Who's at the Top?

by Marc Narducci | Jul 25, 2025

Filling in the downtime before NFL training camps open, ESPN published a series of articles that had executives, coaches and scouts rank players by position. The one that drew the most attention, at least in the Delaware Valley, was the quarterback ranking.

That’s because Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, coming off a Super Bowl MVP performance in a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, barely made the top 10, placing ninth. Again, articles like this make for plenty of idle chatter and not to sound like a homer, but Hurts should have been much higher.

Here was the top 10 list:

1.Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo
3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati
4. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore
5. Jayden Daniels, Washington
6. Matthew Stafford, LA Rams
7. Justin Herbert, LA Chargers
8. Jared Goff, Detroit
9. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia
10. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay.

The case for Hurts

Isn’t winning the No. 1 job for a quarterback? That is certainly why Mahomes, with three Super Bowl victories (and two defeats) is ranked up top, even if one wants to nitpick that he is coming off consecutive subpar seasons (by his high standards). The only other Top 10 quarterback besides Mahomes and Hurts who has won a Super Bowl is Stafford.

It seems as if Hurts gets points taken away because he is surrounded by such a talented cast.

Name a quarterback who has won big and hasn’t had great players around him.

Look at Jackson in Baltimore. He has both a solid offense and defense, yet he has never earned a Super Bowl appearance. Burrow benefits by having one of the best receiver tandems in the league (Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins).

People have mentioned even Mahomes has a subpar receiving unit, but he has benefited from having future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, plus an offensive line with three Pro Bowl selections last year.

All top teams and quarterbacks have their weapons. Does Hurts have more than most?

That is fair to say, but why should he be penalized for this. Joe Montana got to throw to arguably the all-time best receiver in Jerry Rice and nobody subtracts points when talking about his greatness.

Hurts is entering his sixth season and fifth as the full-time starter. His regular season quarterback record is 46-20. More appropriately, he is 6-3 in the playoffs and has guided the Eagles to the postseason in each of his first four seasons as a full-time starter.

In the two biggest games of his career, he was at his best in both Super Bowl appearances.

During the Eagles 38-35 loss to Kansas City in the Super Bowl following the 2022 season, Hurts completed 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran 15 times for 70 yards and three scores. Sure, he had a costly fumble that Nick Bolton returned 36 yards for a touchdown. Yet Hurts was virtually unstoppable. In fairness, Mahomes was also excellent in earning the game MVP—21 of 27 passing for 182 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing for 44 yards on six attempts.

One could say at the least, Hurts more than held his own against Mahomes, something not many quarterbacks could have said that season.

In the most recent Super Bowl, Kansas City had a plan to do everything to stop Saquon Barkley and make Hurts beat them.

And that is exactly what happened—Hurts torched the Chiefs’ defense. He completed 17 of 22 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while rushing for 72 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Is it true that there have been periods of inconsistency in Hurts’ game?. That is fair to say, but it has to matter that he plays so well in the big games.

In the 55-23 rout of Washington during last season’s NFC championship game, Hurts completed 20 of 28 for 246 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also scored on three touchdown runs.

Anyway, here is how this reporter would rank the top quarterbacks:

1.Mahomes

Article continues below

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2. Allen
3. Hurts
4. Burrow
5. Jackson
6. Stafford
7. Herbert.
8. Daniels
9. Mayfield
10. CJ Stroud (Texans).

Photo: Jalen Hurts / Courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles

Author: Marc Narducci

Who's at the Top?

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