Watch Colin Cowherd drop his ‘Herd Hierarchy’ NFL rankings of the top 10 starting quarterbacks heading into next season.
10. Jared Goff
“It's weird but Jared Goff was outstanding down the stretch, he was unbelievable. Fifteen touchdowns and no picks in the last two and a half months. Ben Johnson [Lions OC] returns. Listen, you could say ‘well, he's got a good o-line!’, yeah, he does, I'm counting that. Great OC, great o-line, two capable running backs. I thought he had a great year. Number four in total offense, better at home than on the road, better in a clean pocket than a muddy one. He's a former number one pick for a reason. He's a talented guy. I've always said he's like Matt Ryan with a much better arm and Matt Ryan won an MVP.”
9. Lamar Jackson
“Listen, I'm concerned too, but he wins 75% of his starts. He has the second-highest win percentage among all active quarterbacks behind only Patrick Mahomes. He's Dynamic, he's a game changer, he is one of the hardest guys in the league to prepare for, but he hasn't been great in the playoffs. I worry about his health but to deny he's not a top 10 quarterback? I'm sorry, you can't win 74% of your games in this league, in that division, and tell me you're not a top 10 quarterback.”
8. Aaron Rodgers
“He had a bad year by Aaron's standards. Ninety-one passer rating, some of it is young receivers, but he's not committed in the off-season. I also think Aaron has slowly, and we saw this pre-Jordan Love, I just don't think he's good enough now to not totally commit year-round and he's not. Their o-line was excellent, Aaron Jones excellent, good enough at tight end, Christian Watson emerged, Aaron needs to be better. You gotta commit to the off-season because Burrow, Mahomes, Herbert, Lawrence, Allen, and Jalen Hurts are.”
7. Matthew Stafford
“Remember, they had 98 games missed due to injury on this roster, most in the league, the team fell apart. They had 13 different offensive lines, most in the league. This guy won a Super Bowl a year ago and outdueled Joe Burrow in it, Stafford's really good. He's very expensive, there's stories the Rams are getting frustrated, they'd like to redo his contract. He was beat up this year but he's a world-class arm talent, very good in big games—home, away, leading, trailing, you get the same guy usually.”
6. Jalen Hurts
“Now it gets close, I'm gonna go Jalen Hurts because I think he's a little bigger than you think, he's become a better passer, I thought he was arguably, and this is with Mahomes, the best player in the Super Bowl. I mean, he was unbelievable with his legs. I think Mahomes is better, obviously, and by a gap but I think Jalen Hurts— 375 yards, his defense, special teams, and run game let him down, and he went to the last series against Patrick Mahomes. That's pretty good.”
5. Josh Allen
“He regressed and there's too many mistakes now. Again, he's got a Howitzer. He and Mahomes have 35+ touchdown passes in each of the last three seasons. He can go uptown and give you the greatness of Mahomes but he simply isn't as good situationally. I don't think he's getting the coaching, he doesn't have the offensive line support, and he pulled back this year.”
4. Justin Herbert
“Kellen Moore is a huge hire for the Chargers. Here’s a stat you may pay attention to— do you know he has the most passing yards and touchdown passes in three years in the league? More than Mahomes, more than any player in league history. They just can't get the head coaching perfect yet, and the o-line was bad early. I think Kellen Moore is the coordinator that gets the absolute best out of Justin Herbert.”
3. Trevor Lawrence
“I'm gonna move Trevor Lawrence up to three. He gets now Calvin Ridley, a second year in Doug Pederson’s system, 7-2 over his last nine games with a passer rating at 105. There were arguments, if you just take away that first half in the Chargers playoff win where he was dreadful, he was as good as anybody not named Mahomes or Burrow in the last seven or eight games of the season. I think with Ridley and another year in the system he's number three.”
2. Joe Burrow
“I thought he eclipsed a couple of young quarterbacks this year. Highest completion percentage in league history, the only quarterback in the league that I think situationally, big third down, or fourth down, can play in Mahomes' sphere. He's reached the AFC Championship in each of his two healthy seasons. Burrow is here for the long-term.”
1. Patrick Mahomes
“Number one is obvious, let's not waste any time. The most passing yards and touchdown passes in a five-season span in league history. No reason to debate it. He was virtually perfect in the second half. Yes, he's got Andy Reid and Travis Kelce, but this was a bit of a makeshift receiving core, and his only incompletion in the second half was a throwaway out of the end zone. He was never sacked. Patrick Mahomes is an easy number one.”
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