Lamar Jackson has now won two NFL MVP awards. Where does he rank among his AFC North quarterback peers for the 2024 season? The AFC North could end up being the best division in football yet again in the 2024 NFL Season. In 2023, all four teams finished with a winning record, which is a credit to just how strong their rosters are.
As we head into the 2024 NFL Season, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens play Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football. It's the first game of the 2024 NFL Season and one that promises to be great.
Let's rank all four AFC North quarterbacks before the start of the 2024 NFL Season.
AFC North quarterback rankings: Where does Lamar Jackson stand for 2024?
4. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns have somehow won eight of 12 starts made by Deshaun Watson, who has been bad during his first two seasons with the team. It's a puzzling situation, as Watson was once among the best QBs in the NFL before arriving to the Browns from the Houston Texans.
The Browns may have a massive problem on their hands, on the field and financially, if Watson cannot figure out how to play QB again. The team somehow made it to the postseason in spite of Watson. On paper, the Browns have one of the best rosters in the NFL, and if Deshaun Watson can figure out this QB thing again, the Browns could be Super Bowl contenders, but he's clearly the worst starter in the division until proven otherwise.
3. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Russell Wilson is not someone who is going to lead a team to the playoffs anymore. In the 2023 NFL Season, Wilson tossed 26 touchdowns against eight interceptions for the Denver Broncos. But many of Wilson's turnovers, including fumbles, greatly impacted the outcome of the game. There is a reason why the Broncos cut him earlier this offseason.
Russell Wilson is now on his third team in four seasons, so the Pittsburgh Steelers are not getting prime Wilson like they hope. Pittsburgh named him the starter recently, but it's not like he or Justin Fields did anything to necessarily earn the starting job.
2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
You may disagree, but it's clear that Lamar Jackson is the second-best QB in the AFC North when Joe Burrow is on the field. It's actually an odd situation here, as we've seen Burrow perform better in clutch situations and actually lead his team deep into the playoffs. Lamar Jackson is the most explosive player in the NFL and is the best dual-threat QB of all-time, but he's not quite the best in his own division.
If you surveyed a bunch of NFL teams, I bet they would tell you that'd they prefer Joe Burrow over Lamar Jackson. Jackson does come with some small injury concerns and has not necessarily done himself any favors when the playoffs roll around, either.
1. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow has never played a full season in the NFL, which is wild to think about. The QB needs to stay healthy, as he has now suffered two season-ending injuries in 2020 and in 2023. The two years that Burrow was on the field for most of the season was in 2021, when they made the Super Bowl, and in 2022, when they nearly beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
You can assume that if Burrow is on the field for most of the season, the Bengals floor in the playoffs is the conference championship game. At some point, the Bengals and Burrow have to put it all together, right? Joe Burrow has proven to be the only QB in the NFL right now who can go toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes, and at the end of the day, that's the goal.
The Chiefs run the NFL, and if any team wants to get to the mountaintop, they have to get by Mahomes. It may seem unfair to partially base these power rankings on that, but it's the truth.