The Top 6 Young NFL Quarterbacks to Watch in 2022

The same handful of NFL quarterbacks have dominated the league for the past two decades. They are mostly retired now—Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger among the most notable examples—and a fresh generation of signal-callers has risen to power. That said, a few old guys are still slinging it. Aaron Rodgers never exactly faded, but he has become better than ever in his mid-to-late 30s and has pulled off two MVP wins in a row. Tom Brady is 45 and increasingly introspective about being an old man, but he’s still throwing darts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Despite those outliers, it’s a young man’s position for the most part. Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson are the last two non-Rodgers MVP winners. Justin Herbert and Josh Allen are bona-fide stars. Kyler Murray has cemented himself as one of the better QBs in the league, even though his contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals became a bizarre circus. And a handful of other quarterbacks have a chance to make their own leaps into the upper echelons in 2022.

Here are six of those QBs, ranked subjectively by their chances of mounting a big breakout season. This list is a mix of rookies and other young passers. Anyone who’s already made a Pro Bowl roster isn’t eligible for “breakout” consideration. Such are the rules!