Stroud, Dak, Kyler & Goff — Who Has the Most to Prove in 2026?

The 2026 NFL season is shaping up to be a make-or-break year for several star quarterbacks.

In this episode of Big Game Energy, we break down the NFL QBs with the most to prove in 2026 — whether it’s contract pressure, legacy questions, playoff struggles, or career-defining expectations.

Is this the year Dak Prescott finally gets to a conference championship?
Has the hype cooled too much on C. J. Stroud after playoff struggles?
Can Kyler Murray revive his career with a new team?
Is the window closing for Jared Goff and the Lions?

We also discuss honorable mentions like:
 • Michael Penix Jr.
• J. J. McCarthy
• Justin Herbert

With massive contracts, playoff expectations, and legacy conversations on the line, 2026 could define careers.

If you love NFL debates, quarterback rankings, offseason storylines, and unfiltered football talk — this episode is for you.

Subscribe to Big Game Energy for weekly NFL content, offseason debates, and hot takes all year long.

00:00 2026 QB s With the Most to Prove

00:39 CJ Stroud: From Rookie Hype to Make-or-Break Year

03:45 Kyler Murray: Fresh Start, Same Questions

05:30 Where Could Kyler Land?

07:42 Honorable Mentions: Penix, JJ McCarthy, Herbert

08:27 Dak Prescott: Market-Setting Deal, No More Excuses

13:54 Jared Goff and the Lions’ Closing Window

Transcript

Spencer 0:00

What quarterbacks have the most to prove in the 2026 NFL season? James? We are full into the off season and it has got me wondering. What is in store for certain quarterbacks in the 2026 season? For a lot of these guys, it's gonna be make or break for their careers or for new contracts, or if they're gonna have a legacy worth remembering. So before we jump into some quarterbacks, that I think have a lot to prove in 2026. If you have not already, make sure you subscribe to Big Game Energy. Get us on Instagram, get us on TikTok as well. We are posting daily content all throughout the NFL off season. James, I have some quarterbacks here and I'm gonna start with one near and dear to my heart. but CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans, it's a make or break year for him after what was an extremely promising rookie season. He has regressed each of the last two seasons, and it culminated in one of the most embarrassing. Worst performances in a playoff game. We have seen in recent NFL memory when he threw four interceptions in the first half against the Patriots. Mm-hmm. And in the divisional round that the Texans lost with an Super Bowl caliber defense. Now James, I'm not, I'm not giving up on CJ Stroud like a lot of people have. He has become the meme of the entire internet.

James 1:22

He was,

Spencer 1:23

and I don't like that. I don't think that's fair because I do think as bad as he was in the postseason, he is not as bad as people are making him out to be. But that is why he has so much to prove is because this is who people are saying he is. Now, after they crowned him a bit too early, perhaps. He has it all in his hands in 2026 to go out there and prove people wrong before it's time to get a contract.'cause if I'm the Houston Texans, I don't think they're gonna give him a big$60 million a year contract after what we just saw.

James 1:57

Yeah, no, I'm with you man. I, there's no way I'm giving 60 million to CJ Strout after you mentioned two years of regression. Yeah, and guess what, even though they've been in the playoffs, it's been, you know, been fun. See. The biggest thing in the postseason three playoff

Spencer 2:09

wins.

James 2:10

Yeah. Hey, three playoff wins more than some bombs I've been playing for a long time. Might talk about them. Yeah. We might talk about them later, but in all honesty Yeah, I'm with you. I, I, you know, the biggest thing in postseason is keep the ball. Away from the other team's hands. Now, of course it got lucky in in, in Pittsburgh because the defense scored, I think, more points than the offense in that game, that Monday night game in the wild card. But yeah, I'm with you. I mean. Of course could. The game might've been different if Nico Collins was playing against the Patriots that game. Maybe so. But you know, when you have the quote unquote greatest rookie season from a quarterback, then the next year, Jayden Daniels the greatest season from a rookie quarterback. And just to see that, and when we talk about these things, look. Look at what some of the teams are doing. Finally, Trevor Lawrence kind of excelling to his team. The Titans are hoping that Cam Ward and this new coaching staff from Sala is going to excel. You know, the Colts, even though yeah, they may not have Daniel Jones for most of the year from his Achilles injury. They were on the Excel from. What was not that bad of a contract situation. And of course I know some crazy Texan fans say, man, we need long neck David Mills out there'cause only went three and oh, but hey and all. I'm with you, man. He's definitely, he's a make it, he's a make it this year type of guy, because I would not pay 60 million. Hey, unless he came out and said, Hey, I haven't played that well. I'll take 30 million. Okay. Hey man, we signed the

Spencer 3:35

contract.

James 3:36

Oh yeah. Hey, he signed it right then and there.

Spencer 3:37

If he wants to have a hometown discount, I think I, and even some of the biggest haters of CJ Child would be on board with that. If he was coming outta bargain, I

James 3:45

would be on board.

Spencer 3:45

Next name though. Is not someone that I think is gonna come as a bargain in this off season. And it's someone who a lot of people have questioned for a long time and he's gonna get a change of scenery this year. And I think Kyler Murray has a ton to prove to the NFL as a whole this upcoming season. We know his career in Arizona is done, done, but the former number one overall pick. He is absolutely capable of electrifying moments on the field. There's some questions off the field, but we know, and we have seen him do some crazy stuff on the field.

James 4:23

Mm-hmm.

Spencer 4:23

Could possibly getting out of Arizona and hopefully going to a better situation. Not going to a team like the Jets, which has been a heavy rumor for him, but if he were to land with someone, let's just put him in Minnesota. Let's put him with KOC and let's say that he beats out JJ McCarthy for the starting job.

James 4:43

Beat out nine. Come on, man.

Spencer 4:45

Just saying. And that's another one. I don't have him on my list, but that's another one who might have a lot to prove in 2026. Is he a bus or not? But I digress. Back to Kyler Murray. This is a guy who give him a good surrounding cast. Give him a competent head coach. Give him a better situation and see if you actually can get some success and some legitimate production outta Kyle Murray. Because I don't think that he is the scrub that he has shown in Arizona. I think he's capable of more, but he's only gonna have a little bit more time to prove it. His first year with whatever team he ends up with is going to be a big litmus test to what Kyle Murray's actually capable of,

James 5:28

you know? No, you're right. We agree. You know, last season we thought you were crazy as hell putting the Cardinals won in the NFC West. Of course I know you're gonna say due to what you thought was gonna happen with Stafford, but you know, it's scary. It's still wrong either

Spencer 5:41

way.

James 5:42

Yeah, it's scary. It's scary looking at Kyle's situation,'cause you think of it, think about all the NFC teams. It's either Arizona. Or Minnesota. And of course Minnesota just drafted jj, so you, they would have to be taking a risk. So you know, then you go to the A FC and you mentioned teams, like the teams like the jets will, will always trade in quarterbacks, will the cults do something crazy? You know, have they given up on AR 15 already? And then you got some other team. I'm not gonna lie Spencer, if it was me, and this is a crazy like, hey, this could make it your season, even though. I think this guy will come back early if he's gonna be cheap on the dollar. For Kyler, why not just do something crazy and like, Hey, Kansas City, Hey, you need somebody to fill in five F-ing games, get Kyler to come in for five games. If he does, well, guess what? Someone's gonna trade for him next year.'cause of course he's not gonna play any time after Pat Mahomes gets on the field. Why not? I mean, because you know, then you know you got the Steelers who they'll, you know, are you gonna trust Aaron Rogers if Mike McCarthy and them, if he's

Spencer 6:47

coming back, we

James 6:48

still don't know yet if he's coming back. We don't know that. And then, you know, you have the usual you can play for the Browns. You play for the Browns.

Spencer 6:55

Murray does he, hold on pause for a sec. He does kind of seem like the perfect Browns quarterback. I don't know why. He's just got that vibe to him. I can totally see Kyle Murray in a Browns uniform. If they decide that they're not gonna give shado a chance next year, they, they could be a sneaky team to look for Kyler Murray to end up with. Yeah, let's put that out there. That's, that's worth considering.

James 7:17

It is worth considering. I mean, they, they got nothing else to lose, but, no, it, Kate yeah. Kyler, this is, this is it. And I do believe there is some upside because. We just look at what happened with Sam Darna. I'm pretty sure we all written off Sam Darna, you know, after all those teams, he bounced through and then he had just needed a good situation and he found a better situation. Now he's a Super Bowl champ. Can you believe that? Hopefully I can have him with Kyler. I'm with you on this one, man. So far. Two for two on the quarterbacks need to prove.

Spencer 7:41

All right. Before I give you my last one though, I'm gonna give you some honorable mentions. Just going to drop their name. They have stuff that they need to prove. But I have one more that has more to prove than all of these. I wanna give a shout out. Michael Pennix for the Falcons. I think he needs to have a pretty good season, this year to. Retain the job in Atlanta. Yeah. After a very shaky two years to start his career. His, it's a big third year for him. JJ McCarthy, we mentioned earlier. I, I think he's got a lot to prove if he even ends up as the starter. We could put Justin Herbert on this list every year. We do this video

James 8:17

every year. We love that

Spencer 8:18

guy. I, you know, I'm a Justin Herbert guy and I thought he had a great season, all things considered with how bad of an offensive line he was dealing with all year. But James. My quarterback, I think, has the most to prove in 2026. I am looking to the Big D. I'm looking at Dak Prescott. I think he has so much to prove. We're talking about the guy who set the quarterback market where it is. Mm-hmm. He got the biggest quarterback contract in NFL history and last year. Honestly, if we're being real, he did his part. That offense in Dallas was very, very good. But here's the deal. We know they didn't win. It did not translate into wins mo much of that because admittedly, their defense, whole hot garbage

James 9:08

I love it. Say it again. Louder for the bag. They were what?

Spencer 9:11

It's terrible. All right. But. That being said, I think you, you, yourself and Eagles fan have to give them props on who they brought in as their defensive coordinator. Mm-hmm. I, I, it was a, is a very good hire and I expect that Dallas defense to take several steps forward depending on the moves they make and for agency in the draft. I think that defense for the Cowboys is gonna be a lot better in 2026. We know recently they just resigned Javonte Williams. Yep. It's looking very likely that at minimum they're gonna resign George Pickens. At some point, most likely they're gonna franchise tag him and he'll be someone that I, I think he holds in, in training camp and he signs a deal, and then week one he's out there. But all that to say is Dak Prescott's gonna have every piece of this offense from this past year that was very, very good for him. Mm-hmm. It's all gonna be back next year, so he's gonna have an improved defense. A solid offense with an, with a very, very decent I mean, I'm gonna say it, they have a very good offensive line win. Healthy people forget how good they were before Booker got hurt last year for them.

James 10:17

Right.

Spencer 10:17

They have all their weapons resign, their running back. That broke out for them. It's all there. Dak Prescott, you have to get to the conference championship in 2026. If you can't do it this year with this group, with the same offensive mind you've been dealing with for the past three years, you've got to go. It's, if it doesn't happen this year for Dak Prescott. It never will happen for Dak Prescott.

James 10:44

Dude, I'm with you. You've hit three home runs on these quarterbacks need to prove the most. Dak Prescott is up there because guess what everyone says about Prest. Dak Prescott's top 10. Who else is on your top 10 and what have they all done? Super Bowls Champ Conference Championships, MVPs, the whole nine. Now Dak, you know, he, I don't know why I feel like, you know, on first taking all that they'll kill the Cowboys, but it seems like everyone in the football podcast world kind of gives him a pass, throws everything under the carpet because of, like you mentioned, the defense or this, or just'cause he is with Jerry Jones. Well, if you think about it, they've been through multiple coaches and there's, as they always say, there's one common denominator in all of this. And when you have guys who have already won more playoff games than him. Drake May, Sam Darnell, CJ Stroud. How many of those guys are you picking Dak over? You know what I mean? Most people will pick Dak over all three of them, but they have more, or is the same amount of playoff wins as Dak. So he does need to step it up because like you mentioned, he's already broke the quarterback market once. He'll do it again in the future. And he, these offenses, their offense is powerful. I mean, look, he was fifth. He was fifth in QBR this past season. Guess what? The top four Either in the Super Bowl or in the playoffs. So, and I get it, man, sometimes man, things go your wrong way. But guess what? And I'm gonna throw it on the Eagles side. The year the Eagles got bounced in the first round by the bucks. 32nd defense in the NFL. Guess what? Somehow found a way to get in the playoffs. So like Dak, you gotta find a way to get in the playoffs because if you got John Harbaugh in, you know, in New York and now you got hopefully a rejuvenated. Jayden Daniels, hopefully healthy. They should strive'cause it's just last year they were in the NFC championship. Something you haven't done in the past, how many years? 30. Every n every F. Been there 30 years. So yeah man, I'm with you, man. D, definitely have to,'cause I'll say like this. If Dak was not wearing that Cowboys jersey. I like Dak man. I like who he is. I like the style he plays. I like the guy just in general coming outta Mississippi State, but it's just'cause he wears that damn blue, white, and silver, whatever you wanna call it. Ugh, I can't do it, but I'm with you, man. He, they gotta find a way because guess what? If they can't find a way, if they've been giving him this excuse for so long through the 10 years. What do we talk about all the time? These teams in the NFC and A FC, they're gonna be progressing. I mean, what do we expect from the Bears? You know, with Caleb Young, you know Caleb, well, Caleb Williams, you know me, I'm somehow some of this big Bryce young supporter, woo woo. Get it outta the way, you know? And you still got the NFC West, so it's like, when is the time? Because if not Dallas, you have to move away. From Dak, not because he's not good, it's just we need a new, we, we need something new.

Spencer 13:37

Yeah. It, this would be it. and, and it might not be a situation where Jerry Jones would actually do it, but everyone, it would be no more doubt about it. It's just he wouldn't be the guy for it. He have to look for a change of scenery. Now, James Dak Prescott was my top one, but I'll throw it to you. Who is your quarterback with the most to prove in 2026?

James 13:59

I not gonna lie, this one may be a shocker for some. I gotta give it to Jared Goff just because one,

Spencer 14:05

okay.

James 14:05

It. It's one of those things where like, you know, hey, since the NFC championship game against San Francisco that year, and of course Dan Campbell mentioned this might be our only shot. Well, that's what it's looking like, because since then, yeah, last year you lose of the commanders. Yeah. Your defense was depleted and now this year you. Almost be you were tied for last with the Vikings in this division. And of course we talked about it. Packers progressing, bears progressing, and what do we expect? The lions should be doing something. They got all these weapons and somehow they didn't make the playoffs. I mean, I gotta look at the one guy, you know, and everyone made fun of him for how he performed in the Super Bowl 53 against the Patriots and just how he's been. I know he is been great. In the regular season. He is been great indoors. I know they joke about him outdoors, but Jared Goff is one of those guys in my eye because I think of what the nfcs doing because if. The Seahawks didn't do what they did this year. Let's say, for example, let's say a team that we thought was gonna win like the Rams, then fine, no big deal. But again, the Seahawks, they're in it. The Niners are in it. You know, if everyone stay healthy, the Rams are in it. You, we just mentioned the two NFC North teams. I expect the Panthers to be the number one team in the NFC South next year. The bucks are gonna probably be a tough number two. And then you got the NFC East. So it's like, what are we gonna do with this team? And I think this goes on the back of not just Dan Campbell, and I know last year was the first season without Ben Johnson, but it also goes on the back of Jared. Go, you pay the guy you know to be top tier. You, you know, you're in the NFC championship and now we can't make the playoffs. Come on. Jaroff. I need you to step up this time. Not saying you're getting cut next year, but I just need you to step up so we can see that Hey. They're gonna be competing no matter what. It's just gonna be one of those. Is there luck on their side or is there not?

Spencer 15:54

Yeah, that's a decent one because there were definitely some concerns this year people had about Jared Goff's ability to win the game himself. A lot of people call him like a type of game manager that lies on his defense in his run game, and he definitely is one that has those games where it's like, oh, Jared Goff, five interceptions lost. They lost. So I think that's a good one. That's a sneaky one, but y'all let us know in the comments. Who is your quarterback that has the most to prove in 2026? We have a long off season ahead of us, so let us know what we need to do to get some of these quarterbacks into some situations for them to succeed. We'll see y'all next time on Big Game Energy.

James 16:33

You lucky I ain't say Lamar. Jackson's podcast man, mother.