Throughout the NFL season, we’re ranking all 32 current starting quarterbacks from best to worst. Here’s the breakdown following Week 12:
32. Sam Darnold, New York Jets: The third-year No. 3 overall pick remains the NFL’s lowest-rated passer. He returned from injury in Week 12 and threw two interceptions, as the Jets scored three points in a blowout loss.
31. Brandon Allen, Cincinnati Bengals: It’s just a shame we’re no longer tracking Joe Burrow. Allen is a career backup.
30. Drew Lock, Denver Broncos: The second-year second-round pick continued to be fairly useless in Week 11 despite a win, and then he missed Week 12 due to COVID-19 protocols. He’s running out of time to prove he’s worthy of the starting job in Denver.
29. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles: The struggle continues for the NFC’s lowest-rated passer. His highest-rated game all season (91.1) was below the league average, and he’s running away with the interception crown with 15 picks.
28. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears: The Bears basically have one horrible quarterback named Nitchell Folebisky. Trubisky was once again a disaster in his return to the starting lineup in Week 12. It’s about time to move on.
27. Alex Smith, Washington Football Team: The rusty 36-year-old has fallen short of 200 yards in back-to-back games, and still sports a brutal 3-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. I’d rather be seeing what Dwayne Haskins can do.
26. Gardner Minshew II, Jacksonville Jaguars: The sophomore sixth-round pick hasn’t been horrible, but he hasn’t dazzled and remains injured, so we’re stuck with Mike Glennon.
25. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions: His Lions offense was shut out by the novice Carolina Panthers defense in Week 11 before they laid an egg and cost their coach his job in a Thanksgiving home loss. Stafford isn’t well supported, but is again failing to rise above that.
24. Andy Dalton, Dallas Cowboys: The former longtime Bengals starter hasn’t been great in relief of Dak Prescott, but he does have two triple-digit-rated performances under his belt.
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. Cam Newton, New England Patriots: The league’s fifth-lowest-rated passer has just four touchdown passes to nine interceptions. That said, Newton’s eight rushing scores count for something.
21. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins: It’s a work in progress for the rookie No. 5 overall pick. He’s yet to throw an interception, but has also been benched and is now dealing with a thumb injury. The jury’s very much out.
20. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: He completely bombed against the New Orleans Saints in Week 11 before putting together an underwhelming performance — despite a blowout win — in Week 12. It’s been another dud season for the highly-paid former MVP.
19. Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina Panthers: The accurate veteran trails only Drew Brees when it comes to on-target rate, but he just hasn’t been able to carry the Carolina offense on a consistent basis. He’s the definition of average at this point.
18. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Two more interceptions in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs reinforces the notion that the 43-year-old struggles in big games against good teams. It’s also concerning that he’s posted a mere 80.2 rating in his last four outings. Is he running out of gas?
17. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: The reigning MVP posted an 83.5 rating between Week 5 and Week 12, and he hasn’t been as effective with his legs either. He’s really come back to earth.
16. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns: There’s just so much damn fluctuation from week to week, but at least the third-year No. 1 overall pick put together a strong performance against a bad Jaguars D in Week 12. He needs to string together several of those outings to move up here.
15. Philip Rivers, Indianapolis Colts: Consistency is a problem here, too. The 38-year-old was rolling before a bad performance against the Tennessee Titans.
14. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams: The fluctuations are wild here, too. He was an utter mess against a depleted 49ers defense in Week 12.
13. Daniel Jones, New York Giants: His overall numbers remain terrible and now he’s hurt, but the second-year first-round pick had really cut down on his mistakes before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 12.
12. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers: The rookie top-10 pick remains a triple-digit-rated passer despite a rocky performance in a Week 12 loss.
11. Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders: It’s been a breakout year for the 29-year-old, but a Week 12 dud in Atlanta was a reminder that we’re still talking about Derek Carr.
10. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: I really don’t know what to make of Allen still, but his 89.6 passer rating since Week 5 isn’t encouraging. He was good, not great in a Week 12 victory.
9. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: That 6.7 yards-per-attempt average is killing Big Ben, but the Steelers have yet to lose, and he’s one of the league’s 12 highest-rated passers anyway.
8. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings: Holy. After a comeback victory over the Panthers in Week 12, Cousins has a 124.3 passer rating and a 12-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio since the start of November.
7. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans: Derrick Henry did a lot of the work in an easy Week 12 victory over the Colts, but the league’s sixth-highest-rated passer also performed well.
6. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: The rate-based passing numbers still aren’t there and he struggled in a Week 12 loss to New England. Have teams cracked the Murray code?
5. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: He was good but not special in a Week 12 victory over the Eagles, and thus he’s falling further behind in the MVP race. Still, he’s the league’s fourth-highest-rated passer.
4. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans: Now the league’s third-highest-rated passer, Watson has 22 touchdowns to three picks since Week 3. If the Texans were any good, he’d be an MVP candidate.
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: He’s hurt now, but the 41-year-old has a 114.8 rating since Week 3.
2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: The league’s highest-rated passer lit up a good Bears defense in Week 12.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: The NFL leader in QBR has an insane 30-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
