The Athletic QB Tier rankings

[QB Bills]

Josh is the best qb in the league. 

 

Put any other qb on this bills team and the team gets worse. That includes mahomes, who gets to play the sport on easy mode with the kool-aid man designing plays for him.

[dma0034]

1 hour ago, Airseven said:

"Tier 1" is Mahomes and only Mahomes. "Tier 2" is perhaps 6-8 guys you could debate in any order depending on criteria. 

 

Not really. If you want to put Mahomes in his own tier, sure... no one is going to argue

 

But the next 3 or 4 are clear. It's Allen, Burrow and Lamar in some sort of order and then Stroud. Then you get into the other QBs but there is a very clear top 4 amongst people.

[Beast]

I’d like to see Josh Allen with Joe Burrow’s weapons.

[dave mcbride]

24 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

He Is on the Jets or Dolphins

Definitely not on the Dolphins. The Miami org has a ton of respect for Allen given his repeated shredding of them. 

[BullBuchanan]

1 hour ago, Airseven said:

"Tier 1" is Mahomes and only Mahomes. "Tier 2" is perhaps 6-8 guys you could debate in any order depending on criteria. 

I agree that Mahomes is alone is Tier 1. The proof is in the pudding. I say this as a guy who argued Manning and Brady were both in tier 1, until it became ridiculous to argue anyone was in Brady's tier. Allen and Burrow I'd put in Tier 2 and as of right now, they're the only ones there. I could easily see Stroud joining them this year if he builds even a little on what he did last year.

 

To me, the "6-8 guys" are a tier below those guys. Talking guys like Herbert, Jackson, possibly Rodgers, Love, Goff, Purdy, Stafford,Hurts, etc.

 

Edited August 26 by BullBuchanan

[mannc]

22 minutes ago, dma0034 said:

 

Not really. If you want to put Mahomes in his own tier, sure... no one is going to argue

 

But the next 3 or 4 are clear. It's Allen, Burrow and Lamar in some sort of order and then Stroud. Then you get into the other QBs but there is a very clear top 4 amongst people.

I’m not sure how Lamar Jackson is in the same tier as Burrow and Allen. He’s clearly not at their level, especially if the post-season matters.

[ganesh]

2 hours ago, RobbRiddick said:

Burrow is my pick for MVP this year but I think Josh is better. I’d like to see Burrow without so many weapons

If Josh is better, why wouldn't he be the pick for MVP this year ?  It really baffles me.

7 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

I agree that Mahomes is alone is Tier 1. The proof is in the pudding. I say this as a guy who argued Manning and Brady were both in tier 1, until it became ridiculous to argue anyone was in Brady's tier. Allen and Burrow I'd put in Tier 2 and as of right now, they're the only ones there. I could easily see Stroud joining them this year if he builds even a little on what he did last year.

 

To me, the "6-8 guys" are a tier below those guys. Talking guys like Herbert, Jackson, possibly Rodgers, Love, Goff, Purdy, Stafford,Hurts, etc.

 

It is only because of the success Mahomes has had in the Post Season.   

 

Mahomes has 3 super bowls 

Burrows went to 1 super bowl and was a few minutes away from winning it.

Allen has made it to the AFC Championship game

Lamar has made it to AFC Divsional game with early exits.

 

That is how everyone is ranking these QBs.

[dma0034]

10 minutes ago, mannc said:

I’m not sure how Lamar Jackson is in the same tier as Burrow and Allen. He’s clearly not at their level, especially if the post-season matters.

 

He's won 2 MVPs. Is the best rushing QB and wins a lot. 

 

 

Now again: I agree. In my own personal opinion Allen and Mahomes are in a tier by themselves and I think if Allen was on the Chiefs they'd have won the same amount of SBs. Obviously Allen is the better rusher but Mahomes has the better touch on short passes and is more accuracy on deep shots. I think Allen can do more with less but I think Mahomes can utilize his weapons better if that makes sense.

 

Burrow is accurate for sure but he takes a lot of sacks too (which is something we don't ever mention about Allen enough.... outside of a pick the worse thing that can happen on a passing down is to take a sack). Burrow has also had the benefit of having one of the top 5 WRs and top #2 and a top #3 WR. He also hasn't had his defense collaspe against Mahomes in the playoffs too. I personally don't like players that can't stay healthy. I don't care if you are Peyton Manning for 8 games a year if you aren't available for a quarter of the season and the playoffs which has happened to both Burrow and Lamar twice already. I've thought that ever since Lamar won his 1st MVP he's gotten away with being an average passer and reputation. There's a reason why GMs didn't try to sign him and I think it's the concern of losing a step. I think Lamar is a backup QB in 10 years. I think once he loses his speed as a runner his arm talent isn't going to keep him as a good QB. Where as Allen can not run as  much but his arm talent will still make him a good QB in 10 years.

 

6 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Lamar has made it to AFC Divsional game with early exits.

 

That is how everyone is ranking these QBs.

 

 

Last year not count?

 

Edited August 26 by dma0034

[mannc]

Just now, dma0034 said:

 

He's won 2 MVPs. Is the best rushing QB and wins a lot. 

 

 

Now again: I agree. In my own personal opinion Allen and Mahomes are in a tier by themselves and I think if Allen was on the Chiefs they'd have won the same amount of SBs. Obviously Allen is the better rusher but Mahomes has the better touch on short passes and is more accuracy on deep shots. I think Allen can do more with less but I think Mahomes can utilize his weapons better if that makes sense.

 

Burrow is accurate for sure but he takes a lot of sacks too (which is something we don't ever mention about Allen enough.... outside of a pick the worse thing that can happen on a passing down is to take a sack). Burrow has also had the benefit of having one of the top 5 WRs and top #2 and a top #3 WR. He also hasn't had his defense collaspe against Mahomes in the playoffs too. I personally don't like players that can't stay healthy. I don't care if you are Peyton Manning for 8 games a year if you aren't available for a quarter of the season and the playoffs which has happened to both Burrow and Lamar twice already. I've thought that ever since Lamar won his 1st MVP he's gotten away with being an average passer and reputation. There's a reason why GMs didn't try to sign him and I think it's the concern of losing a step. I think Lamar is a backup QB in 10 years. I think once he loses his speed as a runner his arm talent isn't going to keep him as a good QB. Where as Allen can not run as  much but his arm talent will still make him a good QB in 10 years.

The MVP awards are a joke.  Jackson is constantly hyped by the talking heads on ESPN and yet the Ravens thought long and hard about whether to sigh him to a new deal...he was rumored to be available for trade, something that NEVER would have happened to Burrow or Allen.  Jackson is probably the most overrated player in the NFL.   

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

The Athletic just published a tier ranking of 30 NFL QBs (rookies are excluded) as determined from a composite tier ranking of 50 NFL coaches and executives.  Josh was in Tier 1, as expected, but his composite score was 1.2 which means approximately 10 of the 50 would have had him in Tier 2, but below Joe Burrow.  This is interesting in that one might consider the profile of those choosing Tier 2.  Josh is something of a loose cannon at times and there would be those that are scared by that and might consider it a flaw. 

 

Anyways, this brings me to the Pro Football Reference side by side comparison of Josh and Patrick over their last 4 years which was something I wanted to present to previous discussions.  Big difference in YAC favoring Patrick and rushing yards/TDs favoring Josh.  Lots to consider there.

 

One can isolate regular season or post season numbers.  YAC is the biggest difference, imo, as it is a difference of over 3,000 yards.  It makes me wonder if the WR room was more reconstructed with an eye toward improving the YAC in the offense.  This is something we haven't seen much evidence of at this point, but it might be the secret sauce to a Bills offensive improvement over previous years.

 

Pro Football Reference Josh vs. Patrick --Years 2020 thru 2023

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah was a bit surprised too and while I agree with your loose cannon comment, you could argue the Burrow is also a wild card in keeping him on the field.   Realistically Burrow had one good year 2022, even last year he didn't start off very good.

[SoonerBillsFan]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

Definitely not on the Dolphins. The Miami org has a ton of respect for Allen given his repeated shredding of them. 

Yeah but he is their Daddy and I am sure pretty salty about that 😁

[Blank Stare]

These guys and their love of Burrow. 🤦‍♂️ So many people still trying to talk their way out of Allen. Allen was also 3 in the ESPN top 100 players list released today (5th overall; third QB behind Mahomes and Lamar). 
 

Only guy who I’d comfortably put above Allen is Mahomes, and that’s because he’s earned it with skins on the wall. That’s to say nothing of Josh’s physical gifts which are second to none in the league. But Burrow or Jackson above Josh on any ranking is pretty ridiculous to me. 

[Billl]

44 minutes ago, dma0034 said:

I think if Allen was on the Chiefs they'd have won the same amount of SBs.

I’ve got Allen as the clear second best QB in the league, but I don’t see how even the biggest Allen homer can believe that the Chiefs would have 3 Super Bowl wins with Allen.  Josh threw for 3100 yards and 20 TDs in 2019 and played poorly against the Texans in the playoffs.  There’s zero chance that Kansas City wins that year with Josh.  Reasonable people can agree or disagree about the last two years, but Mahomes was better in 2019 by orders of magnitude.

[90sBills]

1 hour ago, dma0034 said:

 

Not really. If you want to put Mahomes in his own tier, sure... no one is going to argue

 

But the next 3 or 4 are clear. It's Allen, Burrow and Lamar in some sort of order and then Stroud. Then you get into the other QBs but there is a very clear top 4 amongst people.

New here huh?

8 minutes ago, Billl said:

I’ve got Allen as the clear second best QB in the league, but I don’t see how even the biggest Allen homer can believe that the Chiefs would have 3 Super Bowl wins with Allen.  Josh threw for 3100 yards and 20 TDs in 2019 and played poorly against the Texans in the playoffs.  There’s zero chance that Kansas City wins that year with Josh.  Reasonable people can agree or disagree about the last two years, but Mahomes was better in 2019 by orders of magnitude.

Yeah well if Allen was with KC he would’ve thrown for 5100 yards and 50 TDs in 2019 and blowout the Texans in the playoffs. 

[KingBoots8]

3 hours ago, HereComesTheReignAgain said:

One of the "coaches an executives" actually voted Josh in tier 3!  That is so laughably ridiculous that whoever made that vote should never be allowed near a football team again.

“Zero star jerk needs to learn his place. TO TIER 3, YOU BUM! BOOOOOOO!!!”

 

- some idiot NFL executive who passed on him, probably

[RobbRiddick]

1 hour ago, ganesh said:

If Josh is better, why wouldn't he be the pick for MVP this year ?  It really baffles me.

Well it isn’t a one man sport in spite of how the media talk about it. My thinking for Burrow is that he has more weapons than Josh and also the narrative that he’s coming back from an injury riddled year. 
 

if Allen has a great season he’ll be well in the MVP talk as well because his narrative is that they let his receivers go. But I don’t have the faith that the rest of the team will elevate itself enough. I could see him still having a great year in terms of having to do so much on his own but maybe the stats as a whole won’t show that, so the guys in the media who mainly watch extended highlights won’t recognize it

[Cash]

1 hour ago, ganesh said:

If Josh is better, why wouldn't he be the pick for MVP this year ?  It really baffles me.

Slightly off-topic, but I think Allen has a pretty strong chance to win MVP this year. Obviously a lot has to go right for that to happen, but the national perception/narrative is set up in Allen’s favor. With us losing Diggs/Davis/et al, the team is expected to take a step back on both offense and defense. IF the Bills keep winning at the same pace as the last few years, it’s probably because Allen is putting up big numbers - totals, efficiency, or both. 
 

In that scenario, the MVP voters will tend to give Allen 100% of the credit for the team still being good, and likely will be writing about how Allen is making a bunch of nobodies look good. 

[Chaos]

Burrow got to this ranking by not playing. 

[JESSEFEFFER]

20 minutes ago, Cash said:

Slightly off-topic, but I think Allen has a pretty strong chance to win MVP this year. Obviously a lot has to go right for that to happen, but the national perception/narrative is set up in Allen’s favor. With us losing Diggs/Davis/et al, the team is expected to take a step back on both offense and defense. IF the Bills keep winning at the same pace as the last few years, it’s probably because Allen is putting up big numbers - totals, efficiency, or both. 
 

In that scenario, the MVP voters will tend to give Allen 100% of the credit for the team still being good, and likely will be writing about how Allen is making a bunch of nobodies look good. 

I agree with this.  Also, given the schedule, he has a chance to outshine Mahomes, Jackson, Stroud, Stafford, Purdy, Murray, Lawrence, Goff, Herbert, Rodgers(2X) and Tua (2X)  in head to head matchups.  The visual of having a decent record and beating most of those teams would make a powerful case for him.

[Dr.Sack]

If I’m ranking these QBs and cherry picking stats I rank Allen at #4 based on FG kicker alone. 

Career Playoff FGs

#1 Burrow-McPherson 19/19 

#2 Mahomes-Butker 32/36

#3 Lamar-Tucker 18/22 

#4 Allen-Bass 12/17