Sports

Power Ranking the Quarterbacks in the AFC East

The start of training camp is just days away for some NFL teams, and a few weeks for others, meaning the return of meaningful football games is right around the corner.

It's been a pretty eventful offseason - one in which we've previewed training camp dates and storylines to watch, examined the top position battles to watch, and named which rookie has the best chance of winning a starting job for all 32 teams.

Next up in our offseason series is power ranking every starting quarterback in each of the NFL's eight divisions. Next up is the AFC East.

1- Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen is at a point in his career where the only quarterbacks even mentioned as being in his league are Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson - that's how good that group of four is.

Allen has won an MVP, he's made All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and he has multiple 4,000-yard and 30-touchdown seasons. The only thing left for him to accomplish is to win a Super Bowl.

With the Bills adding wide receivers D.J. Moore and Skyler Bell, and beefed up the defense with pass-rushers Bradley Chubb, T.J. Parker, and Mike Danna, plus cornerback Davison Igbinosun and Dee Alford, the team may be closer to getting Allen that ring.

2- Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Drake Maye had one heck of a season last year - he threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, finished runner-up in MVP voting, and he led the Patriots to the Super Bowl - but there's only a handful of QBs worthy of being ranked ahead of Allen, and Maye isn't one, yet.

The sky is the limit on Maye's potential, however, and he's already been heralded as "the next Josh Allen" my several NFL analysts. If his development continues on an upward trajectory, Maye will be a staple of top-10 QB lists for the next decade.

3- Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins took a big risk offering Malik Willis - a QB with six career starts - a $67.5 million contract this offseason. It's almost as if teams have learned nothing from Matt Flynn and Brock Osweiler.

Though Willis played extremely well in relief of Jordan Love the last two seasons (972 yards passing, six touchdowns, zero interceptions, 134.6 passer rating), that was with much more talent than he'll have in Miami. Yes, the Dolphins have star running back De'Von Achane to take some of the pressure off, but the team's WR corps just may be the worst in the league.

Willis likely won't have the same success throwing to Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, TuTu Atwell, Jalen Reagor, and Chris Bell.

4- Geno Smith, New York Jets

The Jets really have perfected one-upping themselves when it comes to questionable quarterback decisions.

The Zach Wilson experiment was a colossal failure, so the team then invested $40 million into Justin Fields one year after he was benched for Russell Wilson midway through the season.

Then New York traded Fields and acquired Geno Smith, who's fresh off his worst season as a starter since 2021. He threw 17 interceptions last year playing for arguably he worst offense in the NFL, and now he's going to what may be the second-worst offense in the league.

The only silver lining for Smith is he has some solid weapons to throw to in Garrett Wilson, rookie wideout Omar Cooper Jr., and rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published July 18, 2026 at 7:08 PM.

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