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Who is the NFL’s best quarterback right now? Power ranking for Week 9

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Week 8 of the NFL season featured another Sunday marked by a wild accomplishment by one of the league’s quarterbacks.

Last week, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had a perfect passer rating, marking the 85th instance of the feat in NFL history. This week, Green Bay Packers signal-caller Jordan Love completed 20 straight pass attempts, tying the longest such stretch in a single game in Packers franchise history – a history that dates back 106 years.

Love accomplished the streak against the Pittsburgh Steelers and former mentor Aaron Rodgers on ‘Sunday Night Football.’ His 20 straight completions in a game tied Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre’s franchise record, which he set in 2007.

Week 9 of the NFL season is sure to bring more big moments with multiple quarterbacks around the league returning from various injuries and others making first career starts.

The Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray, Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Minnesota Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy are among those expected to return after missing multiple games with injuries. Meanwhile, New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough will make his first career start.

Here’s how the starting QBs for all 32 teams rank entering Week 9:

NFL quarterback power rankings: Week 9

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Last week: 1

Metric that matters: Mahomes’ average depth of target this season is 7.9 yards, which would be his highest mark since 2020 if it holds. However, in two games with No. 1 receiver Rashee Rice, he’s had two of the three lowest ADOT marks of the season. The Chiefs are getting the ball in their top wideout’s hands quickly and letting him do the rest. Rice’s ADOT in two games is 2.8 yards.

2. Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Last week: 2

Metric that matters: Maye took six sacks – five from superstar edge rusher Myles Garrett – against the Browns and still managed to put together a seventh straight game with over 200 yards passing (282 in Week 8) and a passer rating over 100 (135.8).

3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Last week: 3

Metric that matters: Allen has made just three turnover-worthy plays in 2025, per PFF. That’s the lowest mark of any quarterback with more than 100 dropbacks (Allen has 239 in seven games). The Bills’ quarterback was responsible for three touchdowns in Week 8 – one in the air and two on the ground.

4. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Last week: 6

Metric that matters: Herbert led the NFL in ESPN’s QBR (96.3) and PFF passing grade (91.5) in Week 8. Most impressively, he did it against a Vikings team that entered the matchup ranked third in the NFL in EPA/play allowed and success rate against opponents’ dropbacks.

5. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Last week: N/A

Metric that matters: Jackson’s 71.6% completion rate and 130.5 passer rating in four games before his injury would both be the highest marks of his career if they held through the 2025 season. His 75.7 QBR would be his second-highest in a season behind only his unanimous MVP season in 2019.

6. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Last week: 5

Metrics that matter: Stafford still is tied for the league lead with 17 passing touchdowns even after the Rams’ Week 8 bye. His 266.6 average passing yards per game are the most in a season since in 2021, the year Stafford led Los Angeles to a Super Bowl victory.

7. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Last week: 4

Metric that matters: Mayfield still leads the NFL with four fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives. He’s ranked fifth in current MVP odds (+1300), per BetMGM Sportsbook.

8. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts

Last week: 9

Metric that matters: Jones leads the NFL in passing success rate (56.3%) through eight weeks as he’s led the Colts to the NFL’s best record at 7-1.

9. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Last week: 12

Metric that matters: Love completed 20 straight pass attempts on ‘Sunday Night Football,’ tying him with Favre for the Packers’ single-game franchise record.

10. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Last week: 7

Metrics that matter: Goff ranks second in the NFL in completion rate (74.9%), passer rating (116.4), TD% (7.4%), and success rate (53.7%), per Pro Football Reference. He’s also second in completion rate over expected (9.6).

11. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks

Last week: 8

Metrics that matter: Darnold leads the NFL in ADOT (10.3) and average completed air yards (8.7). He’s also third in the NFL in completion rate over expected (9.1)

12. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

Last week: 10

Metric that matters: Hurts’ four passing touchdowns against the Giants in Week 8 tied a career high that he’s reached twice before: once in 2022 and once in 2023. All three instances were in a Week 8 game.

13. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Last week: 13

Metric that matters: No quarterback has had as many passes dropped as Lawrence (21) this season, per PFF. Yet the Jaguars are still one win out of an AFC playoff spot at 4-3.

14. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

Last week: 14

Metric that matters: Daniels has the third-lowest Int% (0.7%) in the NFL with just one thrown in 184 dropbacks.

15. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Last week: 11

Metrics that matter: Prescott leads the NFL in completions (204) and QBR (79.5).

16. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Last week: 16

Metrics that matter: Nix graded out as the second-best passer of Week 8 (85.2), per PFF, and tied for first of all quarterbacks last week with three big-time throws against the Cowboys.

17. Jaxson Dart, New York Giants

Last week: 15

Metrics that matter: Dart led all starting quarterbacks in big-time throw percentage (12%) in Week 8, per PFF. His 11.6-yard average depth of target was tied for third among all Week 8 starters. The Giants’ quarterback had a 68-yard touchdown throw (39 air yards) nullified by a questionable offensive pass interference call.

18. Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers

Last week: 19

Metric that matters: Jones is a top-10 quarterback in the NFL in success rate. Pro Football Reference lists his success rate at 50%, while Ben Baldwin’s rbsdm.com lists Jones at 51.1%.

19. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

Last week: 23

Metrics that matter: Stroud had his first 300-yard game of the season against the 49ers. Since a 0-3 start, Stroud and the Texans are 3-1 and up to a 43% chance to make the playoffs, per NFL.com. Since 2000, only the 2018 Texans have made it to the postseason after starting 0-3.

20. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers

Last week: 18

Metric that matters: Rodgers is tied for third in the NFL with 16 touchdown passes, and his rate of throwing a touchdown on 7.7% of throws leads the league through eight weeks.

21. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Last week: 20

Metric that matters: Williams has made at least one turnover-worthy play in each of his last four starts, per PFF. Week 8’s loss to the Ravens broke a streak of three straight games with multiple such plays, though he still made one and was punished with an interception.

22. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

Last week: N/A

Metric that matters: Through just five starts, Murray is more than halfway to his career-high total of passes batted down or deflected at the line of scrimmage. He has seven so far this year and will match his career high from his 2019 rookie season with five more.

23. Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals

Last week: 24

Metrics that matter: Per PFF, Flacco’s big-time throw percentage (3.0%) and turnover-worthy play percentage (0.7%) are both better marks in three games with Cincinnati than they were in four games with the Browns: 2.9% BTT, 3.2% TWP.

24. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans

Last week: 26

Metrics that matter: Ward is tied for 14th in the NFL with 10 big-time throws in eight games: more than Justin Herbert, Josh Allen and Jared Goff. He’s also tied for 11th-most turnover-worthy plays with eight of them: more than Herbert, Allen and Goff.

25. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings

Last week: N/A

Metrics that matter: Per rbsdm.com, only one quarterback with 50 or more snaps has a worse EPA per play than McCarthy (-0.354) this year: Ravens backup Cooper Rush (-0.436). Only three quarterbacks in that sample have a lower success rate than McCarthy’s 41.7%: Russell Wilson (41.5%), Ward (40.4%) and Dillon Gabriel (36.7%). Most significantly of all, McCarthy’s career sample size is still just two games.

26. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Last week: 29

Metric that matters: Tagovailoa got the ball out faster than he had all season in Week 8. His four-touchdown day also came with the lowest average time to throw he had in any game this year: 2.23 seconds.

27. Justin Fields, New York Jets

Last week: 32

Metrics that matter: For the first time all season, Fields had multiple big-time throws in a game (2 in Week 8). For the first time all season, Fields took zero sacks.

28. Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints

Last week: N/A

Metric that matters: In just 35 dropbacks, Shough had two passes dropped by his receivers. One of them – on his first time targeting Chris Olave in his career – led to his first career interception.

29. Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns

Last week: 25

Metrics that matter: Only two quarterbacks with more than 10 dropbacks this season have an ADOT below 6.5 yards: Kyler Murray and Gabriel, both of whom have an ADOT of 6.4 yards. Of 13 quarterbacks with an ADOT below seven yards, only Tagovailoa (13) has more turnover-worthy plays than Gabriel (9).

30. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders

Last week: 28

Metric that matters: Smith is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with 10 of them in seven games. Tagovailoa also has 10, but he’s played eight games.

31. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

Last week: N/A

Metric that matters: Excluding the ends of each half, the Falcons had nine ‘full’ offensive possessions against the Dolphins with Cousins starting under center. Four were three-and-outs and two ended in turnovers on downs.

32. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers

Last week: 30

Metric that matters: Dalton had a 4.2 QBR against the Bills in Week 8. Only one quarterback has had worse outings this year: Tagovailoa had a 3.2 QBR in Week 1 and 3.3 mark in Week 7.

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