NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Rookies, Player Rankings

Checking in with the rookie and sophomore NFL quarterbacks:

Over the last two drafts, ten quarterbacks were selected within the first 33 picks respectively and now that all but one of them have logged double-digit starts, I thought it was time to review what they’ve shown. I will provide my general thoughts, aided by some advanced metrics, and express my level of confidence in their long-time viability at the pro level.

Just to be clear, I won’t be discussing this year’s eighth and eighth overall selections Michael Penix Jr. (Falcons) and J.J. McCarthy (Vikings), who only saw very limited action in mop-up duty and unfortunately got hurt after a promising preseason showing respectively. Therefore, we’ll be looking at four guys from each of those draft classes.

Let’s dive in, going by chronological order of when they got selected:


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NFL Top 100, Player Rankings

My NFL top 100 players of 2024:

It’s that time of the year again. Players across the NFL have voted for their peers and created a list of the top 100 among those – and so did I. As always, I have to mention the fundamental issue with how the official list is put together, considering each participant only lists their first 20 names, which encourages some biases for teammates. Players at the end of the ranking would otherwise not make the cut.

Once again, this list is about the 100 best players in the league, regardless of position, heading into 2024 – not judging their play last season exclusively but also not turning this into an actual projection exercise. Some of them are easier to measure and there is probably some inclination towards those who affect the game significantly through multiple avenues. However, you will only find 11 quarterbacks among these names. And specifically on that topic, I tried to isolate the player from the situation, which is why some MVP candidates may not have made their way onto the list, even if their numbers would suggest that they should be.

Please note that players like Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, Nick Chubb, Jaelan Phillips and Dre Greenlaw were not eligible in this discussion, considering we don’t fully know their availability and effectiveness for this upcoming season. I also didn’t feel comfortable ranking Cooper Kupp or Nick Bolton, who each played about half a season in 2023, but once again I’m not quite sure where they stand health-wise.

Here it is:

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Player Rankings

Quarterback rankings a third into the 2023 NFL season:

Now six weeks into the NFL season, I thought it was time to examine the quarterback landscape and rank all 32 starters (no backups included). In order to paint the picture better, I grouped them into tiers, which can include between two and six names. I’ll discuss each of these guys’ biggest strengths and weaknesses, add different statistics but then also add the needed context, based on watching the tape.

For this exercise, I’m trying to extrapolate the individual player from his respective team and envision a roster made up from perfectly average pieces, without the benefit of elite play-makers or -callers to take pressure off them. Of course, certain types of signal-callers can maximize what the system they’re in gives them, while others may not execute on as consistent a level, but can elevate what’s around them.

So the basis of this will always make it an imperfect problem to solve, but we’ll try to get as close as we can!


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Player Rankings

Ranking all 32 NFL quarterbacks post-week eight (2022):

The quarterback position is always the most-discussed and -scrutinized in football. Often times it’s hard for casual fans to decipher how good these players actually are and opinions are based on raw numbers and team success, rather than evaluating the QB’s play specifically. Now eight weeks into the season, I decided to rank the starters for all 32 teams and create tiers within the list, to signify how I look at them at this moment.

While statistics will play a large role in making the points for some of these guys, I tried to base my opinions on what the tape says first and foremost. For this exercise, I had to consider surrounding pieces (skill-position players and offensive line), advantages delivered by play-calling and what these quarterbacks are asked to execute. This isn’t supposed to be a ranking of how good these signal-callers are for their teams specifically, but rather I tried to extrapolate the individual players and go from number one to 32.

Here’s my list:

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Player Rankings

Most over- and underrated players in Madden 23:

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Player Rankings

NFL quarterback rankings after week six:

Now that we are six weeks into the NFL season, I thought it was time to rank all 32 starting quarterbacks as of right now. For this exercise, I’m trying to evaluate these guys regardless of the team they are on, while I will bring up the offense they are in and how they function in it, but try to judge them based on talent and the level of play. So I’m not going to hand out extra credit for hitting lay-ups and screens, and at the same time players will get credit for making things work despite bad O-line play and a lack of dynamic play-makers around them. To do so, I created separate tiers to tell how I feel about them and while I try to always put them into context, I will stats to back up my case.

Make sure to also check out my in-depth breakdown of every game from the NFL’s week six.

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Player Rankings

Most underrated NFL players at each position:

Usually at this time of the year when the Pro Bowl rosters are revealed, I write an article about the changes I would make, but since this is one of the years where I mostly agree with the results, I decided to just broaden this topic and talk about the most underrated players at every single position. To determine that I obviously look at this year’s Pro Bowl rosters, but also consider public perception and coverage they receive among fans. Because they will make the trip to Orlando, I still took off guys like Grady Jarrett, Matt Judon and Budda Baker, who I didn’t expect to make the cut. So I always present my top candidate for a player who deserves more recognition and then offer three alternative names, who I think don’t get their due. I excluded rookies here, because people might not have really gotten around to watch them yet. So this is my list:

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Player Rankings

Quarterback Index ahead of week six:

Five weeks into the season with my first power rankings coming out last week, I decided to rank all the starting quarterbacks in the NFL as of right now. My evaluations are based on what we have seen so far, but they are not simply a ranking of their performances or where they stack up statistically. I have to take into account the full body of work with the focus being on how what they have shown up to this point compares to what I have seen from them in prior years. Some quarterbacks have developed into better players, while others have stayed steady or regressed in terms of their physical ability. Here is how it all shakes out for me.

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Player Rankings

Confidence level for new starting quarterbacks:

With the amount of veteran quarterbacks going down with injuries or changes under center in general, I wanted to take a look at this group of young signal-callers and judge how confident their respective teams should by what they’ve shown so far. This list focuses quarterbacks, who have their first extended period of starts this season. So this obviously doesn’t include guys who might be full-time starters now, after taking over at some point last year, and neither is it about signal-callers who simply switched places or went back under center for their squad with the QB1 out of the picture. This is all about potential starters for the future. Because of that, I did not include the Jets Luke Falk either, even though I always liked his ability to throw on time and target, because he started out as third string and the Jets already have a young QB that they are very invested in. So here are these six quarterbacks and my level of confidence in them:

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Player Rankings

NFL Quarterback index post week six:

Six weeks into the NFL season it is time to look at the quarterback landscape and rank all 32 starters. To do I see, I created different categories that tell should you where they belong right now. Of course you have to consider injuries or players adapting to different schemes, but in large part this list is about where all these signal-callers stack up against each other as of this very moment. With that being said, here’s the list:

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