Top 20 quarterbacks heading into the 2021 NFL season
The 2021 NFL season is quickly approaching, so now is the time to start ranking the top quarterbacks in the league.
There are currently MVPs, Heisman Trophy Winners, Rookie of the Year award winners and Super Bowl champions leading their team as quarterbacks.
Last year's performances, as well as career accolades, have been considered while deciding the rankings. So without further ado, let's have a look at the top 20 quarterbacks heading into the 2021 NFL season.
#1 Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes has led his team to two consecutive NFL Super Bowl appearances. If it weren't for an injured offensive line and a foot injury of his own, Mahomes could have had a chance at a second Super Bowl title. The 2018 MVP is one of the most versatile quarterbacks in the NFL, and the draft has helped rebuild the offensive line of his team.
#2 Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers took home his third Most Valuable Player honors last season. Rodgers threw 372 completions for 4,299 passing yards, 48 passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns en route to another NFL All-Pro season.
#3 Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and ended up winning his seventh Super Bowl title.
In 2020, his first season in the NFL's NFC South, Brady completed 401 passes for 4,633 passing yards and 40 touchdowns. The Buccaneers were able to keep their title team intact in hopes of a repeat in 2021.
#4 Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
There is one award that Russell Wilson has never won: the NFL Most Valuable Player.
The Super Bowl champion and reigning 'Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year', Wilson will enter his tenth season chasing the same goal. Wilson and the Seahawks had their struggles in NFL 2020, but his stats were solid. For the fourth NFL season of his career, he threw for over 4,000 passing yards.
#5 Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen has become the quarterback the Bills have been looking for, quietly improving each year since being drafted in 2018.
In 2020, Allen and the Bills won the AFC North and reached the AFC title game for the first time since the 1990s. Allen passed for 4,544 yards, 37 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns.
#6 Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
The 27-year-old Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 of the 2020 NFL season.
Although his season ended much earlier than anyone would have expected to, Prescott's numbers were on course to put up some of the best numbers in the league. He threw 1,856 passing yards, nine passing touchdowns and rushed for three touchdowns.
#7 Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, a former league MVP, led his team to the postseason for all three NFL seasons since he was drafted. In an extremely competitive AFC North, Jackson's versatility as a quarterback is what has kept the Ravens at the top of the division.
#8 Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans
Ryan Tannehill has led the Tennessee Titans to two consecutive postseason trips, doing so in 2019 and 2020.
Since leaving the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill has used the offensive weapons he has with the Titans to revamp his career. In 2020, Tannehill threw 3,819 yards for 33 touchdowns and rushed for seven touchdowns.
#9 Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Besides his struggles to play well in big games, Kirk Cousins is a solid quarterback.
He doesn't have the awards or records of other big-name quarterbacks, but his feisty style of play gets his team down the field. In 2020, the Vikings were just 7-9, but Cousins threw 349 completions for 4,265 passing yards and 35 touchdowns.
#10 Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
The two-time Super Bowl champion may be entering his last season of the NFL. Since being drafted in 2004, Ben Roethlisberger has never had a losing season.
Last campaign, he and the Steelers started 11-0 before hitting some major speed bumps that derailed their postseason hopes. Last year, the 38-year-old Roethlisberger threw 399 passes, adding up to 3,803 yards and 33 touchdowns.