All-Decade quarterback debate: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Matthew Stafford?

Earlier this month, ESPN columnist Bill Barnwell released his list of future Hall of Famers from every NFL team. The list was pretty straightforward with not much controversy, but a random line from one of the entries has blown up across the internet in the last few days. Sports fans love a good debate, and this one got pretty juicy, even making its way to the sports talk TV shows.

Josh Allen would be the quarterback on the All-Decade first team if it were to be released tomorrow, although there would be at least some debate about instead awarding it to Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes.

I don’t think it’s a crazy take, but it is certainly not the consensus around these three quarterbacks. (I also think you need to include Matthew Stafford in the conversation now that he has an MVP to go along with his Super Bowl win.)

Let’s break up this debate into the components and circle back to the larger conversation at the end. Please remember, this is an All-Decade argument, so only stats from the 2020 through 2025 seasons will count.

Let’s first start with the stats from the 2020s.

Allen has played in more games (100) than Mahomes (95), Stafford (90), and Jackson (85) thanks to incredible durability. Wins aren’t a QB stat, but Allen also has more regular season wins (73) than Mahomes (71), Jackson (57), and Stafford (51).

They all come in between 65 and 66.3% completion percentage.

The first differentiator is passing yards, with Mahomes out to a clear lead at 26,527 yards with Allen (24,939) and Stafford (24,491) on his heels, and Jackson well behind at 18,280.

Mahomes also takes the lead in passing touchdowns with 191, barely squeaking ahead of Allen’s 190 with Stafford (167) and Jackson (145) down the list.

Jackson is the interception leader with only 47, then Stafford (62), Mahomes (67), and Allen (73). Allen has lost 23 fumbles as has Jackson with Stafford (11) and Mahomes (9) the winner. Total turnovers show Allen with 96, Mahomes 76, Stafford 73, and Jackson 70.

It’s when you add in rushing that really starts to differentiate between the players. Jackson leads the yardage (4621) followed by Allen (3580) with Mahomes in third (2165) and Stafford an understandably distant fourth (271). Allen’s rushing touchdowns are legendary, and he laps the field with 62 compared to Jackson’s 23, Mahomes 15, and Stafford’s single rushing TD. Oh, and if you take out all of their one-yard touchdown runs this decade (22), Allen is still easily in the lead. He’s not a Tush Push merchant. (Mahomes has 2, Jackson has 2, Stafford has 1.)

The rushing stats are why Allen leads the group with the most fantasy points and the highest Approximate Value on Pro Football Reference.

Allen’s claim to the throne is impact. He has 252 touchdowns easily outpacing Mahomes (206), Jackson (168), and Stafford (168). His TD-to-turnover ratio is also tops: Allen (+156), (+130), Jackson (+98), and Stafford (+95).

Josh Allen is the only QB on the list to take his team to the playoffs every year in the 2020s and the only one whose team won double-digit games in every year. Even before his injury in 2025, the Chiefs had been eliminated from the postseason.

Mahomes has the most playoff games (16) with Allen (14), Stafford (10) and Jackson (6) behind him.

Three of the four have a better completion percentage in the playoffs, with Mahomes (69.4) and Allen (67.8) seeing bigger jumps than Jackson (66) and Stafford dropping (63.9).

Mahomes also leads in passing yards (4340) and touchdowns (33) compared to Allen (3651/29), Stafford (3024/21), and Jackson (1194/7).

With so many fewer games, Jackson unsurprisingly leads in raw data on interceptions (4) tied with Stafford (4) and ahead of Allen (6) and Mahomes in last with 8. Comparing apples to apples, interception rate goes to Stafford at 1.1% with Allen at 1.2%, Mahomes at 1.4%, and Jackson at 2.6%. For fumbles, Allen and Mahomes have both lost three with Jackson having lost two and Stafford one. Stafford’s five turnovers are best with Jackson at six, Allen with nine, and Mahomes with eleven.

Adding in rushing will once again make Allen’s numbers look much better. He leads in rushes (126), rushing yards (675), and touchdowns (9). Mahomes is no slouch with a respectable 83/452/4 slash line and Jackson is 65/444/3. Stafford has two rushing touchdowns on 27 carries.

When it comes to impact, Allen is tops in the playoffs with 38 touchdowns followed closely by Mahomes with 37 before a drop to Stafford with 23 and and Jackson with 10. The touchdown-to-turnover ratio also favors Allen (+29), Mahomes (+26), Stafford (+18), and Jackson (+4)

In the 2020s, all four have one MVP, which makes this debate so much more interesting. Aaron Rodgers won the first two MVPs of the decade but missed a season with an injury and his age has slowed his stat compiling. Additionally, Allen finished second in MVP voting once and third twice, Jackson finished second once, and Mahomes finished third in MVP voting once.

Jackson has two first-team All-Pros while Allen has zero and the other two each have one. The same voters vote on All-Pro and MVP at the same time. Additionally, Allen was named to the second team twice and Mahomes earned second-team honors once.

Allen and Mahomes have made four Pro Bowls with Jackson three and Stafford two. In the AFC, Allen, Jackson, and Mahomes have been competing against each other, it should be noted.

This is the obviously the biggest case for Mahomes. He has two Super Bowl MVPs and played in four Super Bowls during the decade going 2-2. Prior to missing the playoffs in 2025, the Chiefs played in every AFC Championship Game in the 2020s.

Stafford won a Super Bowl and made it to the conference championship game one additional time. Allen has two AFC Championship Game appearances. Jackson has started in just one conference championship game. Allen has two AFC Championship Game appearances.

Prior to the 2010s team, the group was broken into first team and second team but they merged the two levels into one for the 2010s team. Even so, Tom Brady was a unanimous selection for the 2010s team and Aaron Rodgers wasn’t, so we know who the first-team QB would be.

At this point, the Chiefs’ success with Mahomes at the helm would likely make him the winner of this vote. Drew Brees had better stats than both Rodgers and Brady, but didn’t have enough postseason success or regular season awards to be named to the All-Decade Team.

The second quarterback is a more heated conversation. Allen’s reputation is that he turns it over or doesn’t shine in the playoffs but the numbers don’t really bear that out. Jackson is the one who really falls off in the postseason and his lack of playoff games really hurts his raw stats, plus he’s lost to Allen’s Bills twice in the playoffs. Using the same argument as you did for Mahomes/Allen, Josh Allen is clearly ahead of Jackson. Jackson is also 12th in passing yards for the decade. He’s behind Derek Carr despite playing in ten more games.

To me, it comes down to Stafford vs Allen. Allen wins in virtually every category and didn’t get traded during the decade. Allen has more regular season accolades, votes for MVP, and All-Pro teams and his playoff numbers are better than Stafford. Stafford has a Super Bowl ring, so maybe some voters go that direction. I kind of doubt it. It’s Allen.

Head to the comments to plead your case. Maybe you think I should have included Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins, or Dak Prescott.