ESPN’s annual NFL quarterback rankings are out, but it’s one that will be up for debate among football fans after Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen took the No. 1 spot over Patrick Mahomes heading into the 2026 season.
Allen climbed from No. 2 to No. 1 after receiving the best composite score from more than 70 NFL executives, coaches, and scouts, despite the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback receiving more first-place votes.
Domonique Foxworth Explains Why Patrick Mahomes No Longer Deserves No. 1 QB Ranking over Josh Allen
A league general manager reportedly told ESPN that Allen’s combination of elite playmaking and improved ball security made him the league’s best quarterback entering 2026.
“He’s the most singularly unstoppable player at the position when you get his A-game. And he has cut down on the turnovers the past two seasons,” the executive said.
Domonique Foxworth agreed with the result and felt it was fully justified because Mahomes simply hasn’t played at his usual level over the past two seasons. The former CB, who played seven seasons in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens, was reacting to the rankings on ESPN’s Get Up.
“Yeah, I mean, I think Mahomes obviously has built up a lot of goodwill, but you can’t argue with the last couple of seasons, in particular this season,” Foxworth said, while agreeing with ESPN’s rankings.
Foxworth argued that Mahomes’ trademark ability to consistently deliver in clutch moments was once what separated him from every other quarterback, but he didn’t see that same edge last season.
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“The thing that kind of separated Mahomes that made it so that even if his stats were a little worse, you might say he’s better, is the way that his team performed in one-score games. And last year, they struggled in those.”
“In previous seasons, you could always count on Mahomes to have some late-game magic to make sure that they won those games. He wasn’t as good at that. He wasn’t as good at third-and-long, the things that he did well,” he added.
Foxworth’s assessment is also supported by PFN’s QB Impact Rankings for the 2025 season: Allen finished ninth overall with an 80.3 grade, ahead of Joe Burrow (80.0) and Mahomes (79.0).
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The Chiefs QB was ranked 11th after throwing for 3,587 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions during a season in which Kansas City finished 6-11 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Foxworth also pointed to Mahomes’ recovery from the torn ACL and LCL he suffered late in the 2025 season, arguing that the three-time Super Bowl MVP’s injury further strengthened Allen’s case as the No. 1 QB ahead of the 2026 season.
“And then we saw at the top of this segment, he’s limping. He’s coming off an injury. So I think it would be easier to argue that he should be lower on the list than putting him any higher on the list, honestly,” Foxworth added.
Mahomes is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, with the Chiefs’ veterans set to report to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, on July 28.
His recovery will be one of the biggest storylines to monitor entering the 2026 season, especially with Kansas City opening its campaign against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14.
