Worst Super Bowl QBs This Century: Where Does Sam Darnold Rank Entering Super Bowl 2026?

I'm ranking the worst Super Bowl QBs this century, identifying the bottom 10 starting quarterbacks we've seen in the Big Game since 2000. Where does Sam Darnold rank after a dreadful start to his career but back-to-back impressive campaigns with the Seahawks and Vikings?

We have Super Bowl 2026 between the Seahawks and Patriots covered from every possible angle in our Super Bowl predictions.

---

🤔 How we ranked Super Bowl QBs

While only counting multiple-appearance players like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes once each, there have been 31 starting quarterbacks in the Super Bowl since 2000. I considered a variety of factors when deciding on the worst Super Bowl quarterbacks this century.

That included taking into account each quarterback's career-long success, their performance in their Super Bowl appearance, and their importance to their individual teams before, during, and after their Super Bowl runs. No player ranked in the 10 worst Super Bowl quarterbacks this century appeared in more than one Big Game.

---

1️⃣ Trent Dilfer (Ravens)

Trent Dilfer, the worst Super Bowl starting quarterback this century, can take solace in the fact that he has a championship ring.

However, he threw just 12 touchdowns to 11 interceptions in the 2000 regular season, as one of the best defenses of all time carried him all the way to the Lombardi Trophy against the Giants. Baltimore clearly didn't see him as a crucial championship piece, as the franchise opted to let him walk in free agency. He's the only quarterback in Super Bowl history to be let go by his team the offseason after winning the championship, and he was a backup for much of the rest of his NFL career afterward.

---

2️⃣ Rex Grossman (Bears)

Rex Grossman was one of the most inconsistent quarterbacks of his day, and his lows were devastatingly low for the Bears.

Chicago's elite defense and special teams made that Super Bowl squad special, and "Bad Rex" cropped up at the worst time in the Big Game versus the Colts. Grossman threw two fourth-quarter interceptions, dooming the Bears and wasting Devin Hester's iconic opening kickoff return touchdown.

---

3️⃣ Kerry Collins (Giants)

Man, what a rough quarterback matchup Super Bowl 35 was. Even though Trent Dilfer beat Kerry Collins that day, Collins had the much more prolific career as a starter, leading three different franchises to the playoffs.

But the postseason was where Collins' tendency to give away the football sunk him. Collins threw 11 interceptions across seven playoff starts, including a dreadful four picks against the Ravens in the Super Bowl.

---

4️⃣ Brad Johnson (Buccaneers)

We're starting to see a clear theme among the worst Super Bowl starters this century: signal-callers who were carried by dominant defenses.

Johnson was by no means a bad quarterback, but he had a low ceiling. He had a career completion percentage above 60 and actually led the NFC in passer rating the year the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. That low-risk mentality complemented Tampa Bay's defense-first approach. He made some big throws here and there, but it was more his role to not throw away the Big Game.

---

5️⃣ Jake Delhomme (Panthers)

Jake Delhomme had an OK NFL career, but he will always be a Panthers legend for his performance in the 2004 playoffs. He was on fire to get Carolina to its first Super Bowl appearance and went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady in one of the best shootouts in Super Bowl history. Though the Panthers lost that game, he finished with 323 passing yards and three touchdowns, including an 85-yarder that still stands as a Super Bowl record.

With that being said, that playoff run is doing a lot of the heavy lifting to keep Delhomme above some other quarterbacks in these rankings. He was a turnover machine for much of his time as a starter and was more boom-or-bust rather than a consistent passer.

---

6️⃣ Colin Kaepernick (49ers)

It may be hard to remember now, but there was a time when Colin Kaepernick was seen as the future of the quarterback position. No player on this list burned brighter or shorter than the former 49ers dual-threat passer.

His comeback against the Ravens in the Super Bowl fell just short, and he never reached the heights of that 2013 playoff run again. Kaepernick only started 58 games in his career and lost more than he won.

---

7️⃣ Nick Foles (Eagles)

No one can ever take away Nick Foles' Super Bowl 52 win over the Patriots, in which he threw for 373 yards and scored four total touchdowns. In general, Foles was a strong playoff performer, but I had to take into account his entire career and the fact that he had an incredible Eagles core around him during that legendary run.

Unfortunately, Foles proved he was nothing more than a replacement-level player when he wasn't as insulated as he was in Philadelphia, going 3-11 as a starter after leaving the Eagles to finish his career. Foles was a backup for much of his time in Philadelphia for a reason, so I can't put him anywhere higher on this list despite a Super Bowl performance we will never forget.

---

8️⃣ Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks)

Matt Hasselbeck had a rock-solid NFL career, leading the Seahawks to the playoffs six times and making the Pro Bowl three times in five years in the mid-2000s.

Though it has to be factored in when analyzing his personal and team success that the league's best quarterbacks and teams in that era were in the AFC. Hasselbeck was still certainly a proficient quarterback, but you can't deny that he played in a watered-down NFC during that time. He also lost one of the more forgettable Super Bowls in recent memory: Super Bowl 40 versus the Steelers in 2006.

---

9️⃣ Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers)

Off reputation alone, I think some people would place Jimmy Garoppolo lower on this list. But Jimmy G was more than just a passenger on the 49ers before and after their run to the Super Bowl, running Kyle Shanahan's offense efficiently with a 67.4% career completion percentage.

Still, Garoppolo's 2020 Super Bowl run showed the worst of him and why he can't be ranked any higher. Garoppolo was only called on to throw eight passes in the NFC Championship win over the Packers and was dreadful down the stretch in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs. The 49ers were clearly better off when they turned the offense over to Brock Purdy (No. 21 on my list of 31 quarterbacks) a few years later.

---

🔟 Sam Darnold (Seahawks)

We've finally reached Sam Darnold in my rankings, who just barely slots into the worst 10 Super Bowl quarterbacks this century despite back-to-back 14-win seasons and two Pro Bowl selections.

Recency bias may have you thinking Darnold shouldn't be this low, coming off a masterful performance in the NFC Championship Game in which the Seahawks needed him to be every bit the quarterback he's capable of. But let's not forget that he was one of the worst quarterback draft busts we had seen in some time through the first several seasons of his career, which demonstrates his overreliance on strong coaching.

That's not to say that Darnold is a system quarterback, but he doesn't transcend the positions he's put in (Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton) or have a long track record of success (Jared Goff, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco) like the signal-callers I have ranked above him. However, a major performance from Darnold this Sunday in Super Bowl 60 would certainly elevate him out of this group.

---

🔴 Where does Drake Maye rank?

I have Patriots quarterback Drake Maye as the 19th-best Super Bowl starting quarterback this century, above Jared Goff and Brock Purdy but below Joe Flacco and Steve McNair.

A small part of my decision-making was projecting what the rest of Maye's career could look like, but you can't deny where he already is as a second-year player. He's already a second-team All-Pro and a finalist for NFL MVP - the 23-year-old would be one of the youngest MVPs in history. No one in the bottom 10, including Darnold, has ever had an individual season like Maye has in 2025.

Like Darnold, Maye's performance in the Super Bowl will affect whether he goes up or down these rankings, but I'm comfortable having him near the middle of the pack of 31 as things stand.

---

📜 Worst Super Bowl QBs this century

---

📃 Affiliate disclosure

Sportsbook Review may receive a commission if you sign up through our links. Not intended for use in MA. Bonuses not applicable in Ontario. 21+ only. (Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER)