NFL Execs Rank Top 10 QBs: Bills' Josh Allen Better Than Tom Brady?

Buffalo's quarterback is the lone player among the top six to not play in a Super Bowl.

Trendy Super Bowl pick. A betting favorite for MVP. The league's best roster.

The preseason accolades keep rolling in for the Buffalo Bills.

Same for quarterback Josh Allen, who this week was ranked not only among the NFL's Top 10 quarterbacks in a recent ESPN poll but behind only Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes.

"You could argue he's a top-five player in the league right now," an NFL personnel director said of Allen. "He's incredibly tough, and his ability to run and throw is a problem."

In these dog days of Summer seems every media outlet - yes, we're guilty - is producing a list about this or a ranking of that.

But ESPN dug a little deeper this week, compiling a "list of lists" curated via interviews with more than 50 NFL team executives. The result: A peer-reviewed list of the league's Top 10 quarterbacks.

Says ESPN of the process:

Voters gave us their best 10 players at a position, then we compiled the results and ranked candidates based on number of top-10 votes, composite average, hundreds of interviews, research and film study. In total, more than 50 voters submitted a ballot on at least one position, and in many cases all positions. We had several ties, so we broke them with the help of additional voting and follow-up calls with our rankers.

The final list includes a quarterback with only one playoff win (Dak Prescott), one (Deshaun Watson) who hasn't thrown a pass in the league in 18 months, another (Russell Wilson) yet to throw one for his new team, and a top six that includes five who have played in a Super Bowl.

ESPN's Top 10 NFL QBs:

10. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

9. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

8. Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos

7. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

6. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

4. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Most NFL observers expect Allen and the Bills to take the next step this season: Him toward superstardom and his team to the Super Bowl.

Says ESPN of Allen's lofty ranking that has him edging ahead of Brady:

Much has been made of Allen's improved accuracy, with his completion percentage rising from 52.8 percent in Year 1 to 69.2 percent in Year 3. Yes, that's a credit to Allen's continued development into one of the game's elite passers. But as multiple NFL offensive coaches indicated, Buffalo also did everything right around him, from Stefon Diggs winning his matchups to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's system pumping out easy completions.

Prescott and his lone playoff win edging 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is likely the list's most controversial ranking.

Explains ESPN:

Voters pointed to Prescott's consistency, helping him beat out top-tier passers. Though the Cowboys quarterback did not receive a single top-five vote, he was a fixture in the Nos. 7-10 range, helping him outdistance Lamar Jackson for the last spot.