NEW YORK — This year’s NFL playoffs feature a quarterback whose rocket throwing arm and elite improvisation abilities make him a human highlight reel.

There’s another whose precision passing and command of the pocket helped him lead the AFC in passing yards by a wide margin.

And then there’s the QB who was considered more of a question mark coming out of college, but whose dual-threat skills have turned into the engine of one of the NFL’s best teams.

These quarterbacks are not Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson, all of whom missed the playoffs.

Rather, it’s Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Bo Nix, three players from the lauded 2024 draft class who are more than living up to the sky-high hype.

This weekend’s wild-card round marks the postseason debuts of Williams, whose Chicago Bears are the NFC’s No. 2 seed, and Maye, whose New England Patriots are the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

Nix snuck into last year’s playoffs as a rookie and appeared in one game, but he faces much larger expectations this postseason with his Denver Broncos — currently on a bye — being the AFC’s top seed.

“The natural thing is to kind of get a little more amped. This is natural, as a human, for a big game,” Maye said before the Pats host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.

“I think [you need to] just trust what you’ve been doing. … Don’t do anything out of the ordinary.”

It’s premature to anoint these playoffs as a changing of the guard. Mahomes is 30, and Burrow and Jackson are 29. All three likely have plenty of wins ahead of them, even after the trio dealt with injuries of varying severity this year.

And while the postseason feels a little weird without them, this year’s playoff class still features battle-tested regulars such as Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers.

But at the very least, this postseason represents the arrival of a new guard.

Williams, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, looked the part with 3,942 passing yards and 27 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also rushed for three scores.

The 24-year-old Williams flourished under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, leading the Bears to an 11-6 record that included an incredible six fourth-quarter comeback wins.

Williams expects to be at his best on Saturday night, when the Bears host Jordan Love and the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers (9-7-1) after splitting the regular-season series with their NFC North rival.

“I am built for these moments, mentality-wise, how I’ve worked,” Williams said this week. “I’ve been in a bunch of big games before and a bunch of big rival games. In those moments and in these moments, I think I can provide a spark for the team. I think I can do whatever my team needs me to do.”

Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft, was even better in 2025, completing 72% of his passes for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He added four rushing touchdowns.

Also buoyed by a new head coach in Mike Vrabel, the 23-year-old Maye led the Patriots to a 14-3 record and their first AFC East title since 2019, which was Tom Brady’s final season in New England.

Maye is widely considered an MVP favorite.

“He has a great relationship with every offensive player. Just every player on the team, honestly. He just has this knack about him,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “He’s a really good person who can create a relationship with basically anybody.”

Nix, the No. 12 pick in the 2024 draft, was a less-heralded prospect than Williams or Maye. He was the sixth quarterback taken that year, but he was hand-selected by Broncos head coach Sean Payton and has proven to be an ideal fit for the offensive guru’s system.

The 25-year-old Nix passed for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns against 11 interceptions and rushed for 356 yards and five scores.

That was more than enough offense for a Broncos team that boasts one of the NFL’s stoutest defenses and finished 14-3 to win the AFC West.

Nix and the Broncos might not know their second-round opponent until Monday night, as they will face the lowest remaining seed. But they do know that they are two home wins away from a trip to the Super Bowl.

“It’s the best possible position to be in,” Nix said.

Without Mahomes, Burrow and Jackson in the mix, this year’s playoff field is wide open.

And while their absences could make this Allen’s clearest path to his first Super Bowl berth, Buffalo (12-5) being the AFC’s No. 6 seed means he would likely need to win three road games to get there.

That’s just another factor that bodes well for the young quarterbacks.

“It’s playoff football,” Maye said. “You’ve got to bring your best, and everybody knows that.”

©2026 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.