List season in the NFL has officially arrived, as Pete Prisco kicks things off with his annual Top 100 list. Surely this won’t go without controversy, as Prisco ranked the top 100 players in the NFL without going position by position. While the pound-for-pound ranking will stir the pot, wait until the positional rankings are revealed.
We’ll kick things off at CBS Sports with the quarterbacks, as Prisco has 11 of them ranked in his top 100. Patrick Mahomes still remains the No. 1 quarterback, which there shouldn’t be much backlash outside of Buffalo and Baltimore. Lamar Jackson had one of the best seasons ever for a quarterback and Josh Allen won MVP, but judging a quarterback is an inexact science.
Jalen Hurts is the modern-day Troy Aikman. All Hurts does is win and improves his play in the postseason, yet is never amongst the elite quarterbacks in the game. Hurts can officially add Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP on his resume, but that didn’t move the needle for Prisco.
As is the case with every ranking that has ever been published on the internet, there are certainly some things to nit-pick here with Prisco’s list. Remember, quarterback rankings are always dissected on social media.
Below, we’ll go through each quarterback that Prisco ranked, where they land inside the top 100, and then highlight two snubs that did not make the cut.
Overall ranking: No. 1
Positional ranking: No. 1
2024 ranking: No. 1
“His numbers have not been as gaudy the past few seasons, but he is still the best in the league. With an improved offensive line, and better receivers, his numbers will go up this year.” — Pete Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 4
Positional ranking: No. 2
2024 ranking: No. 6
“Allen won his first MVP last season for a reason. He carried the Bills to the AFC title game again, growing as a passer and a player. Next step: Win a Super Bowl.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 6
Positional ranking: No. 3
2024 ranking: No. 16
“Jackson continues to put up big numbers and he has improved in all facets of his game. He just has to be able to do more in the playoffs when it is time to do so. He is the best dual-threat quarterback in the game.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 7
Positional ranking: No. 4
2024 ranking: No. 15
“Burrow stayed healthy last year and put up MVP-type numbers with 4,918 yards passing and 43 touchdown passes. But a bad defense kept the Bengals out of the playoffs. With the receivers both paid and back, look for another big year from Burrow.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 33
Positional ranking: No. 5
2024 ranking: NR
“Daniels showed as a rookie that he has star potential and should be a top-level quarterback for a long time. It’s scary to think how good he can be once he learns how to really play the position.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 49
Positional ranking: No. 6
2024 ranking: No. 41
“In his first season under Jim Harbaugh, Herbert threw for 3,870 yards with 28 touchdown passes and just three picks. Over the final four games, he threw nine touchdown passes. He’s another who needs to win in the playoffs.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 52
Positional ranking: No. 7
2024 ranking: No. 53
“In five seasons as a starter, Hurts has played in two Super Bowls, winning one. He fits perfectly into the Eagles’ scheme. His improvement in the postseason catapulted the Eagles to their Super Bowl title.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 57
Positional ranking: No. 8
2024 ranking: NR
“Mayfield had his best season in 2024 with 41 touchdown passes and 4,500 yards. He might be the most underrated quarterback in the league after the slow start to his career.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 77
Positional ranking: No. 9
2024 ranking: No. 76
“Goff is coming off his best season, one that saw him throw for 4,629 yards and 37 touchdown passes. It will be interesting to see how he plays now that Ben Johnson is gone to Chicago as the coach, but I don’t expect much of a drop-off for Goff.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 90
Positional ranking: No. 10
2024 ranking: No. 49
“A year after leading the league with 36 touchdown passes, Prescott was limited to eight games because of injury. Even before the injury, he wasn’t as sharp as the year before with just 11 touchdown passes and eight picks. But I think he’s closer to the 2023 Prescott again.” — Prisco
Overall ranking: No. 92
Positional ranking: No. 11
2024 ranking: No. 88
“After his breakout season in 2023, Love played in just 15 games because of injury last season and didn’t seem as healthy in some of the games he did play. He still threw for 3,389 yards with 25 touchdown passes. He did throw 11 picks” — Prisco
Notable QB snubs in Prisco’s Top 100
Darnold’s last two games certainly had an effect on how Prisco ranked him, as he did not make the top 100 after a tremendous season with the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold completed 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns to 12 interceptions for a 102.5 passer rating — as the Vikings won 14 games last season.
Darnold has the most wins by any quarterback in NFL history in a first season with a team (14) and finished with the-most passing touchdowns (35) in a first season with a team in NFL history. On throws 20+ yards downfield, Darnold led the NFL in completions (34), completion rate (49%), pass touchdowns (9), and passing yards (1,182). — the first quarterback to lead the league outright in completions and completion rate since Drew Brees in 2009.
Over teh last two games, Darnold completed 53% of his passes with just one touchdown to two turnovers for a 66.4 passer rating. The Vikings lost in Week 18 and teh wild card round, and subsequently moved on from Darnold.
Based on the total body of work, Darnold is the biggest quarterback snub in the top 100.
Stafford had a season worthy of being considered for a top-100 list, completing 65.8% of his passes for 3,762 yards with 20 touchdowns to eight interceptions for a 93.7 passer rating. He was one of the hottest quarterbacks at the end of last season, throwing 13 touchdowns to three interceptions in the final nine games (including playoffs), as the Rams went 7-2 in those games.
When Stafford is healthy, he’s still one of the better quarterbacks in the league — even at age 37.
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