The Top 5 NFL Quarterbacks Going into the New Season

There’s a lot of excitement in the air from football fans as the new NFL 2026 season gets underway. The league has plenty of superstars in all positions, yet it is inevitably the quarterback who gets most of the attention. As the heartbeat of the team, everything rests on the shoulders of the quarterback. They are the league’s biggest celebrities, who get the plaudits and the blame.

But who are the league’s best? That’s a big question that will set off arguments among fans. Yet, we can cite five of the top gunslingers heading into the new campaign:

• Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills 

The 2024 MVP did not have a bad 2025 season by any measure, but it just wasn’t as dominant as the year previously. Anyhow, Allen looks fit and raring to go in this new campaign. He is tasked with one of the most high-pressure jobs in all sports – delivering a national championship to the long-suffering city of Buffalo. The team is good enough; Allen is definitely good enough, but can they combine to get over the hurdles in the Playoffs?

•  Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs 

Hmmm. A cursory glance at the NFL Week 1 betting odds sees the Chiefs favored over the Broncos, but will that be the case if Mahomes is not passed fit? The future Hall of Famer is arguably the NFL’s greatest quarterback in the post-Tom-Brady era, but his dominance, along with that of the Chiefs, came to a skidding halt next season. Mahomes ACL injury cut short his season last term, so the Chiefs’ hopes seem to ride on his recovery for this one.

• Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens 

There are some questions on whether Jackson deserves to be No. 3 on this list, particularly on last season’s showing with the Ravens, which also led to the ignominy (by his standards) of being named 69th on the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2026 list, dropping 67 places. Yet, class is permanent, and Jackson is just too good to keep down. Like Allen, his talent deserves a Super Bowl, and he now has a new head coach to help him get there. Expect a bounce-back season for one of the league’s very best.

• Matthew Stafford – LA Rams 

The reigning MVP has been backed to the hilt by the Rams front office, who went aggressive in the offseason to build a roster good enough to challenge for the Super Bowl. Stafford is a wily type, going into his 18th season in the NFL. His 17th was his best yet, and there is a sense that the 38-year-old is getting better with age. He is almost at parity for wins across his 239 regular-season starts, and he is 13-13 in 26 postseason games. Keeping the latter metric at 13 losses is his goal this season as the starting quarterback for the Super Bowl favorites.

• Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys

Finishing with the most contentious entry, as including Prescott means there is no room for Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, Drake Maye or Justin Herbert on this list. However, we feel that it is Prescott’s star that is on the rise. He was quietly excellent last season, though he did not have the backup from his teammates. That may well be the case again in 2026, but we have a lot of faith that Prescott can finally deliver on his promise and lead the Cowboys to a new era of success.