“What’s he worth, JPP?”
The deep dive into the crop of 2026 starting quarterbacks has been executed.
Baker Mayfield probably won’t like the results.
This isn’t just another QB survey. Reliable Mike Sando of TheAthletic.com asked NFL coaches, executives and former executives to rank the QBs as follows.
The 2026 QB Tiers results are complete with commentary from the panel of 50 voters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share candid evaluations.
The panel this year consisted of eight general managers, five assistant GMs, five former GMs and three other executives, plus nine head coaches, 10 defensive coordinators, five offensive coordinators, two offensive assistants, one defensive assistant and two coaches specializing in analytics/game management. That’s 21 execs and 29 coaches overall.
Each voter placed 35 veteran quarterbacks into five tiers, from best (Tier 1) to worst (Tier 5). Quarterbacks were then ranked by average vote and placed into tiers. The survey excludes rookies because voters have not seen them play in the NFL.
So where did Mayfield land? He tied at No. 14 overall with Sam Darnold.
Only four NFL quarterbacks landed in the exclusive Tier 1, per the voting: Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.
Tier 2 has Mayfield and 12 other quarterbacks.
This is how Tier 2 is defined:
- Carries his team sometimes
- Handles pure-passing situations in doses
- Or has other dimensions that elevate him above Tier 3
- Has a hole or two in his game
Here is one anonymous quote on Mayfield from the voters:
“He probably fluctuates from a 3 to a 2, with some (Tier) 1 games in there,” an exec said of Mayfield. “A little bit of a reckless play style, a little smaller guy. You saw some wear and tear catch up to him last season. I lean towards a 3.”
And here’s another:
“I don’t want to be unfair to Brock Purdy, but I feel more threatened by Baker,” a former head coach said. “I think Baker does more outside of the system. I don’t think he has been as protected in a system like Brock has, and he’s a winner, he’s got that edge to him. So does Brock. Baker is a 2 to me.”
It’s an exhaustive and exhausting analysis of NFL quarterbacks by The Athletic. Joe’s only highlighting.
Mayfield is ranked ahead of Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts, a couple of guys earning more than $50 million annually.
