April is here. Soon so will be the 2025 NFL Draft. With the draft comes talk of new talented players, especially at the quarterback position. Also, soon after the draft comes preseason, fantasy football drafts, and inevitably the 2025 NFL season. Let’s start the discussion on this season with the five players most likely to have the largest impact on the season. Here’s my list of the NFL’s top 5 quarterbacks heading into the 2025 season.
1. Patrick Mahomes
The conversation about the best QB in the NFL still starts with Patrick Mahomes. First things first a Super Bowl loss is still a better success than 30 other teams in the NFL. That game does subtract from the myth of “Mahomes magic.”
I don’t think it takes much away from this specific conversation. When compared to his peers, 15 is still far ahead of his class. The resume speaks for itself. Three Super Bowl rings, which include two more Super Bowl appearances.Â
Mahomes also has two NFL MVP Awards, which are matched on this list, but Mahomes has consistently tallied up great seasons to the tune of over 32,000 career passing yards. That number competes well amongst great QBs of the past. He is also a two-time First-Team All-Pro. It seems like it should be more considering that Mahomes has appeared in the AFC Championship Game seven years in a row. It seems to me that the conversation begins to gain nuance at No. 2 and beyond.
2. Lamar Jackson
Many people who talk about the NFL for a living believe that Lamar Jackson should be coming off of back-to-back MVP seasons. I think the award ended up in the right place for that particular season. However, it carries some weight to me that Jackson put up a season last year that brought him so close to going back-to-back. I don’t think his not winning the award is a knock on his play.
I feel like Lamar Jackson is the safe bet to start the conversation that begins after Mahomes as the obvious top QB. Other players who will appear later on this list have had a bit more variance in their previous seasons. Jackson is going to give you elite level performance every single year. His team invests in weapons and protection to allow him to maintain his top-tier status year in and year out.
There’s no reason to bet against a two-time league MVP. The remaining QBs on this list are lacking some element to their resume. Jackson has individual success but lacks team success. You will see that trend continue through this list as the only QB who has had both kinds of success is Mahomes. With that being said two MVPs and no significant drop off in play at any point in his career makes Jackson my No. 2 QB.
3. Josh Allen
I gave this away when I started the Jackson talk on the point of the 2024 NFL MVP. It was an incredibly close race towards the end of last season. Therefore, it’s only logical that Allen would have to round out the top 3. Last season it appeared that Allen finally got the one major media knock on him off his back by cleaning up his turnovers. The results have brought him some of the individual success his peers enjoyed before him. He still hasn’t made it to the big game. That makes his resume lack in team success. I think when you watch the games in real time, there’s no denying that Allen is constantly at the edge of a breakthrough in team success.
My honest argument for Allen at No. 3 is more the eye test than the resume. The man has thrown for over 26,000 yards and 195 touchdowns. You have to watch this man play to get it. It’s hard to measure the physical gifts of a player like Allen in the modern NFL.
As an established elite QB in the NFL it is already understood that he comprehends the game. His decision making improves every season to lend proof to that. His ability to move the chains with his legs or effortlessly fling the ball under pressure stands out amongst the rest of the QBs on this list. The guy is the winner. I think he’s just waiting on his year to seal the deal and complete his resume.
4. Joe Burrow
This is another highly polarizing spot on this list. I think it’s an almost boring opinion that Mahomes is at 1, and people have a debate if 2 is Jackson or Allen. I think it’s another tier down at that point if you will. We are still talking about the elite of the elite. Burrow doesn’t have the all-time worthy resume that some of his peers have. He has no MVP Awards despite some stellar individual seasons and a Comeback Player of the Year. He does have a Super Bowl appearance. Something Allen and Jackson do not. He also has fewer Super Bowl appearances and wins than the No. 5 guy on my list. Spoiler alert, but this is about next season not about last season.
When we look at the last season on paper, it does nothing but help Burrow. It is hard to blame a lack of team success on a guy who threw for 43 touchdowns with only 9 picks. Couple that with a nearly 5,000-yard season and delivering the football to Ja’Marr Chase who won the receiving triple crown.
The Bengals, who are notoriously cheap, will run things back on offense. They signed both Chase and Wide Receiver Tee Higgins to contract extensions. This positions Burrow for another great season, at least as far as individual success goes. He can’t play defense for the Bengals and if Burrow’s 2024 season didn’t even make the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine him ever hoisting up that Lombardi Trophy without one.
5. Jalen Hurts
I know many people fell off the Jalen Hurts bandwagon after the way the 2023 season ended for the Philadelphia Eagles. I was not one of those people. I’ve always been a fan of his game. I’ve always considered him a winner. I give some credit to the Eagles organization and the winning culture they have built on that team. All Hurts does is win and win a bunch in the NFL. That is the strongest argument for him being a top 5 NFL QB. Personally, after a Super Bowl win, he gets a seat at the table before all the current quarterbacks who aren’t already diminishing with age to varying degrees.
That’s why he’s here over some other quarterbacks who you could call honorable mentions. We’ve never seen Hurts implode in the playoffs like the last time we saw Jared Goff on an NFL football field. He has a more consistent career path than Matthew Stafford. He just appeared in his second Super Bowl and won his first. One of those two accomplishments will eliminate the rest of the field.
Hurts is the epitome of a balanced player in my opinion. He doesn’t have the throwing gifts of a Burrow, but he can run the ball better. He may not have the physical gifts Jackson and Allen show, but he finds a way to win in the biggest moments.
Honorable MentionsÂ
These kinds of lists can be easily seen as disrespectful. Especially when you discuss who did not make the list and who they were left off for. I think the level of QB play does work better in tiers than in a direct 1-to-1 comparison. With the players in the 5-10 range, it is a matter of what you value in a player as well as personal taste and bias.
I took a shot at Goff and Stafford in the last section. I only did that to prove why Hurts is not at 6 or 7. There is also Jayden Daniels who had an outstanding season, but we need to see more from him. Baker Mayfield has silenced his haters in Tampa Bay. CJ Stroud is an amazing player, even when nobody blocks for him. The QB talent in the NFL is great. Don’t feel like it was disrespectful if your choice of player didn’t make this list.
