With a tumultuous off-season, many teams hinge their playoff hopes on their quarterback. With 32 starting quarterbacks, it is only natural to make a quarterback power rankings to track players throughout the season. Some will rise. Some will fall.
Here is the 10th edition of the quarterback power rankings.
No. 32: Sam Darnold, New York Jets (-4)
Joe Flacco looked better on Monday Night Football than Darnold has looked in most of 2020. Yikes.
No. 31: Daniel Jones, New York Giants (-2)
When Jones plays against Washington, he crushes them. When he plays against the rest of the NFL, he gets crushed.
No. 30: Drew Lock, Denver Broncos (-3)
Lock is not the answer to any realistic quarterback question.
No. 29: Alex Smith, Washington Football Team (Last Week: Not Included)
Smith should win Comeback Player of the Year, but he should not be an NFL starting quarterback in 2020.
No. 28: Nick Foles, Chicago Bears (-2)
The Bears might be better off playing Mitchell Trubisky over Foles.
No. 27: Jake Luton, Jacksonville Jaguars (+4)
While it was against the Texans, Luton flashed a strong arm and solid decision making in his NFL debut.
No. 26: Nick Mullens, San Francisco 49ers (-1)
Mullens-Kyle Shanahan is the Walmart version of what the Rams are doing.
No. 25: Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns (-2)
Mayfield and the Browns were on their bye week.
No. 24: Andy Dalton, Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: Not Included)
The Cowboys have a Week 10 bye, but it seems likely that Dalton will return to action in Week 11.
No. 23: Cam Newton, New England Patriots (-1)
Newton has improved significantly from when he was benched against the 49ers. His lack of weapons hurts.
No. 22: Philip Rivers, Indianapolis Colts (-5)
Rivers and the Colts were lifeless for most of the second half.
No. 21: Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (+3)
There were ebbs and flows, but Tagovailoa led a magical scoring drive to tie the game in the fourth quarter. The future is now in Miami.
No. 20: Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles (+1)
Wentz and the Eagles were on their bye week.
No. 19: Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams (+1)
Goff and the Rams were on their bye week.
No. 18: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings (+0)
Cousins had his second-straight game with limited attempts. Across his last 34 throws, he has a passer rating of 146.7 with four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
No. 17: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (+2)
Jackson played a clean game against the Colts. He had his best passer rating in a month, and he completed all 10 of his attempts in the second half. He may not be MVP-caliber each week, but performances like Week 9’s will generally lead to wins.
No. 16: Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (-3)
Roethlisberger is currently nursing injuries in both knees, and he is on the COVID-19 list. He had a strong performance against Dallas, but the Steelers would be hampered if Roethlisberger does not clear COVID protocol.
No. 15: Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions (-6)
Stafford was fairly poor against the Vikings. He has had some strong weeks, but Stafford is one of the most inconsistent quarterbacks in the NFL.
No. 14: Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans (-4)
After playing at an MVP level for the first five games, Tannehill has cooled off for the most part. He is playing at a high level, and he is not turning the ball over, but he is not quite the same quarterback from 2019.
No. 13: Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina Panthers (-1)
Bridgewater had a gritty performance on Sunday, nearly springing an upset on the Chiefs, but the Panthers came up just short.
No. 12: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (+3)
Herbert has five straight games with multiple touchdowns, and he has gone without an interception in four of the last five games. He has flashed his immense arm talent, and the Chargers should be set for the next decade.
No. 11: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (+3)
Murray launched himself into MVP consideration with a 389-total-yard and four-total-touchdown performance. He had a passer rating of 150, and he did not throw an interception.
No. 10: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons (+1)
Ryan has quietly been playing at an extraordinary level in the last month. In the last four games, he has completed 73 percent of his throws, posted a four-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio, and had a passer rating of 111.3
No. 9: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (+7)
After a four-week stretch with a passer rating below 100, Allen struck back with an excellent performance against Seattle. He had 429 total yards with four touchdowns and a 138.5 rating.
No. 8: Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-5)
Brady went a month without throwing an interception. To celebrate, Brady gifted the Saints with a trio of interceptions, each more ugly than the last, and he had his worst passer rating since 2006.
No. 7: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: (+0)
Burrow and the Bengals were on their bye week.
No. 6: Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders (+2)
Carr gets a bad rap as a quarterback. He has played lights out through eight games. He has a passer rating of 110 that only trails four of the five quarterbacks ahead of him in the quarterback power rankings.
No. 5: Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints (+1)
Brees has been far from perfect for most of the season, but he was pretty close to perfect against the Buccaneers. Brees had four touchdowns with zero interceptions. He completed 80 percent of his throws, and he had a passer rating above 135. Impressive.
No. 4: Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans (+1)
Watson has six consecutive games with multiple touchdowns and a passer rating over 109. He has gone without an interception in five of those six games. The only other players to accomplish that were 1994 Steve Young, 2010 Tom Brady, 2011 Aaron Rodgers (11 straight), and 2018 Patrick Mahomes. Sadly, Watson will not join them as MVP winners.
No. 3: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (+1)
Rodgers now has seven games with multiple touchdowns and zero interceptions on the season. His clobbering of the 49ers resulted in an impressive 147.2 rating across 31 pass attempts. His touchdown percentage and passer rating for the season is sandwiched between his 2011 and 2014 MVP seasons. He has been ridiculously good.
No. 2: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (-1)
While he still has an NFL-leading 9.4 percent touchdown clip, the interceptions are beginning to pile up. Not all of the interceptions are necessarily his fault, but Wilson has put the ball in disadvantageous positions many times across 300 pass attempts. He is on pace to break Peyton Manning’s record for passing touchdowns in a season by one, but it looks less and less likely with each passing week.
No. 1: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (+1)
Mahomes is finally playing up to his ridiculous stats. His 25 touchdowns and one interception are still misleading because he has had many screen passes and touch passes turn into touchdowns and many dropped interceptions. Still, Mahomes has regained his throne as the best quarterback in football. He will be in the MVP conversation for the rest of the season.
Stay tuned for next week’s edition of the quarterback power rankings.
