There was a lot of hand-wringing a few years ago over the quality of quarterbacks and who in the next generation would take the baton from Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees.
The AFC provided a resounding response with a wealth of young quarterbacks, rising superstars in Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. There’s also Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who has the most rushing yards by a quarterback in his first four seasons.
There are young AFC quarterbacks who have shown flickers of promise — sometimes more — and no doubt will have their share of prove-it moments this season, among them Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa, New England’s Mac Jones and the New York Jets’ Zach Wilson.
Yes, the AFC is the conference dominated by great young quarterbacks.
Just don’t tell that to Denver’s Russell Wilson.
A division-by-division look at AFC teams in their predicted order of finish: