HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 08: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans runs with the ball in the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at NRG Stadium on October 8, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
NFLBy Brad Gagnon on

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 three rookie signal-callers have thrown passes thus far, here’s how the rookie crop of NFL quarterbacks shakes out entering Week 6.

1. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans (last week: 1st): Holy crap, I don’t think anybody — including Bill O’Brien — could have seen this coming. Watson looked like a project all offseason, and he wasn’t very impressive in relief of Tom Savage in Week 1. But in the last three weeks, he’s produced 12 touchdowns and a 116.2 passer rating while the Texans offense has lit up the Patriots, Titans and Chiefs for a total of 124 points. He could seriously be a Pro Bowler this season.

2. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears (last week: 2nd): Trubisky had a predictably shaky debut against a tough Vikings defense on Monday night. That said, he did do some nice things for a guy with just 12 college starts under his belt, and the Bears lost by only a field goal.

3. C. J. Beathard, San Francisco 49ers (last week: 3rd): Brian Hoyer is the league’s fourth-lowest-rated passer and the 49ers are now 0-5. Why not mix it up soon? Might as well see what you’ve got here before having to make a big decision early in the 2018 draft.

4. Davis Webb, New York Giants (last week: 4th): Yeah, Eli Manning has started 204 consecutive games, but the Giants are toast with an 0-5 record and bare bones at wide receiver. They should give Webb some looks between now and the end of a lost season.

5. Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills (last week: 5th): Since the Bills are competitive and starter Tyrod Taylor has been good despite lacking consistency, they won’t likely make a change this season unless or until they’re eliminated from contention in December.

6. Josh Dobbs, Pittsburgh Steelers (last week: 10th): Ben Roethlisberger was so abysmal against the Jaguars — and his comments afterwards were so discouraging — that Dobbs’ stock has to be on the rise.

7. DeShone Kizer, Cleveland Browns (last week: 6th): Kizer is on pace to post the lowest qualified passer rating in the NFL this century. He might not qualify, though, because he’s been so bad they’ve already benched him.

8. Patrick Mahomes II, Kansas City Chiefs (last week: 7th): I’ll repeat what I said last week, because it all still stands: 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…

9. Cooper Rush, Dallas Cowboys (last week: 8th): Dak Prescott is the clear-cut starter 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.

10. Brad Kaaya, Carolina Panthers (last week: 9th): He’s just kind of there, stashed away behind MVP candidate Cam Newton and Derek Anderson.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com, a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at CBSSports.com, Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Comeback Media, but his day gig has him covering the NFL nationally for Bleacher Report.

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