AFC North QB rankings Week 8: Bengals superstar Joe Burrow clears the competition

The Cincinnati Bengals don’t merely have the best quarterback in the AFC North in Joe Burrow. He’s in the conversation as the very best at his position on the planet at the minute.

If not for some frankly freakish injuries for the sport’s premier pocket passer, Burrow would have an even more sterling reputation.

Oh well. Delayed gratification and recognition are just fine. Meanwhile, two-time league MVP and playoff choke artist Lamar Jackson missed Week 7’s would-be duel versus Cincinnati and Burrow embarrassed the Ravens on their home turf 35-13.

We’ll incorporate Lamar into this divisional QB hierarchy, but it’s hard to gas him up too much for a variety of reasons. Never mind placing him ahead of Joe Shiesty.

Latest AFC North QB rankings show Burrow is the clear No. 1

1. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

This man is in the top three in MVP odds. Joe Brrr was indeed ice cold, completing 16 of 18 passes for 240-plus yards and four TDs in the second half versus the Ravens.

While the MVP conversation is nice, as opposed to Comeback Player of the Year, that individual accolade will take care of itself if the Bengals keep winning. And if their offense keeps rolling like it did on five straight TD drives against their division rival.

Burrow is just quite simply the best pure thrower of the pigskin going these days. He led the NFL in passing yards and passing TDs in 2024 but missed the playoffs because his defense was so bad (and now-virtually-automatic Evan McPherson let him down on some critical kicks).

Between the Bengals' improved defense creating more favorable conditions, a soft schedule, and his own growth in the years since he last made the playoffs, Burrow is poised to be atop these AFC North QB rankings for quite a while.

2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

With his contract situation still up in the air and an ankle injury that frankly a lot of quarterbacks who didn't rely so much on their legs might play through, Lamar Jackson is a solid No. 2 in the AFC North hierarchy at the most important position.

I've surmised many times in this space that Lamar's game is going to age poorly. Not that I doubt his credibility as a pocket passer, but how much of that space is set up by the threat that he could take off and run? Probably a fair amount of it.

It's just odd that Lamar has missed two more games than Burrow now since 2021 and yet the latter is only ever called injury-prone. Jackson has been unavailable more than many might suspect. And it's just weird vibes all around about it.

Hence, homerism bias aside, I couldn't justify putting Lamar No. 1 through eight weeks. The NFL is a "what have you done for me lately?" league after all! And speaking of which, Lamar can strengthen his case as the AFC North's best QB if he plays and outduels Josh Allen in Week 8.

3. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers

Quadragenarian old sage Aaron Rodgers doesn't have outstanding personnel to work with. Nevertheless, he's making it work in what should be his last season as an NFL quarterback.

Rodgers has a bad completion percentage by his standards (61.6%). Some of that is just throwing the ball away and some of it is the constant pressure he's under. Per Next Gen Stats, Rodgers' average time before releasing the ball is 2.74 seconds, yet he's taken 22 sacks (second-most).

Maybe the Steelers need to go with more big personnel packages or put their offensive line in better positions to block things up. Because at this rate, at his age, Rodgers will struggle to endure the whole 17-game gauntlet plus any potential playoff appearance.

4. Tyler Huntley, Baltimore Ravens

Hard to knock the guy after he put up over 200 passing yards on the Bengals in the first half of Week 7. Dude looked like Lamar and as if nothing was amiss. Well, save for the ability to finish when the Ravens got in striking distance.

Some short-yardage miscues by Baltimore led to field goals or outright stops. Huntley couldn't make enough plays to go blow for blow with Burrow and Co. in the second half. That's no knock. It just means he's more of a fringe starter/sturdy backup than anything else.

5. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

As much as the disgraced Browns field general is exceeding expectations this year, he’s still one of the worst starting QBs in all of football.

Watson holds the ball way too long way too often and takes unnecessary sacks. He’s taken a league high 25 sacks in fact. The Browns have had a very easy schedule so far and yet despite a stout defense to help him out, Watson’s numbers are very pedestrian.

Any quarterback on this list could run Todd Monken’s system in Cleveland with more efficacy. Watson ranks 27th in ESPN's QBR metric. His passer rating is only 90.6. Not good enough to win big with, that's for sure.

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