Where Does Jayden Daniels Rank Among NFL QBs After Commanders’ NFC Championship Run?

The 2024 season didn’t end the way the Washington Commanders hoped, as the team got thumped by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. But the fact that the Commanders were in the game at all is remarkable.

And there is no way the team would have been there were it not for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

The second overall pick out of LSU, Daniels rolled into the NFL with the same momentum he used to win the Heisman Trophy the year before. By season’s end, Daniels had completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards, posted a passer rating over 100 and picked up another 891 yards and six scores on the ground. The Commanders went from a four-win tomato can to a 12-win playoff team.

There’s little question that the Commanders have their quarterback of the future. But it does beg the question of where Daniels stacks up against the other 31 starting (a relative term in some places) quarterbacks in the NFL.

If only someone would answer that question both definitively and accurately.

Is 1-for-2 OK?

If these quarterbacks are on their respective rosters come the fall, it’s only because their teams are stuck with them or there were no better alternatives available.

But make no mistake—no one wants these guys starting games.

32. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

Thanks to the single worst contract in the history of the NFL, the Browns are stuck with Watson for the foreseeable future. But the 29-year-old has been awful when he’s been out there in Cleveland and just had a second surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. The Watson trade and contract represent the worst personnel move in league history. Period.

31. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans

After an almost comically bad 2024 campaign that included 12 interceptions and 10 fumbles in 12 games, the Titans pulled the plug on the Levis experiment. With the Titans in possession of the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, the odds that Tennessee will take a quarterback early this year are approximately 246 percent.

30. Drew Lock, New York Giants

Once the Giants benched Daniel Jones, Lock was offered an opportunity to show what he could do in New York. The 28-year-old responded by completing 59 percent of his passes with six touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of just over 75. The Giants will be starting a new quarterback in 2025.

29. Aidan O’Connell, Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders cycled through a multitude of meh at the quarterback position, including O’Connell, who was 2-4 as the Raiders starter last season. O’Connell wasn’t terrible in 2024, but we have seen enough from the second-year veteran to know that he’s much better suited to a role as a backup in the NFL.

The Over-the-Hill Gang

This mini-tier includes three quarterbacks who have had considerable success in the NFL. Two have won Super Bowls. But it’s hardly a stretch to say that their best football is behind them.

Well behind them.

28. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints

Carr’s 2024 season was cut short after 10 games, and his raw stats frankly weren’t that bad—the 33-year-old threw three times as many touchdowns as interceptions and posted a passer rating of over 100. There could be some trade interest in Carr in the offseason, but he’s a low-upside stopgap at this point in his career.

27. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Wilson led the Steelers to the postseason in 2024, completing 63.7 percent of his passes for just under 2,500 yards with 16 touchdown passes and five interceptions. Wilson is probably one-and-done with the Steelers, but with Pete Carroll now coaching the Raiders, there will be no shortage of buzz connecting the two in the weeks and months to come.

26. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets

So much for Rodgers being the magic elixir that would return the Jets to NFL relevance—the 41-year-old won just five starts and posted the lowest passer rating (90.5) he’s ever had over a full season as a starter. Rodgers has four MVP awards and a Super Bowl ring, but in 2024 at least, he looked like a quarterback whose best days as a player have long since passed.

Some of the quarterbacks in this large tier have already received their second contracts—for better or for worse. Many are still on their rookie deals.

The keyword for this tier is hope. These teams are hopeful that these young quarterbacks will be quality starters—or even stars. But the jury remains out on whether that will prove to be the case.

25. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts

The Colts made Richardson the fourth overall pick in 2023, and the youngster is an electrifying runner. But Richardson completed just 47.7 percent of his passes in 2024 while tossing 12 interceptions, and unless he improves markedly as a passer in his third season, the Colts will all but certainly be headed back to the drawing board under center in 2026.

24. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Not that long ago, Young appeared headed for the status of one of the bigger draft busts in recent memory. But when Young returned from his midseason benching last year, his level of play improved markedly. By year’s end, he had shown enough improvement as a passer to at the very least buy himself one more season at the helm of Carolina’s offense.

23. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons

Penix is the great unknown of this list. After Kirk Cousins faltered down the stretch, Atlanta’s decision to double-down under center by drafting Penix appeared wise. He also showed some flashes in limited action. But the reality is that we have only seen three NFL starts from Penix. It’s going to be a while before we know if Penix’s ranking here is too high, too low or spot-on.

22. Drake Maye, New England Patriots

It was another dismal season in New England—one that cost first-year head coach Jerod Mayo his job. But while the third overall pick in last year’s draft won just three of 12 starts, Maye completed two-thirds of his passes and threw for 15 scores despite playing with arguably the worst assemblage of offensive talent in the NFL.

21. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Not that long ago, it appeared that Lawrence was headed for stardom. But after signing a five-year, $275 million contract extension last summer, Lawrence struggled through the worst season since his rookie year. The Jaguars hired Liam Coen as head coach in large part because of Coen’s success with Baker Mayfield in Tampa. If Lawrence doesn’t turn things around in 2025, the Jags could be staring down the barrel of some very difficult personnel decisions.

20. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Tagovailoa got his bag last year—$212.4 million over four seasons. And based strictly off his career numbers, he should be listed higher. Tagovailoa has completed over 68 percent of his passes, thrown 100 touchdown passes against 44 interceptions and posted a passer rating just under 100 with a record of 38-24 and a trip to the postseason. But Tagovailoa’s history of concussions looms like a dark cloud over his future, and one more shot to the head could legitimately end his career.

19. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

The first overall pick in 2019, Murray has flashed considerable potential over his six seasons in the NFL, both with his arm and his legs. But since winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2019 and making the Pro Bowl in both 2020 and 2021, Murray is 14-22 as a starter and has thrown 23 interceptions, including 11 a year ago. The talent is there with the 27-year-old, but the consistency hasn’t been, setting up 2025 as something of a make-or-break campaign.

18. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Williams’ first professional season was a roller coaster. There were times when he flashed the arm talent and improvisational ability that made him the first overall pick in 2024. There were also far too many mistakes with the ball and times when Williams appeared overmatched. It’s no coincidence that the Bears hired Ben Johnson to be the team’s next head coach—Johnson’s biggest priority in the Windy City is maximizing what Williams does well while trying to smooth over the not inconsiderable flaws in his game.

Catchy name, huh?

The quarterbacks in this tier aren’t going to single-handedly put a team on their backs and lead them to victory—at least not consistently.

But while these quarterbacks may not have sky-high upside, their teams at least know that they have a capable starter at football’s most important position.

17. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Nix may not have the upside of a Jayden Daniels or the athleticism of a Caleb Williams, but in his first season as Denver’s starter, Nix was 12th in the league in passing yards, sixth in the NFL in touchdown passes, won 10 games and led the Broncos into the postseason. Nix may never be a superstar, but he’s already shown that he can be a solid NFL starter. All that experience Nix had in college appears to have served him well.

16. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

Smith doesn’t inspire a boatload of enthusiasm from fans, and headed into the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $44.5 million, the offseason will likely feature at least some drama involving the 34-year-old. But Smith’s 4,320 passing yards ranked fourth in the league last year, and his completion percentage of 70.4 ranked fifth. If Seattle doesn’t want to extend Smith, there should be interest on the trade market.

15. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

There likely isn’t a harder quarterback in the league to slot right now than Darnold, whose career season was marred by miserable closing performances against the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams. But Darnold just threw the fifth-most touchdown passes in the league (35) while winning 14 games. The $64,000 question now is whether the Vikings are willing to bank that wasn’t a fluke or if they will turn the offense over to 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy. (No, McCarthy isn’t ranked here—he hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game that counts yet.)

14. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Much like just about everything in Dallas in 2024, Prescott’s season was an injury-marred mess. But as recently as two years ago, the 31-year-old threw for over 4,500 yards and led the NFL with 410 completions and 36 touchdown passes. There are some big changes in Dallas this offseason, but provided he’s healthy in 2025, projecting Prescott as a top-15 quarterback isn’t exactly reaching.

13. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Who’s up for some retirement speculation? Or some trade rumors? That may keep the offseason interesting, but the much more likely outcome is that the 36-year-old will be back in Los Angeles after leading the Rams to the Divisional Round. Stafford’s numbers in 2024 weren’t jaw-dropping, but he’s a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who will likely one day wind up in Canton. If it’s not broke, there’s no reason to fix it.

12. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

The Packers made the playoffs in 2024, but Love’s numbers dropped a bit in his second full season as a starter—his passing yards per game and touchdown passes fell, while his interception percentage increased slightly. However, Love’s passer rating was actually up a bit, and with a wideout room filled with young talent and a smart young head coach in Matt LaFleur, Love should be able to post a third straight solid campaign…even if it isn’t quite enough to get him into the top 10.

11. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There was a time not that long ago when suggesting Mayfield as a borderline top-10 NFL quarterback would have elicited eye-rolls and perhaps a chortle. But Mayfield has led the Buccaneers to the postseason in back-to-back seasons, and last year the 29-year-old was third in the league with 4,500 passing yards and led the NFC with 41 touchdown passes. Mayfield also tied for the NFL lead with 16 interceptions though, which keeps him out of the next tier.

Not Quite Superstars

To be clear, the teams with these quarterbacks on the roster aren’t complaining. OK, one may be, but that has more to do with a paycheck than level of play.

These quarterbacks are absolutely capable of taking a team to the Super Bowl.

10. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

There will be arguments that this ranking is both too low and too high, and there’s quite the debate likely going on inside Niners HQ about just how valuable Purdy is to the team. But the three-year veteran has already led San Francisco to a Super Bowl, and last year’s drop-off in production was more about the litany of injuries around him than Purdy suddenly forgetting how to play quarterback.

9. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

For as slowly as Herbert and the Chargers passing game started, he still finished the season ninth in passing yards and 12th in passing touchdowns. The 26-year-old doesn’t play in an offense that’s conducive to his putting up big numbers, but Herbert is absolutely capable of dropping 400 passing yards on a team in a given week. If he had any postseason success on his NFL resume, he’d challenge for inclusion in the top five.

8. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

There’s no sugarcoating it—despite the Texans winning the AFC South in 2024, Stroud’s second professional season wasn’t as good as his first when he topped 4,100 passing yards and won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. But injuries to Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell didn’t do the Texans passing game any favors, and Stroud remains as accurate as any quarterback in the league.

7. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

After leading the NFC with 4,629 passing yards and adding 37 touchdowns through the air, it’s safe to say that Goff has shaken off the “underrated” label. The season didn’t end the way the Lions hoped, but Goff was a perfect fit directing Ben Johnson’s offense. Continuing that level of success won’t be especially easy, but Detroit is loaded with weapons and plays better as a unit than any offense in the NFL. With all due respect to Johnson, that’s partly Goff’s doing.

6. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

It was tempting to include Daniels in the top tier after just one season, but the kid will have to back up his rookie season to get to sit at the big boys’ table. But what a rookie season it was—Daniels topped 3,500 passing yards, was sixth in completion percentage, threw 25 touchdown passes against just nine picks, ranked second among all quarterbacks in rushing yards and led the Commanders from the NFC East basement to the conference championship game. From his first start, Daniels looked very little like a rookie, and he’ll win a Super Bowl in Washington. Book it.

The Fantastic Five

The best of the best. The true franchise quarterbacks. Four of the five have played in a Super Bowl. All five make a boatload of cabbage every year.

And every one of them deserves it. These are the quarterbacks who elevate their respective franchises—who make them perennial contenders.

Every team dreams of getting one of these signal-callers.

5. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

There are better arm talents ranked behind Hurts, and his passing stats in 2024 weren’t all that impressive—Hurts didn’t throw for even 3,000 yards and tossed just 18 touchdown passes. But Hurts was third among all quarterbacks in rushing yards and found the end zone 14 times—his fourth straight year with at least 10 rushing touchdowns. Hurts is about to play in his second Super Bowl, and the 26-year-old is an integral part of arguably the NFL’s best offense.

4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals suffered through a disappointing 2024 season, but that had much more to do with the team’s complete lack of a defense than Burrow, who paced the league in pass attempts, completions, passing yards (4,918) and touchdown passes (43). Had the Bengals made the playoffs this season, Burrow would have been smack in the middle of the conversation for Most Valuable Player.

3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

The sting of a fourth postseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs is still painfully fresh for Allen, but that’s pretty much the only knock you can make against the 28-year-old. Despite a less-than-stellar array of passing-game weaponry, Allen tied Lamar Jackson of the Ravens for the highest QBR in the league at 77.3, while throwing a career-low six interceptions and scoring a dozen touchdowns on the ground for the second consecutive season.

2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson’s lack of success in the postseason is going to haunt him until he crests that hill. But he remains quite possibly the single-hardest player in the entire NFL to defend. Jackson’s 915 rushing yards led all quarterbacks—and broke Michael Vick’s career record for rushing yards at the position. He also threw for the sixth-most passing yards and second-most passing scores in the league. Jackson led the league in touchdown percentage, yards per attempt, air yards per attempt and passer rating. Other than that, he was just OK.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mahomes was seventh in passing yards this season. Ninth in passing touchdowns. Mahomes threw double-digit interceptions for the fourth straight season. And absolutely none of that matters. Mahomes is about to play in his fifth Super Bowl…before his 30th birthday. If the Chiefs defeat the Eagles, the Chiefs will be the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls. The Chiefs are a dynasty, and the heart of that dynasty is Patrick Mahomes.