Throughout the 2017 NFL season, we’re monitoring the progress made by the league’s rookie quarterbacks by power ranking them based on their play, their circumstances or both.
Despite the fact that only two rookie signal-callers have thrown passes thus far, here’s how the rookie crop of NFL quarterbacks shakes out entering Week 5.
1. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans (last week: 1st): The No. 12 overall pick had a breakout performance in a blowout victory over the division rival Tennessee Titans. Watson now ranks above the league median in terms of completion percentage and passer rating, and he leads all quarterbacks with 148 rushing yards. He might have a chance to chase down Kareem Hunt in the offensive rookie of the year race.
2. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears (last week: 2nd): After inexplicably not having a chance to play in a blowout Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots, the No. 2 overall pick will make his NFL debut Monday night.
3. C. J. Beathard, San Francisco 49ers (last week: 5th): Brian Hoyer is the league’s third-lowest-rated passer and the 49ers are now 0-4. Why not mix it up soon?
4. Davis Webb, New York Giants (last week: 4th): Eventually if you’re sucking as much as the Giants have been sucking, you might as well give the young guy a shot. That probably won’t happen even if they keep losing and Eli Manning stays healthy, but I wouldn’t totally rule it out for the second half of the season.
5. Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills (last week: 3rd): Starter Tyrod Taylor is the league’s eighth-highest-rated passer and the Bills are leading the AFC East at 3-1, so Peterman won’t likely see the field anytime soon unless Taylor goes down.
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6. DeShone Kizer, Cleveland Browns (last week: 7th): I’d like to say at least he’s playing, but the second-round Notre Dame product has been so abysmal that I wonder if it’s doing more harm than good. He’s been the worst starting quarterback in the league by a wide margin.
7. Patrick Mahomes II, Kansas City Chiefs (last week: 6th): Starter Alex Smith continues to be the league’s highest-rated passer. He’s yet to thrown an interception and the Chiefs have yet to lose. So yeah….
8. Cooper Rush, Dallas Cowboys (last week: 8th): Dak Prescott is the man and that won’t likely change this season. But if he were to suffer an injury, there’s a chance they’d turn to veteran backup Kellen Moore instead.
Not gonna happen, period: Rather than rank them ninth and 10th, we’re sparing you. Brad Kaaya of the Carolina Panthers and Josh Dobbs of the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t see the field this year unless something goes spectacularly wrong for either team.
