Overview
- ESPN’s annual survey of NFL executives, coaches and scouts, released Monday, ranked Buffalo’s Josh Allen No. 1 with Patrick Mahomes second and Matthew Stafford rising to No. 3.
- Chicago rookie Caleb Williams narrowly reached the top 10 at No. 10 and drew sharply mixed anonymous assessments that called him both “wildly erratic” and “the most dynamic” of the group.
- Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts dropped off the top 10 and was listed as an honorable mention after previously being ranked ninth, a shift that has fueled debate among fans and pundits.
- Voters flagged specific concerns that reshaped placements, including an outlier ballot that ranked Mahomes as low as No. 9, questions about Lamar Jackson’s durability, and an evaluator who said Justin Herbert “plays young.”
- The survey is subjective by design: its anonymous, perception-based votes reflect evaluators’ tradeoffs between recent awards, injuries and counting stats versus traits like durability and maturity and should be read as a conversation starter, not a definitive forecast for 2026 performance.