Throughout the 2021 NFL season, we’ll be ranking all 32 current starting quarterbacks from best to worst. Here’s the breakdown following Week 6.
32. Justin Fields, Chicago Bears: The sample remains small, but he still ranks at the bottom of the pack in both grade at Pro Football Focus and DVOA at Football Outsiders.
31. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars: The rookie No. 1 overall pick has been on target on a league-low 68.6 percent of his passes.
30. Zach Wilson, New York Jets: The No. 2 overall pick’s rate-based numbers are superior to those of Lawrence, but he remains the league’s lowest-rated passer.
29. Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers: Just like that, he’s the league’s lowest-rated qualified non-rookie passer. Darnold doesn’t have much time left.
28. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions: Yikes. Dude’s made just six big-time throws in six games, according to PFF. No wonder his head coach called him out this week.
27. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles: He gets credit for making an impact with his legs, but the sophomore just isn’t getting it done with his arm now. He has a sub-60 passer rating the last two weeks.
26. Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team: The magic is gone. He has a 58.9 passer rating in back-to-back killer losses.
25. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans: Thank goodness for Derrick Henry, because Tannehill’s just 9-for-29 with a 53.1 passer rating on deep attempts.
24. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: It’s not as bad as it was a couple weeks ago, but Big Ben still leads the league in turnover-worthy plays with 12.
23. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers: Even before getting hurt (again) in Week 4, Jimmy G had made zero big-time throws this season. Only a matter of time before Trey Lance is there for good.
22. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: To his credit, the semi-washed 36-year-old is 21-for-26 with a 129.2 passer rating in the fourth quarter of one-score games. He’s coming around after a horrendous start to the year.
21. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns: It’s been an up-and-down year with a few more downs than ups, but he hasn’t been healthy. We’ll give it some time.
20. Daniel Jones, New York Giants: Oh no, he finally had a Daniel Jones game with four turnovers. That said, the guy has practically no support right now.
19. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins: That was actually a pretty promising performance in London, but he’ll have to string a lot more of those together to avoid the bust label.
18. Teddy Bridgewater, Denver Broncos: There’s been promise, but that 36.9 rating in the fourth quarter of one-score games is concerning.
17. Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints: The broad numbers are strong, but he has to improve on that 60.3 completion rate, which ranks dead-last among qualified non-rookies.
16. Tyrod Taylor, Houston Texans: He’s still hurt, 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.
15. Mac Jones, New England Patriots: He isn’t carry the Pats with his arm, but the rookie leads the AFC with a completion rate of 71.1. He hasn’t been the problem in New England.
14. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: The sophomore No. 1 overall pick has been on target on an AFC-high 84.1 percent of his passes.
13. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings: The consistency has never been there, but he remains a top-10 passer after lighting up a solid Carolina defense.
12. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: He and Cousins are basically in the same spot right now, except one deserves a lot more benefit of doubt.
11. Carson Wentz, Indianapolis Colts: The numbers aren’t Pro Bowl-caliber or anything, but Wentz has committed just one turnover-worthy play all season for a team that is beginning to compete. He also has the league’s top passer rating on deep balls.
10. Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders: He deserves credit for performing well sans Jon Gruden in Week 6 and continues to lead the AFC in big-time throw rate at PFF.
9. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: The interceptions have been a problem, but the superstar still leads the AFC in QBR and ranks No. 1 with 18 touchdown passes.
8. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers: That was a dud in Baltimore, but he still has 14 touchdowns to four picks and strong advanced numbers for a contending team.
7. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: The league’s top quarterback rusher is also averaging an NFL-best 5.5 completed air yards per attempt.
6. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: The numbers are there in basically every category for Prescott, who has Dallas in the Super Bowl picture.
5. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: He’s still the NFL’s highest-rated passer by a considerable margin, but we won’t see him for a while as a result of a finger injury.
4. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams: The league leader in DVOA at Football Outsiders is the NFL’s second-highest-rated passer for a team that is killing it.
3. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: PFF’s highest-rated passer is crushing it with 17 touchdown passes to just three interceptions.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: That lost to Tennessee isn’t on Allen, who has 12 touchdown passes to two picks and a 118.4 passer rating the last four weeks.
1. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: He ranks near the top of the league right across the board and his 128.8 passer rating on third down is critical for an unbeaten team.
