Power ranking the quarterbacks in the NFC South
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 NFC South.
This one was easy.
Mayfield is in a class of his own right now in the NFC South. He was in the MVP running for the first seven weeks last year before injuries started to derail the Bucs’ season. With a healthy complement of weapons, Mayfield is as dangerous as anyone, as evidenced by his back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons in 2023 and 2024.
Though he lost his top weapon in Mike Evans, Mayfield still has Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, and Tez Johnson, and he should put up some big numbers again in 2026.
It’s hard to judge what Tua Tagovailoa is going to do in Atlanta given he’s playing with new receivers (Drake London, Zachariah Branch, Jahan Dotson, Olamide Zaccheus), a new offensive coordinator (Tommy Rees), and a new head coach (Kevin Stefanski).
But based on his best seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2022, 2023), if Tagovailoa is on his game, he should be right up there with Mayfield. He’ll also have Bijan Robinson in the backfield with him, who’s a dual threat as a runner and receiver. Whether or not Tagovailoa bounces back in 2026 will determine how much runway his NFL career has.
Bryce Young shows some strong signs of improvement last year, completing a career-best 63.9 percent of his passes for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He also went 8-8 as the starter and led Carolina to its first division title since 2015.
The Panthers beefed up the protection in front of Young with rookie first-round tackle Monroe Freeling and former Green Bay Packers tackle Rasheed Walker, and with the weapons he has to throw to including Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Leggette, rookie Chris Brazzell, John Metchie, and Jimmy Horn Jr., Young could have an even better 2026.
Unlike seemingly everyone else around the NFL, I’m not sold on Shough.
He threw for 2,384 yards in 11 games as a rookie, and he had just 10 touchdowns with six interceptions — those numbers don’t scream franchise quarterback. He will have more weapons next season after the Saints drafted receivers Jordyn Tyson, Bryce Lance, and Barion Brown , and a Travie Etienne-Alvin Kamara-Kendre Miller running back trio looks promising.
But Shough will have to prove he can be the guy to keep the Saints from investing in a passer like Arch Manning, Dante Moore, LaNorris Sellers, Sam Leavitt, or Trinidad Chambliss in the first round of the 2027 draft.
