2024 Pre-Season Rank #1, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #1, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #3.  PEAK PERIOD: 2008-12.

The last two rounds around the sun have been fascinating for Aaron Rodgers.  

Rodgers, who has dated Olivia Munn, Danica Patrick, and Shailene Woodley, was even considered the permanent host of Jeopardy.  It looked like he would cross over into non-sports stardom, but that came crashing down, and he has been involved in more Hollywood feuds (see Jimmy Kimmel) and was thrust into the culture war when it was revealed that he did not get the COVID-19 vaccine and espoused conspiracy theories.  He became much less marketable than he used to be, and there are circles where he is at the top of the list of the most hated athletes.  

In 2023,  after a long and fruitful career with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was injured on the first drive with his new team, the New York Jets, and he was underwhelming when healthy in 2024.

None of this will matter.

Regardless of how Rodgers performs in 2025, for his third team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, no active player has the statistical resume that he has.  No multi-time MVP has ever failed to enter Canton, and he has four.  Throw in the Super Bowl win with the Packers, and it is an open-and-shut case, regardless of what happens next.

Notably, a good year will see Rodgers reach more milestones.  He is six Touchdowns away from passing Brett Favre for fourth all-time, and 1,131 Yards will take him over Ben Roethlisberger (64,088) and Philip Rivers (63,440) for fifth all-time. 

The circus comes to the Steel City, and we can’t wait to see it play out.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #10, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #21, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #31, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #47.  Peak Period 2018-22.

Aaron Rodgers might be ranked higher among Quarterbacks than Patrick Mahomes, but when the GOAT of the position is discussed, far more pundits speculate that it is Mahomes who has the shot to pass Brady.

What Mahomes has already accomplished is phenomenal.  With three Super Bowl wins (winning the MVP in all three), five AFC Conference wins, and two MVPs, he already has a Hall of Fame career that is the envy of most Quarterbacks, and he is only 30.

Here is how good Mahomes is: last season, he broke his six-year streak of Pro Bowls, and in his “off year,” he still won 15 Games, finished sixth in MVP voting, and returned to the Super Bowl.  Mahomes enters the 2025 season with a scintillating 89-23 record, a 245-74 TD-INT ratio, and he still has a loaded roster around him (Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, to name two), and the squad is led by future Hall of Fame Coach, Andy Reid.  The Chiefs could win it all again, and if he wins a fourth title, does he enter the Mount Rushmore of the position?

Given his current standing, it's not a stretch to say that Mahomes is a Pro Football Hall of Famer if he never throws another football. The real question is, what will his all-time Quarterback rank be?

2024 Pre-Season Rank #14, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #30, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #38, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #46, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #76. Peak Period: 2019-20/22-24

Everything but the Super Bowl.

Lamar Jackson has been money since he arrived in the National Football League, winning the MVP in 2019, his second in 2023, and last year, he almost won it, finishing second to Buffalo’s Josh Allen (even though Jackson was the AP First Team All-Pro).

Jackson has a winning record every season (he is 70-24 overall) and is coming off his first 4,000-yard year while still piling up the mileage on the ground (915).   He can beat you with his legs, his accuracy, and his arm, and could make history as the first QB to exceed 10,000 Rushing Yards.

A Quarterback with two MVPs (and remember, almost three) is a slam dunk to make it to Canton, but he does not want to challenge Dan Marino as the finest pivot never to win it all.  Baltimore is again loaded, but it needs to get to the big dance and win it for Jackson’s legacy to be complete.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #13, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #10, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #10, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #17, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #19. (Peak Period: 2016-20)

The Russell Wilson era in Seattle ended after a Super Bowl win and nine Pro Bowls, but what if Marshawn Lynch ran on that play (you all know which one!) and punched it through the end zone?  That would have made Wilson a two-time Super Bowl champion, and when a QB leads a team to back-to-back titles, it is considered Canton worthy, but, alas, that didn’t happen.

Wilson was traded to Denver, but his two years in Denver were disastrous, evoking post-Philadelphia Donovan McNabb vibes.  Wilson then went to Pittsburgh and earned a tenth Pro Bowl (though he only had 2,482 Yards and 16 TDs), but he did successfully limit the damage to his reputation.

Wilson is now a New York Giant, and like last year, his grasp on the starting QB position has a young incumbent (Jaxson Dart) waiting in the wings.  He may need to compile statistics to secure his Hall of Fame credentials and reinforce his narrative.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #39, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #69, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #98, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #117.  Peak Period: 2020-24.

What Josh Allen accomplished last season was incredible. 

The Buffalo Bills entered the year battered and bruised, and Allen took the team on his back and brought them to the AFC Championship game, where they fell 32-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs.  Allen won the 2024 MVP, having thrown 3,731 Yards with a 28-6 TD-INT ratio, with 531 Rushing Yards and 12 TDs. 

The MVP was not unexpected for Allen, who has been one of the game’s top dual-threat QBs since 2020, and there is no reason to think he can’t do it again.  The Hall looks for more from a QB, and that comes with a Super Bowl, or at the very least, a Super Bowl appearance.  Allen and the Bills are capable of that, and when that happens, the Hall will come calling.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #31, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #37, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #37, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #59, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #67.  Peak Period: 2011-15.

A change of scenery can change the perception.  Matthew Stafford was a Lion for 12 years, racking up passing yards but only a few wins.  A Pro Bowl once in Detroit, Stafford was entrenched as a second-tier QB.  The Rams traded for him, and he became a Super Bowl Champion in his first year in Los Angeles, gaining national recognition. Articles were written (and scoffed at) proclaiming him a Hall of Famer, and he isn't as of this writing, but he sure is a hell of a lot closer than he was.  Never forget how vital Super Bowl wins are for the Quarterback position for Canton consideration.   

Stafford is now on the north side of 35 and is entering his fifth year in L.A.   His second Pro Bowl in 2023 will help him, but he needs a lot more despite the Super Bowl win.  His key is in his statistical compilation.  Currently, he is tenth in Passing Yards (59,809), and could pass Dan Marino (61,361), Matt Ryan (62,792), and Philip Rivers (63,440), and a top-five spot all-time is in his grasp.  Say what you want about the previously mentioned three QBs, and that they were better than Stafford (we would agree), but he has a ring.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #53, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #121. Peak Period: 2020-23*

And now he is a champion.

Jalen Hurts and the tush push brought the Philadelphia Eagles their second Super Bowl, and while he has only been in the NFL for five years, it feels like a long time coming.

Jalen Hurts was the runner-up for the 2019 Heisman, and there were a few questions that surrounded him in the following draft. There should not have been.  Hurts won the Bert Bell Award in 2022 and has an AV/G well over the MPA in his brief career, which, based on modern metrics, a QB needs to have to sniff Canton.  Hurts has the skills and talent around him to become the first Quarterback to rush for 100 Touchdowns (unless Josh Allen beats him to it), and this does not take into account his excellent passing skills.

Whenever a QB wins a Super Bowl, the Hall of Fame buzz accelerates, and the Eagles are a squad that could win several.  The scary thing is that Jalen is just entering his prime.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #32, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #44, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #55, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #63, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #80.  Peak Period: 2016-17/2021-23

There is no greater pressure cooker in the National Football League than being the Quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.  While Dak Prescott has been maligned in some circles for not winning a Super Bowl or even getting there, the stat line shows that he has been very good for some time.

The 2016 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year has been selected to three Pro Bowls, has broken 4,400 Yards three times, and in 2023, he led the NFL in Touchdown Passes (36) and was the runner-up for the league MVP.  Sadly, Prescott’s hamstring injury cost him half of the season, and in the eight Games he played in, he was average, which led to a significant drop in his ranking.

Prescott enters the 2025 Season with a depleted Dallas team, but he is still a top-ten Quarterback.  He has a lot to prove this year if he has any chance of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #89, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #100, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #112. 2021 Pre-Season Rank #106, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #117.  Peak Period: 2017-19/2022-23

In 2018, Jared Goff led the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl appearance.  They did not win, and although he won two Pro Bowls, the Rams gave up on him and traded the Quarterback to the Detroit Lions.  In Stafford’s first season in L.A., he won a Super Bowl, making Goff look bad in the process, but years later, it is Goff and the Lions who are the superior team.

Goff brought Detroit to the NFC Championship Game in 2023 and was a Pro Bowl Selection in 2022 and 2024.  Last season, Goff had his best year to date, throwing for 4,629 Yards and 37 Touchdowns, but the potent Lions were bounced early in the playoffs.  Nevertheless, Goff finished fifth in the MVP race and is still young and talented enough to take the talented Lions to a Super Bowl win.   If that happens, this will result in a colossal jump for Goff.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #64, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #84, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #84, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #92, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #124.  Peak Period: 2008-12

For the record, we know that the odds of Joe Flacco making it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame are minimal at best, but what he has accomplished in the last few years has been inspirational.

A Super Bowl Champion with the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco was supplanted by Lamar Jackson and continued to work in the NFL as a solid backup.  In 2023, he had to take over for Cleveland in their stretch drive and led them to the playoffs with a 4-1 record.  He also won the AP Comeback Player of the Year.   Last year, he was a Colt, but he begins this campaign as a starter once again, for Cleveland. 

Regardless of how far he gets in the Hall of Fame process, his longevity and dedication to the game are impressive, and he is a player with over 45,000 Yards. 

2024 Pre-Season Rank #109,  2023 Pre-Season Rank #126. Peak Period: 2020-24

In 2019, Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy and took LSU to the National Championship.  There was no doubt that he would go number one overall, and the Cincinnati Bengals have been blessed to have him.

After his rookie year, Burrow has arguably been a top-five NFL pivot, and as a sophomore, he brought the Bengals closer than they had ever been to capturing the Lombardi Trophy.  Last season, he was electric on a Cincinnati squad that had depth and defensive issues, and he led the NFL in Passing Yards (4,918) and Touchdowns (43) with only 9 Interceptions.  He was awarded the Comeback Player of the Year, and was fourth in MVP voting despite a 9-8 record.

The Bengals are one of the most intriguing teams entering 2025, but they will contend as long as Burrow is healthy.  If he is, expect another significant jump in this rank next year. 

2024 Pre-Season Rank #78, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #61, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #87, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #121.  Peak Period: 2016-20

The run of Kirk Cousins in Minnesota was underappreciated as he earned three of his four Pro Bowls and 171 Touchdowns in purple.  Cosuins departed to lead Atlanta, who promptly drafted Michael Penix Jr. in the First Round.  The writing was on the wall.

Cousins had his least accurate season as a starter, allowing an NFL-high 16 Interceptions, before he was relieved for Penix.  Cousins begins the season on the bench, and at age 37, his best days are likely done, though his overall numbers (42,979 Yards and 288 TDs) are nothing to be ashamed of, and if he gets significant time, he can break 45,000 Yards and 300 TDs, which is high-end company.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #99, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #82, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #82, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #115.  Peak Period: 2019-21/23-24

The first three seasons of Kyler Murray’s career were pure excitement.  He won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019 and was a Pro Bowl Selection in the next two.  A dual-threat Quarterback, Murray was must-watch television, but 2022 and 2023 saw Murray deal with multiple injuries and a perceived bad attitude.  2024 was the crossroads year, but while healthy, his 3,851 Yards and 21 TDs were not quite the rocket back to where he was.

Again this season, it feels like Murray has a lot to prove to pundits, fans, and himself.  

2024 Pre-Season Rank #116, 2023 Pre-Season Rank: 116, 2022 Pre-Season Rank: #129.  Peak Period: 2020-24

The Chargers have their Quarterback for the long haul in Justin Herbert, who was the 2020 Offensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowl Selection in 2021, but still has a lot left to prove.  While his 3,870 Passing Yards may not jump off the page in this era, he led the league in Interception Percentage (0.6), throwing only three picks against 23 Touchdowns.   The Chargers made the playoffs last year, and Herbert was ninth in MVP voting; however, he is a deep playoff run away from making a concerted turn toward the Hall.