The Steelers faced a litany of very good quarterbacks in 2025. Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Drake Maye, and the eventual Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold all crossed the Steelers’ path last season, on top of their two dates per year with Lamar Jackson.
When it comes to the quarterback position, the Steelers will face two of the five MVP finalists from a season ago, as well as familiar foes with chips on their respective shoulders. With that said, here are this year’s opposing quarterback rankings.
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14. Deshaun Watson/Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns
The Browns comfortably have the worst quarterback room in the NFL, as I pointed out when building the worst possible team for the 2026 NFL season. Of the 47 quarterbacks to play at least 100 snaps in 2025, Sanders ranks 46th in EPA per play and 45th in success rate. In Watson’s case, it’s even more impressive just how terrible he’s been.
Dating back to 2022, 76 quarterbacks have played 200+ snaps – Watson ranks 67th in adjusted EPA per play and 68th in success rate. Even worse for the Browns is that five of the bottom 10 quarterbacks all played for Cleveland.
It’s a real reverse Sophie’s Choice here for the Browns, as they have to choose which one of these quarterbacks to start for the season. Odds are, both will see considerable playing time.
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13. Tua Tagovailoa/Michael Penix, Atlanta Falcons
Speaking of Sophie’s Choice, it’s the Atlanta Falcons. Both Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa are low-end quarterbacks. Tagovailoa finished 32nd in EPA per play in 2025 (min. 200 plays) while Penix finished 23rd. Both are also very limited athletes, and for Tagovailoa especially, it gets dire when the play breaks down and he isn’t in rhythm.
The Panthers aren’t a good team. They won the NFC South with a losing record, and there are very few high-end players on the roster. When looking at Young, 2025 feels like the absolute peak for him as a player – and even then, it wasn’t very good. Of the 40 quarterbacks to play at least 200 snaps, Young was 27th in success rate and 31st in EPA per play while throwing for just over 3,000 yards. The Panthers will finish at least five games under .500 and will have a new quarterback in 2027.
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Seven quality games does not cancel out six years of poor quarterback play. Kudos to Jones for having a very good September-October, but the Colts fell apart in the second half of the season. He’s coming off the torn Achilles, as well, so it could be Anthony Richardson or Riley Leonard that the Steelers face in Week 5. Even if it is Jones, from Week 8 onward, he was 22nd in EPA per play (min. 100 plays).
When you think of the Broncos, you think of that great defense, not of Bo Nix. He finished 32nd in success rate last season and averaged a measly 6.4 yards per attempt. He doesn’t have a big arm, and he’s inaccurate when it comes to pushing the ball downfield. To me, he is this era’s Andy Dalton. A starter, sure, but not someone you look at and want to give a massive extension to when the time comes.
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The ceiling of Tyler Shough excites me. He and the Saints ended the season as one of the hottest in the NFL, and on an individual basis, he closed the year strong. From Weeks 14-18, he was 10th in EPA, accounted for eight total touchdowns, and led New Orleans to a 4-1 record in their final five games. With new weapons in the forms of Travis Etienne and Jordyn Tyson, I see Shough making a notable leap in 2026.
8. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
Advanced metrics don’t paint Ward in a good light whatsoever, but the Titans were an utter disaster in 2025 and the former No. 1 overall pick was given the worst group of skill position players in recent memory. In spite of that, he continued to improve throughout the season. From Weeks 10-18, Ward threw 10 touchdowns to just one interception and ranked 15th in passer rating among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts, per Sumer Sports.
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Many have soured on C.J. Stroud, going as far as saying Houston should entertain trade offers for the Ohio State product. His five interceptions and two fumbles lost in the postseason were rightfully scrutinized, and he has a lot to prove in 2026 should he want to see a big extension from the Texans. All that said, he is still, at worst, a middle of the pack starter in the NFL. If he has any sort of bounce back from a rough postseason and helps Houston become more explosive offensively, he’ll see his stock rise back up.
Like Stroud, it was a down year for Hurts. Despite the spoils of riches Philadelphia had offensively, its offense struggled to produce points, which led to the firing of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. And while he was rightfully criticized and moved on from, Hurts was a large reason why the offense struggled. He held on to the ball too much, leading to sacks and easy completions left on the table in hopes of something bigger opening downfield. While leading the NFL in deep pass percentage, Hurts was only 14th in completion percentage on such throws.
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The offense passing game was very one-dimensional, and that has more to do with the quarterback than coordinator. There are a lot of detractors towards Hurts, and he has a lot to prove in 2026 after the very public split and rumored beef he had with A.J. Brown. With all of that said, he, like Stroud, is at worst in the middle of the quarterback hierarchy. With a big season, he could quiet a lot of critics.
Mayfield has been one of the more consistently-good quarterbacks in the league over the last three seasons. In that span, he is second in touchdown passes and fifth in passing yards. He his, however, coming off a season that saw the Bucs lose seven of their final nine games following a 6-2 start, and his play in that stretch became more high-variance. Even so, when Mayfield is on, there are a decreasing number of quarterbacks who can match him. Will he be able to lead the Bucs back to the postseason after the departures of Mike Evans and LaVonte David? We’ll know soon enough
4. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Lawrence is coming off a career-best season and finished fifth in MVP voting. He threw for 4,007 yards and 29 touchdowns while adding a surprising nine rushing touchdowns, as well. The arm talent and high-ceiling has always been there with Lawrence, and we’ve seen it in spurts, but 2025 was his most consistently dominant season. With a trio of Brian Thomas, Jakobi Meyers, and Parker Washington, we should see more of that in 2026.
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Maye was the runner-up for MVP last season, leading the NFL in QBR (77.1) and finishing third in touchdowns with 31. Plus, he now has A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs as his top two receivers, which is a massive upgrade from the very thin group they add a season ago.
I remain weary and cautious about the Patriots, though Super Bowl hangovers happen often enough where there is pause, even with the additions they’ve made. The off-field drama with Mike Vrabel is also something worthy of wondering whether or not it carries into the regular season and hangs over the team like a black cloud. Regardless, Maye has proven he is a legit top 10 quarterback, and New England is going to be a team in playoff contention for a good while because of him.
It’s fair to wonder how many years of high-end Lamar Jackson the Ravens have left. We saw what the lower body injuries did to his mobility last season, and it impacted him as an overall player. From Weeks 8-18, he was 20th in EPA per play among the 37 quarterbacks to play 100 snaps in that span. However, assuming he is 100 percent healthy, he is still one of the more dynamic players in the league, but it’s worth keeping a close eye on.
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When Burrow is on the field, the Bengals’ offense is one of the most dangerous in the league. Health has unfortunately been a large “if” with him. However, when healthy, the numbers speak for themselves. Since 2021, he is fifth in success rate, second in completion percentage over expected, has thrown 144 touchdowns to just 46 interceptions, and the Bengals are 41-26 with him under center.
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