The age-old American football tale goes that "offence sells tickets, but defence wins championships." A good defence is paramount to winning a championship, but how good can you really be without a good quarterback?
The position is a premium in the sport. He's the heartbeat of the team, the absolute leader, the one player everyone watches and fears. Just think of the quarterbacks that we've seen in the past: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, John Elway, Joe Montana... All winners.
But those are the names of the past. Who are the names of the present? Which quarterbacks are the absolute best in the NFL as we head into the 2026 season? Flashscore takes a look at the 10 best quarterbacks in the National Football League.
10: Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
Kicking off the list is Lions QB Jared Goff, who's led a prolific offence for most of his time in Detroit. Goff is exactly what the Detroit Lions need under a head coach like Dan Campbell - a good game manager with a great sense of reading the defence and a high football IQ.
Since Goff and the Lions went 3-10-1 with the former Cal Bear under centre in 2021, Goff has not thrown for less than 4,400 yards once, totalling 18,206 in the four seasons since. His touchdown-interception ratio has also been excellent over the past four years, throwing for 139 TDs and just 39 INTs while playing all 68 regular-season games.
The Lions have been so good with Goff that they've ranked top 5 in total offence in all of their last four years. The next step for Goff and the Lions? Making the Super Bowl while this window is still open.
9: Drake Maye (New England Patriots)
Last year's runner-up in MVP voting is up next: Drake Maye had a fantastic sophomore season in the NFL and made it all the way to Super Bowl XLV, where the Seattle Seahawks were ultimately just too good.
Maye was very efficient in 2025, leading the league in completion percentage (72%), yards per attempt (8.9), passer rating (113.5), and QBR (77.1), all the while leading the Patriots to a 14-3 record. Questions were raised about the Patriots' schedule, which was the second-easiest of any team in the 21st century, but Maye's deep balls were absolute top-level throws.
Nonetheless, Maye took a massive leap in Year 2. He's still young and just got some new weapons added to his arsenal, including WR A.J. Brown. Exciting teams for Patriots fans, who are all too familiar with those.
8: Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears)
Many questioned how well Caleb Williams would adapt to the complex schemes of offensive mastermind Ben Johnson, but being a play away from making the franchise's first NFC Championship Game since 2011 shows that the former No. 1 overall pick is fit for the role.
With Johnson as Williams' play-caller, the Bears jumped from 28th in offensive points and 32nd in yards to 9th and 6th, and Williams came within 200 yards of becoming the first 5,000-yard passer in Bears history.
Williams has also significantly improved under duress, with the former USC Trojan completing 6 fourth-quarter comebacks and throwing some of the best throws of the year in crunch-time situations. Like that unbelievable throw against the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round...
7: Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
It's been an up-and-down career for Dak Prescott, who's had MVP-calibre seasons from the moment he stepped onto an NFL field, but has also been tortured by injury issues. When fit, however, Prescott is simply one of the best in the league.
Up-and-down is quite an objective way of describing Prescott's career since 2020, and it would mean he's due for a down year in 2026, but will that really be the case with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens as his receivers, and following a 30-touchdown year with 4,552 yards from a league-leading 404 passing attempts?
The pressure to perform as a Dallas Cowboy weighs more than at most other franchises, and America's Team haven't been to the NFC Championship Game since 1996, when Triplets Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin ruled the fields. Time for that to change.
6: Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
Sometimes the butt of a joke, but overall just an incredibly talented quarterback who hasn't had the most luck with his offensive line, Justin Herbert has shown from day 1 that he's got it all to be a superstar in the NFL.
From winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award ahead of Justin Jefferson by breaking all rookie passing records to leading the Chargers to two consecutive 11-win seasons, Herbert has already passed the 5,000-yard mark once in a season and is about to start life with offensive guru Mike McDaniel as his offensive coordinator.
The arm talent is undeniable, and the former Oregon Duck has even added a layer of rushing upside to his game. It's only looking up for Herbert and the Chargers.
5: Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
We now enter a whole new tier with quarterbacks that can change a game whenever they want. Another quarterback with undeniable talent is golden boy Joe Burrow, whose history of on-field dominance already started in college.
The heartbeat and leader of the 2019 LSU Tigers, arguably the best college football team ever, Burrow needed no time to adjust to the NFL and has proven that hardships don't set him back. After tearing his ACL in his rookie season, Joe Burrow led the Cincinnati Bengals to their first Super Bowl since 1989, while he nearly broke the 5,000-yard barrier and received MVP votes in 2024 after tearing a scapholunate ligament in his right throwing wrist a year prior.
Burrow is the all-time leader in completion percentage (68.5%) after six seasons in the NFL, and he improves year after year. If the Bengals can finally fix their defensive issues, it'd be hard to see Burrow not reach the Super Bowl more than once in his career.
4: Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)
The most decorated quarterback on this list, Patrick Mahomes comes off the back of a couple of tough seasons. The Chiefs offence didn't run smoothly in 2024, but they still reached the Super Bowl, in which they lost hopelessly to the Philadelphia Eagles. The 2025 season was the worst in the career of Patrick Mahomes, who tore his ACL and LCL in Week 14, when the Chiefs were on a 6-7 record.
Despite the recent struggles, it's undeniable that Patrick Mahomes is one of the greatest quarterbacks in modern history. You can't deny the quality of a two-time MVP, three-time Super Bowl champion, and the all-time leader in passing yards per game and passing success rate (51.9%).
He'll have a better supporting cast in 2026, too, with reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III joining the Mahomes, Rashee Rice, and Travis Kelce, who'll likely play his final season.
3: Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
38 years old and playing the absolute best football of his career: Matthew Stafford is on another level right now. After winning Super Bowl LVI in his first year with the Los Angeles Rams, doubts over Stafford's future grew every offseason. Despite everything, the former Detroit Lion has stayed put and looks ready to have another go at winning a Super Bowl ring.
Stafford was the best quarterback in the NFL in 2025. A league-leading 4,707 yards and 46 passing touchdowns earned him his first NFL Most Valuable Player award in his age-37 season. It was the best season of his storied career by nearly every metric, and there seems to be no signs of slowing down for the vet.
With the Rams the overwhelming favourites to win Super Bowl LXI, held in the Rams' own SoFi Stadium where Stafford also won Super Bowl LVI, it's almost written in the stars.
2: Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
We had never seen a quarterback quite like Lamar Jackson after the former Louisville QB entered the league. Unbelievable rushing upside from a quarterback who's also led the league in passing touchdowns and throws the ball with excellent efficiency. Jackson is a unicorn player.
Jackson is the all-time passer rating leader, a two-time MVP, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, a quarterback that can lead the league's top offence, and just an absolute joy to watch. Combined with Derrick Henry in the backfield, Baltimore's offence is must-see TV week after week.
1: Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
A perennial MVP candidate, Josh Allen is a lights-out, bonafide superstar of which there are only few in the NFL. Allen has almost single-handedly turned the Bills from lowly dreamers into the powerhouses of the AFC East, and his numbers are mind-blowing.
The man they call the 'Winter Soldier' is a guaranteed touchdown machine. Allen has finished top 5 in MVP voting in each of the last four year while totalling 165 touchdowns in the air and on the ground. Allen is also extremely durable, having missed not one game since his rookie season in 2018.
Allen also plays in improved circumstances in 2026, with the Buffalo Bills moving into the brand-new Highmark Stadium. With Josh Allen as their QB1, I'm scared for all the tables in and around the stadium.
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