We’re seeing some changes in the hierarchy of NFL quarterbacks. The top dudes are still the dudes, but that middle-to-top tier of guys is ever-changing. Bryce Young looks like a top-10 quarterback, Justin Herbert is playing his way toward the bottom, and a month into the season, reputation only gets you so far.
Now, I’m not the one who normally writes these QB rankings, but I’m stepping in for this week. So if there’s a big discrepancy between this week and last week's rank, that’s why. My criteria, in order: run the offense, avoid costing your team games, move the ball, win games, and do it consistently. A rocket arm only gets you so far if you keep losing.
NFL quarterback rankings after Week 4
Name | Team | Prior Ranking |
|---|---|---|
1. Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | 2 |
2. Josh Allen | Buffalo Bills | 1 |
3. Lamar Jackson | Baltimore Ravens | 3 |
4. Dak Prescott | Dallas Cowboys | 6 |
5. Joe Burrow | Cincinnati Bengals | 4 |
6. Brock Purdy | San Francisco 49ers | 8 |
7. Matthew Stafford | Los Angeles Rams | 5 |
8. Trevor Lawrence | Jacksonville Jaguars | 12 |
9. Bryce Young | Carolina Panthers | 19 |
10. Jared Goff | Detroit Lions | 7 |
11. Sam Darnold | Seattle Seahawks | 10 |
12. Kirk Cousins | Las Vegas Raiders | 20 |
13. Jalen Hurts | Philadelphia Eagles | 14 |
14. Jordan Love | Green Bay Packers | 9 |
15. Tyler Shough | New Orleans Saints | 15 |
16. Bo Nix | Denver Broncos | 17 |
17. Kyler Murray | Minnesota Vikings | 26 |
18. Michael Penix | Atlanta Falcons | 22 |
19. Daniel Jones | Indianaplois Colts | 24 |
20. C.J. Stroud | Houston Texans | 16 |
21. Geno Smith | New York Jets | 18 |
22. Drake Maye | New England Patriots | 13 |
23. Deshaun Watson | Cleveland Browns | 30 |
24. Aaron Rodgers | Pittsburgh Steelers | 28 |
25. Justin Herbert | Los Angeles Chargers | 11 |
26. Jacoby Brissett | Arizona Cardinals | 23 |
27. Jameis Winston | New York Giants | 31 |
28. Malik Willis | Miami Dolphins | 27 |
29. Cam Ward | Tennessee Titans | 32 |
30. Tyson Bagent | Chicago Bears | - |
31. Athan Kaliakmanis | Washington Commanders | - |
32. Jalon Daniels | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | - |
Bryce Young earns a top-10 spot with poise and consistency
Historically, once a player gets called a ‘former first-round pick,’ it’s over for them. That means they used to be seen as an elite talent, and now they’re kind of just a guy.
Bryce Young was the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, and after two really, really rough seasons in 2023 and 2024, he was getting labeled as a former first-rounder … Buddy, this dude has come back from the depths of hell, and he’s taking souls with a delightful smile.
He’s feeling pressures and not panicking. He’s making the hard throws. He’s making the easy throws. He’s hitting the guys he needs to hit. He’s not panicking. He’s picking apart coverages. He’s seeing the field, hitting a flow state, moving well, and I cannot express this enough … he’s not panicking.
The dude has it going on right now, and the way that he’s played this season has him firmly in my top 10. It’s like wearing a retainer: It's going to feel uncomfortable having him there right now, but after a few more weeks, seeing his name up there with the big dawgs will start to feel normal.
Kyler Murray lands at No. 17 with steady play and more to prove
The last game that Kyler Murray played in Arizona was on Oct. 5, 2025. Since then, he’s only played in two full games, and the latest one was on Oct. 4, 2026. There just isn’t a whole lot of Kyler Murray that we’ve seen over the past 365 days.
Yes, the Vikings have a perfect 4-0 record, and yes, two of those games were Kyler Murray games, and yes, he did enough to win those games. But he’s not really playing close to the Pro Bowl-caliber Kyler Murray that we’ve seen, and that the Vikings will need him to be for them to be competitive against the better defenses.
Luckily, they won’t see those defenses until mid-November. That means he’s got a lot of time to grow in this offensive scheme that is brand-spanking new to him, and find out how to run this offense in a more-than-lethal way. But for the time being, he’s been good. It’s been middle-of-the-pack type performances so far, and I’m not going to punish those with a bad rating.
Michael Penix rises to No. 18 as Atlanta’s offense comes alive
We’ve seen two games where the Falcons offense looked worse than the 2017 Browns, and two games where it looked like a mix of the 2022 and 2024 Eagles. The only real difference between those two versions of the same unit is that Michael Penix took (back) over as their starting quarterback.
And the best part? They made the change right before they started a three-game stretch of Prime Time games. So, Michael Penix, I want to speak on behalf of the general football-watching public: Thank you for not being anywhere near as bad as you were last season. Thank you so very, very much for allowing Drake London and Bijan Robinson to be awesome.
Two angels on my shoulders are affecting my ranking of No. 18. The devil is saying that we’ve seen him be a total dud, and that version of him is hibernating inside. That might be true. He’s played two of the worst defenses (Packers, Saints) in his first games coming off his 2,000th career knee injury. He hasn’t been tested.
The angel is saying that we saw how terrible Cooper Rush was in the first two weeks. If Penix was actually bad, then the past two games would’ve looked just like that. They haven’t. They’re ridiculously efficient and stupid-explosive. Good quarterbacks run offenses that are specifically those two things.
So my rating is a compromise between the two. Am I a coward for doing that? Yes, absolutely. Do I feel bad about it? No, I just put Bryce Young in the top-10.
Jameis Winston climbs to No. 27 but turnovers limit his ceiling
Jameis Winston’s first two games did not look like the Jameis Winston that we know. He used to be a blind gunslinger who was willing to chunk the ball deep and get it into the area code of a receiver. Sometimes it was right on, and it was a big play. Sometimes it was off by a tad and intercepted … and also a big play.
Against the Rams and the Titans, he was missing in ways that we had never seen from him: the balls were uncatchable by everyone. On top of that, he wasn’t pushing anything downfield. It was boring and gross. He turned that around against the Cardinals on Sunday. He was moving, taking shots, and it was fun. Five completions on downfield bombs, three touchdowns, and two really terrible interceptions.
It’s safe to say that he responded well to the Giants trading for J.J. McCarthy. Nine is a hot bag of frustration and trash, so all Jameis had to do to keep his job was be entertaining. He did just that.
Justin Herbert falls to No. 25 as costly mistakes pile up
There are football nerds, and there are Concussion Uncles. Football nerds love Justin Herbert because of advanced stats and whatnot. We Concussion Uncles despise the guy because he’s a choke artist who gets talked about like he’s above football.
We were right. This guy stinks. Everyone knows he stinks, and everyone has turned on the guy. The Chargers are a shattered team with a broken offense, and the most important player on the team is operating his offense the same way you or I would. On Sunday, he threw another pair of interceptions and also got strip-sacked. The really fun part is that he threw one pick on the first play of the game, and his fumble was on their last play of the game.
Obviously, the Chargers can’t just bench a healthy Herbert for Trey Lance. So this is just going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better.
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