The AFC playoffs are going to be special, as the conference appears to be wide open right now. The top two seeds in Denver and New England have quarterbacks in their second season. The most experienced QB is Aaron Rodgers, but the Pittsburgh Steelers may not make it out of the Wild Card Round.
But the elephant in the room has been Josh Allen, as he may finally have a chance to lead the Buffalo Bills on a Super Bowl run since Patrick Mahomes is nowhere to be found. However, the Bills have an incredibly tough first-round game against the Jaguars, who also have a good, younger QB.
Let's sort through the QB talent and rank all of the AFC playoff quarterbacks.
Ranking all seven playoff quarterbacks approaching Wild Card Weekend
7. CJ Stroud, Houston Texans
CJ Stroud has been fine this year and really hasn't been able to find that magic he had during his breakout rookie season. Since the start of 2024, this is what Stroud has done:
19-12
609/955 (63.8%)
39 touchdowns
20 interceptions
89.6 rating
He's been fine for the Texans but has clearly hit a ceiling in his first three seasons. Stroud likely won't be able to lead this team too deep into the postseason.
6. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers played about as well as you could have expected for someone who is 42 years old, but Rodgers was really nothing more than 'good' this year and was a field goal away from not being in the playoffs. The Steelers don't really do anything well and are in a position to potentially go one-and-done in the postseason.
5. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Hebert had a fine season and was playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, but the Los Angeles Chargers yet again didn't do anything special this year, and Herbert is yet again the same exact quarterback he was when he entered the NFL. The Chargers are facing the Patriots in the Wild Card Round and might have another early exit.
4. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Bo Nix has seven game-winning drives this year and five fourth quarter comebacks. He's a perfect example of needing to look deeper than what the stats say on paper. Time after time in the regular season, Nix came through for his team in high-stakes, 'gotta have it' situations. Sure, the defense was great for most of the year, but Nix had a huge part in Denver getting to a 14-3 record. This team is the top seed in the AFC for a reason, and we're now to the point with Nix where the question of 'is he a franchise QB?' has been long answered - he is. What we should be able to find out in the next couple of seasons is just how high-end of a quarterback he can be in this league.
3. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence has been heating up at the right time for the Jacksonville Jaguars and could carry that momentum into the playoffs. We're finally beginning to see just how good Lawrence can be. He's approaching elite status and is plenty good enough to lead the Jaguars to the conference championship game.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
The reigning MVP had another strong season. However, the main issue I can see here with Josh Allen is his having to carry more of the load in the playoffs, as the Buffalo Bills regressed a little bit on either side of the ball, and Allen has always had that turnover gene in him. Allen still comes into the playoffs with a ton of experience, and that's an advantage he has over most QBs right now.
1. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Drake Maye is going to get a ton of MVP votes and was a top-3 QB all season. While the question of how far the Patriots can go in the postseason is valid, Maye could simply keep this high level of play up. The Pats still might be a year or two away, but when a young QB plays this well, you know it's probably going to stick.