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American Football2 min read

NFL Coaches, Executives Pick League's Top-Three Quarterbacks

NFL coaches and front-office members chose the best quarterbacks in an anonymous poll conducted by The Athletic.
NFL Coaches, Executives Pick League's Top-Three Quarterbacks

Sep 04, 2026 at 07:47 PM EDT

An anonymous poll of NFL coaches and front-office members identified a clear top tier of NFL quarterbacks entering the 2026 season.

The Athletic posed several questions to head coaches, coordinators, general managers, and other NFL executives in a survey released on Friday. One asked them to choose the league's top three quarterbacks.

Among 20 respondents, 19 picked Josh Allen. Sixteen are sticking with Patrick Mahomes coming off a torn ACL, and 15 selected Matthew Stafford. Joe Burrow was a distant fourth with six votes, followed by Lamar Jackson (three) and Dak Prescott (one).

Allen also ran away with a poll to pick this season's MVP, receiving eight votes to three from runners-up Stafford and Burrow. One head coach offered effusive praise for the Buffalo Bills star.

"He's a freaking freak," the head coach said. "The plays he makes, the things he does, you can't account for. He's the biggest dude on the field, and the ball is like a little peanut in his hands. Some of the things he would do in crunch time, it's like, 'Where did that come from? How do you do these things?' I don't know if there's a better single football player in the NFL in terms of putting a team on his back."

Mahomes posted a modest 89.6 passer rating in 14 games before suffering a season-ending injury. He didn't play up to his usual standards last year, but the league isn't counting out the three-time Super Bowl MVP.

The Athletic's Jeff Howe called it a "stunner" that Stafford garnered so much support. The 38-year-old has elevated his standing among the NFL's elite after tallying 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns in an MVP season for the Los Angeles Rams.

One executive cited the "lethal" combination of Stafford and head coach Sean McVay, which has the Rams entering the season as a Super Bowl favorite alongside a revamped defense led by Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald. Another title could help Stafford prove he belongs among the NFL's premier signal-callers.

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It was published on September 4, 2026 and last updated on October 9, 2026. The time of the story is shown in your own time zone on the page.

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