2023 NFL QB Power Rankings: Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers Both Score Top 10 in First Round of All 32 Starters

1 There is no discussion here. Mahomes, the standard setter for modern quarterbacking, is fresh off his second Super Bowl title and the closest he’s come to an invincible playmaker at the position. Give him and the Chiefs a discount at your peril. 2 It’s a testament to his instantaneous rise as a precision pocket passer that after three years we’re already a little surprised he doesn’t have his own Super Bowl ring. The Bengals are in good hands as long as he has average protection. 3 Wear is something to watch at Hurts because of his physical approach to the ground game, but you just can’t doubt this man’s will to win, and his seismic leap as a downfield passer in 2022 has put him on a MVP course brought. 4 He invites more contact than perhaps any QB in the league, which is concerning when you combine it with a tendency to trust his arm more than his mind. Luckily that arm and those bulldozer legs are as powerful as they come. 5 The naysayers point to the Chargers’ mediocre record and conservative approach with him below center, but he’s still been insanely prolific over three seasons and boasts one of the smoothest, strongest arms in the game. 6 Rodgers goes on 40 and gets the Tom Brady bump while waiting for a resurgence after moving. He’s still one of the smartest, shrewdest and sharpest pitchers in the NFL, and now has a more complete lineup than the Packers. 7 The red flags are glaring: two consecutive years of lingering injuries, little consistency as a downfield and late-season passer. But try to keep this guy on a crucial down, while the game is on the line. The electricity is illegible. 8 The assumption here, of course, is that Lawrence will follow the trajectory laid out by new coach Doug Pederson in 2022. After a dizzying rookie year, his laser arm and pocket awareness took a giant leap, and now he has even better weapons. 9 Prescott, a steady hand for Dallas who went uncharacteristically streaky in 2022, is a good delineator between the “elite” and “pretty good” QBs. He is reliable in the pocket, puts up good numbers, but the results of the crunch time have yet to show. 10 Cleveland bets big that Watson’s dazed Browns debut after suspension was an anomaly. It probably was. Aside from off-field concerns, he has been a Pro Bowl-caliber pocket passer for four of his five active NFL seasons. 11 Cousins’ primetime and playoff resumes are the butt of jokes, but he’s still in the top half of proven vets with good timing-based darts and underrated resilience. The problem, as Vikings fans know, is that under pressure, the “it” factor has failed to show. 12 Last year’s “Mr. Irrelevant” was an incredibly balanced rookie, with a veteran-level touch and elusiveness as a substitute for Kyle Shanahan’s attack. But now he is coming off a serious elbow injury with just eight completed starts under his belt. 13 Lions fans no longer lamented him as an afterthought of the 2021 Matthew Stafford trade, instead defending him as Stafford’s second coming. If all is well around him, he can still throw a beauty. But the off-script limitations remain. 14 Which Geno is here to stay: the 2022 outbreak, who sent it out with ease? Or the revenue-friendly career backup, which may have come back into play later when Seattle asked him to deliver too often? An improved setup should help. 15 We learned in his debut under Brian Daboll that he has untapped franchise QB advantage, thriving as a scrambler and play-action distributor. The question now is whether he has enough help to make a big jump by pushing the ball into the field. 16 If you only considered a QB’s rushing ability, Fields would be a top-three pick at worst. He was explosive at the MVP level despite a porous supporting cast in Year 2. But you have to be able to pitch smart in the NFL, and he’s still working on that. 17 There’s a Brock Purdy-esque element to Tua: he’s young, he blossomed early on a fast-paced Shanahan-style attack in 2022, but the sample size of dominance is so small, with a medical record that’s so concerning , that all is well the air. 18 Speaking of a whirlwind two-year ride in Los Angeles: First, the Rams took him from good to great in 2021; then they both broke down physically in 2022. If he can stay upright, he’s still usable, but what condition is he actually in at 35 years old? 19 Perhaps no big name is better positioned to catapult the ranks than Wilson, who looked erratic and out of place in his first post-Seahawks season, but now has Sean Payton and a beefed-up, possibly first strike against the Broncos on his side. 20 In terms of talent, Murray ranks much higher; completely sane, he is an almost unstoppable scrambler with a ton of grit to his strides. But he’s been injured at least once in all four of his NFL seasons, and his freestyle tendencies need to be reversed. 21 Young, the first rank rookie, is the total package, except for his smaller stature, he comes in with pocket presence and general wisdom beyond his years. Better yet, he starts his career around veteran pieces and a solid coaching staff. 22 When the Saints paid big bucks to sign Carr, they basically bought another wild card bid or three. A grittier version of Kirk Cousins, he is courageous and occasionally efficient, but he almost always has a hard time when it comes down to it. 23 Here is the definition of a short term bet at QB; Garoppolo played a full season in the NFL just once in nearly a decade. However, when healthy and protected, he has proven he can be a more than useful point guard for a playoff team. 24 After three years of watching and waiting behind Aaron Rodgers, it’s finally his time to take over at Green Bay. His arm looked particularly lively in limited relief last year, but it remains to be seen how he handles a full-time gig as “the man.” 25 Not unlike Jimmy Garoppolo, Tannehill is a fine but aging, increasingly battered figurehead for a team in transition. It’s had some surprisingly high highs, but other than a solid run-first structure, its value is debatable. 26 The knock on Richardson coming from Florida is that he is totally unpolished as a passerby. But his super-sized athleticism should immediately give him a high floor; maybe think 2022 Justin Fields, but with an offensive coach in Indy. 27 While Stroud boasts more pro-ready pocket-passing acumen than Anthony Richardson, he’s not necessarily a trailblazing threat on the ground, and his rebuilding Texans still have work to do to give him legitimate support. 28 How far can you get with “grit”? Certainly few young QBs are better suited to grow thanks to an improved Steelers front and pass-catching group, but Pickett thrived more as a late-game fighter than an efficient full-timer as a rookie. 29 Can new coordinator Bill O’Brien restore Jones’ confidence and build on his strengths as a fast striker? Maybe! But Jones has offered little outside the structure, and Bill Belichick has previously teased his dissatisfaction. 30 Mayfield has embraced his journeyman reality, still has some moxie, and can enjoy a supporting cast of Bucs better than what he had with the Panthers and Rams. But his reckless tendencies may not earn him the QB1 job for long. 31 He may be ready to pass if Arthur Smith is determined to build an old-fashioned attack that runs through the ground game, but what if they have to play from behind? He was OK as a rookie, but only in contrast to the erratic Marcus Mariota. 32 He flashed a big arm in a Week 18 start, and the Commanders seem to like the gutsy mentality they also sought from Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke. But the fifth round of 2022 has not proven otherwise at all.