NFL · 1 hour ago

Colin Cowherd Reveals Top 10 NFL Quarterbacks Entering 2026 Season

John Canady

Host · Writer

1) Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Earning the top spot requires a mix of regular-season consistency, playoff production, and pure physical dominance. Josh Allen has evolved into a devastating dual-threat powerhouse who has outplayed every other peer in the league over the last two years.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "He's been very good in the playoffs. He's won 70% of his games with a defensive head coach that most of you didn't like. Seven straight years with 10-plus wins. I'm sorry folks, he's been better than (Patrick) Mahomes two straight years."
10) Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
It's wild to see how fast a career narrative can shift once a guy lands in the right system. Sam Darnold completely resurrected his career by morphing into an efficient, highly capable winner who finally stopped hurting his team with bad decisions.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "35-10 in his last 45 starts — highest win percentage by any quarterback the last two years in the league. Big, athletic, risk-taking. No turnovers when it mattered in the playoffs. Still 28, five different teams — what a disaster. But if you go — remember he was benched in Carolina, came back, went 4-2 — if you take his career starting then [in 2022], [he's the] winningest quarterback in the NFL with the second-highest passer rating."
9) Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Winning games at an elite clip is supposed to buy you ultimate respect, but Jared Goff still gets treated like a passenger rather than the driving force. The reality is the guy is a flat-out iron man who goes out and drops 4,000 yards season after season.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "The most disrespected guy in the league. All he does is win. Four straight seasons with 4,000-plus passing yards. And, strangely, never misses a start. He and Caleb Williams, they don't get hurt."
8) Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Very few young quarterbacks could look this sharp while running for their life behind a completely broken offensive line. Drake Maye carried a massive statistical burden early on, and his ceiling will skyrocket the second management gives him a true top target.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "Bad o-line. Hit-and-miss run game. Got to a Super Bowl. Finally going to get A.J. Brown, a No. 1 wide receiver — that's what's being reported. I think you'll see how special he is. Led the NFL in completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating at 23, with a bad o-line in front of him."
7) Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Evaluating a unique weapon like Lamar Jackson using traditional pocket metrics completely misses the point of what makes him a nightmare to defend. You can nitpick his mechanics all day, but the man wins football games at a historic rate.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "I love him. He doesn't play like anybody. He doesn't move like anybody. Two MVPs. He has the highest passer rating in NFL history, and everybody's like, ‘I don’t know if he's a great pocket passer.' I don't know, the analytics guys like him. Highest win percentage by any quarterback in league history not to make a Super Bowl."
6) Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
When everything is on the line in January, there are maybe two guys on the planet you want holding the football over Joe Burrow. Frequent injuries are the only reason he is not locked into the top three because his accuracy and ice-cold demeanor are completely elite.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "I think, on any given Sunday, he's the best player in the league. Burrow's durability is a big problem. You want him to win more. But I will say it again, I'm not sure — on a fourth-and-7, trailing by four in a Super Bowl — if there's a guy I want at quarterback more than Joe Burrow. I think he's an all-time talent. He got saddled with a cheap owner and a minimalist front office. Highest completion percentage and highest passer rating all time, with terrible o-lines."
5) Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Age does not matter when you still possess an elite arm and the unique ability to elevate mid-round draft picks into instant stars. Matthew Stafford is coming off another massive campaign and remains the kind of win-now alpha that makes a team a championship favorite.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "He just won the MVP. What do you want me to say? They're favored to win the Super Bowl. He's taken a bunch of mid-round guys — Puka Nacua, fifth round, made him a star. So I'm not building this for five years. He is a top-five quarterback in the NFL right now."
4) Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Dragging a roster with horrific pass protection into the postseason is an impossible task for almost anyone else at the position. Justin Herbert deserves immense credit for his physical toughness and the way he constantly takes hits without ever missing time.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "Worst offensive line in the NFL. Made the playoffs. That's insane! He's beloved in the locker room. He and Lamar Jackson are the most beloved players in their respective NFL locker rooms. Missed only six starts in his career, which is confounding because he's never had a good o-line."
3) Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Finding a young quarterback who pairs elite backyard playmaking with a completely bulletproof medical history is incredibly rare. Caleb Williams took an absolute beating early on but kept bouncing right back up, showing a generational ceiling that is impossible to ignore.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "Do you know what his numbers are the first two years? Forty-seven touchdowns, 13 picks, never hurt. Never hurt in high school. Never hurt in college. Never hurt in the pros. Got hit more than any other quarterback in the league his rookie year. Unbelievably durable. Makes throws that only Josh Allen can make."
2) Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
It is easy to fall victim to recent struggles, but dropping a living legend too far down the rankings is a massive mistake. Patrick Mahomes still owns an unprecedented baseline of modern dominance that practically guarantees deep playoff runs every single winter.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "He's going to be back in September. Each of his first seven years led the Chiefs to a division title and an AFC Championship appearance. Sorry, don't get recency bias. He's amazing."
1) Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Earning the top spot requires a mix of regular-season consistency, playoff production, and pure physical dominance. Josh Allen has evolved into a devastating dual-threat powerhouse who has outplayed every other peer in the league over the last two years.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "He's been very good in the playoffs. He's won 70% of his games with a defensive head coach that most of you didn't like. Seven straight years with 10-plus wins. I'm sorry folks, he's been better than (Patrick) Mahomes two straight years."
10) Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
It's wild to see how fast a career narrative can shift once a guy lands in the right system. Sam Darnold completely resurrected his career by morphing into an efficient, highly capable winner who finally stopped hurting his team with bad decisions.

Colin Cowherd's Take: "35-10 in his last 45 starts — highest win percentage by any quarterback the last two years in the league. Big, athletic, risk-taking. No turnovers when it mattered in the playoffs. Still 28, five different teams — what a disaster. But if you go — remember he was benched in Carolina, came back, went 4-2 — if you take his career starting then [in 2022], [he's the] winningest quarterback in the NFL with the second-highest passer rating."

Colin Cowherd Reveals Top 10 NFL Quarterbacks Entering 2026 Season

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