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Quarterbacks are the most important position in football. After all, they're the highest-paid players, and the past 13 NFL MVP award winners are, you guessed it, quarterbacks. While some quarterbacks are a byproduct of their offensive ecosystems, a select few elevate above their current circumstances to the ranks of the elite.
These rankings are fluid and designed to tell the story of each starting quarterback's respective rise and/or fall throughout the season. That's why some quarterbacks in this week's rankings rose as many as six spots or fell as many as seven. Not in a vacuum, Patrick Mahomes would remain No. 1 for the foreseeable future and so on. He hasn't been in the top spot for some weeks now, given his torn ACL and others playing better ahead of him. However, that isn't set in stone, and he could rise back to the top of the board as the 2026 season progresses. Unfortunately for him, he was this week's biggest faller entering Week 8.
So where do the league's biggest names line up entering the eighth week of the regular season? Enjoy the Week 8 edition of the 2026 NFL Quarterback Power Rankings:
| 1 | |
| Jared Goff has 14 passing touchdowns, two behind Kirk Cousins for the league lead, and zero interceptions in 2026 while leading the NFL in passing yards per game (298.0) and passer rating (112.5). Goff's 223 throws without an interception are the most through the first six games of a season in NFL history. His 14 touchdowns without an interception are also tied for the most in NFL history in that span, along with Russell Wilson in the 2019 season. Fresh off winning his duel with Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers at the last second, Goff also ranks second in expected points added (EPA) per dropback (0.29), just one one-hundredth behind Josh Allen (0.30). However, Goff has been the much better passer this season, which gets him the nod for the top spot entering Week 8. (+2) | |
| 2 | |
| Josh Allen stays put after a Week 7 bye. He enters Week 8 well rested and leading the NFL in total touchdowns (17, nine passing and eight rushing) and expected points added (EPA) per dropback (0.30), ninth in completion percentage (66.7%) and eighth in passer rating (102.1). The 2024 NFL MVP is close to reclaiming the top spot this season, but Goff's passing production has been historic thus far in 2026. (No change) | |
| 3 | |
| The San Francisco 49ers suffered their first defeat of 2026, a 29-20 loss at the Atlanta Falcons, in Week 7. Brock Purdy (288 yards passing, a touchdown and two interceptions on 27-of-40 passing) was down six wide receivers because of injury: Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, De'Zhaun Stribling, Christian Kirk, Ricky Pearsall and Demarcus Robinson. Purdy enters Week 8 as the NFL co-runner-up in touchdown passes (16). He also ranks third in the league in EPA per dropback (0.27) and passer rating (110.1), fifth in completion percentage (69.2%) and third in pass yards per attempt (8.3). He'll have a chance at climbing back up the ladder after his Week 8 bye. (-2) | |
| 4 | |
| Joe Burrow is fresh off frying the Ravens in Baltimore (292 yards and 4 passing touchdowns on 22 of 30 passing) in a 35-13 rout. He now ranks top five in the league in completion percentage (71.7%), passing yards per game (275.5), touchdown-to-interception ratio (15-3) and passer rating (110.4). Burrow checks in at No. 6 EPA per dropback (0.17). He comes off his Week 6 bye ranking second in the league in completion percentage (71.4%) while ranking seventh in passing touchdowns (11), sixth in passer rating (104.4) and seventh in passing yards per game (272.2). Burrow is now just the sixth quarterback in NFL history with a completion percentage of 70% or better, 15-plus passing touchdowns and three or fewer interceptions through six games. The others are Kurt Warner (1999), Daunte Culpepper (2004), Tom Brady (2007), Aaron Rodgers (2011) and Peyton Manning (2013). Culpepper is the only one of the previous five to not win league MVP honors in their respective seasons. (+2) | |
| 5 | |
| Trevor Lawrence is well rested after his Week 7 bye and still profiling as a top-five quarterback. He is tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (14) and ranks fifth in the NFL in yards per pass attempt (8.0), fifth in passer rating (106.2) and fifth in EPA per dropback (0.19) for the 4-2 Jaguars. (No change) | |
| 6 | |
| Caleb Williams continued his high-level efficiency with 308 yards and two passing touchdowns on 22-of-33 passing in the Chicago Bears' 30-24 "Thursday Night Football" victory over the New England Patriots. He played it safe in his first game back with a 3.9 air yards per pass attempt average in Week 6, the third lowest of the week. Williams is one of just two quarterbacks averaging 250-plus passing yards per game (255.0, ninth in the NFL) and a completion percentage above 70% (71%, second in the NFL), along with Joe Burrow. Williams also ranks sixth in passer rating (105.6) and fourth in EPA per dropback (0.26). He is knocking on the door for a spot in the top five. (+3) | |
| 7 | |
| The Packers have put Jordan Love in the tough spot of having to do everything and more in order to win on a weekly basis. Tallying 274 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 27-of-45 passing was almost enough in the Packers' narrow 20-17 loss at the Detroit Lions that featured two missed field goals. Green Bay is dead last in the NFL in rushing offense by nearly 15 yards per game (69.9 rushing yards per game) while leading the league in dropped passes with 21, eight more than the next closest team (the one-win Titans). Love has also been hit 53 times this season, tied for the most in the league with Jacoby Brissett and Deshaun Watson. Despite all that, Love ranks second in the NFL in passing yards (1,958) and tied for seventh in passing touchdowns (13). He is being asked to be a miracle worker, and he's done enough to have Green Bay at 4-3 and inside the NFC playoff picture through seven weeks. (No change) | |
| 8 | |
| Drake Maye is BACK. He threw for 321 yards, two passing touchdowns and an interception while leading the Patriots in rushing yards (26 on four carries) and adding a rushing touchdown in New England's 30-24 defeat at the Bears. Maye is now up to 14 total touchdowns for the month of October in four starts after just one total touchdown in three September starts. That is tied for the largest month-to-month total touchdown increase (+13) in NFL history. Maye's 10 turnovers in 2026 are tied for the most in the league, but seven of them occurred in September. His 15 total touchdowns are now tied for the fifth most in the NFL. (+4) | |
| 9 | |
| Dak Prescott operated in cruise control (212 passing yards and three passing touchdowns on 15-of-27 passing) in the Dallas Cowboys' 38-21 "Monday Night Football" victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Prescott now profiles as a top 10 quarterback once again in passing yards (1,851, fifth), passing touchdowns (13, tied for seventh) and EPA per dropback (0.14, ninth). (+4) | |
| 10 | |
| With Falcons All-Pro running back Bijan Robinson struggling (63 yards rushing on 20 carries) on Sunday, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (213 yards passing, three passing touchdowns on 25-of-34 passing) put the team on his back to hand the 49ers their first loss of the 2026 season. Penix's consecutive games with 200-plus passing yards, three-plus passing touchdowns and no interceptions have him inside the top 10 for the first time this season. He's earned it, ranking inside the top 10 in the NFL in the following metrics: completion percentage (66.7%, 10th), passing yards per attempt (8.0, sixth), touchdown-to-interception ratio (9-1, fourth) and passer rating (109.1, fourth). (+6) | |
| 11 | |
| It would have been really easy to just stick Patrick Mahomes at No. 10 off his career resume alone, but he hasn't earned a top 10 ranking entering Week 8. In the Chiefs' 20-3 faceplant at the Seattle Seahawks on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 7, the Chiefs failed to enter the red zone in a game for the first time in Mahomes' career, and it was the first game in coach Andy Reid's career as a head coach (488 games) without an explosive play (10+ yard run or 20+ yard reception). Mahomes hasn't thrown a touchdown in each of the last two weeks, tossing two interceptions, while averaging under 5.0 air yards per pass attempt in consecutive games for the first time in his career. This season, Bo Nix (5.7 air yards per pass attempt) is the only of the 33 qualified quarterbacks to average a lower air yards per pass attempt than Mahomes' 6.0. (-7) | |
| 12 | |
| Matthew Stafford is leading the NFL in passing yards (1,989) once again in 2026, but both the eye test and his underlying numbers indicate Stafford isn't the same guy he was when he won league MVP honors last year. He did throw for an efficient 195 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on 23-of-29 passing in a road win at the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8, but he now has seven interceptions this season (tied for the fourth most in the league with Daniel Jones). That's just one fewer than the eight he threw in the entire 2025 season. After ranking third in the NFL in EPA per dropback (0.19) in 2025, Stafford now ranks 15th in the metric (0.10) this season. Everything just looks and feels more difficult for him at the age of 38. (+3) | |
| 13 | |
| Kirk Cousins quietly leads the NFL with 16 passing touchdowns entering Week 8, but that obviously isn't the focus with the Raiders on a four-game losing streak following their 3-0 start to 2026. He threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns in Las Vegas' loss vs. the Rams, but his lack of efficiency (59.1% completion percentage) was an issue. Fortunately for Cousins, this coming week, he gets to face a New York Jets squad that gave the Miami Dolphins their first win of 2026. (-3) | |
| 14 | |
| Bryce Young and the Panthers had a chance to bury the Buccaneers' hopes of contending for the NFC South title in Week 7, but instead the Bucs sank the Panthers in Charlotte with a beatdown. Young struggled mightily with three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble that was returned for a touchdown) in addition to 163 yards and a touchdown on 14-of-27 passing. Outside of finding tight end Darren Waller wide open for a 50-yard touchdown, Young was stuck in the mud against the now two-win Buccaneers. Young ranks second in the NFL in passing yards per game (285.3), but he needs to bounce back in a major way in Week 8 at Green Bay on "Thursday Night Football." (-6) | |
| 15 | |
| C.J. Stroud ended his third home game with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions (153 yards passing and two passing touchdowns on 17-of-28 passing), but the Texans have now lost all three after their overtime defeat against the J.J. McCarthy-led Giants. Stroud now enters his bye week pondering how he and Houston can move the ball more consistently after the Texans totaled 237 yards of offense, their fewest at home since a 2024 game against the Ravens. (-4) | |
| 16 | |
| Aaron Rodgers helped lead his Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) out of Paris with a 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints. He threw for a touchdown and 212 yards on 19-of-30 passing in the winning effort. Rodgers' 12 passing touchdowns since Week 3 are tied for first in the NFL in this span, along with Drake Maye and Joe Burrow. His overall efficiency numbers aren't great, but Rodgers is still able to remind the football world why he won four NFL MVPs. His 51-yard heave to wide receiver DK Metcalf entirely through the air on Sunday was a thing of beauty, and in that moment, it was easy to forget Rodgers will turn 43 years old on Dec. 2. (+1) | |
| 17 | |
| Fresh off a Week 7 bye, Jayden Daniels is seeking to produce 300-plus total yards, multiple total touchdowns and no turnovers for the third straight week. Daniels is still seeking his first victory since Week 5 of the 2025 season against the Los Angeles Chargers. He is 0-7-1 in his last eight starts after winning 14 of his first 20 career starts. Good thing he gets to play the battered Eagles in Week 8. (-1) | |
| 18 | |
| Life is hard for Tyler Shough and his 2-5 Saints right now. The 10 points they scored in their 16-10 defeat against the Steelers in Paris tied for the fewest in a Shough start thus far in his young career. He completed 30 of his 38 throws for 278 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but the timing on his pick could not have been worse. New Orleans had driven down to the Pittsburgh 10, and Shough threw the football right to Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson. Perhaps his Week 8 bye will help him finetune his accuracy in key moments. (No change) | |
| 19 | |
| The Vikings (6-0) are the NFL's last undefeated team, but the defense is doing much of the heavy lifting. Minnesota's 10 touchdowns this season are the fewest during a 6-0 start since the 1934 Detroit Lions. Quarterback Kyler Murray completed 14 of his 24 throws for 150 yards and a touchdown while adding 39 yards rushing on five carries. Murray's individual production hasn't been stellar this season, as he ranks 31st among 33 qualified quarterbacks in passing yards per game (162.4) and 28th in EPA per dropback (-0.12). However, he deserves a little credit for being a good enough game manager to ride the tsunami that is defensive coordinator Brian Flores' defense to an undefeated start to the season. (+2) | |
| 20 | |
| The Cleveland Browns are 5-2, and Deshaun Watson has earned some credit for that record. He can be bumpy at times, but he's been clutch in the final two minutes of halves with four touchdowns and no interceptions in those moments. Across the rest of the games, he has three touchdowns and three interceptions. Watson is physically diminished from his three-time Pro Bowl prime with the Texans, but he has the NFL's No. 20 passer rating (90.6) and No. 21 EPA per dropback (-0.01). (+3) | |
| 21 | |
| Sam Darnold (257 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception on 20-of-28 passing) did what he needed to do in the Seahawks' 20-3 defensive masterclass against Kansas City on "Sunday Night Football." It's a good thing the Seahawks traded for eight-time Pro Bowl Quenton Nelson in a deal with the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday, because Darnold has the second-lowest EPA per dropback (-0.63) when pressured entering Week 8. Seattle has the highest quarterback pressure rate allowed (5.7%) by interior offensive linemen this season. Darnold's 22 interceptions are the most in the NFL since he joined the Seahawks in 2025, but Seattle is 17-6 in his 23 starts. Not a bad life. (-1) | |
| 22 | |
| Geno Smith has the NFL's third-best completion percentage (70%) this season, but he isn't pushing the football down the field. His 6.7 air yards per pass attempt ranks as the fifth lowest in the entire league in 2026. The consequences of that play style were evident in Week 7. The Jets allowed the Dolphins to win their first football game of the year, 28-25, despite Smith throwing for 287 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on 23-of-30 passing. Jets No. 1 receiver Garrett Wilson had an animated conversation with Smith during the game, and it's hard to blame him for letting his emotions boil over. (-3) | |
| 23 | |
| The Giants' overtime win at Houston on Sunday in J.J. McCarthy's first start with the team was reminiscent of McCarthy's victorious efforts at Michigan. McCarthy got out of the way with 252 yards passing while completing 20 of his 28 throws, and four different Giants ran for a touchdown while the defense made just enough plays. That may be all New York needs in the watered-down, 2026 iteration of the NFC East. (Not ranked entering Week 7) | |
| 24 | |
| Bo Nix had his best game of the season (222 yards passing and a touchdown on 15-of-19 passing, with 74 yards rushing and a touchdown on seven carries) in the Denver Broncos' road win at the Cardinals. Nix registered the longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback in Broncos history on Sunday from 62 yards out, with the Cardinals' defense parting like the Red Sea on Nix's scramble. He went up the middle of the field unencumbered. However, that didn't change the fact that Nix hasn't been challenging defenses downfield as a passer all season. He is averaging an NFL-worst 5.7 air yards per pass attempt, the shortest average pass length by any quarterback through the first seven games of a season since Drew Brees in 2020. That was Hall of Famer's final NFL season before his right shoulder fully gave out. (+1) | |
| 25 | |
| Malik Willis had his best start as a Dolphin (208 yards passing and two passing touchdowns on 14-of-21 passing, while rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown). As a result, Miami won its first game, a 28-25 road victory at the Jets. Willis is now the second quarterback in team history with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in consecutive games, along with Jay Fiedler in 2002. (+2) | |
| 26 | |
| Baker Mayfield was a bystander (64 yards passing and a touchdown on 7-of-11 passing) in Tampa Bay's 43-13 victory over Carolina. Sunday marked Mayfield's return after missing the last three games with a thumb injury. This season, Mayfield ranks 24th in passer rating (83.0) and dead last in EPA per dropback (-0.21). (Not ranked entering Week 7) | |
| 27 | |
| Lamar Jackson's status for Week 8 is murky after missing the last three games with an ankle injury, so Tyler Huntley remains as the Ravens' starting quarterback representative in these rankings. The Ravens are 1-2 and averaging 17.7 points per game in Huntley's three starts this season. He (298 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception on 23-of-34 passing) and the Ravens laid an egg in Baltimore's home loss against the Bengals. The Ravens led 13-0 at halftime before being outscored 35-0 in the second half. Huntley doesn't scare teams downfield, averaging the fourth-fewest air yards per pass attempt (6.3) in the entire NFL. (-5) | |
| 28 | |
| Despite being pressured on an NFL-low 25.8% of his dropbacks this season, Jacoby Brissett is a bottom-10 quarterback in passer rating (82.9) and air yards per pass attempt (6.8). The good news is he faces the Cowboys on Sunday, the only team he won a game against in 2025. (-2) | |
| 29 | |
| Justin Herbert still has flashes here and there, but he is a broken quarterback in 2026. He co-leads the NFL in interceptions (8) and turnovers (10), and he is the first quarterback in NFL history to start a year 0-6 with an interception and multiple sacks taken in that span. Herbert has been sacked 13 times in the fourth quarter in 2026, which is more than 17 qualified quarterbacks' entire season totals in the fourth quarter. (No change) | |
| 30 | |
| Daniel Jones leads the NFL in turnovers this season (10), alongside Herbert, while producing just five total touchdowns. He is a big reason why the Colts felt hopeless enough to fire general manager Chris Ballard and trade away both guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner on Tuesday. (-2) | |
| 31 | |
| Tanner McKee wasn't able to take advantage of the Cowboys' struggling defense on Monday, throwing for just 211 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 23-of-35 passing in a home defeat. It could be a long year for a Philadelphia squad that has lost five in a row after a 2-0 start. (No change) | |
| 32 | |
| Cam Ward is a frustrating watch. He threw for 181 yards passing and an interception in the Titans' narrow defeat against the Browns. Ward will have moments where you feel hopeful, but he also has too many head-scratching moments for a player in his second season, and now with an upgraded supporting cast. Ward is the first quarterback since Bobby Scott in 1976 to start his team's first seven games and have no touchdown passes in the first three quarters in that stretch. He's had a puzzling start to his NFL career. (No change) | |
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