- Patrick Mahomes remains No. 1: The Chiefs star wasn't dynamic in Week 4, but his 6.7% big-time throw rate still paces qualified passers.
- Justin Herbert drops out of the top 20: Herbert owns the lowest overall PFF grade among qualified quarterbacks to start 2026.
- Bryce Young elevates into the top 10: Young's scintillating outing on Sunday night capped an outstanding four-game beginning this season.
Welcome to the weekly edition of PFF’s Quarterback Rankings. Unlike the grades in premium stats, these come with some priors built in, so are not simply a list of the highest graded players at the position.
Now that we are in Week 4, there will be some more consideration for this season’s performance. There is more movement than in previous weeks, but I will try to not overreact too much to what is still a relatively small sample size.
Given the volume of injuries, any quarterback who is out for a significant amount of time will be excluded. Instead, their backup will be ranked.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (no change)
Mahomes didn’t have a great game against the Las Vegas Raiders but dropped to just fifth among quarterbacks with an 87.8 PFF grade due to the strength of his start to the season. His 6.7% big-time throw rate ranks first, while his 1.3% turnover-worthy play rate is fourth-lowest among the 26 quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks so far this year.
2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (no change)
Jackson was phenomenal in the first half against the Tennessee Titans this week before suffering an ankle injury, and currently leads all quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks with a 91.4 PFF grade. His status for this week is up in the air, with Tyler Huntley slated to start if he’s out.
3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (no change)
Burrow performed well in a loss for the Bengals for the second straight week, earning an 80.0 PFF grade against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He tallied one touchdown pass and a pair of interceptions in the game, but generated three big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play. Through the first four weeks of the season, Burrow has eight big-time throws and four turnover-worthy plays.
4. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (no change)
Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots saw Allen produce a 58.6 PFF grade — his lowest of the season so far. Most concerning about his play has been how much he has put the ball in harm's way, with a 5.3% turnover-worthy play rate putting him on track for a career-worst mark in that regard. Allen has finished with a 90.0 or better PFF grade in six straight seasons, but he needs to take better care of the football, or that streak will be in jeopardy.
5. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (up 1)
Purdy has been playing some fantastic football in 2026 and has done a great job at avoiding negative plays, with his 4.8% negatively graded play rate the best mark among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks. He also leads the NFL with 0.550 EPA/play and a 66.1% positive EPA rate.
6. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (down 1)
Prescott has earned a PFF grade above 70.0 in all four games so far this season and ranks fourth among quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks with a 19.6% positively graded play rate. He also places inside the top 10 in terms of turnover-worthy play mark and negatively graded play rates.
7. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (no change)
It would be fair to say that Stafford has not looked like the MVP quarterback he did a season ago so far in 2026. He is being held up by just how good he was in 2025, but if he continues in this form — having produced more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws so far this season — then he will drop further in the coming weeks.
8. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (no change)
Among quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks, Lawrence ranks 10th with a 77.2 PFF passing grade. It hasn’t been quite as excellent as his 2025 season so far, but there have still been plenty of positives. While Lawrence has recorded more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws, his 7.0% negatively graded play rate is tied for eighth-lowest at the position.
9. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (up 5)
This is a big year for Bryce Young as he looks to set himself up for his next contract in Carolina. Through four weeks, he looks like the best version the NFL has ever seen of him. So far this season, he trails only Jackson in PFF grade among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks.
10. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (up 5)
Goff continued his robust start to the 2026 season with another big performance in the Lions’ loss to the Carolina Panthers. At 31 years old, he is on track for a career-best PFF grade, currently leading all qualified quarterbacks with an 86.4 PFF passing grade.
11. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks (down 2)
Darnold didn’t play particularly well in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers this past week, going 13-for-22 for 168 yards with a 4.5% big-time throw rate and a 7.7% turnover-worthy play rate. His sample size is still only really two games given how early he got hurt in the season opener. So far, we have seen one terrific performance, and one not so much.
12. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (down 1)
I’ve kept Love relatively high on this list given his priors, and that looked largely justified with his performance last week. He earned a 77.9 PFF grade — the first time all season that he has secured a PFF grade above 60.0. It’s no coincidence that his best performance came in a game where he was pressured on just 12.9% of his dropbacks, having been pressured on 44.4% of his dropbacks through the first three weeks of the season.
13. Drake Maye, New England Patriots (no change)
Like Love, Maye retained a relatively high spot on this list last week because of how good he was in 2025, — and like Love, he played his best game of the season in Week 4. His 84.4 PFF grade ranked fourth among quarterbacks this week, and for the first time this season, Maye accrued more big-time throws than turnover-worthy plays.
14. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (not ranked)
The Commanders are hopeful that Daniels will return to the starting lineup this week, which is especially important given that backup Marcus Mariota went down in the loss to the Indianapolis Colts in London. Before his injury, Daniels had yet to record a turnover-worthy play on 61 dropbacks.
15. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (up 3)
The Texans are 0-4, but C.J. Stroud is coming off by far his best game of the season with a 92.1 PFF grade in the loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Over the past three weeks, Stroud has six big-time throws and no turnover-worthy plays, with his 1.1% turnover-worthy play rate the third-best mark in the NFL so far this year.
16. Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints (no change)
Shough is coming off his lowest-graded game of the season, but has still notched a PFF grade above 65.0 in every game in 2026. His grade has been helped by the fact that he ranks inside the top five in terms of highest big-time throw rate and lowest turnover-worthy play rate.
17. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons (up 6)
Penix has just 47 dropbacks this season, but it has quickly become apparent that he is the Falcons’ best option at the quarterback position. The sample size in 2026 is small, but he has produced a 4.0% big-time throw rate and a 1.9% turnover-worthy play rate — the latter of which is eighth among quarterbacks with at least 40 dropbacks.
18. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (down 8)
It has been a rough couple of weeks for Hurts, with sub-40.0 PFF passing grades in both losses to the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams. Against the Rams, he threw a pair of touchdowns but went just 12-for-27 for 93 yards while committing a couple of turnover-worthy plays. Lane Johnson’s retirement will not make life any easier for Hurts given that he will likely be under pressure more often.
19. Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (up 2)
There’s a ceiling to a quarterback who plays like Brissett, and his 3.1% big-time throw rate is the eighth-lowest among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks in 2026. Yet he is playing solid football for the Cardinals. Brissett doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, with his 6.5% negatively graded play rate good for sixth-best in the league among passers to hit that dropback threshold.
20. Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders (up 2)
It’s a similar story for Cousins, who ranks fourth-lowest in the league with a 2.6% big-time throw rate but inside the top 10 with a 7.0% negatively graded play rate. His lack of mistakes are allowing the Raiders to stay in games, making them more competitive than many expected in 2026.
21. Geno Smith, New York Jets (down 4)
Like Brissett and Cousins before him, Smith is just not making a lot of errors. His 10.5% positively graded play rate is the lowest among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks, but his 5.4% negatively graded play rate is the second-best at the position.
22. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (down 10)
At a 44.7, Justin Herbert is the lowest-graded quarterback in the NFL to have been on the field for at least 100 dropbacks so far this season. The Chargers’ offensive line issues are well-documented, but his play has deteriorated as the season has worn on, with sub-50.0 PFF passing grades in each of the past two weeks.
23. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers (down 4)
Rodgers has now registered PFF grades below 60.0 in two of four games this season, and the Steelers have lost both of those matchups. His 12.0% negatively graded play rate is the fifth-worst among quarterbacks with at least 100 or more dropbacks. The Steelers need more from Rodgers given the strength of the offensive line in front of him.
24. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (down 4)
Nix owns the fourth-worst positively graded play rate and the ninth-worst negatively graded play rate at the position through the first four weeks of the season. His -6.1% accuracy over expectation also ranks inside the bottom five in what has been a tough start to the season for the Broncos’ signal caller.
25. Kyler Murray, Minnesota Vikings (down 1)
Murray had a much more effective performance in his second game back from injury than his first, earning an 82.3 PFF grade in the Vikings’ win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He just hasn’t been able to create big plays, though, with his 1.3% big-time throw rate the lowest mark among quarterbacks with 50 or more dropbacks so far this year.
26. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans (no change)
It would be unfair to Ward to say that there haven’t been flashes in his second season in the league, producing two games with a PFF grade north of 70.0 in the first four weeks of the season. However, the consistency hasn’t been there, and his 1.6% big-time throw rate is the lowest among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks.
27. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (up 1)
The underlying data doesn’t currently back up Watson’s raw stats, with the Browns quarterback having a 4-to-7 big-time-throw-to-turnover-worthy-play ratio despite playing to a 6-to-2 touchdown-to-interception difference. His 56.3 PFF grade through four weeks ranks ties for 20th among the 26 quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks so far this season.
28. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts (down 3)
Jones’ 5.4% turnover-worthy play rate is the fourth-worst among quarterbacks, and his 11.7% positively graded play rate and 2.2% big-time throw rates are each third-worst. That’s a rough combination for a quarterback, and it could be a long season for Jones if he’s not able to significantly improve at least one of those metrics.
29. Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins (down 2)
With a 47.3, Willis boasts the second-worst PFF grade among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks this season. His 14.6% negatively graded play rate is tied for the worst mark in the league, and his -8.0% completion percentage over expectation ranks second-worst.
The backups
30. Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears (not ranked)
Bagent earned a 80.0 PFF grade in the Bears’ win over the New York Jets on Sunday and finished with a +10.3% completion percentage over expectation. It’s never ideal to go into a game against your biggest rivals without your starting quarterback, but Bagent has shown that he can run this Bears offense ahead of their clash with the Green Bay Packers in Week 5.
31. Jameis Winston, New York Giants (no change)
Winston sports a 9.9% positively graded play rate so far this season, the second-worst among quarterbacks with at least 40 dropbacks. However, his 7.3% big-time throw rate is tied for second among that same group — so when he is making positive plays, they are usually big-time throws. He does also rank sixth-worst with a 11.5% negatively graded play rate, so Winston is giving the Giants what they would expect given the rest of his career to date.
32. Jalon Daniels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (no change)
Daniels struggled in his first start of his NFL career last week, going 19-for-27 for 148 yards with a touchdown and an interception. However, he did produce a big time-throw, and his 6.5% negatively graded play rate was the 10th-best among quarterbacks in Week 4. There were positives to take from the rookie’s performance.
© 2026 PFF - all rights reserved.