Throughout the 2021 NFL season, we’ll be ranking all 32 current starting quarterbacks from best to worst. Here’s the breakdown following Week 4.
32. Zach Wilson, New York Jets: The rookie No. 2 overall pick is coming off his best game yet, but he remains the league’s lowest-rated passer with twice as many interceptions (eight) as touchdowns (four).
31. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars: The top pick hasn’t been much better with five touchdowns to seven picks.
30. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins: He’s injured now, and he hardly outplayed replacement Jacoby Brissett before that.
29. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: Incredibly, excluding rookies and qualified backups, Big Ben is the NFL’s lowest-rated passer. It’s getting really ugly.
28. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans: What the hell is wrong with the veteran Tannehill? He’s completed just five deep passes on 20 attempts thus far.
27. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: His 3.0 air yards per attempt is brutal. Increasingly hard to believe this guy was league MVP five years ago.
26. Justin Fields, Chicago Bears: The rookie No. 11 overall pick moves into Andy Dalton’s spot now that he’s officially the starter. We’ll need a larger sample to move him up or down. We’ll get that this Sunday.
25. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers: Even before getting hurt (again) in Week 4, Jimmy G had made zero big-time throws this season.
24. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions: Every year, one quarterback seems to emerge as the league’s most anonymous and I have trouble finding new things to say about him in this exercise. This year, that quarterback appears to be Jared Goff.
23. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns: His rate-based numbers aren’t horrible, but they aren’t pretty either. He’s also thrown just two touchdown passes thus far, and he ranks near the bottom of the league in deep passing, third-down passing, and passing in the fourth quarter of close games.
22. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles: He’s a solid threat with his legs and his rate-based numbers are strong, but the sophomore second-round pick isn’t making enough key plays with his arm.
21. Carson Wentz, Indianapolis Colts: Is he back? Despite another injury, the vet is coming off his best performance in a long time. He’s still thrown just one interception this season.
20. Mac Jones, New England Patriots: He’s put together two solid performances and one really bad one. That’s better than many expected this early.
19. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: It’s coming together for the sophomore No. 1 overall pick, whose on-target rate of 81.9 ranks fourth among qualified passers.
18. Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers: An unreal five rushing touchdowns have to count for something for the third-year former Jets disappointment. He’s also limited his mistakes for a 3-1 team.
17. Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints: I mean, he’s one of the league’s 10 highest-rated passers and three of his performances have been strong. If he can string more of those together, he’ll belong in at least the second tier here.
16. Daniel Jones, New York Giants: The oft-maligned third-year first-round pick has quietly put together a strong season. He’s the league’s third-highest-rated passer on deep attempts, and he’s added 188 rushing yards and two rushing scores. He’s also thrown just one pick so far.
15. Tyrod Taylor, Houston Texans: He’s hurt now, but the veteran journeyman actually led the NFL with a QBR of 84.6 before going down. He was doing a really done a solid job with little support.
14. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings: He may have a top-10 passer rating and he limits his mistakes, but Cousins just isn’t a consistent enough playmaker.
13. Teddy Bridgewater, Denver Broncos: Now hurt, the league’s seventh-highest-rated passer was making more plays than ever early this season. There’s hope there.
12. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: Still nearly a quarter of Rodgers’ attempts have been deemed bad throws by Pro Football Reference. You know he’ll get there, but the numbers aren’t close yet.
11. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: His numbers aren’t quite there yet but he’s leading the league’s highest-scoring offense. It’s coming.
10. Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team: Game manager? The dude’s passer rating on deep passes (131.7) ranks behind just Russell Wilson.
9. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: His league-worst on-target rate of 57.2 is kind of jarring, but Brady still has 10 touchdowns to two picks and a triple-digit rating.
8. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: Let’s not pretend the league’s leading quarterback rusher doesn’t have an arm. He’s averaging an NFL-best 5.6 air yards per attempt.
7. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: The numbers are strong in pretty much every facet, but he isn’t dominating.
6. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: The NFL leader in QBR has far more touchdown passes (14) than anyone else. His four interceptions and two losses are a factor, though.
5. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams: He came back to earth a bit in a Week 4 loss, but he still has the top QBR in the NFC and an 11-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio for a contending team.
4. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: The strong early-season MVP candidate ranks third in the league in QBR and second in yards per attempt for a 4-0 team.
3. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers: One critical figure for the rising sophomore? His bad throw rate of just 7.5 percent is the best in the league. It’s all come together.
2. Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders: Carr deserves a lot of credit for possessing an AFC-best passer rating of 136.2 in the fourth quarter of one-score games this season. He’s been a revelation.
1. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: The league’s highest-rated passer has nine touchdowns and zero interceptions. It’s just a shame the Seahawks are just 2-2.
