How can the top four NFL quarterbacks be caught?
By Andy Davies
NFL fans have been treated to some excellent quarterback play in recent years.
Patrick Mahomes has won three Super Bowls (and two MVP awards), and Joe Burrow has reached a Super Bowl and won two Comeback Player of the Year awards.
Lamar Jackson (2) and Josh Allen (1) have also won each of the last three MVP awards.
There is a clear gap between these four and the rest of the league, as seen with many top 10 lists made by NFL fans and the media.
Jalen Hurts won a Super Bowl, and MVP for the game in the process during the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win over Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. However, there are many that still doubt his credentials as a passer.
Justin Herbert has failed to gather any postseason success, still searching for a playoff win. Tua Tagovailoa’s health record and performances in games against teams with a .500 record have come into question. CJ Stroud and Jayden Daniels have small sample sizes.
This is further defined by the current odds for MVP in 2025. As per Fox Sports, whether it is Jackson or Allen (both +550), Burrow (+650) or Mahomes (+700), there is a clear gap between these four and the rest.
This is with the exception of Daniels, the Washington Commanders QB’s odds currently at +750. However, it is hard to put him in the conversation after just one season as an NFL pro. The next best odds are for Hurts to win the award, which stands at +1700. This shows the clear gap that many feel there is between these four and the rest.
Here’s how the rest of the league’s quarterbacks can catch up and put themselves in the top four QB conversation.
Beat Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs
This is the key to any team’s season.
Whether you are Allen or Jackson searching to get that monkey off your back, or Hurts, Jared Goff, Daniels or Matthew Stafford facing the prospect of playing Mahomes in Super Bowl LX, there is a good chance that you will need to beat him at some point in the playoffs if you want to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
One of the greats of the game, Peyton Manning had years of struggles when it came to reaching a Super Bowl. This is largely due to the brilliance of Tom Brady.
Mahomes is the new Brady, someone you have to beat if you want to get far, as Allen and Jackson have found out.
However, Allen and Jackson can at least bank on their MVP award successes.
Since 2013 and prior to Allen and Jackson, Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Brady and Mahomes have each won one or more MVP awards.
Apart from Ryan and Newton, the rest of these winners are considered greats of the game, with Super Bowls and MVP awards playing a big part in their reputation as some of the best to ever do it.
Even Dan Marino, who infamously never won a Super Bowl, is seen as one of the greats. He still managed to win an MVP in 1984.
Winning when it matters
Whilst Hurts, and Matthew Stafford have won Super Bowls, no other quarterback in the NFL outside of Mahomes have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy as a starter except Rodgers and Russell Wilson who are way past their prime.
Goff and Brock Purdy reached one, but Daniels is the only other 2025 starting quarterback to have made a Conference Championship game. Stroud has failed to get past the Divisional Round, losing to Jackson and Mahomes in both playoff seasons, Dak Prescott has only played in three Divisional Round games and Baker has been to just two.
Outside of Burrow and Mahomes, the last NFL quarterback to win the AFC was Brady.
In fact, since the 2013 season, only Manning, Brady, Burrow and Mahomes have won the AFC in those seven seasons.
Whilst the NFC has been more spread out, with 10 different quarterbacks to win the Conference Championship, only Brady, Wilson, Stafford, Nick Foles and Hurts have won a Super Bowl.
Matty Ice had the biggest collapse, Newton had an off day, Jimmy Garoppolo and Purdy lost Super Bowls they should have won and Goff and the Rams completely flopped.
Not many different quarterbacks have won Super Bowls in recent times or MVP’s, and this is where the likes of Stroud, Daniels, Herbert and Goff can rise up the quarterback rankings and challenge the top four.
They all reside in the AFC, giving Daniels and Goff in particular the chance to go out and reach a Super Bowl, but you would imagine either Mahomes, Jackson, Allen or Burrow would be waiting for them.
Winning games in the regular season can sell tickets, but winning a Conference Championship and Super Bowls gives these other quarterbacks opportunities to close down on the top four conversation.
ANDY DAVIES
NFL ANALYST
ANDY IS A SPORTS JOURNALISM GRADUATE WITH OVER FOUR YEARS EXPERIENCE OF NFL WRITING AND PODCASTING. ANDY HAS BEEN TO EVERY NFL STADIUM AND IS THE HOST OF THE ACROSS THE POD PODCAST. HE HAS PRESS PASS EXPERIENCE AT THE LONDON GAMES AND MANY OTHER NFL BASED EVENTS SUCH AS THE SUPER BOWL, HAVING INTERVIEWED THE LIKES OF AARON RODGERS, JASON BELL, OSI UMENYIORA, PATRICK MAHOMES, TRAVIS KELCE, DERRICK HENRY, SAQUON BARKLEY AND JALEN HURTS.