Cowherd drops Jackson from top-10 QBs, cites playoff struggles

Colin Cowherd made a bold declaration on Fox Sports Radio this week: he would rather have Bo Nix leading a fourth-quarter comeback than Lamar Jackson, the two-time NFL MVP. It was a statement that landed like a challenge to everything Jackson has accomplished in the regular season over the past seven years. Cowherd went further, dropping Jackson entirely from his top-10 quarterback rankings—a move that, on its face, reads like provocation. But beneath the headline sits a legitimate argument about what we measure when we measure greatness.

Jackson's regular-season résumé is genuinely elite. He won two MVP awards. He has been among the league's most dynamic and efficient quarterbacks for most of his career. Yet last season told a different story. In 13 starts, he averaged 196.1 passing yards per game—fewer than Michael Penix Jr. and Geno Smith. His 21 touchdown passes, if projected across a full 17-game season, would have landed near league average. He rushed for just 349 yards and two touchdowns, a sharp departure from the unparalleled ground threat he had been. By nearly every statistical measure, Jackson was far less dynamic than he had been for most of his career.

The question becomes: why? Injuries may have played a role. Perhaps he was never fully healthy. If that's the case, he could return to MVP form this season. But there is another possibility worth considering. Quarterbacks who depend heavily on athleticism often decline more steeply than those who win primarily from the pocket. Russell Wilson went from elite to average in a single offseason. Cam Newton experienced a similar cliff. Jackson is an accurate passer, but his running ability has always been what set him apart. If that athleticism is fading, the entire foundation of his game shifts.

Cowherd's real argument, though, centers on something different: the biggest moments. Jackson's playoff record is 3-5. His postseason completion percentage sits at 60.6 percent. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions in the playoffs, with a passer rating of 84.6. Those numbers are not the numbers of a quarterback you want when the game is on the line. Bo Nix, by contrast, showed clutch ability in a playoff game against the Bills last season that Jackson has never quite demonstrated. If your standard for evaluating quarterbacks is how they perform when everything matters most, then leaving Jackson outside the top 10 becomes defensible.

Cowherd's list includes Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Caleb Williams, Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, and Drake Maye. Some of those choices are debatable. But the underlying logic is sound: it is reasonable to identify 10 quarterbacks entering the 2026 season with fewer unanswered questions than Jackson carries. We do not know if he is fully healthy. We do not know if his athleticism has begun to decline. We do not know how he will adapt under a new coaching staff. Nearly every offseason brings reports questioning his commitment to the game or his contentment in Baltimore. Those concerns do not attach themselves to Mahomes, Allen, Stafford, Burrow, or Maye in the same way. The debate is whether Jackson belongs in the conversation with quarterbacks like Love, Goff, Jayden Daniels, and Darnold—or whether he has slipped below that line entirely. Until Jackson delivers in the moments that define legacies, such questions will remain not just valid, but necessary.