With less than a week until the start of the 2026 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are busy preparing to host the Atlanta Falcons for their Week 1 opener. Mike McCarthy is aiming for playoff success in his first season as head coach, but the Steelers may only go as far as their quarterback will take them.
And based on the latest rankings, there's cause for concern.
On Wednesday, FanSided dropped its quarterback rankings project. Their panel of 50 experts graded every single NFL quarterback by assigning a grade using a 12-point scale. From there, quarterbacks were broken into tiers.
With an overall score of 7.52 out of 12, Rodgers ranked 20th among 93 quarterbacks ahead of the 2026 season, in a tier of his own titled 'Solid Starter'. The Steelers' signal-caller ranked just below a cluster of 11 quarterbacks in the 'Strong QB1' tier, including Caleb Williams (9.38), Jordan Love (9.32), Trevor Lawrence (9.30), Jayden Daniels (9.24), and Jared Goff (9.20).
This is a brutal reality check to both Rodgers and Steelers fans. And if the 42-year-old really is the 20th-best QB in the NFL right now, this team has an uphill battle at the league's most important position.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans must have grounded expectations for Aaron Rodgers in his final NFL season
The closest quarterbacks on either side of Rodgers in FanSided's QB rankings were C.J. Stroud (19th with a score of 8.50) and Kyler Murray (21st with a score of 7.46). Murray joined players like Daniel Jones, Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Bryce Young, and Tyler Schough in the dreaded 'Game Manager' category.
And one could make the case that Rodgers should be here as well.
He nearly was. Rodgers was less than a tenth of a point from falling into this department. However, after witnessing what the aging veteran did last season, he landed in the appropriate spot as a 'solid starter.'
While Rodgers no longer has elite play-extension ability or the willingness to hang tough in the pocket for more than a few seconds consistently, he still has a cannon arm, can go through progressions, and fire the ball into tight windows. These don't expand his ceiling, but they create a reasonably high floor, which is why he was still able to throw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 16 games last season.
At the top of the QB rankings in the 'Truly Elite' tier were Josh Allen (11.40), Patrick Mahomes (11.34), and Matthew Stafford (11.04). The final two quarterbacks in this tier, unfortunately, are AFC North rivals Lamar Jackson (11.02) and Joe Burrow (10.92). Meanwhile, seven of the top eight quarterbacks on FanSided's rankings are from the AFC.
Because of this (and for many other reasons), we can acknowledge that Rodgers is, at best, a mid-level quarterback in a crowded QB conference. Thus, Steelers fans should have grounded expectations for the 42-year-old in what he insists will be his final NFL season.
It's possible that Aaron Rodgers could see a slight resurgence now that he's reunited with head coach Mike McCarthy. But considering his age, his decline in mobility, and where he ranks compared to his quarterback peers in the league, we can't expect the oldest player in the NFL to be anything more than an average quarterback this year.
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