Nobody believes that Aaron Rodgers is the same MVP-level player we saw with the Green Bay Packers back in his last elite season in 2021, but Pittsburgh Steelers fans are optimistic that the 42-year-old could see a resurgence in 2026 with his old head coach, Mike McCarthy, calling the shots for the Steelers.
Unfortunately, ESPN just gave us a harsh wake-up call of how outmatched this team is at the most important position in the sport.
On Monday, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler released his rankings of the top-10 quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season—quarterbacks voted on by NFL executives, coaches, and scouts. Not only did Rodgers (expectedly) miss the cut, but the long-time veteran was not listed among the seven honorable mentions, nor was his name in the 'also receiving votes' category.
In total, 20 quarterbacks were mentioned in ESPN's article... and Rodgers was not one of them.
However, two quarterbacks who were mentioned early (and received glowing praise) were Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow and Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
Aaron Rodgers could hold the Pittsburgh Steelers back from being contenders in the AFC North
Execs, coaches, and scouts ranked Burrow as the third-best QB in the league, despite missing half of the 2025 season with a severe toe injury, while Jackson was ranked as the fourth-best quarterback in the NFL.
And having two top-five QBs within the same division probably isn't a good sign for a team that has an aging quarterback in decline.
Last year, Rodgers did enough to aid the Steelers to the AFC North crown, and Pittsburgh hosted a playoff game, but two major factors were at play: injuries to Burrow and Jackson.
Lamar was injured early in the season, which resulted in a dismal 1-5 start for the Ravens. Surprisingly, they were able to bounce back and nearly killed the Steelers' playoff hopes in Week 18, had rookie kicker Tyler Loop made a chip-shot field goal to win the game for Baltimore.
Meanwhile, the Bengals were just a 6-11 football team in 2025, but in the eight games Burrow played, they were 5-3, meaning the team went just 1-8 without him under center.
Here's where things get scary: in 2024, when both Burrow and Jackson were healthy, the two Pro Bowl quarterbacks combined for 84 passing touchdowns and just 13 interceptions to go with 9,090 passing yards. This doesn't even consider the combined 1,116 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns Jackson and Burrow combined for.
It's a big 'if' whether Burrow and Jackson can stay healthy for a full season in 2026, but if they do, Aaron Rodgers no longer holds a candle to these two elite signal-callers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers might have an overall more talented roster than either the Ravens or the Bengals. Unfortunately, so much of a team's success lives and dies with the quarterback performance, and we just got a painful reminder of how far behind the Steelers are at the QB postion in their own division, let alone the rest of the league.
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