Unlike last season, however, all four will be the starting quarterback for their respective team. Lingering over them: Is this the season of these quarterbacks finally snags an elusive Super Bowl title?
Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, and Sam Darnold all are worth of being in the discussion for MVP this season. Moreso Jackson and Allen, but Mayfield and Darnold should be mentioned nonetheless. Each individual nailed a career-best in at least one stat category, and three of the four will enjoy a home playoff game to get things started.
For Jackson and Allen, this postseason pressure if familiar, with the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills once again among Super Bowl favorite (with pesky Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City potentially standing in their way). Mayfield is making his second-straight playoff appearance with Tampa Bay (third overall). Darnold is the newcomer as a starting quarterback with Minnesota, a season after reaching the Super Bowl as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers.
The January gauntlet is about to begin. With any luck, in February, one of these four quarterbacks will have a Super Bowl ring to cap off an excellent season.
Lamar Jackson
Jackson and the Ravens (12-5) took until week 18 to wrap up the AFC North this season. A bit of a surprise, yes, but very little of taking so long to do this was the fault of Jackson.
Already a two-time MVP, Jackson is on track to pick up a third after posting the best numbers of his seven-year career. Jackson completed 66.7 percent of his pass attempts, throwing for a career-high 4,172 yards. Jackson also passed for 41 touchdowns and threw only four interceptions, also career-bests.
Jackson was much better at being consistent throughout an entire season, with the proof in the stats and limiting interceptions (though he did lose four fumbles).
Help in the running game was a major boost to Baltimore's success on offense. Jackson still ran for 915 yards and became the NFL's all-time leading rusher for a quarterback, averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
Baltimore has had talented running backs during Jackson's career. Keeping them healthy was an issue in previous season, where Jackson was forced to carry the load. Not this season, with the arrival of Derrick Henry. Henry added to what is sure to be a Hall of Fame career, playing in all 17 games and rushing for 1,921 yards.
Now the goal for Jackson is to put behind him the playoff struggles, where he is 2-4 with nine turnovers in his career.
Baltimore rides a four-game winning streak into the playoffs, where a health defense allowed only just under 11 points per game in this stretch. The quest for a Super Bowl title begins at home, where the Ravens (with the third seed in the AFC) play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 11.
Josh Allen
With the second seed in the AFC locked up, Allen played only one snap in the regular season finale for the Bills (13-4). The Bills lost to the New England Patriots, but Allen has the team in prime position to finally reach the Big Game.
Allen led the Bills to a fifth-consecutive AFC East title and is a frontrunner alongside Jackson to pick up the MPV award. A more balanced attack this season for Buffalo led the way and Allen had a down year compared to previous seasons as far as stats are concerned.
In throwing for 3,731 yards, Allen ended a four-year stretch in which he tossed for at least 4,000 yards. Allen completed 63.6 percent of pass attempts, throwing 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions (a career-low). Allen also stayed steady in the ground game, finishing with 531 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Allen only took 14 sacks all season, including just once in his last six full games.
James Cook, Ray Davis, and a Buffalo running attack helped this offense thrive. With somewhat of a more "conservative" attack, Allen had six games in which he passed for less than 200 yards.
Still, Allen provided Buffalo with exactly what they needed. The Bills will be at home at least two rounds in the playoffs, if all goes according to plan, starting 1/12 against the Denver Broncos.
Baker Mayfield
Winning the NFC South seemed in a dire place for Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they reached their bye in week 11. The Atlanta Falcons were rolling and the Bucs were dealing with an array of injuries and struggles.
No problem.
Tampa Bay won six of their last seven games locking up the division title with a week 18 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Mayfield was a huge reason for Tampa Bay's success this season. Yes, interceptions (16) remained a problem, with seven over the last seven games, but his play was gutsy and near phenomenal. In this same seven-game period, Mayfield passed for nearly 2,000 yards with 17 touchdowns.
Statistically, this season was Mayfield's best, finishing with career-highs in completion percentage (71.4), yards (4,500), and touchdown passes (41). Mayfield also added "dual threat" to his resume, rushing for 378 yards and three touchdowns. This included a 68-yard effort in the regular season finale.
Mayfield and the resilient Bucs open the playoffs as the third seed, hosting the Washington Commanders on Sunday night (1/12). The teams met to open the season, with Tampa Bay earning a 37-20 victory, with Mayfield throwing for 289 yards and four touchdowns.
Sam Darnold
It is rare to see a 14-3 team enter the playoffs as a conference's fifth seed. That is exactly where the Minnesota Vikings and Darnold sit, thanks to a red-hot Detroit Lions team.
Despite a big hiccup in Minnesota's week 18 loss to the Lions (18-41, 166 yards), Darnold was a huge surprise for the Vikings. Healthy and playing a full season, Darnold finally lived up to that first round potential.
In playing in all 17 games, Darnold delivered with career-highs in completion percentage (66.2), yards (4,319), and touchdown passes (35). The passing yards were nearly 1,300 better than his previous career high and, in Darnold's four previous seasons he'd only totaled 27 touchdown passes.
Darnold and the Vikings will hit the road to open the playoffs, facing the Los Angeles Rams. The game is currently scheduled for Monday night (1/13) in Los Angeles, but the game may be moved to Arizona because of the Los Angeles fires.
Josh Rosen
Until otherwise noted, let's go with: Josh Rosen. Former NFL QB and future businessman.
Thanks for following along with this continuing series on the quarterbacks drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Check back next August with this series, where hopefully we will be talking about one of these quarterbacks with a Super Bowl victory on their resume entering season eight.
image credit: Flickr
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