It seems the NFL’s best quarterbacks always come in waves, or eras, and there’s good reason for that.
So few players master the position to the level of being truly elite, and those that do have long careers remaining atop the QB hierarchy for a decade or more.
There was Joe Montana, John Elway and Dan Marino. That wave overlapped into Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Brett Favre and Warren Moon. Which bled into Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, etc. And so on.
(Yes, there were great quarterbacks before the 1980s too).
The current top guns have been atop the pyramid for a while now with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson leading this era (with Matthew Stafford sort of a bridge from the previous group to this one).
All of that is to say, it’s time for the next wave to start revealing itself.
Baker Mayfield’s career is taking off after a delayed start. Justin Herbert still has all the talent in the world, but it never seems to come together for his teams. Jalen Hurts has won a Super Bowl, but has plenty of doubters still. Jayden Daniels came out of the gates strong as the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year last year, but he’s having tough, injury-plagued 2025 campaign.
(Dak Prescott and Jared Goff are already on the back sides of their career at 32 and 31 years old, respectively, and never quite got to the mountain top yet remains very productive.)
Which brings us to New England Patriots second-year QB Drake Maye.
Is Maye going to be the leader of this next era? More to the point, is he already a top-10 NFL quarterback?
Maybe … and maybe!
Maye’s rookie season was compromised a bit by a coaching staff that seemed overmatched and promptly got fired after one year. (Former head coach Jerod Mayo is presently out of coaching and former offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt is now a senior offensive assistant for the Rams.) And the Patriots’ offensive line last season was generally considered one of the five worst in the league.
Even still, Maye showed flashes while passing for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and rushing for 421 yards and two scores. He’s taken the leap this year, though, with 1,744 passing yards, 12 TDs, 2 INTs and 200 rushing yards with two scores, leading New England to a 5-2 start and first place in the AFC East.
The 2024 No. 3 overall pick out of North Carolina plays with pocket presence beyond his years, will take off and run when he sees an opening ala Mahomes and Allen (we’ll leave Jackson in his own class in that regard), has a big arm and already shows elite touch fitting passes into tight windows and dropping dimes downfield.
He showed all that in the Patriots’ 31-13 win at Tennessee last week, as he completed 21-of-23 passes for 222 yards and 2 TDs and rushed for 62 yards — including this 39-yard TD strike to Kayshon Boutte.
As that stat indicates, Maye is proving to be one of the best downfield passers in the league already and is tied with Goff for the NFL’s best passer rating (116.4).
As for whether he’s already a top 10 quarterback, let’s break it down …
No-Doubt Top-10 QBs
Patrick Mahomes: Three-time Super Bowl champ, still playing at his peak and the betting favorite to win the MVP — again. Enough said.
Josh Allen: The reigning MVP at the top of his game. Moving on …
Lamar Jackson: Sure, he still has to prove he can deliver through a full postseason, but the two-time NFL MVP is one of the ultimate difference-makers in the sport.
Joe Burrow: He’s missing most of this season with injury, but Burrow’s credentials are well established, including getting the Bengals to a Super Bowl and leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns last year.
Matthew Stafford: He’s won a Super Bowl, ranks ninth all-time in career passing yards (61,675) and is still delivering at a high level at age 37 (NFL-best 17 TD passes, only 2 INTs and ranks third with 1,866 yards).
Yeah, These Guys Too
Justin Herbert: The 2020 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year has one of the strongest arms in the game, is built like a rock at 6-foot-6, 236 pounds, already has a 5,000-yard passing season on his resume and leads the NFL entering Week 8 with 1,913 passing yards. Herbert and the next QB on this list are in a second tier because they don’t have any MVPs or Super Bowls or really much postseason success of any kind. But two-thirds of the league would trade for Herbert in a heartbeat.
Dak Prescott: Prescott is having a vintage year, ranking second in the league with 1,881 passing yards and 16 TDs with 3 INTs. He’s over 33,000 passing yards for his career, despite a few injury-shortened seasons along the way.
Would Be Hard To Leave Out …
Baker Mayfield: The former No. 1 overall pick and had a delayed breakout after bouncing around several teams, but he’s found his footing in Tampa Bay and is squarely in the MVP discussion.
Jalen Hurts: Hurts won a Super Bowl last year and was the runner-up for the MVP in 2022. He’s one of the more polarizing QBs, as the Eagles don’t rely on his arm like every other QB on this list, but that isn’t necessarily a knock on Hurts. Philadelphia leaned on him more heavily last week and he completed 19-of-23 passes for 326 yards and 3 TDs. He may not be top 10 in the league in passing yards, but he has an 11-1 TD-to-INT ratio and has thrown single-digit picks in all but one season.
That Leaves 1 Spot …
Settling on the final spot is tough and likely doesn’t have a consensus answer.
We covered Maye already, and the competition includes …
Jared Goff puts up big stats every years and leads one of the top offenses in football, but he’s had some high-profile failures in his biggest postseason games (Super Bowl LIII with the Rams and the playoff loss to the Commanders last year).
Jordan Love is on the ascent and has gotten better each of his three seasons as a starter. He’s in the middle of the pack in passing yards overall but fifth in the league in yards per attempt (8.2), which is perhaps a better gauge of his talent. But is he a slam-dunk top-10 QB? Probably in time, but not yet.
Sam Darnold is following the Mayfield playbook of perceived draft bust finding his way after bouncing around the league. Darnold broke out last year with the Vikings (before a bad final two games helped usher out his departure) and has been great for the Seahawks this year. His 9.1 yards per attempt is second only to Lamar Jackson and he’s top 10 in yards and TDs as well. But we still need to see more.
Brock Purdy is as polarizing as any quarterback in the league. Is the former Mr. Irrelevant a product of Kyle Shanahan’s offense in San Francisco or is he an elite playmaker who also happens to be in a great offense (when healthy)?
C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels were the last two Offensive Rookie of the Year winners, but Stroud has struggled to match his first season while Daniels has been plagued by injury this year. Bo Nix had a lot of hype entering his sophomore season, but he’s not top-10 caliber just yet. Daniel Jones is having a delayed breakout season with the Colts, but let’s let that one play out a bit more. Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick last year, is getting better but nowhere near the top 10 yet. Fellow former No. 1 picks Kyler Murray and Trevor Lawrence have had their moments but never played up to full expectations. Rookie Jaxson Dart is just starting to emerge for the Giants. And all respect to Aaron Rodgers, one of the all-time greats, but his prime is past.
Anyone not mentioned is even further from the top-10 conversation.
And The Verdict On Drake Maye Is?
Honestly, a strong case could be made for Maye over any of those other QBs in consideration. If it were put to a vote, Love would probably top the list. Or maybe it would be Daniels based on what he did last year, leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship game as a rookie while passing for 3,568 yards, 25 TDs and 9 INTs and rushing for 891 yards and 6 TDs. But his completion percentage is down from 69 to 61 this season, his rushing stats are down a tick and he’s just 2-3 in games he started this year.
Some may make a case for Goff, but he never seems to be the biggest reason his team or offense succeed.
In the end, Daniels, Maye and Love all have a strong case and we’d rank them in that order for now. It’s all possible all three of them force their way into the top 10 soon enough as the head of the next QB wave.