The 25 best quarterbacks of the 2010s

Foles has never started more than 11 games in a season, and when he did that, he was a disaster for the then St. Louis Rams. However, Foles again found a home during his second stint in Philadelphia, and as a starter for the Eagles in 2017-18, he went 10-3 (including the playoffs). The City of Brotherly Love will always remember his 2017 postseason, which ended with a championship and him winning Super Bowl MVP. 

Two years ago, Carr appeared to be on his way to land much higher on this list. But over the last two years, he is 10-21 with 41 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. The 2016 season in which he was an MVP candidate before breaking his leg lands him on the list. In 2016 he threw for 3,937 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The 31-year-old has been beleaguered throughout his career. With an 0-4 playoff record, he deserves most of it. But Dalton also gave a terribly bad franchise some stability after an ugly divorce with Carson Palmer. Dalton has four 10-win seasons and has gone 68-54-2 (including the playoffs) overall as a starter. Only Ken Anderson has more wins as a starting quarterback in franchise history.

The bloom is starting to fall off the rose for Cousins. Playing for a competent franchise and a team with a championship level defense, expectations had Cousins becoming a top passer in 2018. That didn't happen. Cousins's stats aren't bad — he completed 70.1 percent of his passes last season for 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions — but he led the Vikings to an 8-7-1 mark. He is 34-37-2 in his career. Cousins still deserves to be on this list, but he could be so much higher. 

Watson has started only 22 games, but he's already made an impact for a franchise that's had trouble filling its quarterback spot since Matt Schaub began struggling in 2013. Watson is an electric player, as he's averaged 8.3 yards per attempt with 45 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. No. 4 has all the tools to be ranked among the best quarterbacks in the next decade.

Another No. 4, Prescott joined the NFL just a year before Watson, but he's started every game since joining the league and led the Cowboys to two playoff appearances. In 48 games, Prescott is 32-16 with 67 touchdowns and only 25 interceptions. With Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper at his side for the foreseeable future, Prescott will have the chance to fulfill his potential in 2019 and beyond.

For a brief two seasons, Palmer was arguably a top five quarterback in the league. That lands him in the top 20 for the decade. Palmer went 20-4 (including the playoffs) as a starter from 2014-15. Unfortunately, he missed 10 games because of injury in 2014 and then he experienced a disastrous NFC championship against the Carolina Panthers in Jan. 2016. He wasn't the same after that. Through the entire decade, Palmer went 50-49-1 with the Bengals, Raiders and Cardinals. He played for some really bad teams and dealt with a lot of injuries. Starting to play for Bruce Arians at 34 years old was the best thing that ever happened to his career.

The career of the 2016 No. 1 pick couldn't have started any worse. Under Jeff Fisher, Goff went 0-7 as a starter in 2016. Under Sean McVay since then, Goff is 26-9 as a starter with 60 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He's also averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. McVay has been given a lot of the credit, and having Todd Gurley certainly helps, but Goff is in position to become one of the top 10 passers in the 2020s.

Similar to Carr, Wentz was an MVP candidate into December before suffering a significant injury in 2017. But unlike the Raiders, the Eagles won the Super Bowl without him. When healthy, though, Wentz is an elite signal-caller. He wasn't completely right last season, but in 2017 Wentz threw for 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

Flacco has never been to the Pro Bowl. No matter how you feel about the NFL All-Star Game, it's hard to imagine a signal-caller being one of the best in the decade without a single appearance in that game. But Flacco posted four 10-win seasons and won 83 games (including the playoffs) this decade. He recorded a losing record just twice. That lands him on the list, but his 2013 postseason moved him in front of guys who have more talent. Flacco threw for 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions while averaging 9.0 yards per attempt to lead the Ravens to Super Bowl XLVII.

Judging the younger Manning brother is one of the hardest things to do for a sports writer. In the 2010s, Manning has gone 66-77 as a starter and led the Giants to the playoffs just twice. In his entire career, Manning has won a playoff game in just two different seasons, but both times he led his team to a title and won Super Bowl MVP. In the 2012 playoffs, Manning threw for nine touchdowns and just one interception.

It's probably a surprise to some that Smith landed this high on our list. He certainly isn't as talented as Wentz, Prescott and Watson, and he hasn't experienced postseason success like Manning or Flacco. But once Jim Harbaugh arrived in San Francisco in 2011, all Smith did with three different teams was win, going 80-47-1 (including the playoffs) as a starter. During the decade, he's also thrown for 156 touchdowns and just 58 interceptions.

From a statistical perspective, Stafford has been fantastic. Since 2011 he hasn't missed a game and has averaged 4,446 passing yards and 27 touchdowns per season. Unfortunately that hasn't always translated into wins. Stafford has gone 64-70 (including the playoffs) as a starter, but similar to Dalton, Stafford has helped make the Lions competitive. Considering where Detroit was before Stafford arrived, that's an accomplishment.

Newton is another tough quarterback to rank. His career completion percentage sits below 60 percent, and he's thrown at least 12 interceptions in every season but one. But that one year was absolutely special. In 2015 Newton earned an All-Pro nomination with 3,837 passing yards, 45 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He led the Panthers to the Super Bowl and won the NFL MVP. That, plus three other playoff appearances and a 71-57-1 record (including the playoffs) place him inside the top12 on our list.

Now more known for his incredible ability to predict from the broadcast booth which plays are coming next on the field, Romo was once a pretty incredible quarterback. Yes, he frustratingly led the Cowboys to too many eight-win seasons and dealt with a lot of injuries. But from 2011-14, he also threw for at least 28 touchdowns in every season. Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson are still to come on our list, but they've never accomplished that over a four-year period. In 2012 Romo also threw for 4,903 yards. The 2014 season was Romo's best. He led the league with a 69.9 completion percentage and 8.5 yards per attempt that year with a career-high 34 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Maybe it's premature to place Mahomes in the top 10 quarterbacks from the 2010s after just one season. But the standard was set with Newton coming in at No. 12 mostly because of his All-Pro season. Mahomes was absolutely incredible last year, putting together one of the best seasons ever behind center. He became the second passer with more than 5,000 passing yards and 50 touchdowns in the same season. When the old guard — Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees retire — Mahomes is ready to carry the mantle as the best quarterback in the NFL.

A year ago, Luck probably would have been significantly lower on this list. From 2015-17, he went just 10-12 as a starter and missed the entire 2017 season. But he returned to his elite status last year and has now made four Pro Bowls since 2012. He is also 57-37 (including the playoffs) as a starter overall, posting four 10-win seasons. Luck has also recorded four 4,000-yard seasons and two years with at least 39 touchdowns.

The best quarterback of the decade not to play in the Super Bowl, Rivers reminded everyone last season how good he is. He led the Chargers to 12 wins, their most since 2009. Rivers is an even 74-74 (including the playoffs) this decade, but he also has nearly 40,000 passing yards and 268 touchdowns with 133 interceptions. The only thing missing from Rivers' resume is postseason success.

If this were a list of overall accomplishments among active quarterbacks, Roethlisberger would be in the top five. But without counting his two Super Bowl wins toward this ranking, because they happened during the prior decade, "Big Ben" slips just a bit. Still, Roethlisberger has experienced an incredible decade. He's led the league in passing twice and amassed an 89-49-1 (including the playoffs) record. Last season he posted 5,129 passing yards and in back-to-back weeks during the 2014 season, he threw for more than 500 yards in both games, becoming the first quarterback to ever accomplish that feat.

Ryan was a quarter away in Super Bowl LI from carving out his place in NFL history. The last time a league MVP won the Super Bowl in the same season was Kurt Warner in 1999. Even still, Ryan deserves to be highly ranked on a list of quarterbacks from this decade. He is 86-67 (including the playoffs) with more than 40,000 passing yards, 257 touchdowns and 108 interceptions this decade. He's thrown for more than 4,000 yards in every year since 2011, and in two of the last three seasons, Ryan has more than 4,900 yards and at least 35 touchdowns.

The Seahawks were known for their defense when they were going to Super Bowls earlier in the decade, but Wilson has become the franchise's sole leader, not that he wasn't in 2013 and 2014. Wilson has played in every game since he entered the league in 2012 and has posted an 83-41-1 record (including the playoffs). He's also registered 196 touchdowns with only 63 interceptions while averaging 7.9 yards per attempt in his career.

Brees has been a stat machine through his career and has continued to be so into his late 30s. Brees has thrown for more than 5,000 yards four times — no other quarterback has ever thrown for more than 5,000 yards twice...ever. Furthermore, in each of the last two seasons, he's broken his own completion percentage record. Over the entire decade, Brees has thrown for 43,791 yards, 318 touchdowns and 123 interceptions.

Manning could easily be No. 2, but he dips to this spot because he played only half the decade. Of course, it was a memorable five seasons, as Manning earned two All-Pro nominations in 2012 and 2013 along with a Super Bowl title in 2015. His 2013 season is still the best statistical season a quarterback has ever experienced. Manning threw for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns that year, which are both records. Manning was completely healthy for just four seasons this decade, but in all four of those years, he threw for at least 4,600 yards and 33 touchdowns. During the 2010s, he went 60-22 (including the playoffs) as a starter with 21,812 passing yards, 173 touchdowns and 70 interceptions in 74 games.

If he had more Super Bowls, Rodgers would be No. 1. He may be the most talented quarterback the NFL has ever seen. During the 2010s, Rodgers has captured two league MVP awards and a Super Bowl title. He also won the Super Bowl MVP.  Rodgers has dealt with injuries throughout the decade, especially in the last two seasons, but he's still 92-48-1 (including the playoffs) as a starter. Most incredibly, he has thrown for 279 touchdowns and only 59 interceptions in 126 games.

Brady has the statistics, the wins and rings — in this decade and the last one. There's no debate that he's been the best quarterback of the 2010s. During this decade, he hasn't missed a game and led the Patriots to a 126-36 record (including the playoffs). Brady has also nearly thrown for 40,000 yards, 292 touchdowns and just 72 interceptions since 2010 while winning the league MVP in 2010 and 2017. And of course, Brady has added three more championships to his resume this decade. He also won Super Bowl MVP twice, in 2014 and 2016.