The Wildcard’s 2018 NFL Quarterback Rankings

Did you notice the sun shining in through the window this morning? Can you hear the jingling sound of loose change in the pockets of those who already have more than enough money? Say, what’s that smell, could it possibly be a case of unlawful collusion to prevent a socially conscious man who is comfortably good enough to still perform at his job at a league average level if not all that much better and league average is, as we’re about to establish, a lot more than plenty teams can muster right now? Why, yes it is! The NFL season must be here!

And with the new NFL season comes a tradition as old as… Brandon Weeden’s professional career. Yeah, not the best draft for quarterbacks that year. In order they went: EJ Manuel (17), Geno Smith (39), Mike Glennon (73), Matt Barkley (98), Ryan Nassib (110) and let’s leave it there, shall we? Back then Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers were scrapping it out for number one on the list. Fast forward to 2018 and nothing has changed. But there have now been six of them so that’s cool.

The list is my invention and I withhold the right to differ from your opinion, but feel free to argue all the same. Arguing about sports is fun. We’re ostensibly looking at a ranking of the best players as of week one of the 2018 season, though of course career reputation, injury history, recent form and general likeability come into the equation. This is meant to be separate from a player’s value to their own team but some guys are simply living in bad fits so what can you do about it? Nothing to worry about. Away we go.

Dumb Muppets Who Are No Longer Ranked                              

Carson Palmer (12) – Old mate retired. Fair play to him.

Brian Hoyer (26) – Took the opportunity to return to New England as Tom Brady’s backup and who the hell can blame him for that?

Ryan Fitzpatrick (35) – One of the better backups out there, to be honest.

Trevor Siemian (24) – He was okay. Okay was never going to be enough.

DeShone Kizer (40) – Maybe one year but not this year. Now Aaron Rodgers’ backup in Green Bay.

Geno Smith (36) – Killed Eli’s streak. Get outta here, man.

Tom Savage (34) – This is why the list is shorter this year, because of people like this guy.

Paxton Lynch (37) – Got cut by the Broncos.

Jay Cutler (32) – Retired to be a reality TV star.

Matt Barkley (38) – Why was Matt Barkley ever on the list?

Colin Kaepernick (30) – Say, how do you spell ‘collusion’?

Mike Glennon (27) – A year ago Glennon signed with the Bears and then they drafted Mitch Trubisky and edged him out. This year he signed with the Buccs but then they also signed Sam Bradford and drafted Josh Rosen so guts to Mike Glennon.

2017 Rank (2016 Rank)

38 (NA) Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills

My rule is pretty much to start with the rookies and go from there. Josh Allen has a lot of fans after his three years at Wyoming, the Bills trading up five spots to seventh to get their hands on him. No doubt they intend him to be their long term guy, especially after jettisoning Tyrod Taylor, but Nathan Peterman outdid him in preseason so Allen will begin his pro career on the bench like most dudes.

By the way, here’s another idiot who went into the draft without sweeping his past tweets and got snapped for using racial language when he was, like, fourteen or something. File that under things which should never, ever happen in this day and age – how is this not the first thing any agent tells his new signings!?

37 (NA) Josh Rosen – Arizona Cardinals

Currently backing up Sam Bradford at the Cardies after getting picked tenth in the last draft. It’s not only that Carson Palmer retired but the Cards booted Blaine Gabbert and Drew Stanton too. One of those three was a huge loss to them. Rosen will get his chances given Bradford’s medical record.

36 (NA) Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens

I’m completely on the bandwagon that Joe Flacco will not remain as Ravens’ starting QB by the end of the season. It won’t happen in the short term but Flacco, after three straight seasons out of the playoffs with concerning dips in production, is under big pressure. More on him later. Rookie Lamar Jackson is far from NFL ready at the moment so Robert Griffin III is being touted as the immediate backup, but things change quickly in this league. Lamar Jackson is the future of the Ravens.

35 (NA) Baker Mayfield – Cleveland Browns

“I think if anybody's going to turn that franchise around it would be me. They're close. They're very close. They have the right pieces. I think they just need one guy, a quarterback to make that difference.”

Baker said that before the Browns drafted him. There are attitude issues but you want a little spice to a fella who is being asked to carry an enormous spiritual burden as the quarterback in a franchise famous for terrible quarterbacks which has gone 1-31 in the last two seasons. But, you know, we’ll let Tyrod Taylor sort things out first. Set the table, so to speak.

34 (NA) Sam Darnold – New York Jets

About to become the youngest week one starting QB in history at age 21 years and 97 days. A long way back from their 39 year old backup Josh McCown. ‘Twas an unusually exciting selection of quarterbacks in this season’s rookie class but here’s the only one who’s won a starting gig already. New York, New York.

33 (NA) Nathan Peterman – Buffalo Bills

Yes, the man who threw five picks in a half on debut, the sports gods giving the Bills what-for after their shameful treatment of Tyrod Taylor. But they traded Taylor away and now Peterman’s held off Josh Allen with a strong preseason of extremely careful quarterbackery so here’s your week one starter, Buffalo. Good luck with that. Not really seeing the point myself.

32 (31) Josh McCown – New York Jets

He’s 39 years old with a 23-50 win-loss record so having this dude on the list is a little odd, perhaps, but McCown’s put together a really useful late career as a stop-gap starter. There was his 2013 season with the Bears where he completed at 66.5% with 13 TDs and 1 INT, winning three of his five starts. Then there was his half-season as the Browns starter in 2015 with a 12/4 TD/INT ratio and 2109 yards at 63.7% completion. Best of all was last season: 67.3% comp, 2926 yards with 18 TDs and 9 picks. His quarterback rating was better than Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan or Ben Roethlisberger. The ship has sailed with Sam Darnold around now but J-Mack deserves one last ranking for the good times.

31 (39) Mitch Trubisky – Chicago Bears

Tough to know what to think of this guy. The Khalil Mack trade/extension puts heaps of extra pressure on Mitchy Boy now, that’s the kind of thing you can only do when you’ve got a QB on a rookie contract which sort of means they’re committed to this dude now. They already were, but… I mean straight away. No more time to settle in.

In terms of leadership and commitment, there are zero dramas. This bloke is everything you want in those areas already at only 24. But as a player there are questions. The Pretty Boy Assassin was so protected in 2017 that he had a full game against Carolina in which he attempted just seven passes. Crazy thing is, they won that game. As the year progressed they loosened the shackles although that came with its own mistakes. A brilliant 25/32, 271 YDS, 1 TD, 0 INT effort in a big win over Cincy was followed immediately by three picks against Detroit. We’ll see how he goes, one thing is for sure: the Bears are suddenly immensely interesting again.

30 (NA) Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes Career Starts: 1

Alex Smith Career Starts: 151 (plus 7 playoffs)

Hey but that’s the way it goes, you’re either top tier and getting the big bucks or you’re holding the place for a cheaper vet or rookie. Mahomes was drafted to be the guy to succeed Smithy and what’s funkiest there is that Mahomes, with his bold arm and aversion to conservative passes, is so much of Smithy’s opposite. Alex Smith is coming of an outstanding campaign, his best ever, but the Chiefs were still within their right to move on after just one playoff win in five seasons together. Which leaves Mahomes in a fantastic situation. Coming into a team that’s already playoff quality. In the very least he should be fun to watch.

29 (18) Sam Bradford – Arizona Cardinals

In terms of talent, Bradford could easily be ten places higher on this list. His first game last season with the Vikings he was magnificent, throwing 27/32 passes for 346 yards and 3 TDs against what we now know was a very strong Saints team… then he got injured in week two and hasn’t played since. At 30 years old the 2010 first overall pick is onto his fourth team in five seasons and you simply cannot trust him to stay healthy. Bradford’s got an interesting fit here on a team which has been serious contenders for a few seasons only for injuries at the QB position to hold them back. It’d almost be ironic if it wasn’t so bloody tragic – by the way, he starts this season up against Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack within the first three weeks.

28 (19) Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens

They’re saying this has been Flack’s best preseason in years but I’m not buying it. This is incredibly low for a bloke who has won a Super Bowl but take a look at this…

  • 2012 (SB) – 59.7% COMP | 7.2 AY/A | 87.7 RATE
  • 2013 – 59.0% COMP | 5.4 AY/A | 73.1 RATE
  • 2014 – 62.1% COMP | 7.2 AY/A | 91.0 RATE
  • 2015 – 64.4% COMP | 6.1 AY/A | 83.1 RATE
  • 2016 – 64.9% COMP | 6.0 AY/A | 83.5 RATE
  • 2017 – 64.1% COMP | 5.3 AY/A | 80.4 RATE

He had a really good year in 2014, throwing a career-high 27 touchdowns (after an abysmal follow up to his title when he had 19 TDs & 22 picks) but has steadily regressed ever since. You can blame the trash running game they’ve had but it was okay again last time and he was worse than ever. You can blame the receivers and the O-Line but no team is going five years without offering anything of either. This is a Flacco problem, not a Ravens problem. If you look up the totals from the last five seasons, budgeted for anyone with at least 1000 pass attempts (which still includes the likes of Brian Hoyer, Ryan Tannehill and Josh McCown)… Joe Flacco ranks 33rd and dead last in adjusted yards per attempt. He is second only to Eli Manning in interceptions. Only Blake Bortles has a worse QB rating.

The funniest thing is that people used to wonder if he was elite. He was never elite. He was, at his best, very good, good enough to win a Super Bowl on the back of an all-timer defence, but he hasn’t been very good for a few years now. At age 33 he could still get back to those heights however this is where he is right now. I’m not gonna defend him.

27 (25) Ryan Tannehill – Miami Dolphins

A player I really dig except what can you do when he’s coming off a surgically repaired ACL? Tannehill has made slow but steady strides his whole career. He’s had a lot of doubters and he’s eased his way forward, probably at too slow of a rate for the modern NFL which has been an issue. The dude is 30 years old now. He’s had five seasons as a starter and another on the injured reserve. He does, at some point, have to turn the promise into reality.

Positive: In 2016 he threw 2995 yards at 67.1% completion in 13 games, at one point winning six games in a row.

Negative: RT is due to earn $26m towards the cap next season and another $25m in 2020, leaping up from $8.7m this upcoming season, which kinda forces the hand.

Positive: Adam Gase has had a couple years now to fix this offence and Tannehill is most certainly not Jay Cutler, which always helps.

Negative: It’s pretty rare that a player gets this deep into his career and we still don’t even know if he’s actually good or not. It’s not like he’s been hidden on the bench, he’s had 77 NFL starts.

26 (21) Marcus Mariota – Tennessee Titans

In so many ways it was a breakthrough year for the Titans in 2017… so it’s odd to think that their quarterback regressed in the process. His third year saw him go from 26 TDs & 9 INTs to a pretty rubbish 13 TDs & 15 INTs despite playing the same number of games for a team that ended up winning a playoff game. To be fair, the fit was bad with head coach Mike Mularkey and in a case of ‘keep one, fire one’, it was Mularkey that was moved along.

Luckily for Marcus, he was quite handy in the playoffs. After flashing a few late comebacks during the regular season he then helped Tennessee stun Kansas City with a 22-21 win in the wildcard round. 18 points down at half-time and Mariota ran one in and then threw a 22-yarder to Eric Decker for the win, get that into ya. Hopefully that clutch streak spills into the rest of his game. Mariota’s ability on the floor means he doesn’t need to put up Tom Brady numbers but he does have show more than what he has done so far if he’s going to justify the trust his franchise have put in him.

25 (NA) Nick Foles – Philadelphia Eagles

Reigning Super Bowl MVP and he comes in at numero 25. Bloody, what’s up with that, Wildcard!?

Okay, so here are the three regular season starts he made after Carson Wentz got injured…

  • @ NYG (W 34-29): 24/38 COMP | 237 YDS | 4 TD | 0 INT
  • vs OAK (W 19-10): 19/38 COMP | 163 YDS | 1 TD | 1 INT
  • vs DAL (L 0-6): 4/11 COMP | 39 YDS | 0 TD | 1 INT

That first game was great but he then got bashed up by a couple teams which didn’t even make the playoffs. Dallas they rested some dudes, their playoff future was already secure, so maybe that doesn’t matter as much… but he still threw a pick. Of course we all know what he then went and did in the postseason…

  • vs ATL (W 15-10): 23/30 COMP | 246 YDS | 0 TD | 0 INT
  • vs MIN (W 38-7): 26/33 COMP | 352 YDS | 3 TD | 0 INT
  • vs NEW (W 41-33): 28/43 COMP | 373 YDS | 3 TD | 1 INT

I’d say he turned into Tom Brady but he literally beat Tom Brady in the big one. He outduelled an all-time great performance from the actual GOAT. We have seen this before from him however. In 2013 he threw 27 touchdowns for a miniscule 2 interceptions and then the picks came hard and fast the next year and he was no better at the Rams or Chiefs. Now he’s signed on to remain as a backup just months after winning Super Bowl MVP and I’m thinking that’s a bit of a clue right there. Great coaching and complimentary talent make a big difference in this game.

24 (20) Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It seems like this season there are even more guys than usual stuck in that one crucial year mode, having shown big potential but not yet lived up to it. As such the belly of this year’s rankings is stacked with decent folks. Winston is one of them. Here’s a lad who has an arm that can compete with anyone in terms of strength and he’s a very decent runner when things break down too. But he’s suspended for the first few games of 2018 because he doesn’t know how to stay out of trouble off the field and if you get a reputation and the NFL gather even a whiff of controversy that might damage their product then they’re coming down on you like a ton of bricks and damaging their precious product all by themselves.

So what’s up with Winston? The usual. Too many picks and not enough completed passes. He also dealt with injuries last season but when he returned, at his healthiest, he ripped off a run of four games in a row with 72% completion, 1221 yards, 8 TDs and 2 picks at a QB Rating of 114.5. Of course, the Buccs went and lost all four of those games and then won in their last one when he threw three picks and was crap. It’s a funny old sport, this.

23 (28) Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars

22 (22) Tyrod Taylor – Cleveland Browns

At least they gave him a nice home, right? I mean I get that Tyrod wasn’t likely to take the Bills to a Super Bowl but he was easily the best they had and trying to justify anything else was an insult. He’s also not gonna get a long term home in Cleveland as he warms the seat for Baker Mayfield but he will get the chance to audition for one somewhere and he deserves as much.

Tyrod Taylor had absolute arsery to work with at the Bills. Even then he still managed to throw just 16 interceptions in the last three seasons – which is one fewer than Peyton Manning in that time and he only played one of those years. Blake Bortles has 47 in the same span of time. Taylor has also, tellingly, been sacked 124 times in the past three years which is third in the NFL behind Russell Wilson and Matt Stafford and you already know what those two had to deal with offensive line-wise. Then add in that Taylor had his best WR options traded away from under him and of course his completion rate is going to be a bit average, of course his touchdown numbers are going to be way down. I reckon Tyrod’s a fair bit better than he gets credit for.

21 (11) Eli Manning – New York Giants

Oh, Eli. Not the lowest ranked Super Bowl MVP on this list, not even the second lowest, but yes. Here we are. The consecutive start streak is dead and it looked for all money that the Giants were about to move on from their two-time champion QB… but then they decided on another swing instead, drafting a running back in Saquon Barkley and giving Odell Beckham a massive extension, leaving Eli with potentially the best offensive weaponry he’s ever had. Now, this is a fella who was not very good last season, just 2468 yards, his fewest since 2008, and a 19 TD/13 INT ratio to go with it. He’s also 37 years old and entering his fifteenth season in the league. But he’s bounced back from worse in the past.

20 (13) Derek Carr – Oakland Raiders

DC in 2016:

63.8% COMP | 3937 YDS | 28 TD | 6 INT | 96.7 RATE

DC in 2017:

62.7% COMP | 3496 YDS | 22 TD | 13 INT | 86.4 RATE

So… which one is the real Derek Carr?

As usual, it’s probably somewhere in between. He’s not the most accurate thrower out there so that 2016 interception mark is deceptive but he is a pretty strong playmaker with some decent players around him and very solid protection. As the quarterback, he’s also the only player who stands to benefit from Jon Gruden’s old fashioned coaching strategies. Carr was overrated after 2016 and is underrated after 2017.

19 (15) Andy Dalton – Cincinnati Bengals

The Red Rifle was a shocker last season and could easily be ranked five spots lower. His worst numbers since he was a rookie in basically every category. Still hasn’t won a playoff game either, in case you were wondering. The Bengals were such a mess last year though that I kinda reckon we’re in for a bounce-back – he was brilliant in preseason, for what that means (usually bugger all). This is the fourth time in six years that I’ve ranked him at exactly 19th and that’s about the perfect representation of where he’s at.

18 (NA) Case Keenum – Denver Broncos

Case Keenum 2012-2016:

24 GS | 58.4% COMP | 200.9 Y/G | 24 TD | 20 INT | 78.4 RATE

Case Keenum in 2017:

14 GS | 67.6% COMP | 236.5 Y/G | 22 TD | 7 INT | 98.3 RATE

Bluh. Dee. Hell.

To be fair, he had his moments with the Rams. The Vikings season didn’t come entirely out of the blue. But, yeah, that was quite the breakout and the Broncos threw some money at him betting that it wasn’t just a matter of scheme and situation. Good on the man. Get them cheques.

17 (29) Jared Goff – Los Angeles Rams

My inkling is that a lot of people will argue he should be a lot higher but personally I’m worried I’ve got him ranked too high as it is. Brilliant in his second season after being truly awful in his first. Figure that one out. The thing that Goff’s got going for him is with that incredible defence (Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, etc.), Todd Gurley at running back, Brandin Cooks at wide receiver… not to mention Sean McVay as coach… Goffy basically only has to be half decent to make this work. He could win a Super Bowl and we wouldn’t even realise for another five years that he’s actually just Joe Flacco.

16 (NA) Deshaun Watson – Houston Texans

It was a small sample size. Don’t forget that. But Deshaun Watson was the most hyped man in the NFL season before he busted his knee, the Texans were just unstoppable. 19 touchdown passes in his first seven games in the NFL – that’s tied for 15th best ever in a rookie season and he only played half of his, give him the other nine games and he’d have destroyed Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson’s shared 26 mark. It was undeniable. The throwing, the poise, the mobility, the arm, the awareness. Cross fingers he can still be the same guy coming back from an ACL tear.

15 (10) Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys

My man Dak. Let me tell you, folks are sleeping on this fella. He played good chunks of last season without Ezekiel Elliott and a couple games without Tyron Smith and those two factors did big damage to the Cowboys’ offence, not to mention an entire season with Cole Beasley as his most reliable receiver, but Prescott didn’t drop off nearly as much as you’d think. He’s a steady hand and a franchise player. No quarterback in history has a lower interception percentage through their first two seasons in the league than Dak’s 1.79% (excluding Nick Foles, who only played 16 games in those two years). Dak also has the best completion percentage through a QB’s first two years and we’ve already established his wide receivers are bang average. 

14 (33) Jimmy Garoppolo – San Francisco 49ers

Everybody loves Jimmy G. He’s so handsome, isn’t he? Such a darling of the media too, developing in the Patriots organisation and looking so good alongside his equally beloved head coach Mr Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. And if people rated him before he got to San Fran then they were worshiping at the shrine after he won his first five starts in a row. The man has never lost a start in the NFL. Seven outta seven.

But… he’s also only started seven games in the NFL. I’ll give you that he looks the goods, he has poise in the pocket and a great throwing technique. He absolutely shredded yardage on a terrible Niners team after taking over. That’s what he’s doing in the top twenty or so, a massive contract always helps (at least until it doesn’t). All I’m saying is chill on the ‘Next Brady’ thing until he’s played a whole season as a starting quarterback.

13 (17) Kirk Cousins – Minnesota Vikings

12 (16) Alex Smith – Washington R*dskins

I realise there are a lot of people out there who won’t be so happy with this one. Alex Smith, but he’s bloody useless, mate! The Chiefs just sent him packing, they know they’ll never win in the postseason with this dude game-managing the fun out of everything! Yeah, okay, chieftain. Settle down. Smithy might not be Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, he might not ever win a Super Bowl, but he does what he does extremely well.

A safety first dude with the ability to sneak a few extra yards with his feet too, Smith is coming off his finest season as a pro, completing at 67.5% for 4042 yards, 26 touchdowns and a mere 5 interceptions. You know how many quarterbacks in the history of the NFL have thrown more than 500 pass attempts in a season with five or fewer picks? Three. 2014 Aaron Rodgers, 2015 Sam Bradford and 2017 Alex Smith. And forget about Bradford because he threw had fewer yards, fewer scores, almost fifty more pass attempts (and fewer wins) than Smith did. As for Aaron Rodgers in 2014, that might be the single greatest season by a quarterback the NFL has ever witnessed. So, yes, Alex Smith is a very good quarterback. Case closed.

11 (23) Carson Wentz – Philadelphia Eagles

I maintain some reservations. Wentz was the dead set MVP-in-waiting when he tore his ACL and LCL in week 13, dominating all comers with 33 TDs to a mere 7 INTs. Completion rate could be a little better and I’d like to point out that he was nowhere near that good as a rookie, when he threw just 16 scores in 16 games. Wentz benefited a lot from the talent around him, probably none more than Lane Johnson who is, along with Tyron Smith, one of the two best offensive tackles in the sport. I mean, they won the Bloody Super Bowl without him, right? You can’t deny the eye test but I’d like to see him back it up once more before he goes top ten. Which if he does he almost certainly will.

10 (8) Andrew Luck – Indianapolis Colts

Mate, I’m just not convinced that he’s a hundy yet. This a guy who missed the entire 2017 season after shoulder surgery and a bad shoulder is brutal one for a quarterback to deal with. After the 2014 season I woulda told you that he was the king in waiting – I had him ranked fourth before the 2015 season. Since then he’s missed 26 out of 48 games and was playing injured in plenty of the ones he did appear in. The good news is that he’s now pain-free finally and raring to go. This might be the extended break that he needed to get back to 2014 form. Or he might get pummelled week one by Cincinnati because the Colts still can’t block for him. I’ve got no idea. But I do know that a fully fit Andrew Luck is capable of rising up this list again next time.

9 (9) Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions

For the last three seasons (well, two and two-thirds, really), Matty Staffie has been working under the guise of Jim Bob Cooter, Offensive Coordinator Extraordinaire. That’s coincided with the retirement of Calvin Johnson but it’s also coincided with comfortably his three best seasons in terms of passing completion and, not coincidentally, a more balanced offensive system. No longer is he throwing 700 pass attempts a season. He’s also just had his two best seasons for interception percentage. I reckon a lot of this guy’s reputation as a gunslinger still lingers on but that’s not who he’s been since Jim Bob took over. Take a peek at these sixteen-game season averages…

Matt Stafford Pre-2015:

644 ATT | 59.6% COMP | 4512 YDS | 27 TD | 18 INT | 11.8 Y/C | 83.6 RATE

Matt Stafford 2015-2017:

584 ATT | 66.1% COMP | 4345 YDS | 28 TD | 11 INT | 11.3 Y/C | 96.5 RATE

It goes without saying that there was plenty of development going on from the start to the end of the first bit, there were six seasons in that lot. But more recently we’ve seen a guy comfortable throwing over the middle, happy to get the ball out quickly for a sharp completion. He’s got a better running game to work with, still not a great one but better, and there’s trust all around him. He’s worth a bit of reassessment.

8 (6) Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers

It’s not about the passing numbers with Cam. He hasn’t even passed at 60% completion for four straight years now. That’s not how he does this thing. Cam Newton is the only quarterback – the only one – who is an equal running and throwing threat. He also may not complete at an elite level but he’s super accurate going long range and at his best we’re talking 13 or so yards per completion on average. Last year saw him drop to 11.3 as the Panthers’ wide receiver drought got in the way but they’ve retooled since then, what’s up Torrey Smith?

Plus, of course, nobody has the fashion sense of Cam Newton. Nobody. For better and for worse. Nobody.

7 (14) Philip Rivers – Los Angeles Chargers

Some people love the Chargers, some people cannot trust them no matter how hard they try. Either side is fair enough. This team has the talent to challenge for the title but year after year they find the most creative ways imaginary to lose winnable games. That reputation starts with the man under centre except that Phil… sorry, Philip Rivers was excellent again last season. Just ten picks in sixteen games, that’s the fewest in a season he’s had since 2009.

Look, the interception numbers sometimes swell but give a man some credit, he just completed a tenth consecutive season with at least 60% completion, 25+ TD throws and 3000+ passing yards. Only Brady, Manning and Brees have more. I’m not convinced that he’s got the longevity of other quarterbacks his age but he gets his due in 2018.

6 (3) Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons

Drops back a few places after a less than stellar chaser to his MVP season, dropping back more than was expected through natural regression to the mean and a change of offensive coordinator (miss you, Kyle Shanahan). Only five fewer pass attempts but a drop of more than 5% in completion, 850 yards, 18 touchdowns and an increase of 5 picks. Where he really struggled was, surprisingly, in the red zone. Where the best quarterbacks come to life, he just didn’t have it. A guy with a career QB Rating of 95.6 in the red zone, with 56.2% completion and 10.6 touchdown passes for every interception, went and dropped to 45.7% completion and a QR Rating of 81.0. He should be better with another year in the system though. You don’t just stop being Matty Ice. 

5 (5) Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers

Week five of the 2017 NFL season. Steelers get thrashed 30-9 by the Jaguars. Ben Roethlisberger throws five picks without a single score. Big Ben says to the media: “Maybe I don't have it anymore.”

For the rest of the season he then completes at 65.6% with 298.2 yards per game and 22 TDs to only 7 more interceptions. A QB Rating of 102.7. Safe to say he still has it, for one more season at least.

4 (7) Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints

Breezy always gets his numbers, that’s one thing you cannot deny. However in 2017 he experienced a little drop off, slumping to a mere 23 passing touchdowns which was his fewest since 2003 (!) and 4334 passing yards which might be a career high for most fellas but not Drew Brees who hasn’t settled for a total so low since ’05. And yet he’s risen three places? Hell yeah.

For one thing his passing completion of 72.0% was the highest mark the NFL has ever seen in a single season amongst anyone who attempted more than fifty passes. Even in his late 30s he remains one of the most accurate throwers to have ever played the game – I’d have him ahead of Brady in that area across their respective careers (though Brady excels in a few other things too…).

2017 Drew Brees also made it back to the playoffs and if his inexperienced defence had a few more years under their belts then he might’ve threatened a second ring. The enigmatic Alvin Kamara has taken the load off Drew Brees’ arm and allowed him to methodically pick off passes as he does so well. Chuck in some excellent receiving players around him and the bloke’s in the middle of a late career resurgence.

3 (4) Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks

If you want an indication of how much this guy means to his team, feast your eyes upon this…

Russell Wilson rushing stats in 2017:

95 ATT | 586 YDS | 3 TD | 6.2 Y/A

The entire rest of Seattle’s rushing offence in 2017:

314 ATT | 1043 YDS | 1 TD | 3.32 Y/A

Yes, he led the team in rush yards (there were nine other players who carried the footy at some stage of the season) and he tripled the tally of touchdowns that his running backs could manage. Russell Wilson, with his league-leading 34 passing touchdowns, was responsible for 97% of his team’s offensive scores. He played in front of a battered offensive line with a depleted defence on the other side making things tough and he still somehow took them to nine wins. That’s as valuable as valuable gets.

2 (2) Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers

Never been ranked lower than second on this list. Only reason he’s not got back to first is that there’s this one other guy out there still and he went to the Super Bowl last time while Aaron Rodgers is coming back from his second collarbone surgery, which I’m slightly concerned about. But there’s only one man in the entire pantheon of NFL quarterbacks who has ever been capable of doing this…

1 (1) Tom Brady – New England Patriots

Tom Brady started all sixteen games in the season he turned 40 in. That in itself is an achievement. Then add in that he threw 4577 yards with 32 touchdown and we’re breathing in some rare air here. A mere 8 interceptions to go with that tasty dish? Coming right up and how would you like to add a little bit of went all the way to the Super Bowl where he threw 500+ yards on top of it?

What Tom Brady is doing is unprecedented. By this age Peyton Manning and Brett Favre, the two most durable men in the league once upon a time, looked like creaky old men. Tom Brady is still almost spritely. He says he can play on until he’s 45 years old and considering what a pioneer he’s been in terms of looking after his body off the field, coupled with generally playing behind a line that keeps him upright and healthy, you can’t even deny him that. Jimmy Garoppolo is fourteenth on this list and the Pats traded him for soggy biscuits because Tom Brady was going to outlast his timeline as a backup. The man is a marvel. He is a myth. He is also a bit of a silly bollocks but only because he has no comprehension of the world beyond the sport of grid-iron. This is all that he does and he does it better than anyone, even after all these years.

Sweet as, smash an ad if your team’s QB came in higher than expected and smash two in process if they didn’t

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Written by Nick Robinson On Tagged ,