angeles Rams and now I think the Rams have a chance to make noise in the playoffs once again. Stafford still has his elite arm talent. He still sees the field better than most quarterbacks. And even in his late 30s, he’s still got the ability to get outside of the pocket and make the types of ridiculous plays we saw him make as a young player.
Dating back to November 17, Stafford has only thrown one interception. He was at his best as the Rams won a shootout against the Buffalo Bills a handful of weeks ago. I’m still rocking with the veteran Stafford.
3. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
If you had to pick one quarterback to go into the postseason with, I think pretty much everyone would be taking Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is the most clutch player in the game and he’s on a quest to win a third-straight Super Bowl, something nobody else has ever done.
And the scary thing is, the Chiefs have played their best football over the last couple of games (at least the ones their starters played in) and they really look like they’ve been hitting a different stride on the offensive side of the ball.
Mahomes has been accused the last couple of years of having “down” years and while that may be true to a degree, he’s still a guy you’re going to have to hope you can put away early or have the ball last against.
It doesn’t really matter that Mahomes didn’t post MVP-caliber numbers in 2024 – he’s arguably the most dangerous player in the entire 2024-25 playoffs.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen might win himself the MVP in 2024 and for good reason. He’s such a dynamic weapon at the quarterback position and it really looked like the game had slowed down for him in the 2024 season.
Despite the Bills trading away Stefon Diggs, Allen had the lowest interception rate of his career with just six interceptions thrown on 483 pass attempts. What was really nice for Allen this year and a huge help in him taking a step forward was the emergence of James Cook and the Buffalo running game.
It’s felt like that’s an area that has been missing for this team as they’ve shuttled different guys into the lineup in the run game, but Cook has taken the pressure off and allowed Allen to play much more efficient football rather than thinking he has to make every play in order for them to win.
Allen is such a threat with his legs, racking up another 12 rushing touchdowns this season after a career-high 15 last season.
1. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
The numbers we saw Lamar Jackson post in the 2024 season were the types of numbers you usually only see in video games. Jackson himself is like a video game character and he absolutely went off in 2024 with a whopping 41 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions.
He added another 915 yards rushing and four more rushing touchdowns, making his case for yet another MVP award.
And to be honest, there are few players in the NFL more valuable than Lamar Jackson. Or as rare talent-wise as he is. He’s a unicorn. You just don’t see players like this come around all that often. I can’t help but wonder how the Ravens managed to lose five games this season given how good Jackson has been.
Entering the playoffs, it’s going to be fascinating to see just how focused Jackson is with the Steelers coming to town for the third showdown of the season between those two teams.