It’s safe to say that just two years in, the record-setting 2024 quarterback draft class is already shaping the landscape of the NFL. Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Bo Nix have led their teams to the playoffs and earned at least one postseason win. Daniels, Maye and Nix have led their teams to a conference championship game, and Maye has already appeared in a Super Bowl. The other two top-10 picks from the class, Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, are currently embroiled in quarterback competitions for their teams’ starting jobs.
All six of these quarterbacks are set to play important roles in the 2026 NFL season. Not only could they be competing for wins, but awards, recognition and even new contracts—when they become extension eligible next spring. So as the run-up to the 2026 season begins, here’s a look at where all six quarterbacks stand entering Year 3, and what to expect from them.
Players are listed in the order they were drafted.
Caleb Williams
2025 stats: 17 games, 330-for-568 (58.1%), 3,942 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions, plus 388 rushing yards and three touchdowns
The No. 1 pick in the esteemed class, Caleb Williams and his dad, Carl, had trepidations about him playing for the Bears, a franchise that infamously had not had a great quarterback since Sid Luckman in the 1940s. Williams’s concerns about joining the Bears manifested in his rookie season as the dysfunctional team went 5–12, winning only one of its final 11 games.
Fortunately for Williams and the Bears, the franchise landed that offseason’s most coveted coaching candidate, Ben Johnson, who was drawn to Chicago thanks to the talent of its young quarterback. Johnson went right to work and his bootcamp and homework paid off as the Bears rebounded from an 0–2 start and went on to win their division and a wild-card game, then took the Rams to overtime in the divisional round. There were some bumps along the way—expected from a team with a rookie coach, young quarterback and team—but the Bears are already one of the best turnarounds in the league in just one season with Johnson.
Reasons for optimism
Like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, the strength of Williams lies in his ability to extend and make plays that few other quarterbacks can. As a result, Williams was a stellar deep ball thrower in 2025, throwing for 927 yards, 11 touchdowns and three picks on throws 20 or more yards downfield. He earned a grade of 95.5 on such throws according to PFF and had the second-most “big time throws,” trailing only MVP-winner Matthew Stafford.
Literally insane. pic.twitter.com/QP0w4GQwW2 https://t.co/2Xqaq4TlRm
— BearsMuse (@ChiBearsMuse) May 23, 2026
Despite completing passes that would get nearly every other passer in trouble, Williams is very good at limiting interceptions. He threw only 13 through his first two NFL seasons, including seven in 2025. In 2024, Williams even set an NFL record for the most consecutive pass attempts without an interception for a rookie.
He has also shown the ability to improve quickly. From Year 1 to Year 2, Williams’s most significant improvement came in taking fewer sacks. As a rookie, Williams was the most sacked quarterback in the league, taking a whopping 68. The Bears took significant strides to bolster the offensive line heading into 2025—which worked spectacularly—but Williams also became better at avoiding sacks. He was sacked just 24 times in 2025 and his pressure to sack rate (10.2%) ranked third among quarterbacks, per PFF.
Williams also proved clutch as a sophomore, leading six fourth-quarter comebacks in 2025, most in the NFL. This included some of his most iconic moments yet, from his game-winning touchdown to Colston Loveland against the Bengals to a 46-yard game-winning touchdown against the Packers.
Room to improve
As captivating as Williams is, he has plenty of room to become more efficient. He completed just 58.1% of his passes in 2025, and recorded a completion percentage over expected of minus-6.9 according to Next Gen Stats, second-worst in the league. While his receivers dropped the third-most passes in the league, he also wasn’t accurate enough. Per Pro Football Reference, Williams ranked 32nd in the NFL in on-target percentage and 31st in bad throw rate out of 33 qualified passers. He holds onto the ball longer than almost every other quarterback, and while this results in some magical plays, it can also get him into trouble.
This was reflected in the Bears’ season. While the Bears were one of the league’s Cinderella teams, their running game was much more consistent than their passing attack. Johnson even said in early December after their win over the Eagles that they were winning “in spite of their passing game not because of it.”
It’s more than reasonable to believe that Williams can improve in these areas in 2026, not only as he takes the next steps in his development, but as he gains greater comfort in his second year in the offense.
“It’s a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year,” Williams said during minicamp, via ESPN. “I feel like I was drowning trying to breathe or stay alive and wait for a boat to come around last year. Now this year, it’s being able to start where we finished last year.”
What coaches are saying
As Williams heads into his third NFL season, his quarterback coach J.T. Barrett is simply looking for him to do less.
“We can be efficient and take what the defense is giving,” Barrett told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this offseason. “You don’t necessarily have to put the cape on and make those crazy plays because you already were killing them in the first three quarters.”
As great as the extended plays are when looking back at the highlight reel, Barrett and Johnson have expressed that they are not always necessary or what’s best for the quarterback and team.
“Hey, my guy, I know you just made this crazy play,” Barrett said of his conversations with Williams. “That was really cool. But we had a guy come open wide underneath that you just pop it to and then he does the running, and now you’re not as tired.”
What would make 2026 successful
For Williams, the priorities for 2026 are clear: to become more consistent as a passer while leading the Bears back to the playoffs. The Williams-Johnson partnership got off to a great start in 2025, and there’s no reason for it not to get better in Year 2 together.
Jayden Daniels
2025 stats: Seven games, 114-for-188 (60.6%), 1,262 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, plus 278 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns
After winning the Heisman Trophy in his final season with LSU, Daniels took the momentum from his fantastic season in Baton Rouge straight into his rookie season with the Commanders, which saw him lead Washington to its first NFC championship game appearance in over three decades.
Following one of the greatest rookie seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, Daniels was significantly hampered by injuries during his sophomore campaign, appearing in only seven games in 2025. It’s hard to gauge his performance because he never had the opportunity to get into a rhythm as he dealt with a knee sprain, hamstring injury and a dislocated elbow. The team finished 5–12 with Daniels mostly sidelined.
Reasons for optimism
That rookie season.
The success of Daniels’s rookie season has gotten lost after tremendous sophomore years from his draft classmates Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Bo Nix, but it shouldn’t be forgotten. Daniels was the star of the class as a rookie, elevating a less-than-stellar Washington squad to an NFC championship team. It’s not unreasonable to believe that the outstanding dual-threat can elevate this team again in the seasons to come, especially if the front office continues improving the roster around him.
As a rookie, Daniels was one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league. He was also clutch, maintaining his chill persona and leading his team to last-second wins against the Bears and Eagles. He’ll look to bring those traits back again this season.
Room to improve
Daniels is currently working to pick up the Commanders’ new offensive scheme, acknowledging during minicamp that he still has a ways to go when it comes to learning it all as the Commanders move from Kliff Kingsbury’s tempo, no-huddle shotgun offense to a more traditional, under-center scheme under David Blough. Daniels quickly adjusted and found success when he first transitioned to the NFL, and will similarly look to pick up Blough’s offense.
In terms of his performance on the field, Daniels didn’t display the signature accuracy he showed as a rookie and his completion rate dropped nearly nine percentage points as a number of his throws were either behind or not right on target. His supporting cast was notably hampered, with his best playmaker, Terry McLaurin, also missing time due to injury.
What coaches are saying
As Daniels works to learn this offense, both Blough and Quinn have been complimentary of how he has been adjusting. Quinn praised Daniels’s ability to process quickly, while Blough said of the quarterback, “He has done a lot of work over the course of the offseason just to try to implement the things that we’ve been imparting on him. That’s who he is and we are excited about where he’s at and know there’s so much more room for growth. That’s the fun challenge as the coach, getting to show him a different way to do things and he has responded really well.”
What would make 2026 successful
There is nothing more important to Daniels’s and the Commanders’ success than for him to stay healthy. If he can play in at least 16 games and help the Commanders contend for a playoff spot again while adjusting well to the offense, that would be a huge win for D.C.
Drake Maye
2025 stats: 17 games, 354-for-492 (72%), 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, eight interceptions, plus 450 rushing yards and four touchdowns
The 2025 season saw Drake Maye rapidly ascend into a top quarterback in the league and finish as the runner-up in a squeaky close NFL MVP race.
After coming in as a rookie for a struggling Patriots squad with a one-and-done coach, Maye helped lead the Patriots back to a division championship. The Patriots made the right moves bringing in Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and filling in the roster with more talent to support Maye.
With Maye at the helm and these changes in place, the Patriots won the division for the first time since 2019 and advanced all the way to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the Seahawks as the banged-up offensive line struggled to protect Maye. They’ll look to avoid the Super Bowl hangover heading into Maye’s third season.
Reasons for optimism
An analytics darling, Maye finished first in the league in EPA per play, passing EPA and success rate while leading the league in completion percentage over expected. Simply put, Maye was both an explosive and efficient passer during his sophomore campaign. He’s an aggressive downfield thrower with remarkable accuracy, leading the league in completion percentage, finishing fourth in passing yards and third in touchdown passes, while earning second-team All-Pro honors in just his second season.
The last quarterbacks to put together as great or better of a second season were Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow—widely considered three of the four best quarterbacks in the league. If Maye is on a similar trajectory, the Patriots have plenty to be excited about for the next decade.
Not only did Maye have a great year, but the Patriots have brought in one of the league’s best receivers in A.J. Brown to play alongside him. Brown has recorded 1,000 receiving yards in six of his seven pro seasons, and should be a good fit for Maye’s style of play.
Room to improve
While Maye was superb in 2025, he took too many sacks and sometimes held onto the ball too long. This came back to bite him in the postseason, when he was sacked 21 times across four games. Maye was notably playing behind a hampered offensive line and against some of the league’s best pass rushes, which were understandably going to create some pressure on him, but could’ve also taken fewer sacks and held onto the ball better.
What coaches are saying
Now in his second year in McDaniels’s system, Maye is even more well-versed in the Patriots’ offense.
“He’s really smart and he works hard at it,” McDaniels told reporters during minicamp. “I said this last year, he asks a lot of really good questions because he’s thinking ahead. The game makes sense to Drake. … He’s a quick processor, he’s a quick study, he learns and takes things to the field pretty quickly.”
While Maye had practically as good a second season as imaginable, Vrabel noted that McDaniels and quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant have given Maye some areas to work on.
“Being able to try to limit mistakes at the line of scrimmage, get us in the best play, not that we’re going to be perfect, but being able to use every resource that we have to get us into the right play and be able to give us an option to have a positive play,” Vrabel noted. “Whether they’re pressuring or they’re in a look that isn’t advantageous to the play, we don’t want to be tentative, so there’s a fine line of that, but I think expanding some of that into the second year of the system has been good to see.”
What would make 2026 successful
The Patriots don’t necessarily have to return to the Super Bowl for it to be a successful season, but returning to the postseason is key. The Super Bowl hangover for the losing team is a real phenomenon, and the way Maye responds to both his and the team’s performance will reveal a lot about their trajectory going forward.
Michael Penix Jr.
2025 stats: Nine games, 166-for-276 (60.1%), 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns, three interceptions, plus 70 rushing yards and one touchdown
The most overlooked quarterback in the class of 2024, Michael Penix Jr. was also the most surprising pick as he was selected by a Falcons squad that had just signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal in free agency.
After drafting Penix, the Falcons sat him for the majority of his rookie year until Week 16, when Cousins was benched. Penix started three games and took over as the starter going into 2025, and was having an up-and-down season when he suffered a torn ACL, the third ACL tear for him between his college and pro career.
Now, Penix has to prove himself to a regime that did not draft him as he comes off a serious injury. He will be competing for the starting job with Tua Tagovailoa, who has the advantage of being healthy throughout the entire offseason as they both learn a new system.
Reasons for optimism
Penix is a talented quarterback. While he might not have been the caliber of prospect that Williams, Daniels and Maye were, he has good arm talent and the potential to become a really good player. Penix has started only 12 games so far, and is in just the early stages of his development.
Another encouraging thing for Penix is the Falcons do not need him to carry the team. Penix is a part of an offense with the best running back in the league, a top-10 receiver, good tight end and great offensive line. If he can simply shore up some of his inconsistencies and distribute the ball to his playmakers accurately, it will go a long way toward the Falcons finding success.
Room to improve
Like some of his counterparts, Penix has not been accurate enough thus far. He ranked first in bad throw rate in 2025 and 27th in on-target percentage, per Pro Football Reference. Though he only threw three interceptions last season, he attempted a number of other passes that should have been picked. There were simply too many instances where his attempt was not close to his receiver or he passed up an open target and instead missed a throw to another pass-catcher.
Every Michael Penix Jr. throw of 20+ yards from the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/sACXu1H850
— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) February 15, 2026
It’s notable that new coach Kevin Stefanski has previously called Tagovailoa “very accurate,” which is the primary area Penix has struggled so far.
What coaches are saying
Penix has spent much of the offseason rehabilitating his torn ACL. While much of the focus surrounding him has been on his recovery and Stefanski has been complimentary of his work ethic, he has also been complimentary of what Penix can do as a player.
“Excited about the physical gifts,” Stefanski said at his introductory press conference in January. “I think you see a player on tape that can get through progressions, can layer the ball, can push the ball to all areas of the field. Obviously, he was very productive in college, has had some really, really good moments here in the pros, so I just see a young player that will continue to develop and continue to get better.”
What would make 2026 successful
A successful season for Penix would be winning the starting quarterback job and helping the Falcons contend in the NFC South. It wouldn’t be too shocking to see Tagovailoa begin the season as the starter, particularly if Penix has any hangups in his return from injury, but it would be disappointing if Penix doesn’t win or reclaim the gig at some point this season, and take steps to help the Falcons compete in the worst division in football.
J.J. McCarthy
2025 stats: 10 games, 140-for-243 (57.6%), 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, plus 181 rushing yards and four touchdowns
Drafted No. 10 by the Vikings to be their quarterback of the future, J.J. McCarthy is now embroiled in a competition for the right to be the starter.
McCarthy was drafted into what was on paper the most favorable situation. He is coached by quarterback guru Kevin O’Connell and surrounded by a top receiving duo in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Unfortunately for McCarthy, that has not been enough for his NFL career to get off on the right note. Amid a promising preseason, McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus which cost him his entire rookie year and put him behind in his development.
The Vikings having a good team around McCarthy has also hurt him unintentionally. Since McCarthy missed his entire rookie season and in his absence Sam Darnold proved how successful they could be, the Vikings have felt the pressure to prioritize winning immediately, rather than providing McCarthy time to develop. McCarthy continued to deal with injuries during his second season, which also cost him time on the field.
When McCarthy was on the field in 2025, he was maddenly inconsistent. In his first game in prime time against the Bears, the Vikings fell behind 17–6 as McCarthy struggled to connect with his receivers before leading three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to win the game. That game was a good summation of the McCarthy experience—brief periods of highs surrounded by frustrating lows. McCarthy did improve over the course of the season, accounting for seven total touchdowns and two picks over his final four appearances, but he still left plenty of questions about his future.
Reasons for optimism
While McCarthy gave the Vikings enough reason to pursue another quarterback this offseason, he did show growth over the year. He is an aggressive thrower, and while not always accurate, he likes pushing the ball downfield. He’s also mobile, and can throw on the move or scramble for more yards if the play breaks down.
McCarthy has still started only 10 games in the NFL, and is in just the early stages of his development. There is plenty of time and room for him to keep growing as a player, especially if he gets the opportunity to keep playing. From many accounts, including O’Connell, McCarthy has had a good offseason, working with a private quarterbacks coach to improve his mechanics and game.
Room to improve
Simply put, McCarthy has to be more accurate for a chance to be successful. In 2025, he had the lowest on-target rate in the NFL, and the second-highest rate of bad throws. McCarthy regularly failed to throw with touch, firing the ball at his receivers too hard and in the wrong spot, causing plenty of lost opportunities for first downs and big gains. His mechanics needed work to improve his throwing and accuracy, which is what he has spent part of this offseason focused on.
McCarthy also must stay healthy. After missing his entire rookie season, McCarthy dealt with a sprained ankle, concussion and a hairline fracture in his hand this past season.
What coaches are saying
Throughout the offseason, O’Connell has been transparent with McCarthy about their plans to “elevate” the quarterback room, which resulted in the addition of Kyler Murray and a competition for the starting job. O’Connell has also noted that McCarthy has been working hard both on his own and in Minnesota this offseason.
“One of the things that really stuck out to me was from the beginning of the season towards the end, we got to see some more consistency within the preparations, which is always going to be a factor for any young player,” O’Connell told NBC’s Mike Florio and Chris Simms at the NFL league meetings. “We saw some of those consistencies, you look at the way he played in the Dallas game in a big moment for our team and he went out there and was a driving force behind our offensive success and our team’s success in that game.”
Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips has also been complimentary of the work McCarthy has put in.
“It’s been a continuous upward arrow for him,” Phillips said earlier this offseason. “It’s fun to see guys come back in shape, you know guys have been working and then in at certain positions where you just notice that guys have been working from a skill and fundamental standpoint as well on the things have been talked about throughout a season and they come back and you say, ‘Oh that looks a little better. Oh look at him.’ I can tell he’s been working on that, been very intentional in the offseason on his own when nobody’s watching.”
What would make 2026 successful
For McCarthy, the 2026 season would be successful if he wins the quarterback competition, leads the Vikings to the playoffs and proves he’s capable of being the team’s future at quarterback.
This is a high bar given what McCarthy displayed last season, but the pressure is on, especially since the Vikings plan to play Murray if he is the better option and can lead them to wins.
If McCarthy doesn’t win the starting job, it’ll be important for him to keep performing well behind the scenes and take advantage of any opportunity he may get.
Bo Nix
2025 stats: 17 games, 388-for-612 (63.4%), 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, plus 356 rushing yards and five touchdowns
Of the six members of the 2024 class, no quarterback was drafted into a better situation for their specific skill set than Nix, whom coach Sean Payton specifically sought after.
As detailed to Seth Wickersham in his book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, Payton developed a formula regarding a quarterback’s negative play rate in college. Nix had the best rate of any quarterback in the draft class, and Payton ensured the Broncos selected him at No. 12—even though not everyone saw Nix as a top-12 pick or even a first-round quarterback.
“I’ll get criticized for taking him at 12," Payton said to Wickersham of Nix. “I don’t give a f---. Three years from now is what I’m worried about.”
Payton didn’t have to wait three years to see the benefits of his pick. Like Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams, Nix led his team back to the postseason for the first time in years. He is the lone quarterback of the class to lead his team to consecutive playoff appearances in each of his first two seasons, turning a talented Broncos team into legitimate contenders. In 2025, this saw the Broncos earn the No. 1 seed and advance to the AFC championship game, a contest they lost in a snowstorm as Nix was sidelined due to an ankle injury.
Reasons for optimism
Payton was certainly right about Nix’s penchant for minimizing mistakes. This past season, Nix registered the lowest sack rate among qualifying quarterbacks. Nix does benefit from playing behind one of the league’s best offensive lines—including a pair of first-team All-Pros in Quinn Meinerz and Garett Bolles—but he is also good at not taking more sacks than necessary.
Nix’s supporting cast is only getting better, too, with the addition of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, whom the Broncos traded for back in March. The Broncos’ running game has been inconsistent and before this trade, Nix lacked proven weapons outside of Courtland Sutton.
Room to improve
The Broncos earned the No. 1 seed, but they also played down to a number of their opponents, such as in their 10–7 win over the Raiders on Thursday Night Football, their 13–11 win over the Jets, their overtime win over the Commanders on Sunday Night Football, a one-score win over the Patrick Mahomes–less Chiefs on Christmas Day, and their wild comeback over the Giants. Nix played a part in these woes, as he and the offense often struggled to get going until late in the game.
Nix could also raise his completion percentage and yards per attempt. Despite leading the league in pass attempts, Nix ranked just 28th in yards per attempt (6.4) and failed to throw for 4,000 yards. Nix completed just 34.3% of his passes that traveled 20 or more yards in the air, a figure that ranked 17th in the league. This is another area where the addition of Waddle should come in handy.
What coaches are saying
Nix is currently returning from the ankle injury that caused him to miss the AFC championship game, and Payton is not expecting him to be limited when he returns.
“I don’t think when he’s fully recovered and he’s out here participating, you’re going to see someone that doesn’t move,” Payton said during minicamp. “Some of his superpowers are his ability to move and not get sacked, find throws. I don’t think any of that will be impacted at all.”
Payton also said of Nix as he enters Year 3, “I’m pleased with his progress, I’m pleased with his ability to lead our team and the experience.”
Outside of the addition of Waddle, the biggest change for Nix and the Broncos is that Davis Webb was promoted to offensive coordinator and will be taking over play-calling duties for Payton. As such, Webb will have an even greater role in Nix’s play and success, making their relationship key going forward.
“Bo and I’s relationship will be great,” Webb told reporters at OTAs. “A little different. I think Sean said it best. I won’t be as warm and fuzzy as I used to be, but he kind of gets that already in our QB meetings.”
What would make 2026 successful
In short, it’s Super Bowl or bust for Nix and the Broncos.
Payton was already saying before last season that the Broncos were a Super Bowl–caliber team, and even though they fell short of the big game, he was proved right as they made the AFC championship game and narrowly missed out on a trip to Santa Clara with Nix sidelined. With Nix back healthy and slated to build off a good sophomore season, anything but a trip to the divisional round would be a massive disappointment.
