Nothing steers NFL teams quite like quarterbacks. It's possible, not probable, to win in spite of them. It's preferable, not easy, to land the best of them. They are, more than anyone else, the ones who shape the football landscape, week in and week out.
That's why we're ranking all 32 starting signal-callers throughout the 2022 season: to take stock of the most important players in the game, sorting everyone from the bona fide superstars to the QBs who might be worth replacing.
While these rankings don't necessarily reflect which QBs we'd rather have for the remainder of the year (or their career) -- for example, we still trust Tom Brady over, say, Geno Smith -- they are designed to showcase which ones are performing and positioned best at this moment.
Now, without further ado, our Week 18 pecking order, with this week's QBs listed alongside especially intriguing (or telling) statistics related to their 2022 performance:
Week 15 QB Power Rankings
| 1 | 
Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City Chiefs QB
|
| Telling stat: While throwing the fourth-most passes of any QB this season, he's tossing a TD on a whopping 6.4% of those throws, the highest mark in the NFL, and almost twice as much as Tom Brady and Justin Herbert, who rank No. 1 and No. 2 in total passes thrown, respectively. | |
| 2 | 
Joe Burrow
Cincinnati Bengals QB
|
| Telling stat: In 15 games, he's already matched his career high in TD passes (34), not including a 35th thrown to Tyler Boyd in Monday night's postponed matchup with the Bills. | |
| 3 | 
Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills QB
|
| Telling stat: His 4,775 total yards (4,029 passing, 746 rushing) rank second among all players, behind only Mahomes. | |
| 4 | 
Justin Herbert
Los Angeles Chargers QB
|
| Telling stat: During the Chargers' 5-2 stretch, in which L.A.'s two losses have come by a combined 10 points, he's completed at least 74 percent of his throws five different times. | |
| 5 | 
Jalen Hurts
Philadelphia Eagles QB
|
| Telling stat: The Eagles are 0-2, and posted their worst scoring output since Nov. 28, 2021, without him under center this year. Despite missing two games, only three players have scored more total TDs (35). | |
| 6 | 
Trevor Lawrence
Jacksonville Jaguars QB
|
| Telling stat: In one less game, Lawrence has improved in literally every major passing category from his rookie season. Most notably, his completion percentage (66.5) is almost a full seven points higher than in 2021. | |
| 7 | 
Brock Purdy
San Francisco 49ers QB
|
| Telling stat: He's averaged at least 8 yards per attempt, and thrown at least two TDs, in all four of his starts. | |
| 8 | 
Aaron Rodgers
Green Bay Packers QB
|
| Telling stat: Seventeen of his 25 TD passes, or 68%, have come while the Packers are trailing. | |
| 9 | 
Tom Brady
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB
|
| Telling stat: At age 45, his 4,850 intended air yards -- the total distance thrown on all pass attempts -- leads the NFL. | |
| 10 | 
Geno Smith
Seattle Seahawks QB
|
| Telling stat: After totaling four turnovers in the Seahawks' first eight games (5-3 stretch), he's totaled nine (six INTs, three fumbles lost) in the eight games since (3-5 stretch). | |
| 11 | 
Daniel Jones
New York Giants QB
|
| Telling stat: Not a single active starting QB has a better INT percentage (1.1%), even though Jones ranks just outside the top 10 for total passes thrown. In his first three NFL seasons, Jones had 49 turnovers in 37 games. | |
| 12 | 
Kirk Cousins
Minnesota Vikings QB
|
| Telling stat: He simultaneously leads the NFL in fourth-quarter comebacks (8) and INTs (14), with almost half of the picks (6) coming in two of the Vikings' four losses on the season. | |
| 13 | 
Dak Prescott
Dallas Cowboys QB
|
| Telling stat: Despite completing 71% of his throws since returning from injury in Week 7, he has now turned the ball over at least once in six straight starts, averaging nearly 1.3 INTs per game this season. | |
| 14 | 
Jared Goff
Detroit Lions QB
|
| Telling stat: Twenty-three of his 29 TD passes, or 79%, have come at home, where Detroit is 5-4 on the season. | |
| 15 | 
Justin Fields
Chicago Bears QB
|
| Telling stat: He and the Ravens' Lamar Jackson, who have exactly the same amount of passing yards (2,242) and passing TDs (17), are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in terms of QB rushing yards and yards per carry. | |
| 16 | 
Deshaun Watson
Cleveland Browns QB
|
| Telling stat: Despite a three-TD breakout in Week 17, he ranks 31st among all QBs to start at least five games, ahead of only the Jets' Zach Wilson, in completion percentage (56.7%). | |
| 17 | 
Sam Darnold
Carolina Panthers QB
|
| Telling stat: Among QBs with at least five starts this year, no one has produced more yards per pass completion (14.3). | |
| 18 | 
Kenny Pickett
Pittsburgh Steelers QB
|
| Telling stat: After throwing eight INTs in his first five games, the rookie has thrown just one in his last seven, while logging three fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives since mid-November alone. | |
| 19 | 
Jarrett Stidham
Las Vegas Raiders QB
|
| Telling stat: He needed just one start to accomplish something Derek Carr did not in 2022: throw for 310+ yards. | |
| 20 | 
Mac Jones
New England Patriots QB
|
| Telling start: Only two other QBs throw TDs more infrequently than Jones, who has managed just 11 in 13 games. The other two: Zach Wilson, who's played four fewer games; and Kenny Pickett, a rookie who has two fewer starts. | |
| 21 | 
Russell Wilson
Denver Broncos QB
|
| Telling stat: Besides posting a career-low completion percentage (60.8) in 2022, Wilson's last two years of rushing totals (averaging 45 carries for 221 yards per season) are easily the lowest of his 11-year career. | |
| 22 | 
Andy Dalton
New Orleans Saints QB
|
| Telling stat: During the Saints' three-game win streak, he's averaged just 12 completions and 18 passes per game. | |
| 23 | 
Baker Mayfield
Los Angeles Rams QB
|
| Telling stat: Tutu Atwell has been the Rams' most targeted wide receiver during his brief run as an emergency starter. | |
| 24 | 
Carson Wentz
Washington Commanders QB
|
| Telling stat: Splitting the last four years between the Eagles, Colts and Commanders, he's totaled 55 turnovers in 53 games. | |
| 25 | 
Mike White
New York Jets QB
|
| Telling stat: Since a three-TD win in his first start for Zach Wilson, he's completed 55% of his passes, with zero TDs and four INTs, never averaging even 6.5 yards per attempt. | |
| 26 | 
Davis Mills
Houston Texans QB
|
| Telling stat: Neither of the Texans' two leading WRs, Brandin Cooks and Chris Moore, have eclipsed 600 yards on the year. | |
| 27 | 
Tyler Huntley
Baltimore Ravens QB
|
| Telling stat: In his four starts for Lamar Jackson, the Ravens are 2-0 when he throws the ball 17 times or less. | |
| 28 | 
Joshua Dobbs
Tennessee Titans QB
|
| Telling stat: In one start, throwing 232 yards against the Cowboys, he nearly eclipsed Malik Willis' passing yards total from the rookie QB's first three games (234). | |
| 29 | 
Sam Ehlinger
Indianapolis Colts QB
|
| Telling stat: This is the second time Ehlinger is coming off the bench for the Colts in 2022 and, with Nick Foles sidelined, the second different elder QB he is replacing. | |
| 30 | 
Skylar Thompson
Miami Dolphins QB
|
| Telling stat: He's poised to make his seventh straight appearance coming off the bench as a rookie, with both Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater banged up for at least the second time this season. | |
| 31 | 
David Blough
Arizona Cardinals QB
|
| Telling stat: He became Arizona's fourth different starting QB of the season by debuting in Week 17, less than three weeks after signing off the Vikings' practice squad. | |
| 32 | 
Desmond Ridder
Atlanta Falcons QB
|
| Telling stat: His top targets in a close Week 17 victory included MyCole Pruitt and Damiere Byrd. | |
