Through the first two weeks of this 2025 NFL season, the NFC North has provided quite a bit of entertaining quarterback play.
Truth be told, if we were providing power rankings for every quarterback in the league thus far, two of the top five would come from this division alone, with one of those obviously being your Green Bay Packers’ very own Jordan Love, who’s looking like a strong early candidate for NFL MVP.
The other, of course, is the Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff, who owns the league leads in both completion percentage and touchdown passes.
But before we get to the top two, let’s first have a look at the bottom two, as we kick off our NFC North QB power rankings with a guy who won’t even be suiting up in Week 3.
4. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
After failing to do much of anything against the Chicago Bears for the first three quarters of the Minnesota Vikings’ season opener, young J.J. McCarthy finished with a flurry, throwing two touchdowns, completing a pass for a two-point conversion, and running for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to lead his team to an improbable 27-21 victory, thus earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
But there was no such magic for the Michigan alum in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, as he completed just 52.4 percent of his passes for 158 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions in a woeful 22-6 defeat.
And to make matters worse, McCarthy is set to miss the next two to four weeks with an ankle injury. As such, Carson Wentz will take over QB1 duties for the Vikes, and it’ll be interesting to see how things play out if he performs well.
3. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
After a solid first half for the Bears in Week 1 against the Vikings, Caleb Williams struggled with his accuracy over the final 30 minutes, which effectively allowed McCarthy to step in and steal his victory.
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From an overall standpoint, Williams played better against the Lions in Week 2, at least as a passer, completing 19 of 30 passes for 207 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The pick was undoubtedly his fault, as his decision-making on that particular play was sorely lacking, but he certainly doesn’t deserve the blame for Chicago’s 31-point loss.
Williams is still a work in progress, and Bears fans may be expecting far too much in Year 1 with Ben Johnson. But he is moving in the right direction.
2. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Okay, so I know what you’re thinking, Lions fans. You’re thinking that because this is a Packers site that I’m slighting Jared Goff just to get Jordan Love at No. 1. But I can promise you that’s not the case.
Yes, as mentioned, Goff leads the NFL in completion percentage at a ridiculous 80.6 percent, is tied with Lamar Jackson for the league lead in touchdown passes with six, and ranks fourth among all QBs with 559 passing yards.
But let’s get real here. Five of those TD passes and 334 of those yards came against a really bad Bears defense this past Sunday. Facing a much stronger Green Bay unit in Week 1, Goff wasn’t nearly as effective, throwing for 225 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
1. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love may not have the gaudy numbers that Goff has at the moment, but he’s been rock solid for Green Bay over the first two weeks, completing two-thirds of his passes for 480 yards and four touchdowns.
And the fact that he’s the only man on this list not to have thrown an interception yet certainly helped his case for this No. 1 spot, as does the fact that he kicked off this campaign by beating the NFC’s top seed and runners-up from last season.
Unlike Goff, who has a past All-Pro wideout in Amon-Ra St. Brown, Love is doing what he’s doing without a superstar WR1. Jayden Reed was lost to a broken collarbone early in the Packers’ Week 2 win over the Washington Commanders. First-round Matthew Golden hasn’t had his breakout game yet. Romeo Doubs leads all Green Bay wideouts with 96 yards, while Dontayvion Wicks leads the way with six receptions.
As such, Love is doing his damage with tight end Tucker Kraft, who leads all Packers pass-catchers in receptions (eight), receiving yards (140), and receiving touchdowns (two). Hopefully, Kraft is available this week after suffering a knee injury at practice.
Just imagine the damage Jordan is going to do when the rest of his receivers really get rolling.
