How do former Clemson stars Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson stack up among NFL starting quarterbacks entering the 2026 campaign?

CBS Sports ranked the league’s starting signal-callers into specific tiers for the upcoming season. The quarterback hierarchy is broken down by categories, ranging from “transcendent talents” to “holdovers and placeholders”.

Lawrence is one of 12 quarterbacks in Tier 2 — the “borderline stars” tier.

“Consider these quarterbacks the silver standard,” CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo wrote. “The most populated tier, the next-best batch of quarterbacks hungry to ascend in 2026. Each of these quarterbacks has led their team on a playoff run before, and each is capable of doing it again with enough support around them.”

After years of battling injuries, enduring coaching changes and facing “generational” prospect expectations, Lawrence enjoyed a breakout year in 2025, his fifth season with the Jacksonville Jaguars and first under Jags head coach Liam Coen.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick was named an MVP finalist, as well as a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year. Though Lawrence didn’t win either award, it doesn’t take away from the stellar season he had while leading the Jaguars (13-4 regular season) to their first AFC South title since 2022 and first playoff berth since the same year.

Lawrence finished last season having completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 4,007 yards and a career-high 29 touchdown passes with 12 interceptions. He also recorded career highs in carries (82), rushing yards (359) and rushing touchdowns (nine) while accounting for a career-high 38 total touchdowns – the third-best mark in the NFL behind only Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (46) and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (39).

Lawrence will head into the 2026 season having completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 17,822 yards and 98 touchdowns with 58 interceptions, to go with 1,442 rushing yards and 23 more scores on the ground, over his NFL career from 2021-25. The 2022 Pro Bowler has surpassed 4,000 passing yards three times in the last four seasons.

Before the 2024 season, Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension with Jacksonville, including $200 million in guaranteed money and $142 million fully guaranteed at signing.

“Lawrence has endured quite a bit of turbulence in Jacksonville, including playing for three different head coaches,” DeArdo wrote. “While he’ll no longer have Travis Etienne Jr. by his side, Lawrence will have some new pass catchers and an improved offensive line at his disposal.”

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco recently ranked Lawrence as the No. 65 overall player in the NFL entering 2026.

“He finally flashed the star power in 2025 that many expected when he was the first overall pick in 2021,” Prisco wrote. “Lawrence finished fifth in the MVP voting, but didn’t really get going until Week 8 as he learned yet another new offense.”

As for Watson, he is among the six QBs in Tier 6 — the “holdovers and placeholders” tier.

“Sometimes a Band-Aid proves to be the best bet. And, respectfully, that’s how we’d label this lower tier of starters,” DeArdo wrote. “Some of them, like Sam Darnold in 2024 or Baker Mayfield in 2023, could be due for surprise breakouts thanks to untapped upside. Others may be on their last legs as starters, simply collecting snaps until successors are ready to suit up.”

In March 2022, Watson signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract with the Cleveland Browns after being traded from the Houston Texans, who gave away a bunch of draft picks (including three first-round picks) in the deal.

Watson is entering the final year of his deal in 2026 and is competing with second-year pro Shedeur Sanders for Cleveland’s starting job. Both QBs split first-team reps during OTAs and minicamp, and Browns head coach Todd Monken has pushed back his QB1 decision into training camp, where they will compete in pads.

Watson has not played in an NFL game since he suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear during Cleveland’s Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20, 2024. Less than three months after his initial tear, Watson tore his Achilles for the second time and underwent a second surgery in January 2025 to repair it, forcing him to miss the entire 2025 season. He also underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in November 2023.

Facing that adversity in recent seasons, both on and off the field, Watson played in just six games in his first season with Cleveland in 2022 after having to serve a suspension and then was limited to just six games in 2023, seven in 2024 and zero in 2025 due to the season-ending injuries. However, despite all the injury setbacks, the 30-year-old says he is “fully healthy” again.

In 19 total games for the Browns, Watson has completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

A three-time Pro Bowler during his time with the Texans, Watson has a 66.2 completion percentage for his career with 17,904 passing yards and 123 passing touchdowns with 48 interceptions in 73 career games with the Texans and Browns since being selected by Houston in the first round (12th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.

“A former Pro Bowler in Houston, Watson has made just 19 starts since 2021,” DeArdo wrote. “If he is going to have a chance to continue his career beyond this season, Watson (who is entering the final year of his contract) will have to excel this season under new Browns coach and former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. He’ll also have to beat out Shedeur Sanders.”

Watson remains confident in himself and is looking to take full advantage of his chance to potentially be Cleveland’s starter again this year. He hopes to hit a home run and bounce back to his previous Pro Bowl form. 

“One of my favorite baseball players that I’ve been watching is Bryce Harper,” Watson said recently. “Sometimes he swings, but he stands back up, and he gets another opportunity, and he hits a home run.

“So, you never know what opportunity might show up, and that’s what I have right now.”