2023 Pre-Season Rank #1, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #3.

The last batch of rounds around the sun has 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 high atop the list of the most hated athletes.  Last season, he was injured on the first drive with his new team, the New York Jets, and speculation has run wild that age has caught up to him.

None of this will matter.

Whether or not any voter dislikes Rodgers or not, no active player has the statistical resume that he has.  If he is healthy, he will continue to climb the stat ladder (he is 33 TDs behind Brett Favre for fourth), and a 3,500 Yard year leaps him over Dan Marino, Matt Ryan, and Phillip Rivers for sixth all-time.  No multi-time MVP has ever failed to enter Canton, and he has four.  Throw in the Super Bowl, and it is an open-and-shut case, regardless of what happens next.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #10, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #21, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #31, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #47.

It's worth noting that in the previous year, Patrick Mahomes stood out as the sole active player under 30 to secure a spot in the top ten rankings.

Now, he is still under 30 and now ranked #2.

Mahomes is well under most of the career stats of the Modern Positional Averages, as he should be, based on his age, but when a Quarterback wins three Super Bowls and is the MVP in all of them, there is nothing left to prove.  He has nothing left to prove and is still hungry for more.  He is ranked below Aaron Rodgers, but as good as Rodgers has been, he was never in consideration to take the GOAT mantle away from Tom Brady.  There is much buzz that Mahomes can do precisely that.  

Let’s also remember that he is a Quarterback who has a likely first-ballot Hall of Fame Tight End in Travis Kelce (who might be entering his decline but is still excellent), a superstar on defense in Chris Jones, and a Hall of Fame Coach in Andy Reid. 

Given his current standing, it's not a stretch to say that Mahomes is a Pro Football Hall of Famer. The real question is, what will his all-time Quarterback rank be?

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 departed Emerald City as a two-time Super Bowl Champion?  That likely would make him a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, but his two years in Denver were disastrous and gave post-Philadelphia Donovan McNabb vibes.  This has dropped his rank, and though he has a change of scenery in Pittsburgh, there is a very competent quarterback in Justin Fields who will quickly takeover if the Steelers struggle.  The narrative on Wilson has not changed for the better over the last 24 months.

2023 2022 Pre-Season Rank #38, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #46, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #76. Peak Period: 2019-23

Quarterbacks who win multiple MVPs always enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Lamar Jackson owns two after earning his second MVP last year.  Jackson destroys opponents with his arm but eviscerates them with his legs.  While never throwing for more than 4,000 Yards in a season, Jackson still has a Touchdown Pass Title in 2019 (36), and he could become the first QB to rush for 10,000 career Yards (he currently has 5,228) and already is the only pivot to rush for over 1,000 Yards twice. 

Jackson needs only a Super Bowl Ring, and they have the roster to give it to him. Once he does that, his Hall of Fame resume will be complete.

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 year one in Los Angeles and became nationally known.  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 fourth year in L.A.   Last season’s second Pro Bowl will help him, but he needs a lot more despite the Super Bowl win.  Stat-wise, if he matches what he did last year, he will break 60,000 Yards, though he needs more; especially considering his current losing record (98-107-1).

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, and while Dak Prescott has been maligned in some circles for not winning a Super Bowl, the stat line shows that he has been very good.

The 2016 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was last year’s runner-up for the MVP.  Last season, Prescott led the NF in Touchdown Passes (36), and if he can take the Cowboys to a Super Bowl, watch his HOF momentum skyrocket.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #69, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #98, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #117.  Peak Period: 2019-23.

Josh Allen is in contention as the top dual-threat Quarterback in football and is least in the conversation as one of the most exciting.  That is all fine and good, but Quarterbacks have to win it all, and while Allen has taken the Bills deep into the playoffs multiple times, the Hall looks for more.

Past that, Allen is a two-time leader in Approximate Value, but he is the leader of a rebuilding Bills team.  Like Dak Prescott of Dallas, he is a Super Bowl win away from seeing that probable PFHOF bust.

2023 Pre-Season #121. Peak Period: 2020-23*

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. Already a Super Bowl participant and an MVP runner-up (he did win the 2022 Bert Bell Award), Hurts has an AV/G well over the MPA in his brief career, which a Quarterback will have to own over a long period of time to get into the Hall of Fame.  We are also impressed by his Rushing Touchdowns numbers, and could we see the first QB to ever rush for 100 TDs?

*His Peak Period is only four years.

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

What Joe Flacco accomplished in 2023 was inspirational.  Flacco began the season looking for work and signed with Cleveland in November on their practice squad.  He became their starter in Week 13 and had a 4-1 record, taking them to playoffs, where he performed in his first post-season game since 2014.  Flacco won the AP Comeback Player of the Year despite only playing five games. 

Flacco enters this year on a roster (Indianapolis), and though he is a backup, he is employed, has over 40,000 Passing Yards, and has a Super Bowl Ring. The Hall is unlikely, but it has been a hell of a ride and is not over yet.

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

Kirk Cousins' run with Minnesota has far surpassed what he did in Washington, with three of his four Pro Bowls coming as a Viking.  However, it ended with an injury-plagued season.  Nevertheless, Cousins is rapidly approaching 40,000 Yards (39,471) and has 270 Touchdown Passes, so the career numbers are decent, but clearly, he needs more.

For that to happen, it will have to be as an Atlanta Falcon, the team that signed him and took Michael Penix Jr. in the First Round.  That leaves him with a cloud hanging over him to begin 2024, and Cousins has to win a ring to have any serious Hall of Fame consideration. 

2023 Pre-Season Rank: #65, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #69, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #85, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #88.  Peak Period: 2015-19

Carr was a Pro Bowl Selection for three straight years (2015-17), and while he has had four 4,000-yard seasons, other Quarterbacks have passed him in the hierarchy of greatness at the position.  Carr is running out of time to make any real Hall of Fame push, and realistically, it will take a Super Bowl Championship for that to occur.

He is entering his second year in New Orleans and should break 40,000 Passing Yards and 250 Touchdowns.  Those are quality numbers, but not Hall of Fame ones. 

2023 Pre-Season Rank #73, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #70, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #52, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #83.  Peak Period: 2017-22*

Oh boy.   We had Watson pegged as a future Hall of Fame inductee, and even though he was leading a team in Houston that did not have the supporting cast to win a Super Bowl, nobody pointed the finger at Watson for that not happening.  Since then, Watson has been beset by scandals that cost him the entire 2021 Season and the first 11 Games of 2022, which may not be over yet. Watson was injured in 2023, and he will have to perform at an elite level for an extended period to alleviate the stench around his name.  

He has the talent and can put up the numbers, but this is one hell of a mountain to climb.  We try to make these lists on stats, as we think that is usually the deciding factor, but there are always extraordinary circumstances, and honestly, we don't know quite how to factor that in.  If this were any other sport, we likely wouldn't bother to rank Watson, but this is not any other sport.

*Watson missed the entire 2021 Season.

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 last year and was a Pro Bowl Selection in 2022.  Goff passed for 59 TDs and 9,013 Yards in the previous two seasons, and he has the supporting cast to do even better over the next two years. 

2023 Pre-Season Rank #82, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #82, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #115.  Peak Period: 2019-23

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 the last two seasons have seen multiple injuries and a perceived bad attitude. 

This is a crossroads season for Murray, who has the skills to be a top-five QB.  

2023 Pre-Season Rank #95, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #95, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #122.  Peak Period: 2013-15/2019-20

Tannehill never felt any Hall of Fame potential in Miami, but with Tennessee, he has become a complete package and a Pro Bowler.  As quickly as the perception changed and shifted back, in 2023, he was injured, lost his job to Will Levis, and is now a free agent going into 2024.  This is not a Hall of Fame run, but that peak with the Titans placed him on a map that looked unattainable at one point.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #97, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #96, 2021 Pre-Season #102 Rank, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #150.  Peak Period: 2012-16

Five years ago, we said this: “Dalton has played his entire career with the Bengals and is still capable of a monster year that could catapult him up this list”  

Four years ago, we said this:  So much for that.  Dalton lost his starting QB job last year (though many pointed out the woes of Cincinnati were not his fault.  His stat padding days might be over as he is now Dak Prescott’s backup, but there was a time when he was a really good Quarterback, and could wind up starting somewhere again.”

As it turned out, Dalton did get starts in Dallas when Prescott got injured, and was decent, though not spectacular.  After that, he was back up in Chicago, where he saw some playing time, and he entered 2022 in the same situation in New Orleans.  Dalton is now a backup in Carolina, who could see some starts depending on how things go. No matter how it ends for Dalton, he is a three-time Pro Bowl Quarterback, and that is impressive.

2022: Pre-Season Rank: #126. Peak Period: 2020-23*

Joe Burrow led LSU to the National Championship in 2019 and individually won the Heisman Trophy. Taken number one in the draft, Burrow brought the Bengals closer than they have ever been to winning their first Super Bowl. Burrow is one of the best in the game, is in his mid-20s and could be the man who takes Cincinnati to a Lombardi Trophy providing he is healthy unlike last year's campaign..

*Burrow has only played four seasons.

2023 Pre-Season Rank: 116, 2022 Pre-Season Rank: #129.  Peak Period: 2020-23*

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 he is coming off his weakest year in the NFL (3,134 PY 20-10 TD-INT) and has a losing overall record (30-32).  Herbert has a lot more to prove, and this will be a challenging year to do it.

*Herbert has only played four years.