National Football League

Is AFC West the best quarterback division ever?

Published Jul. 22, 2022 1:16 p.m. ET

Host, THE HERD; Co-Host, FOX NFL KICKOFF

The AFC West is set to be a (throwing) arms race.

Unarguably, no division is as stacked at quarterback as the division with Kansas City, Denver, one of the Los Angeles teams and Las Vegas.

Patrick Mahomes has led the Chiefs to at least the AFC title game in each of his four seasons as a starter, winning a Super Bowl and an MVP along the way. Justin Herbert might be the best under-25 quarterback in the league, after nearly carrying the Chargers to the playoffs in his second season. Derek Carr's strong 2021 campaign catapulted the Raiders to the postseason, and finally, Russell Wilson, long considered one of the game's elite quarterbacks, joins a Broncos squad that is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball.

With arguably four top-10 quarterbacks within the division, including one who many pundits rank No. 1 overall (Mahomes), Colin Cowherd this week went out on a historical limb and said that the AFC West is the best quarterback division in league history.

Cowherd pointed to the fact that Mahomes has the highest passer rating of all time, Wilson has the most wins of any QB through their first 10 seasons, Herbert has the most passing yards and TDs over a signal-caller's first two seasons, and Carr leads the NFL in fourth-quarter comebacks since entering the league in 2014.

"It's pretty remarkable in my life that it's the greatest, most talented quarterback division ever — and it's not close," Cowherd said. "There's never been four elite quarterbacks, ever in my life, elite quarterbacks [in the same division]."

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Statistically, Cowherd isn't wrong in saying that AFC West has potentially four superstars under center. Each of them statically ranks among the best in the league over the past four seasons — or two seasons in Herbert's case.

Mahomes has the most passing yards (18,707), passing touchdowns (151), and the third-best passer rating (106.2) in the league since he became the Chiefs' starter in 2018.

Wilson ranks fourth in passing TDs (131) and second in passer rating (106.3) during that span. And between Mahomes and Wilson, the AFC West is the only division boasting multiple Super Bowl-winning QBs.

Herbert's already established himself as one of the game's best quarterbacks only two seasons into his career. He's third in the league in passing yards (9,350) and fifth in passing touchdowns (69) since 2020.

Carr's probably the most questionable quarterback to be included within Cowherd's top 10. He's 17th in passer rating (97.3) and 14th in passing touchdowns (90) since 2018. Even then, he's fourth in both passing yards (17,010) and completions (1,518).

When the season starts, the four quarterbacks could make history. The 2022 AFC West is in line to be the first division to have four quarterbacks own a passer rating of at least 90 (Mahomes 105.8, Wilson 101.8, Herbert 97.9, Carr 92.4), per NFL Research.

Oddsmakers also view the four players highly. FOX Bet listed Mahomes as the favorite to win MVP (+500) in 2022 when the line first opened in February. Herbert currently has the fourth-best odds to earn the award on FOX Bet (+1000), while Wilson's tied for sixth (+1200). Carr has the 11th-best odds (+3300).