Brandon Jackson

Hello everyone, welcome to bjacks70.com, and welcome to my ranking of all 32 projected starters at quarterback in 2025. The rules are simple:

Rank the quarterbacks based on if they had to make the playoffs with a team that was comprised of them, and league average players at every other position.

So basically, I am ranking them based on their individual ability. I have also chosen to include in the ranking a superpower assigned to all but one of these QBs. Some of these powers are positive and complimentary, but some of them are negative. But what I have listed is essentially either their best attribute, or most famous attribute. It will make more sense as we go along.

The rankings so far:

32. Tyler Shough

31. Sam Darnold

30. J.J. McCarthy

29. Cam Ward

28. Joe Flacco

27. Russell Wilson

26. Anthony Richardson

25. Justin Fields

24. Aaron Rodgers

23. Drake Maye

22. Michael Penix Jr.

21. Bryce Young

20. Bo Nix

19. Brock Purdy

18. Tua Tagovailoa

17. Caleb Williams

16. Trevor Lawrence

Now, numbers 15 through 8.

15. Jared Goff – Detroit Lions

Superpower: Execution 2.0

Goff has been an interesting player to watch throughout his career. He was going nowhere fast with Jeff Fisher as his head coach. Then McVay comes along and he plays in one of the highest scoring football games this century and makes it to a super bowl. Then gets traded for Matthew Stafford, and Ben Johnson turns him into an MVP candidate. I don’t want to go as far as saying Goff is a Ben Johnson/Sean McVay/Offensive Genius merchant, because he is a step above that level. But definitely not two steps.

Goff is a good quarterback. By definition of this list, an above average one. I have a lot of faith in him over guys 16-32. Goff is consistent and has shown to be a real locker room leader. Watching him on Netflix’s Quarterback was a real treat. He’s a great guy, family man, and an excellent teammate. When he has time in the pocket, he’s accurate. He’s not mobile, but he has proven without a doubt that you can have real playoff success with him.

14. Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys

Superpower: Being a Cowboy

Dak is a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. It’s hard to rank him because he plays for the Dallas Cowboys, an organization that loves to be in the national media and spotlight. But what Dak is, is a guy that puts up great regular season numbers and cannot follow up that performance in the playoffs. Anything he does well will be amplified because of the star on his helmet. But anything that he does bad will get amplified as well. If you asked for opinions about Prescott from 100 NFL fans, you’d probably get 100 different answers.

He has proven he can win and produce in the regular season, and that is a valuable trait. Some guys can’t produce in preseason, regular season, or the postseason. But I don’t believe Dak is a game changer. He’s slightly above the “game manager” moniker that he’s received, but in order to get the best out of him, a lot has to go right.

13. Baker Mayfield – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Superpower: Accuracy

I actually contemplated putting him higher than this. He’s been a different quarterback since he’s arrived in Tampa. And I will give him all the credit in the world for that. Accuracy is what he was known for coming out of Oklahoma, and he found that touch again. He is a gamer. He has won Tampa a lot of games.

I won’t be bitter and talk about how inconsistent he was in Cleveland. How he couldn’t make it work with the best receiver we’ve ever had in the uniform. That his teammates appeared to not listen to him or take him seriously. Or that he refused to hire a QB coach in the offseason to help with his mechanics. Or how he threw Myles Garrett under the bus after not speaking to him about what happened with Mason Rudolph. Or speaking on Duke Johnson’s contract situation when every football player knows to not talk about other player’s pockets. Or when he threw 4 interceptions on Christmas Day. Or how he refused to get surgery when it was clear that his play was hurting the team.

I won’t talk about any of that because it’s water under the bridge now and I have moved on. But he has matured and come into his own and found teammates that love him. It does help a lot throwing to one of the best receivers of all time, but I do applaud what he’s been able to accomplish so far.

12. Geno Smith – Las Vegas Raiders

Superpower: Tight window throws

I will say this up front. I am biased. Geno Smith is the reason I was able to go to Miami as an 18-year-old and live the life of luxury for a week at the Orange Bowl.

But you can see it on film. Geno has made throws that a lot of guys wouldn’t dare attempt. He has a stronger arm than you were led to believe, more accurate than you were led to believe, and has been this good of a football player for way longer than you were led to believe.

His tenure with the Jets was terrible, but looking back with hindsight, there still hasn’t been a quarterback to make it work in that organization. When he finally had some stability on the field and was primed to be the unquestioned starter, he got punched by a teammate and broke his jaw.

And when he went to the Giants and backed up Eli Manning, he was better than Eli, but the politics of the situation would not let him play. And when Ben McAdoo finally had seen enough and let Geno start, it was a controversy that made front page news in New York. And McAdoo got fired for it (also for being a terrible coach, FWIW.)

Then finally in Seattle, Russell Wilson got hurt and it was his time to shine. And he immediately shined. He’s been as good as he is now this whole time, but no one wanted to give him a real shot until Pete Caroll did. It’s unfortunate how much time passed with him wasting away on the bench, but luckily, he’s been able to show his talent, and will continue to do so in Las Vegas.

11. Jordan Love – Green Bay Packers

Superpower: Creativity 2.0

Love is such a talented quarterback that #11 seems a little low, but the inconsistency makes it feel a little high. He has that off-platform talent that every front office wants their quarterback to have but hasn’t quite perfected when to use it and when to live to fight another day.

He’s high on this list because we’ve seen him put up numbers with receivers who do have talent but all of them feel more like secondary receivers than primary ones. I’ve seen more than one person describe the Packers’ receiving corps as “a bunch of #3 receivers,” and I can’t really argue the point.

Love is confident in himself and his ability, and I am too. If he’s your quarterback though, you have to expect to take the bad along with the good and sometimes excellent.

10. Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers

Superpower: TOOLS 2.0

Everything that I said about Trevor Lawrence applies to Justin Herbert, but even more so. Justin Herbert wasn’t looked at as an all-time prospect, but everything else stands.

Herbert has proven that he is capable of being a great NFL quarterback. And he’s done that with questionable coaching surrounding him. Jim Harbaugh had training wheels on him in 2024 until he finally realized the caliber of talent that he had in the room. He is in the running for having the strongest arm in the league. He can make every single throw you could ask for. He’s huge. He’s been hurt but been able to play through injury. He’s very athletic. But he is one of those guys that you see on film and ask, “what the hell were you thinking here?”

If I was starting a team, I’d trust in myself and my staff to get the most out of Herbert. He’s so talented that everyone can see it. Even people who don’t know football can look at him and see what’s special.

9. Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals

Superpower: Dynamism

I can already hear the comments, but I don’t care. Kyler is a DOG.

He will throw some bad interceptions, yes. But the upside that he gives you both running and throwing the football is worth it. He is dynamic to the highest degree. And the plays can come out of nowhere.

The biggest knocks on him are his size, and that he hasn’t won anything. For the purposes of this list, that’s not something that I care about. I care if he can produce. and he can. This list is an exercise in judging these quarterbacks by how I think they would perform in a situation if everything was equal compared to their peers.

I want someone who has proven that they can produce numbers, has arm talent, and can escape the pocket and make plays. A lot of quarterbacks can do that, and Kyler is one of the best at it.

8. C.J. Stroud – Houston Texans

Superpower: Supreme accuracy

I watch a lot of Ohio State football and what C.J. Stroud was doing in college placing the ball exactly where he wanted it to go was incredible. I believe on the play that Marvin Harrison Jr. was knocked out against Georgia that he put it exactly where he wanted to put it. The commentary said he was throwing it away, but I don’t believe that.

I bring that up because in the NFL he’s doing the same thing. The level of success he was achieving as a rookie was unheard of and had ruined our expectations for rookies going forward. Until the next year when someone who is higher up this list outdid his rookie performance.

The only knock on his game was that he refused to leave the pocket to escape pressure, when necessary, but that has been since rectified. 2024 was not as successful individually for Stroud as he had hoped, but they still won enough make the playoffs and won a playoff game for the second consecutive year. #8 on this list for Stroud is only scratching the surface of who he is as a player. He is a true leader, and I would love to have him as the quarterback of my team.