If money talks, then the league's biggest contracts confirm it: This position is easily the most integral in every team's hunt for a championship. The truth is a bit more complex: Every signal-caller is often only as good as his setup and situation, though a select few register as transcendent talents.

The Carolina Panthers needed a quarterback badly between 2018 and 2023. Those were some dark times under center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The cycle of Teddy

Who bumps Sam Darnold from the top five in Nick Shook's QB Index rankings? Which player falls 12 spots? Check out the updated pecking order, 1-32, heading into Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season.

One NFL executive believes that teams do more to damage talented quarterbacks' prospects than the players themselves.

Joe Flacco has been with the Bengals just three weeks and already is encroaching on one of Joe Burrow's more impressive franchise records.

The similarities are obvious. Daniel Jones, Mayfield, Darnold and Mac Jones were high- or mid-first-rounders, while Smith was an early second-rounder. League executives agreed each player has always possessed the physical skills to start in the NFL, which was indicative of their draft stock.

A year and a half into their careers, the 2024 NFL QB class is still making waves. Caleb Williams was picked No. 1, but now? He's not even top three.

In CBS Sports' latest 2026 NFL mock draft, the Crimson Tide quarterback is the No. 1 overall pick and the first of four quarterbacks selected in the first round of the draft along with Oregon's Dante Moore, Indiana's Fernando Mendoza and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers.

The 2026 NFL Draft quarterback class could be light on starting experience. Will that make it more difficult to evaluate those prospects?