Quarterback Rankings Heading Into Week 14

Perhaps the main controversy includes a bye-week quarterback as the Atlanta Falcons are switching from Marcus Mariota to Desmond Ridder when they return from their bye. The Falcons are in the heat of the NFC South playoff race, but their odds took a major hit as Tom Brady led a heart-stopping comeback win on Monday Night Football. Without that comeback, Mariota might still be starting.

The AFC North is on a great run of form at the quarterback position with Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Kenny Pickett coming in second, third, and fourth in grading in the last two weeks. Had Jackson not been hurt on Sunday, the AFC North could have made the argument for being the top division of quarterbacks.

On the other end of the spectrum, Kyle Allen played so poorly that he got benched. He had a 27.0 PFF grade, and he registered the two worst QBR performances of the season. Wolford had a rough performance with a 42.6 passing grade, but most of the “subpar" quarterbacks just had an average grade. The likes of Justin Herbert, Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott, and Aaron Rodgers graded in the low 60s.

Let"s get to this week"s quarterback power rankings:

Biggest Climber:

There are key two climbers this week: Joe Burrow and Kenny Pickett. Burrow has been on a ridiculous run of form since Week 6. In his last seven games, he has earned a 75.0 or better passing grade six times, and he has just one turnover-worthy play. The Bengals are 6-1 in this stretch, and Burrow has had three games with three or more passing touchdowns and 300 passing yards. He has played his way into MVP consideration.

Staying in the AFC North, Pickett has put together a pair of nice weeks. While the stats are far from gaudy (371 passing yards and one passing touchdown), he has his top two grades of his rookie season so far. He has delivered three big-time throws and zero turnover-worthy plays. He looks much more comfortable in the offense, and it has come at a critical time as the Steelers have won three of four to inch back into playoff contention.

Biggest Faller:

This was the first week Deshaun Watson was included in the quarterback power rankings, but he was underwhelming in his first game back in nearly two seasons. Watson earned a 48.3 passing grade, his worst since Week 16 in 2019. While some element of rust was expected, Watson was much closer to “bad" than “rusty" on Sunday against one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

Justin Herbert only dropped two spots, but it would have been more without bye weeks or Lamar Jackson"s injury. The stats have been perfectly fine the last two weeks, but Herbert is not quite playing as well as he had been. He has earned back-to-back grades in the 60s. In Week 12, he had a nice 109.7 rating, but he had zero big-time throws, and he had the lowest average depth of target of the season. The big-time throws returned last week, but much of Herbert"s production came while the Chargers were down multiple touchdowns.

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