DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 14: Matthew Stafford #9 of the Los Angeles Rams plays against Detroit Lions during a NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Ford Field on January 14, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Executives, coaches and scouts around the NFL consider the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford the top NFC quarterback heading into the 2024 season, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The surveyed league leaders ranked the Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff at No. 2 in the conference, with the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy and Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love rounding out the top five, Fowler said on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts was not named to the list.

Fowler noted that Stafford and Goff topping the executive, coach and scout rankings indicate that these conference leaders use more than just statistics to value quarterbacks.

“This is where I love my project, because if you go by the numbers, maybe (Stafford’s) not No. 1 in the NFC,” Fowler said. “But eye test, ability to lift his teammates— one NFC executive called him a ‘kingmaker.’

“Puka Nacua, good player. With Stafford, he’s great. Cooper Kupp, good player. With Stafford, he’s great… his presence creates a massive swing for a team in a winning direction.”

Just behind Stafford in the poll was Goff, who Fowler said did not receive any votes in his annual executive, coaches and scouts poll as recently as three years ago.

The new ranking represents his improving representation among NFL front offices, with one survey respondent calling Goff “the very best in the NFL in throwing against zone coverage,” according to Fowler.

Fowler has yet to release the entirety of the 2024 survey, although AFC quarterbacks are likely to dominate for the second straight year.

Last season five rival-conference signal callers led the survey with the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow, Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, New York Jets’ Aaron Rodgers and Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert ranking top in the NFL.

Among NFC quarterbacks on the 2023 survey, Hurts ranked top in the conference. This season the rise of Goff and Stafford appears to have bumped him out of the top five.