A Two-Time MVP Didn’t Even Make the Top 10?

Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd just dropped Lamar Jackson — a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player — completely out of his top 10 quarterback rankings, and the sports world erupted.

Story Snapshot

Cowherd removed Jackson from his top 10 quarterback list, placing players like Sam Darnold and Drake Maye ahead of a two-time MVP.
Jackson fell 67 spots in the National Football League Network’s player-voted Top 100 list, dropping from 2nd in 2023 to 69th in 2024.
Critics point to Jackson’s declining rushing numbers and playoff struggles as reasons for the slide in reputation.
Some analysts argue media coverage of Black quarterbacks still carries subtle bias, with playoff losses weighted more heavily than regular-season dominance.

Cowherd Drops Jackson From His Top 10

Colin Cowherd, host of “The Herd” on Fox Sports, released his top 10 quarterback rankings heading into the 2026 season — and Lamar Jackson wasn’t on it. Cowherd’s list put Josh Allen first, followed by Patrick Mahomes, Caleb Williams, Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, Drake Maye, Jared Goff, and Sam Darnold. Jackson, who won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award twice, didn’t make the cut at all.

Just two months earlier, Cowherd had ranked Jackson seventh. The sudden drop sparked immediate backlash online. Critics called the move “ridiculous” and pointed out that Jackson was being ranked below quarterbacks who have never won an MVP award. Cowherd also said he would rather have Bo Nix — a second-year quarterback — on the field in a fourth-quarter comeback situation than Jackson, a claim that drew especially sharp criticism from fans and fellow analysts.

The Numbers Behind the Debate

Cowherd’s critique rests partly on real trends in Jackson’s game. His rushing production has dropped significantly. In 2021, Jackson averaged around 10 rushing attempts and 65 rushing yards per game. More recently, those numbers fell to roughly 5 attempts and 27 yards per game, according to player statistics data. Leg injuries played a role in that decline. His passing numbers also dipped, with just 24 touchdown passes and a passer rating of 102.7 in the 2023 season.

The National Football League Network’s player-voted Top 100 list added fuel to the fire. Jackson dropped 67 spots — from 2nd overall in 2023 to 69th in 2024. That kind of peer-driven ranking carries weight in media circles. Analysts treat it as proof that other players no longer see Jackson as an elite threat. But it’s worth asking: does one down year — partly caused by injury — justify dropping a two-time MVP this far, this fast?

Bias in the Booth? A Broader Question

Some analysts and observers say the pile-on reflects a pattern in how the media judges Black quarterbacks. The National Football League’s own reporting has acknowledged the league’s history of racial bias in quarterback evaluation. Critics argue that mobile quarterbacks who rely on athleticism face harsher scrutiny when injuries slow them down — as if their entire game is built on legs alone, rather than arm talent and football intelligence.

Colin Cowherd ridiculously omitted Lamar Jackson from his top 10 quarterbacks list, and it sparked a heated debate amongst the panel… pic.twitter.com/uFmWetT1DT

— Jason Whitlock (@jasonwhitlock) July 15, 2026

Jackson has shown he can win with his arm. His 2023 passer rating of 102.7 is solid by any standard. Yet the media conversation often circles back to playoff losses and fourth-quarter struggles, concerns that follow Jackson more persistently than they follow some of his peers with similar or worse postseason records. Whether that reflects genuine performance concerns or something deeper in how analysts assign “clutch” status, it’s a question worth asking. The debate over Jackson’s ranking says as much about the media machine as it does about the quarterback himself.