ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler Talks NFL QB Rankings & More with Rich

It is a quarterback-driven league, and ESPN saved the quarterbacks for last. Jeremy Fowler's position rankings rolled out through July, running backs first on the 6th, then cornerbacks, edge rushers, defensive tackles, tight ends, tackles, interior linemen, and finally quarterbacks on a Monday. "We kind of hide offensive linemen on the weekends and then hit them with quarterback on a Monday," Fowler told Rich. It worked. The quarterback list is the one everybody is talking about.

The process is not a hunch. Fowler said he talked to roughly 80 people around the league and got ballots from at least 70, each submitting a top 10 that he compiled into a composite ranking. His criteria are deliberately simple: who is the best right now, playground rules, not a career achievement award.

By that measure, Josh Allen is the best. Fowler said the fear factor with Allen is thick, that he is the quarterback a defensive coordinator least wants to game plan against. The old knock was turnovers, and Allen has curbed them the last two seasons apart from the Denver playoff game. One point stuck with Fowler from the coaches he polled: when you prepare for Buffalo, Allen is one through five on the scouting report and still beats you. "Fear is currency in the NFL," Fowler said. "Who do you fear most? He's the most feared right now."

Patrick Mahomes landed second, and Fowler's line was that the game cannot quit him. Mahomes got 41 percent of the first-place votes, the most of anyone, though more voters than usual slid him outside the top three to five. The benefit of the doubt is tied to his supporting cast, a thin running game and a receiving group of Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice, and Hollywood Brown that never quite clicked. Now he is rehabbing from an ACL and PCL injury, and Kansas City is leaning toward him for week one.

Matthew Stafford drew the strongest words. Several coaches told Fowler that Stafford was simply the best quarterback last year, and that it was not close. One AFC offensive coach called Stafford and Sean McVay the best quarterback-coach duo in the league. Fowler noted the flip side, that Stafford has clean conditions, two number one receivers, and an elite play caller who leaned into three-tight-end sets to protect his back. Fowler also relayed that Aaron Donald has not dispelled the retirement rumors, and that Les Snead described Donald as a principled individual who will only return if he knows he can be his dominant self.

Joe Burrow came in fourth, held there by availability. Fowler said Tim Hasselbeck argued Burrow should be lower for the same reason, that a quarterback cannot be out that much and be taken seriously. Chris pushed on Justin Herbert, asking what Herbert does better than Drake Maye to rank higher. Fowler conceded the point, noting Maye led the league in QBR, yards per attempt, and completion percentage, and that he was surprised Maye landed eighth. Coaches, he added, knocked Herbert for football maturity.

The eyebrow-raiser was Jalen Hurts, the only Super Bowl MVP left out of the top 10. Fowler said Hurts appeared on about 15 percent of ballots and that his passing offense has ranked in the bottom third of the league. Lamar Jackson checked in fifth, with Fowler optimistic that new coordinator Declan Doyle, out of the Ben Johnson tree, plus a possible new contract, gets Jackson back to his form.