Tom Brady officially announced his retirement from the NFL. Along with Brady, Ben Roethlisberger has also decided to hang up the cleats for good and with those two gone, the 2010's era of elite quarterbacks is slowly fading away. NFL fans should appreciate the memories signal callers like Brady, Roethlisberger, and Drew Brees have given us, but fans should also be very excited about the new quarterback talent that has been on display. Here are some of the best young quarterbacks in the game and the attributes that make them so special.
Patrick Mahomes:
Patrick Mahomes just completed his fourth season as a starter for the Chiefs and although his team just fell short of a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, Mahomes is off to one of the best starts to a career by a quarterback we have seen and there is no reason to believe he will not continue to dominate. In four seasons as a starter, Mahomes has already won a regular season MVP and a SuperBowl MVP while throwing for 18,991 regular season yards and 151 touchdown passes. The things that stand out about Mahomes are his rare arm talent as a guy who can make every throw while also being able to scramble and make runs when necessary. As long as Mahomes is under center for Kansas City, they should be in contention for the SuperBowl every year.
Josh Allen:
When Josh Allen was drafted with the seventh overall pick in 2018, he was considered a boom or bust pick and a project player that Buffalo would have to develop. It looked like that in his first season as he barely threw for over 2,000 yards and had just 10 passing touchdowns to 12 interceptions. Since then, Allen has become one of the best quarterbacks in football and has turned Buffalo into one of the most exciting teams in the league. Allen has one of the biggest arms we have ever seen and has turned into a pin point passer who can use his tremendous frame at 6'5 to run and keep plays alive. The Bills were very close to making it to the AFC Championship this year and with Allen at quarterback, Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis at wideout, and Buffalo's talent on defense, it feels like the Bills will break through eventually and make a Super Bowl appearance.
Justin Herbert:
Justin Herbert has had a sensational first two seasons in the NFL for the Los Angeles Chargers. The rookie was thrown into the fire in his first NFL start against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and competed with Mahomes stride for stride. Since then, he hasn't looked back as he set the record for most touchdown passes in a season with 31 and in his second year, he threw for over 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns as the Chargers just barely missed out on the playoffs. Similar to Mahomes and Allen, Herbert has a rocket arm and makes throwing the football look so easy. As the Chargers continue to surround Herbert with more weapons, they will without question be contender to make deep playoff runs in the future.
Lamar Jackson:
Although it was a down year for Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, Lamar is still one of the best young quarterbacks in the league and the best of him is yet to come. Ability wise, Lamar is the best running quarterback by far and will only continue to improve as a passer as his career progresses. In just his second season he threw 36 touchdown passes and won MVP of the regular season and although they did not win a playoff game, Lamar came back the next season and was great again and got his first playoff win against the Titans. Lamar Jackson ran for 1,000 yards in back to back seasons in 2019 and 2020 as he showcased how special he is as an athlete. It can be easy to forget that Lamar and the Ravens were one of the top teams in the AFC before Lamar's injury. The potential is through the roof for Lamar.
Joe Burrow:
After tearing his ACL in his rookie season, Joe Burrow is the clear Comeback Player of the Year and in just his second season, he has led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988. In limited action in his rookie season, Burrow proved he was the clear number one pick in his draft class and that he was capable of being a franchise quarterback. In his sophomore season, he threw for over 4,600 yards and 34 touchdowns and the led the Bengals to upset wins over the number one seed Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead. Teams look for franchise guys at quarterback in hopes to develop them and one day have a chance to win a Super Bowl and Joe Burrow has a chance to do just that against the Rams. No matter the result of this game, Joe Burrow will always have the Bengals in contention to make noise in the postseason.
Kyler Murray:
Although the past two seasons have not ended well for the Arizona Cardinals, Kyler Murray has still proven to be one of the most electric quarterbacks in the NFL with a lot of upside. For defenses, Murray is very difficult to guard because of his mobility, agility and the threat he presents as a very accurate thrower of the football as well. The addition of DeAndre Hopkins really elevated Murray's level of play this year and last year. If the Cardinals can continue to build off of the good regular season they had and learn from their playoff struggles, they will do some great things in the NFC.
These are only a few of the young quarterbacks that are on the rise. Others include Mac Jones in New England who made a strong push for Rookie of the Year and took the Patriots to the playoffs. We also should look forward to seeing how Trevor Lawrence develops in Jacksonville, or even Justin Fields in Chicago who showed flashes of greatness in his rookie season. Even though it is crazy to think about how the majority of elite quarterbacks of the last decade are retired close to the end of their careers, the league is clearly in good hands with the quarterbacks who are up next.