If there’s anything the Bucs have learned over their first 50 years of existence, it’s the fact that it’s hard to play winning football — and have sustained success — without high-level quarterback play.

Doug Williams could’ve been that for Tampa Bay, but the organization messed that up. Brad Johnson played at a high enough level to complement one of the best defenses of all time en route to the Bucs’ first Super Bowl, but he was more of a hired gun than a franchise quarterback. The same could even be said for Tom Brady, who gave the franchise its first consistently elite quarterback and helped deliver a second Lombardi Trophy to Tampa Bay.

After Brady’s retirement following the 2022 season, there was naturally going to be some trepidation about finding his successor given the history the team had at the quarterback position. But enter Baker Mayfield, who has established himself enough to truly be considered the Bucs’ franchise quarterback — and really their first ever.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Ray Seebeck

All of that is said to illustrate how crucial good quarterback play is to having success in this league and how hard it can be to come by. Perhaps just as important as getting good quarterback play yourself is to be able to defend those you see on a week-to-week basis over the course of the 17-game grind.

With that in mind, this is an opportunity to break down the quarterbacks the Bucs will see on their 2026 schedule. The goal here is to break these quarterbacks (and in some cases, quarterback situations) into tiers for a bit of a glimpse into the level of QB play Tampa Bay’s defense will have to match up with — and the QBs Baker Mayfield and his offense will have to go toe-to-toe with — this fall.

Let’s get to it.

Quarterbacks On The Bucs’ 2026 Schedule: A Tier List

Tier 1 — The Established Elites

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (Week 14), Rams QB Matthew Stafford (Week 17), Bengals QB Joe Burrow (Week 1)

This tier begins with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP, three-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler who has 22,608 passing yards and 187 passing touchdowns (to 56 interceptions) in his eight-year career. Along with those passing numbers, he also has 6,522 rushing yards and 35 more touchdowns on the ground. The 29-year-old Jackson has been a top-three quarterback in the league year in and year out for a while now, with a Lombardi Trophy really being the only achievement that has eluded him thus far.

Jackson’s career record vs. Bucs: 3-0

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson – Photo by: USA Today

Also up in the tier with the elites is Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who just won his first NFL MVP at 37 years old. Now 38, the former Lion-turned-Ram is still doing everything at a high level. He threw for a league-leading 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns last year and operates Sean McVay’s offense flawlessly. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 Draft has put together a Hall of Fame-worthy career and while he already has one Super Bowl ring to his name from the 2021 season, he and the Rams will be among the favorites to win it all again this season.

Stafford’s career record vs. Bucs: 5-3 (including 1-0 in playoffs)

Rounding out this tier is Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow, who has only been stopped by injuries — not defenses — during his career. The top pick out of LSU in 2020 is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time Comeback Player of the Year. When healthy, he’s one of the league’s best. He’s had the benefit of throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but he’s also been saddled with a bel0w-average offensive line and a horrific defense for most of his career. He got Cincinnati to the Super Bowl in his second season, and while organizational failures have prevented a return, that hasn’t been the fault of Burrow and his 20,810 yards, 157 touchdowns and 68.5% completion percentage.

Burrow’s career record vs. Bucs: 1-0

Tier 2 — The Elite Processors + Jordan Love

Chargers QB Justin Herbert (Week 13), Lions QB Jared Goff (Week 11), Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (Week 5), Packers QB Jordan Love (Week 4)

This tier’s label sounds mean, but I promise it’s not supposed to be. The first three are truly elite processors, while Love is more of a gunslinger who excels as that type of player. He’s firmly in Tier 2 as a result.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert – Photo by: USA Today

Anyway, this tier starts with Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. There’s a very real argument that he could be in Tier 1, and under new Los Angeles offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, he’s likely there by the end of the year if you don’t have him there already. Another 2020 draft pick, Herbert is a two-time Pro Bowler who has elite quarterback traits and an incredible football IQ. He processes what he’s seeing so well, and very frequently hits that top level. But doing so more consistently and — fair or not — getting it done in the playoffs will erase any doubt about his status among the league’s best.

Herbert’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-2

Lions quarterback Jared Goff has reached new heights over the last four seasons. He was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2018 with the Rams, but when he plateaued in 2019 and 2020, it looked like he had hit his ceiling in the NFL. Los Angeles ultimately traded him and some picks to Detroit for Matthew Stafford, and Goff was pretty OK in 2021 before taking off in 2022 with 29 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He has gone 30 and 12, 37 and 12 and 34 and 8 since. Goff operates the Detroit offense so well and has earned his place near the top of the league’s quarterbacks.

Goff’s career record vs. Bucs: 4-2 (including 1-0 in playoffs)

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is gifted when it comes to pre-snap recognition, and that’s part of what makes him so efficient. He knows where he’s going with the football, and despite a tendency to force it sometimes, he’s put up impressive touchdown production while keeping turnovers low outside of 2022 (23 touchdowns to 15 interceptions). He threw for 36 to nine in 2023 and 30 to 10 last year. Dallas is 83-55-1 in his starts, and while he hasn’t gone deeper than the Divisional Round, he’s still among the NFL’s best.

Prescott’s career record vs. Bucs: 3-2 (including 1-0 in playoffs)

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

Jordan Love, the Packers’ first-round pick in 2020, rounds out this tier. He has shown flashes of elite play. Just look at the start he got out to last year with 13 touchdowns to just two interceptions from Weeks 1-8. Or look at any of his late-season runs during Toyotathon. But consistency has eluded him. Take the stretch from Weeks 9-12 last year where he had just two touchdowns to one interception as Green Bay went 2-2. He’s only entering his fourth season as a full-time starter in 2026, and he only turns 28 in November. The signs are there, but consistency is the key for Love to reach the highest level.

Love’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-1

Tier 3 — The Young Guns

Bears QB Caleb Williams (Week 9), Saints QB Tyler Shough (Weeks 15, 18)

Many were quick to dunk on the Bears in 2024 when No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels and No. 3 pick Drake Maye outshined their top pick, Caleb Williams, as rookies. But under new head coach Ben Johnson in 2025, Williams lived up to the hype and then some. He just missed a 4,000-yard passing season and threw for 27 touchdowns to seven interceptions as Chicago won the NFC North and just barely missed out on the NFC Championship Game. Consistency and sustained success will get Williams up to the next tier, and another year with Johnson will help. He’s only 24 and has two full NFL seasons under his belt. The arrow is pointing up.

Williams’ career record vs. Bucs: 0-0

Bears QB Caleb Williams – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Mark Hoffman

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough did enough in just nine starts as a rookie to get himself up into this tier. What a run it was for the surprise second-round pick out of Louisville, as he led New Orleans to a 5-4 record down the stretch and threw for 10 touchdowns to six interceptions. He added 186 yards and three scores on the ground, too. It wasn’t always pretty for Shough, but he came through when the Saints needed him. The sample size is still small, so 2026 will tell the world a lot about whether the Saints truly have their next franchise guy.

Shough’s career record vs. Bucs: 1-0

Tier 4 — The Point Guards

Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers (Week 6), Panthers QB Bryce Young (Weeks 7, 12)

It feels wrong to have Aaron Rodgers down this far, but that’s the reality of who Rodgers is at 42 years old. He just re-signed with the Steelers this past weekend, and at this stage of his career, he’s still going to be an efficient point guard who distributes the ball well while also showing the occasional brilliance that has him set up to be a Hall of Famer. He threw for 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as a Jet in 2024 and 24 touchdowns to seven picks as a Steeler a year ago. He’s still a good quarterback. That’s clear. But he’s not going to be the same guy he was from 2008-2022.

Rodgers’ career record vs. Bucs: 3-3 (including 0-1 in playoffs)

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey and Panthers QB Bryce Young – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Panthers fans and Bryce Young defenders are likely to take exception to their guy being in this tier rather than up in the “Young Guns” tier. But to this point, Young has been more point guard than high-level quarterback. After 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions as a rookie and 15 touchdowns to nine picks in 2024, the former No. 1 overall pick hit a new level under Dave Canales in 2025, helping Carolina to the NFC South title while throwing for 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. It was a better year for Young, and there’s some intrigue to what he’ll do under first-time play-caller Brad Idzik in 2026, especially if Idzik opens it up.

Young’s career record vs. Bucs: 1-5

Tier 5 — The High Variance Crew

Vikings QBs Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy (Week 3), Falcons QBs Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. (Weeks 8, 16), Browns QBs Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and others (Week 2)

Each of these quarterbacks has a lot of variance within their games, which makes for even higher variance for these teams and their quarterback situations heading into 2026.

The Vikings let Sam Darnold walk ahead of the 2025 season, and he walked right to Seattle and helped the Seahawks to a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy bounced between promising, the injury tent and meme-worthy. “9” completed just 57.6% of his passes for 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over 10 starts. He was 6-4 as a starter, but that won’t have anyone in Minnesota feeling any better about Darnold going on to hoist a Lombardi Trophy one season after leading the Vikings to 13 wins.

This offseason, the Vikings signed Kyler Murray after he was released by the Cardinals. The former No. 1 pick is looking for a career resurgence under Kevin O’Connell. He completed 67.1% of his passes for 20,460 yards and 121 touchdowns to 60 interceptions in Arizona while rushing for 3,193 yards and 32 touchdowns. He’s only a year removed from 3,851 passing yards, 21 touchdown to 11 interceptions, 572 rushing yards and five rushing scores. But after a foot injury halted his 2025 season and he was benched ultimately shut down, the Cardinals decided to move on. Murray can still play, but what Minnesota decides to do after a quarterback competition between McCarthy and Murray remains to be seen.

McCarthy’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-0
Murray’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-1

Bucs OLB Al-Quadin Muhammad – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Junfu Han

In Atlanta, the situation is worse. Michael Penix Jr. showed promise when he took over for Kirk Cousins late in 2024. He was briefly benched early in 2025 but ultimately spent nine games as the Falcons’ starter, going 3-6 before tearing his ACL in November. He tore his right ACL twice in college and has now torn his left. The 2024 first-round pick is 26 years old and has three ACL tears under his belt, so his long-term viability as the guy in Atlanta is murky.

For insurance, the Falcons went out and signed former Dolphins first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa this offseason. Tagovailoa has his own lengthy injury history, particularly with concussions, but now becomes an option to either back up Penix or start while he recovers and returns to the field. The former Alabama quarterback has a 4,600-yard passing season to his name in the NFL, but he hit a wall in Miami and the team decided to move on. The 20 touchdown-to-15-interception season he had a year ago was ugly, but maybe he’s a candidate for a career resurgence?

Penix’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-1
Tagovailoa’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-0

Giants OLB Brian Burns and Browns QB Deshaun Watson – Photo by: USA Today

As bad as it is for the Falcons, it’s (predictably) even worse for the Cleveland Browns. Shedeur Sanders finished 2025 as their starting quarterback and threw for seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions while going 3-4 as the starter. He was somehow rewarded with a Pro Bowl selection as a replacement after just about every other quarterback turned down the opportunity. The 2025 fifth-round pick may not even be the starter to begin 2026, though.

Why? Because the Browns are still trying to get any kind of return on their $230 million investment in Deshaun Watson. He’s been a disaster in Cleveland. After serving an 11-game suspension in 2022 to start his Cleveland career, he returned to action for the first time in 700 days and wasn’t the same guy he was early in his career with the Texans. He wasn’t much better in 2023, then had season-ending shoulder surgery. Since then, he tore his Achilles in 2024 and then re-ruptured it in 2025. Despite all that, he’s in contention to start for the Browns under new head coach Todd Monken.

Dillon Gabriel, who went 1-5 as a rookie starter for the Browns before Sanders took over last season, is still around as well. Cleveland also drafted Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green in the sixth round of the 2026 Draft.

Sanders’ career record vs. Bucs: 0-0
Watson’s career record vs. Bucs: 1-0
Gabriel’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-0
Green’s career record vs. Bucs: 0-0