00:00So, the quarterbacks list, which came out today, might end up being, along with Terry on the receiver list, one
00:09of just three players on the entire roster that gets mentioned on any of these lists.
00:16Now, the top 10 quarterback list. Last year, if you recall, following his sensational rookie year, Jaden Daniels on this
00:24very list a year ago, with 70 voters of league execs and GMs and front office execs and coaches and
00:33scouts, he was listed as the fifth best quarterback in the NFL.
00:38Mahomes was one, Josh Allen was two, Joe Burrow was three, Lamar Jackson was four, and Jaden Daniels was five.
00:47He was ahead of Stafford, Herbert, Goff, Hertz, and Baker Mayfield. Those were your top 10 last year.
00:58This year, however, after a season in which he barely played, he's not in the top 10. He was listed
01:05among the honorable mention, and I'll get to that in a moment, but your top 10 quarterback list this year,
01:11number one on the list, Josh Allen, has finally supplanted Mahomes.
01:18But according to the write-up, he had to fight for every vote to finally make that happen. Allen took
01:23advantage of the composite voting. Average ranking of the ballot was 2.10. That helped him overcome a first place
01:34clip that was lower than Mahomes' first place clip.
01:38So he got less first place votes than Mahomes did, but his overall composite voting was slightly higher than Mahomes,
01:46who came in at number two.
01:49One NFL coordinator said about, I'm sorry, one NFL GM said about Josh Allen, he's the most singularly unstoppable player
02:01at the position when you get his A game, and he's cut down on the turnovers the past two seasons.
02:08Man, he was something else in those playoff games. I know people blamed him for some of the turnovers in
02:15the Denver game. They would not have had a chance in that Denver game without him.
02:20The Jacksonville game, I thought start to finish was the best playoff game last year, the 27-24 Buffalo win
02:28against a Jacksonville team that was playing really good football at the end of last year.
02:34And that was just a, that was one of those performances where you looked at it and said, any other
02:41quarterback in that position that day doesn't win that game.
02:45He was the best player on the field. He threw at an 80% completion clip and had two rushing
02:54touchdowns in that game for that win.
02:57Josh Allen, Josh Allen, the number one quarterback on this list ahead of Patrick Mahomes.
03:03Number three was Matt Stafford. He was number six on last year's list. I mean, he was the MVP of
03:09the league last year.
03:10Number four, Joe Burrow. Number five, Lamar Jackson.
03:16So from last year's top five, four of the top five are the same in a slightly different order with
03:23Stafford in there instead of Jaden Daniels.
03:26At six, Dak Prescott, who wasn't even on the honorable mention list last year.
03:33Justin Herbert back in his same spot of number seven.
03:38Drake May, unranked last year, moved in to number eight on the top 10 list.
03:46Two quotes about Drake May. This from an NFL coordinator.
03:50Size, athleticism, accuracy, playmaking, upside through the roof, poise and toughness.
03:59Another NFL defensive coach said, quote, he's really talented, but I need to see more.
04:04Other quarterbacks on this list have proven it over time.
04:09He's got to keep it going.
04:11Closed quote.
04:12Drake May in at number eight.
04:14Jared Goff in at number nine.
04:16And Caleb Williams in at number 10.
04:22And they write about Caleb Williams.
04:25Here's where it gets interesting.
04:27Four quarterbacks, Williams, Seattle's Sam Darnold, Green Bay's Jordan Love and Washington's Jaden Daniels,
04:34were very close in voting for the 10th spot.
04:37So we took it to tiebreakers, gathering input from several general managers and executives.
04:44Why did Williams barely win out for the final spot on this list?
04:48He's the hardest of the four for teams to prepare for and defend.
04:54One GM said he's the most dynamic of the group.
04:58He's got the arm talent and overall athleticism suited for today's game.
05:05Another NFL personnel evaluator said he's a closer.
05:09End of games.
05:11He has shown that.
05:12One NFL defensive coach said wildly erratic, doesn't always take the layups,
05:18and still needs to mature into the position.
05:22He has some of those what is he doing plays.
05:25But he also makes plays only he and Mahomes can make.
05:30He can throw from any angle, deceptively fast when forced to scramble,
05:34and he's got the it factor in crunch time.
05:37Caleb Williams in a tie voting-wise for the 10th spot with Darnold, Love, and Jaden.
05:47They went to a bunch of general managers, and the general managers picked Williams among those five quarterbacks.
05:57Five, four that were tied for 10th.
06:01Now, the rest of the list with honorable mentions, but they are listed in the order in which general managers
06:11weighed in.
06:11And Sam Darnold comes in at essentially outside the top 10 at 11, and then Jaden comes in at what
06:19essentially,
06:19on the honorable mention list, if it had a number next to it, would be number 12.
06:24And here's what's said about Jaden.
06:27This from an NFC executive.
06:30Quote,
06:30I know he was hurt in 2025, but I think this is the year he really makes his stamp,
06:36and he's the guy we're all talking about as having taken the next step.
06:41Such a good decision-maker and very accurate.
06:45Closed quote.
06:47This from an NFL personnel evaluator about Jaden Daniels.
06:51Quote,
06:51I would still take him over the other quarterbacks from the 2024 draft class from a pure quarterback decision-making
07:00standpoint.
07:02Closed quote.
07:04There you go.
07:06Other honorable mentions included Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, and Jalen Hurts.
07:13And then also receiving votes were Bo Nix, Daniel Jones, and C.J. Stroud.
07:19So basically, if you take the top 10, and then you go on the list that they unveil,
07:25the honorable mentions and other receiving votes, it's not alphabetical.
07:29So I'm assuming it's based on, we know that Jaden was tied for 10th,
07:33but based on where GMs then put him, he would be number 12 on the list of quarterbacks in the
07:41NFL.
07:42Entering the 2026 season.
07:45301-230-0980.
07:49301-230-0980.
07:52Is 12 too high, too low, or just right for Jaden Daniels entering 2026?
08:01Phone lines are open.
08:03301-230-0980 on this question.
08:08Anthony's with me today.
08:10Max will be back tomorrow.
08:11Max had some sort of an emergency dental appointment.
08:14I hope he's all right.
08:16For me, look, I know why he's 12 versus 5 last year.
08:21This is a recency bias.
08:24You know, every sport has become recency bias in our evaluations, in our analysis.
08:31Most fans are a creature and are a responder to what they just saw.
08:38And what they just saw was Drake may play at a high level.
08:43Caleb Williams wins some, you know, clutch games this year and be a clutch quarterback.
08:48Obviously, you know, you've got great history with Mahomes, even though he was hurt last year.
08:54An unbelievable season for Allen and Stafford.
08:58Burrow was hurt, but Burrow has history built up.
09:02Lamar does as well.
09:04So in Dak making the rise to six, I personally don't think Dak is a top six quarterback.
09:10Um, but, uh, I understand with those receivers and with that offense, he's going to produce
09:15some big numbers as long as he's on the field.
09:18Uh, Herbert had the worst offensive line in football last year.
09:21So I don't take away from what I believe to be a very talented and gifted quarterback.
09:26I don't see Jared Goff as a top 10 quarterback.
09:29He's a winner.
09:30You know, he's going to find a big time completion.
09:34Um, but I don't view him as a top 10 anymore.
09:37Caleb Williams is a top 10.
09:39I'd have him personally outside the top 10 and I'd have Jaden somewhere inside the top
09:4510.
09:45You know, I, I can't, I, what I think Jaden will be this time next year is not 12 and
09:54not even 10 where I'd have them on this year's list.
09:57I think he'll be higher than that.
09:58Obviously health is the most important thing, but I think his upside is higher than a lot
10:05of quarterbacks on this list and puts him very close to being what I thought he was
10:09this time last year, you know, in the conversation to be a top five quarterback in the NFL, which
10:14is where he fell in last year's voting at number five.
10:19As far as what he is now entering 2026 too high, too low, just right.
10:27I think it's too low.
10:28I think based on, you know, everything that we saw from Drake may look at Drake may was very
10:35good last year.
10:36He was terrible in the post season.
10:38I mean, awful in the playoffs, whereas Jaden the year before was stupendous and tremendous
10:45in any other, you know, a very positive critique adjective you'd want to use for him.
10:52But I saw a lot of Drake may last year and I was impressed.
10:56It's true size, athleticism.
10:58He can really throw it and throw it with anticipation.
11:01Now he tries to make the big play.
11:03He holds it at times a bit too long.
11:06He takes too many sacks.
11:08He didn't protect the football in the post season.
11:11All of those things are true, but it was his second year.
11:13I think he's got a massive upside.
11:17And I think Caleb Williams is certainly capable athletically and arm strength wise of being
11:23something special.
11:25I think from the 2024 class, for me, it's still Jaden that I'd want in a redraft.
11:34But I'm blown away impressed with May and Caleb Williams has a lot.
11:39Like if you ended up with him, you wouldn't based on the first two years and last year in
11:42particular with Ben Johnson, you wouldn't be disappointed.
11:45But I got Jaden a little bit too low at 12.
11:49Anthony, what do you say?
11:51I think 12 is just right.
11:54And I think you already made the point that it's because of the season that he had last
12:00year.
12:00And even before the segment, I was surprised to see that Mahomes was at two.
12:05But also the fact that he's been in this league, he's gone on to win big game after big game.
12:12And he's not just a one hit wonder.
12:15I think that's more so what Jaden has to go out and prove.
12:17So I think that's why he's at 12.
12:19There are some guys on this list that are a little higher than I would expect them to
12:23be, including Justin Herbert.
12:24I'm not giving him the excuse that he lost both of his tackles.
12:28There have been multiple quarterbacks that have not had offensive lines around them that
12:32have produced.
12:33And I just don't think he's one of those guys.
12:36I just personally believe he's an underachiever and he can be a bit overrated.
12:41But as far as Drake May, as far as Jared Goff, Caleb Williams, I think based off the seasons
12:46that they had last year, they deserve to be a little bit higher than Jaden.
12:49So I think 12 is just right.
12:51And I understand it.
12:52But I think it's going to be up to Jaden to come back this season and just prove everybody
12:57wrong that, you know, he's not a one hit wonder.
13:00Yeah, I mean, I think the one hit wonder description is, you know, I'm not saying that you're making
13:06that description.
13:06But there are people out there that just didn't pay attention as to why his season was what
13:12it was.
13:12It was simply put because he didn't play.
13:15He played in four games start to finish healthy.
13:19That's it.
13:19Four out of 17.
13:21And theoretically, in actual accuracy, he didn't play the Green Bay game start to finish healthy.
13:27So the real number is three.
13:28But in terms of playing start to finish in football games, he played four out of 17.
13:35That is a recent impression.
13:37And so people are going to say one hit wonder.
13:40If he had played in 14 games or 12 games, even 13 games and it played poorly, then that
13:49would have been justification to talk about a one hit wonder.
13:52But there was nothing to evaluate from last year in terms of performance on the field.
13:56It's just way too small of a sample size, not to mention the players that were on the field
14:02with him weren't very good because they were backups.
14:06And in some cases, backups to the backups because of what they went through last year in terms
14:12of injuries.
14:13I understand it's a recency bias thing there.
14:16You know, people are prone to that regardless of what your position is.
14:21Front office exec, coach, GM.
14:23You know, you look at it and you say, look, the guy that I got to watch most recently was
14:27Drake May and Matt Stafford and Caleb Williams.
14:31Jaden Daniels didn't play football, basically.
14:34And because of it, his team wasn't involved in any games that mattered from essentially
14:39Halloween on.
14:40So out of sight, out of mind.
14:42And that's really what this is about.
14:44You know, it's out of sight, out of mind for him.
14:47And I'd still have him higher because I pay a lot more closer attention as to the why
14:53of last year than maybe others do.
14:55And I think had he been healthy and played in 14, 15, 16 games last year, he'd still be
15:02very high on this list.
15:05301-230-0980.
15:08301-230-0980.
15:10Phone lines are open.
15:10And Jaden Daniels, not in the top 10 ESPN quarterback rankings heading into 2026.
15:18He was listed as the second honorable mention quarterback, which essentially puts him at
15:2212.
15:23Overall, is that too high?
15:25Is it too low?
15:26Or is it just right?
15:28I'll add another question on top of this.
15:31Where do you think he'll be a year from now when the same list is presented?
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