No, Lamar Jackson doesn’t deserve to be ranked among the NFL’s top 10 quarterbacks
Is Lamar Jackson no longer a top 10 quarterback in the NFL?
The answer is no, according to at least one participant in ESPN’s annual quarterback survey of executives, coaches and scouts. Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd agrees.
“I’m no longer confident in Lamar Jackson in a big spot. I’m selling my shares… Today, in a come-from-behind situation against Lamar in the fourth quarter, I’d take Bo Nix,” Cowherd said Tuesday.
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Cowherd then ranked the top 10 quarterbacks:
- Josh Allen (Bills)
- Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
- caleb williams (Bears)
- Matthew Stafford (Coaches)
- Justin Herbert (Chargers)
- Joe Burrow (Bengals)
- Sam Darnold (Seahawks)
- Jared Goff (Lions)
- Jordan Love (Packers)
- Drake Maye (Patriots)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson reacts as he runs off the field after an NFL game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on November 25, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
On the surface, leaving Jackson out of the top 10 seems like some kind of anger trap.
Claims that Jackson is on the same level as Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are mostly culture-war debates In addition to his football analysis, Jackson has been one of the league’s leading quarterbacks over the past seven seasons. He won two league MVP awards during this time.
Considering his dominance in the previous regular season, Jackson rightly has a better chance of being MVP this year than most of the quarterbacks Cowherd ranked ahead of him.
However, there is a valid counter argument. Although Jackson’s ceiling remains among the highest in football, his floor may no longer be so.
First, it Negative One of the top 10 defenders of last season.
Jackson averaged just 196.1 passes per game in 13 starts; This is Michael Penix Jr. and Geno was less than Smith. A projected 21 touchdown passes over 17 games would be roughly around the league average. He wasn’t the same rushing threat either, finishing with just 349 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
In almost every respect, Jackson was far less dynamic than he had been for most of his career.
Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens runs for a touchdown in the third quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Maybe injuries played a role. Maybe he was never completely healthy. If so, he can certainly return to this season’s MVP form.
It is also possible that his decline occurred earlier than expected. This wouldn’t be unprecedented. Russell Wilson went from one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks to an average starter in one offseason. Cam Newton had a similarly steep decline.
Quarterbacks who rely heavily on athleticism age less gracefully than those who mostly win out of pocket. Jackson is an accurate passer, but his unique running ability has always been at the heart of what makes him special.
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And even if Jackson returns to regular season form, legitimate questions will remain.
As Cowherd points out, Jackson consistently comes up short when it matters most. Despite his success in the regular season, his postseason resume is underwhelming. He is 3-5 in the playoffs with a 60.6% completion rate, a 7-to-10 touchdown/interception ratio and a passer rating of 84.6.
These numbers support Cowherd’s claim that he will rely on Bo Nix instead of Jackson in the event of a fourth-quarter comeback. In a playoff game against the Bills last season, Nix showed more big-game grasping ability than Jackson ever did.
If that’s the primary standard for evaluating quarterbacks (how they perform in the biggest moments), then leaving Jackson out of the top 10 becomes a defensible position.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) walks off the field after beating the Cincinnati Bengals in an NFL football game. The game was played on December 14, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
It would also make sense to identify 10 quarterbacks who enter the 2026 season with fewer unanswered questions.
We don’t know if Jackson is fully healthy, if his athleticism has started to decline, how he will adapt to the new coaching staff, or how committed he is to football long-term. Nearly every offseason there are reports questioning his commitment to the game or his happiness in Baltimore.
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These concerns do not exist to the same degree for most of the league’s other top quarterbacks. Mahomes, Allen, Stafford, Burrow, Maye and Caleb Williams enter the season with safer picks than Jackson. The debate is over how he compares to quarterbacks like Jordan Love, Jared Goff, Jayden Daniels and Sam Darnold.
Simply put, it’s fair to ask whether Lamar Jackson is still a top-10 quarterback. And until we uncover the biggest moments, such questions will remain valid.
