{"id":288411,"date":"2026-07-03T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=288411"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:56:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:56:34","slug":"nfc-east-quarterbacks-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/03\/nfc-east-quarterbacks-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking the Starting NFC East Quarterbacks for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

While 2025 was a down year overall for the NFC East, the division still has plenty of talent, especially at quarterback. The Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> were the only NFC East team to finish with a winning record at 11-6. All four teams have something to prove entering 2026. To have success, they’ll need exceptional play from their signal callers. Where do the starting NFC East Quarterbacks rank heading into 2026?<\/p>\n

Ranking the Starting NFC East Quarterbacks for 2026<\/h2>\n

4. Jaxson Dart, New York Giants<\/h3>\n

With the 25th pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the New York Giants selected Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss. Dart appeared in 14 games and made 12 starts for New York as a rookie. He was on the bench for the first three games in 2025 while Russell Wilson started. Eventually, Dart made his first start in Week 4. Due to Dart having one season under his belt and plenty left to prove, he ranks fourth for starting NFC East Quarterbacks next season.<\/p>\n

However, Dart showed flashes in 2025. Can he build off that with the Giants and take his game to another level? As a rookie and in college, Dart ran a large number of plays from the shotgun. Under new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Dart is running a pro-style offense in which the majority of plays are run under center. The 23-year-old has been learning the new offense all offseason. If Dart takes the year two leap the team expects him to make, he could be higher on this list for the 2027 season and beyond.<\/p>\n

3. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders<\/h3>\n

It has been a tale of two seasons for Washington Commanders<\/a> quarterback Jayden Daniels. As a rookie, Daniels dazzled the league weekly and led his team to a 12-5 record. He finished the 2024 season with 3,568 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Additionally, he carried the ball 148 times for 891 yards and six rushing touchdowns. After being drafted second overall by the Commanders, he was named Rookie of the Year in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daniels led Washington on a run to the NFC East Championship Game that season. Their magical run came to an end when they ran into the Eagles and lost 55-23. In Year 2, injuries held Daniels back. He appeared in just seven of their 17 games.<\/p>\n

Even when he was on the field, Daniels was not the same player who won Rookie of the Year a season prior. The Commanders hope Daniels can bounce back in 2026 and lead the team back to the postseason. For our starting NFC East Quarterback rankings, Daniels is third.<\/p>\n

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2. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles<\/h3>\n

The 2026 season will be Jalen Hurts’ seventh year in the NFL. Philadelphia selected Hurts with a second-round pick in 2020. Over six seasons, he’s appeared in 93 games and made 82 starts. Hurts has started every game for Philadelphia since Week 14 of his rookie season.<\/p>\n

Since 2022, Hurts has led the Eagles to at least 11 wins. Their best record with Hurts as the starting quarterback was in 2022, when they finished 14-1 in the 15 games he played.<\/p>\n

Hurts is one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL. When he is playing well, it’s hard to stop the Eagles offense. However, one criticism Hurts has always faced is his passing ability. In five seasons as the full-time starter, he’s never finished with 4,000 yards passing or at least 30 passing touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Despite that criticism, Hurts makes teams pay on the ground. He’s scored 50 rushing touchdowns over the last four years. The three-time Pro Bowler and one-time Super Bowl champion is second on our list for starting NFC East Quarterbacks in 2026.<\/p>\n

1. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys<\/h3>\n

When the 2026 season starts, Dak Prescott will be 33 years old and in his 11th year with Dallas. He was a fourth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2016 out of Mississippi State. As a rookie, Prescott started all 16 games. Tony Romo was dealing with a back injury at the start of the year, and the rest is history. Prescott has appeared and started 139 games for Dallas.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, a 13-3 finish in his rookie year is still his best finish with the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>. He’s led the team to a winning record in six of his 10 seasons. In terms of experienced starting NFC East Quarterbacks, Prescott is number one.<\/p>\n

The four-time Pro Bowler is primarily a pocket passer and excels at throwing the ball. He’s finished with 4,000 passing yards four times in his career. Including three times in the last six years. Additionally, he’s had 30+ passing touchdowns four times for the Cowboys. Prescott had 4,000+ passing yards and 30+ passing touchdowns in 2025, which helps his cause to be the best of the best among NFC East quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Courtesy of Vincent Carchietta – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While 2025 was a down year overall for the NFC East, the division still has plenty of talent, especially at quarterback. The Philadelphia Eagles were the only NFC East team to finish with a winning record at 11-6. All four teams have something to prove entering 2026. To have success, they’ll need exceptional play from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5802,"featured_media":288435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,19,20,6431,21,33916,8896],"tags":[302,5865,33129,32192],"class_list":["post-288411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cowboys","category-giants","category-nfl-teams","category-eagles","category-power-rankings","category-washington-commanders","tag-dak-prescott","tag-jalen-hurts","tag-jaxson-dart","tag-jayden-daniels"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5802"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288411"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288437,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288411\/revisions\/288437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}