Throughout the NFL season, we’re ranking all 32 current starting quarterbacks from best to worst. Here’s the breakdown following Week 9:
32. Sam Darnold, New York Jets: It was Joe Flacco again for the Jets in Week 9 (and he looked much better than Darnold has). Darnold, who’s dealing with a shoulder injury, is the league’s lowest-rated qualified passer by a huge margin.
31. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles: The hell happened to the former MVP candidate? Wentz was abysmal against a bad Dallas Cowboys defense in Week 8 before a bye. He leads the league with 12 interceptions, and is the NFL’s second-lowest-rated passer.
30. Cam Newton, New England Patriots: He wasn’t the main problem for a Pats team that struggled to beat the Jets in Week 9, but Newton still has just two touchdown passes to seven picks this year. He’s a shell of his former self.
29. Drew Lock, Denver Broncos: So much for that sign of life late in a Week 8 comeback win. Lock was terrible in Atlanta in Week 9, and his 29.5 passer rating on deep balls is a joke.
28. Alex Smith, Washington Football Team: The comeback story is great, but that doesn’t change the fact the rusty veteran threw three interceptions in relief of Kyle Allen in Week 9.
27. Andy Dalton, Dallas Cowboys: It wasn’t pretty before he was concussed against Washington in Week 7, and he missed Weeks 8 and 9 as a result of that injury. If qualified, Dalton would be the NFC’s lowest-rated passer.
26. Gardner Minshew II, Jacksonville Jaguars: The sophomore sixth-round pick hasn’t been horrible, but hasn’t been good either, and now he may be on the verge of losing his job to rookie Jake Luton.
25. Nick Foles, Chicago Bears: He just isn’t getting it done with that 6.1 yards-per-attempt average. Foles is a top-end backup with some stories to tell.
24. Daniel Jones, New York Giants: It’s been ugly, but there were at least some signs of life against good defenses the last two weeks, and a lack of support has to be taken into account. The sophomore is also one of the league’s highest-rated deep passers.
23. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers: The inconsistent Garoppolo is hurt again. Not much more you can say about Jimmy G at this point.
22. Philip Rivers, Indianapolis Colts: The numbers are decent but not outstanding considering his record, salary, and support.
21. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions: Same for him.
20. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: And him.
19. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings: It’s been a middle-of-the-pack year for Cousins, who has seen more downs than ups and owes a lot of credit for his recent success to Dalvin Cook. That said, he still has a 146.7 rating in back-to-back wins.
18. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns: The fluctuations have become ridiculous for Mayfield, who laid an egg against the Las Vegas Raiders one week after sending a message in a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s now four games with a sub-73 rating, four games with a rating of 100 or higher.
17. Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina Panthers: He’s also fluctuated a lot from week to week this season, and has pretty much become the baseline for average.
16. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins: The progress in his second start was hard to ignore. Tua is on the right track to become a star.
15. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams: After a pretty strong start, he’s come back to earth with a sub-80 passer rating in his last three games.
14. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: The passing numbers haven’t been pretty, and even the rushing numbers are done. Jackson has been remarkably good in the red zone, but that’s about it.
13. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: The top pick has really put it together with five touchdowns to one pick as Cincy’s offense has come alive the last two games. He’s already an above-average quarterback.
12. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: I mean, he got it done against Dallas. But I’m worried about his body holding up and his 6.7 yards-per-attempt average.
11. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: You’re prone to have the odd dud at age 43, so we’ll give the seemingly rejuvenated Brady a one-week pass for that disastrous performance against a high-quality opponent.
10. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: The highs are damn high and the lows are pretty friggin’ low. He’s coming off a high, though, and he continues to rank in the top-10 in most categories.
9. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans: The numbers remain strong, but he’s not jumping out at anybody lately.
8. Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders: Exact same story here.
7. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers: The Bolts can’t win, but that’s not on Herbert. The rookie has a 110.9 passer rating since Week 4.
6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: The 41-year-old has a 115.5 passer rating the last six games despite the absence of Michael Thomas for most of that stretch.
5. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: Murray is all over the charts with advanced stats, but there’s no denying that his 112.8 passer rating the last five weeks is impressive. Plus, he might be the best rushing quarterback in the league.
4. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans: He’s now posted a passer rating of 105 or higher in six consecutive games, and he’s starting to pick it up as a rusher.
3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: The league’s highest-rated passer has 24 touchdown throws to two interceptions.
2. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: He has a little less support than Rodgers and very similar individual numbers, as well as the same team record. It’s a close call.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: Mahomes’ Chiefs are 8-1, his 25-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is off the charts, and he’s on a better trajectory than Rodgers or Wilson.
Passing on third down this season:
Patrick Mahomes
68.4%
9 TD / 0 INT
9.8 YPA
139.6 passer ratingRussell Wilson
50.0%
3 TD / 4 INT
5.3 YPA
54.4 passer rating— Brad Gagnon (@Brad_Gagnon) November 11, 2020
