Quarterback Rankings Heading Into Week 15

With recent NFL news, there are three new quarterbacks entering the power rankings. Desmond Ridder has been named the starter in Atlanta, so he will make his power rankings debut. Colt McCoy is back in action for the injured Kyler Murray, and Baker Mayfield is making his Rams debut in the rankings.

Week 14 was a weird week for quarterbacks. Of the 26 primary quarterbacks to play, 15 had a PFF grade between 57.0 and 69.0. Most quarterbacks were strikingly average, but a few rose to the top, and one was threatening NFL records for ineptitude on Sunday Night Football.

Let’s get to this week’s quarterback rankings:

Quarterback Rankings: Biggest Climbers

Jared Goff:

Goff is currently on a wild streak for the surging Lions. He has three consecutive games with multiple passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He has 670 passing yards and five passing touchdowns in the last two weeks, and he has back-to-back PFF passing grades over 75.0.

The Lions have been winning games, and Goff has been helping them. He has an adjusted completion percentage over 80% in four of five games, and his overall stats are comparable to some of his Rams" tenure. He has played well enough for the Lions to consider not drafting a quarterback in 2023.

Trevor Lawrence:

Lawrence is flashing again. Since Week 9, Lawrence is the No. 2 quarterback according to PFF, and he had the best game of his season last week against the Titans. He fired three touchdowns and eclipsed 350 yards en route to a 91.3 passing grade. He has not thrown an interception since Week 8. Lawrence has a passer rating above 100 in four of the last five games, and he is operating with tremendous efficiency and poise.

He has earned a 79.9 or better passing grade in four of five games, helping the Jaguars inch into the playoff picture. He helped dig the hole in the first place, but Lawrence is scratching and clawing his way out. If the season were to end today, Lawrence would have made a 13.8-point jump in passing grade and a 15.7-point jump overall. He will almost certainly double his touchdown tally while adding nearly 25 rating points.

Kirk Cousins:

Cousins picked a great time for his best game of the season. For once, he was let down by his teammates rather than Cousins being the one to come up small. He fired four big-time throws en route to a 90.7 passing grade. He threw two touchdowns and finished with a colossal 425 passing yards. While the Vikings did trail for much of the game, Cousins was launching bombs like a star quarterback.

He finished with the second-best average depth of target of the season, and he still had an adjusted completion percentage of 80.0%. He had zero turnover-worthy plays after having 10 in the last four weeks. If Cousins plays at this level, the Vikings will have a shot to win the Super Bowl if the defense works out some kinks.

Quarterback Rankings: Biggest Fallers

Deshaun Watson:

The benefit of the doubt has worn off in Cleveland. Watson once again struggled, finishing with a passer rating below 80.0 in a loss to the Bengals. He has three turnover-worthy plays to just one big-time throw, and he has a passing grade of 49.8 through two weeks. The Browns were on the fringe of playoff contention with Jacoby Brissett, but Watson has all but ended the Browns" chances.

The Browns made the trade for more seasons than 2022, so the Watson saga is not done yet, but this is certainly not the start Cleveland hoped he would have. The Texans and Bengals have favorable secondary matchups, but Watson has looked quite poor. In 2020, he might have been the best quarterback in the AFC from start to finish, not having a poor game (by PFF grade). He has had two in two games with the Browns.

Tua Tagovailoa:

The Chargers deserve plenty of credit for making Tagovailoa look like he had never thrown a football before, but Tagovailoa did not do himself any favors. He salvaged his completion percentage with a few throws late in the game, but it was among the worst performances in NFL history through 20 throws. Tagovailoa finished with just 10 completions on 28 attempts, good for a 35.7% conversion rate. Completion percentage has its flaws, but even the adjusted completion percentage had Tagovailoa under 46%.

Tagovailoa has cooled off dramatically from a stellar stretch early in the season. His overall season grade is still among the best in the league, but he has likely sunk his MVP candidacy with his Sunday Night Football dud.

Geno Smith:

Smith was not as bad as Tagovailoa, and he had a reasonable stat line, but Smith did not pass the eye test against Carolina. In a game that could cost the Seahawks a playoff berth, Smith tossed the ball to the Panthers on several occasions. He had five turnover-worthy plays, as many as he had in the previous three games total. He did throw for three touchdowns and 264 yards, but he was not up to the caliber he had played through 12 games.

The Seahawks have a brutal end to their season with three winning teams plus a divisional matchup with the Rams. They are on the outside looking in with the playoffs, so Smith must return to how he had been playing for the Seahawks to have a shot against the 49ers, Chiefs, and Jets.

Let us know your thoughts on the Quarterback Rankings in the comments below!

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