Dan Orlovsky has released the third edition of his annual ranking of the NFL's best quarterbacks by specific skills, and Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford are again the names setting the pace. The analyst broke the league's top 10 signal-callers into seven traits, with Allen finishing No. 1 in arm strength, decision-making and second-reaction creativity, while Stafford led ball placement and mechanics.
The timing is what gives the list its pull. NFL today searches tend to spike when the league is close to opening day, and this one lands before the 2026 NFL season begins on Sept. 6. That gives the rankings immediate weight as preseason quarterback talk shifts away from broad reputation and toward the particular things a QB does best on the field.
The seven traits were arm strength, ball placement, mechanics, decision-making, pocket presence, second-reaction creativity and rushing ability. Drake Maye was No. 1 in pocket presence, and Lamar Jackson held the top spot in rushing ability. Allen's showing across three categories makes him the clearest all-around standout in Orlovsky's system, while Stafford's pair of first-place finishes keeps him in the same conversation for very different reasons.
The sharpest edge in the rankings came in ball placement, where Joe Burrow was part of the discussion for Stafford but did not take the top spot. Orlovsky's praise for Stafford centered on how cleanly the veteran QB gets the ball out from awkward positions and how little his motion changes from throw to throw. He said defenses do not know what is coming because every throw looks the same, a consistency that still separates Stafford even at 38.
That matters because Orlovsky is not building an overall quarterback list here. He is sorting skill by skill, then applying the same top-10 lens to each one, which makes the No. 1 spots more useful than a simple ranking of names. It also sets up an early-season conversation that will not stay abstract for long: on Sept. 6, the Patriots meet the reigning champion Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl LX rematch, and the first real test of these trait rankings begins as soon as the season does.
For now, the picture is clear. Allen owns the traits tied to force and improvisation. Stafford owns the traits tied to precision and repeatable mechanics. And Orlovsky's third annual exercise has turned a preseason debate into a sharper question about which quarterback skill matters most when the games start for real.
