Ranking the NFL Starting Quarterbacks

#2 Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)

I guess I kind of gave away yesterday that Josh Allen would be #2 on my list. Which means you all know who #1 is (although that shouldn’t be much of a surprise). Where Allen is not #2 is in talent, because he is hands down the most physically gifted quarterback in the NFL.

He’s 6’5,” 240 lbs, and has a howitzer for an arm:

He can run past defenders:

He can power through them:

His scrambling and improvisational skills are up there with the best in the league:

He is the barometer against which the physical traits of all draft prospects are measured.

While Allen might be somewhat of a bull-in-a-china-shop quarterback at times, that’s not all he is. He wouldn’t be in the #2 spot on this list if his game was only about his physical ability, and he certainly wouldn’t have had the same level of success over the last 4 seasons.

Instead, Allen has shown the ability to play with precision and timing (Just go back and watch his performance against the Dolphins in Week 4 last season). He has shown the ability to work through all of his progressions. He has shown the ability to succeed from the pocket late in the down.

The issue, of course, is consistency when it comes to each of these traits. He doesn’t always do the things mentioned above. He goes through spurts where his decision-making is simply maddening. There are times where he could easily take what appears to be his first or second read, but doesn’t, and instead flees the pocket in search of something more.

Sometimes that leads to unbelievable plays. Sometimes it leads to negative plays. It rarely leads to consistent offense when he gets into this play-maker mode.

While some of this can still be coached out of him, it’s a part of Allen’s DNA to take chances. It will never entirely go away. Even when he’s playing extremely well, there will always be a play or two mixed in that result in near disaster, or even a turnover.

When it does lead to a negative play, sometimes all you can do is shrug your shoulders, because the positive plays he’s able to make are so special, unique, and frequent. He scored 51 total touchdowns in 19 games last season. In fact, he’s averaged 50 total TDs per year over the last 4 seasons, including the playoffs.

Allen has been the entire offense for the Bills during that stretch. Buffalo hasn’t gotten over the hump, but it’s tough to knock Allen for the team’s playoff failures.

In the 2020 AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs, he didn’t play well, but his defense got shredded for 38 points.

In the 2021 Divisional Playoffs (also against the Chiefs), he was nothing short of amazing. But his defense allowed 42 points and couldn’t protect a 3-point lead with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation.

In the 2022 Divisional Playoffs, he didn’t play well. But again, neither did his defense. They allowed Joe Burrow and the Bengals to do pretty much whatever they wanted.

Last season, it was more of the same as the defense allowed the Chiefs (again) to go up and down the field at will. Allen played well and had the Bills in position for the game-tying field goal in the final 2 minutes. His kicker missed a 44-yarder to end Buffalo’s season, though.

In 10 career playoff games, Allen has a 100.0 passer rating, a 21-4 TD-INT ratio, and has rushed for 563 yards and 5 TDs. He hasn’t been the problem in January.

The rest of his team needs to shoulder more of the load in the most critical games. This is the biggest difference between the great quarterbacks who win championships and the great ones who don’t. The teams around them pick up the slack when the quarterback isn’t doing enough on his own.

Unless the team around Allen can actually do its part, we’re likely to see more of the same this year and beyond in Buffalo.

Check out the rest of the rankings here:
#32 Bo Nix (Denver Broncos)
#31 Drake Maye (New England Patriots)
#30 J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota Vikings)
#29 Gardner Minshew (Las Vegas Raiders)
#28 Will Levis (Tennessee Titans)
#27 Deshaun Watson (Cleveland Browns)
#26 Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts)
#25 Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers)
#24 Daniel Jones (New York Giants)
#23 Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders)
#22 Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears)
#21 Geno Smith (Seattle Seahawks)
#20 Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers)
#19 Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints)
#18 Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
#17 Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals)
#16 Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
#15 Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
#14 Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins)
#13 Kirk Cousins (Atlanta Falcons)
#12 Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles)
#11 Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers)
#10 Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)
#9 Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
#8 C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans)
#7 Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
#6 Aaron Rodgers (New York Jets)
#5 Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
#4 Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
#3 Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
#2 Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
#1 Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)