NFL power rankings: As veteran QBs on contenders fade, a new crop of signal-callers await

The next wave of intriguing quarterback prospects is electrifying college football right now, and it could not be happening at a better time given what’s transpiring in the NFL.

A collection of the league’s once-elite quarterbacks seem to be stumbling toward the finish of their illustrious careers, and their teams are suffering for it.

Tom Brady will go down as the greatest quarterback in NFL history, but his casual Friday approach to the season — including skipping his team’s walk-through last week while attending New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s wedding on the same day — is a contributing factor to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ disappointing 3-3 start.

Russell Wilson is a little over a month into what is trending toward the worst contract in NFL history. He’s running the lowest-scoring offense in the league, at the direction of an overmatched head coach, while his replacement with the Seattle Seahawks is playing Pro Bowl-caliber football.

I hesitate to write off Aaron Rodgers, the NFL’s two-time reigning MVP, because he’s won two MVPs since the last time I was ready to do that. But the Green Bay Packers have looked broken since Rodgers returned from the Peruvian jungles after an offseason of ritualistic cleansing. Maybe he contracted the parasite that DeAndre Levy was once able to avoid.

Matt Ryan won an MVP not long ago, but prior to his 389-yard day last week, looked mostly washed in his first season with the Indianapolis Colts. And Matthew Stafford and his bum elbow have been an interception machine since winning the Super Bowl.

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All five of those quarterbacks are on teams that currently reside in the NFL’s middle class. Their track records say they might catch fire and go on a postseason run, but their teams’ fan bases are secretly hoping their struggles lead their organizations to land their quarterback of the future.

Well, not the Rams, who care as much about first-round picks as Brady does Friday practices.

If any of those teams fall out of the playoff race in the coming weeks, they’ll find what’s shaping up to be a fascinating quarterback class, not just next spring but in the years ahead. Alabama’s Bryce Young looks worthy of the No. 1 overall pick, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud is a probable top-five selection and several other signal-callers could go into Round 1.

Anthony Richardson of Florida, Will Levis of Kentucky and Hendon Hooker of Tennessee have each had big moments this season, though Richardson remains more athlete than quarterback for now, Levis has battled a slew of injuries and Hooker is older than Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa.

The real prize quarterbacks in college football might be another year or three away from being draft eligible. USC’s Caleb Williams is lighting up the West Coast after following his old coach from Oklahoma, Texas’ Quinn Ewers has more talent than any quarterback in college football, and Ewers’ eventual replacement, Arch Manning, hasn’t even set foot on Texas’ campus yet.

As Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen settle into the new hierarchy of NFL quarterbacks and some of the old guard fade away, another crop of replacements is gearing up to take their place.