8. Sam Darnold, Seahawks
Just like Kyler Murray is returning in Week 3 after Carson Wentz held down the fort, it appears Sam Darnold is ready to make his return in Week 3 after Drew Lock held down the fort for Seattle.
And let's give Lock his flowers: He was fantastic.
Darnold went down early in the first game of the season against the Patriots with a hip injury, and Lock led the Seahawks to a comeback win before absolutely shredding the Arizona Cardinals. Darnold is making his return on a week in which the Seahawks are set to face off against another team dealing with an injury at QB: The Washington Commanders.
7. Caleb Williams, Bears
In case I haven't mentioned it yet, the NFL is currently being ravaged by injuries at the quarterback position.
Thankfully, Caleb Williams should be back in the relatively near future. The Bears also did not place Williams on IR, meaning they likely expect him back sometime within the next four weeks. That's good news, because Williams looked like an MVP in the first week of the season.
He's dropping slightly on the list because he's not going to be playing for a bit, but even scoring just 3 points in a loss to the Vikings, Williams put his best foot forward and was out there making plays in the rain. We'll see how Case Keenum and/or Tyson Bagent hold it down while he recovers.
6. Jared Goff, Lions
I've been hard on Jared Goff this season for posting some hollow numbers, but he's an established veteran at the quarterback position with a high floor.
There really isn't much more that needs to be said about him.
We know what Goff is at this point. When he's at his best, he's one of the most accurate pocket passers in the NFL, and he has a variety of talented weapons to spread the ball around to. But what we know Goff isn't capable of -- and many QBs aren't -- is overcoming such a bad defense.
He had one 4th-quarter comeback all of last season, and the Lions' defense has been pathetic once again this year.
5. Tyler Shough, Saints
Brace yourself for hot take central here, but I'm very high on Tyler Shough. If you're a new reader here, this might come across as recency bias, but if you've been following along since last year and into the 2026 offseason, you will know that I've been drinking the Tyler Shough Kool-Aid for quite some time.
And I like to think he's proving me right so far.
Shough has thrown for 662 yards so far this season, he's got 5 total touchdowns, and he led the Saints to an extremely impressive comeback win over the Ravens -- on the road -- in Week 2. He almost pulled off a comeback from a 21-0 deficit against the Lions in Week 1, but couldn't cash in a 2-point conversion to win in overtime.
Shough has been impressive, but he does need to find a way to not start games slow.
Add us as a preferred source on Google