NFL Quarterbacks 2024: A Comparative Statistical Analysis by Team

For the second year in a row, the NFL quarterback position has been in such a flux state that I will make my year end survey with a view toward each team's quarterback room, instead of the individual QBs. Less than 2/3 of the NFL's teams (19 of 32) had their starting quarterback playing in at least 15 of their 17 games last season. 

Injuries played a part, with Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, Derek Carr, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Gardner Minshew II and Tua Tagovailoa all missing significant playing time. 

In addition, poor play was also a factor in so many teams using multiple starters at QB. Carolina made a QB change twice and Bryce Young looked a lot better for having been benched when he returned to first on the depth chart. Elsewhere in the NFC South, an undisclosed injury led to a 'worst playing of his career' stretch for Kirk Cousins, leading to the ascension of Michael Penix, Jr. to the starter's role in Atlanta. The jury is still out about Penix, however, as he wasn't particularly stellar, and the Falcons went 1-2 in his starts. There are hints that Atlanta may retain Cousins through the early part of the season, keeping him in case Penix fails and trading him if things look to be on solid footing. There are equally solid hints that Cousins will be gone, to any of a half a dozen teams.

Jacoby Brissett held the reins to start New England's season, and while he wasn't terrible, he was only there to give eventual starter Drake Maye a little more prep time to be a starter. And Maye was pretty good, despite the team's poor record. 223 yards per game in his starts, a 67% completion percentage and a 1.5 to 1 TD to INT ratio. No telling what the upside might be for a career. He was only the fourth best rookie QB playing last year, behind Caleb Williams, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels, but it was a good QB draft year, and he played respectably.

In Indianapolis, Anthony Richardson had some injury concerns but also was benched for poor play and thus only started 11 games for the Colts. Daniel Jones was benched and then released by the Giants because THE TEAM was terrible, which hardly seems fair. Will Levis was supplanted for three games due to injury and three more late-season games due to ineffectiveness in Tennessee, which is a bit odd as neither he nor backup Mason Rudolph were particularly bad or good, and their stats are largely a wash, as if they were actually the same player. The only real difference between them is that Rudolph passed for quite a bit more yards per game during his starts, averaging 234 yards per game versus Levis' 174 yards per game. They both ran for similar yardage.

Fourteen teams had the same starting QB for all 17 games, while Patrick Mahomes and Matt Stafford started every game except their season finales with the Rams and Chiefs having their playoff positioning already set before game 17. Brock Purdy, Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts all missed 2 games due to injury. That covers the 19 teams with number one QBs making 15+ starts. Cousins' 14 starts were next and then the rest of the league's teams had definite QB scrambles. 

What this tells us is that many teams will be in the QB market for next season. In addition, the 2025 QB draft class is being classified as weak. Last season, six QBs were drafted in the first 12 picks, and, unlike in many years, they seemed to be pretty NFL effective, leaving only J. J. McCarthy, who was slated to start in Minnesota but ended up with a season ending injury, and Michael Penix, Jr. as the only question marks. With that said, the free agent and trade market might get a little crazy this offseason and early in the season, as well.

Both Pittsburgh QBs from last season, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, will be on the market. If the Steelers are smart (and they almost always are), they will make a big push to sign Fields, who is woefully undervalued (Fields eventually signed to start for the Jets). Spotrac has his market value at just a little over $6 million, in Jimmy Garoppolo (more about him in a bit), Davis Mills and Marcus Mariota territory. That said, either option from last year is financially viable, but with Wilson's age, he would be more of a stopgap solution. And, as things happen in the NFL, one bad game in an otherwise remarkable season will probably keep Sam Darnold's next contract lower than it should be, so he might be a good play for Pittsburgh, or anyone else, for that matter.

Along with those free agents (Darnold is the highest rated, market value wise) there are several previous starters that SHOULD get a hard look from teams but probably won't. Jimmy Garoppolo is better than you think and certainly good enough that the Rams should get calls from the Giants, Tennessee, Cleveland and perhaps others. Same with Daniel Jones, who eventually did sign with the Colts. Mac Jones was not terrible taking over for the injured Trevor Lawrence and certainly could have been of use to a QB starved franchise that doesn't have a high pick, but he signed to back up Brock Purdy in San Francisco. Another off the wall choice would be Cooper Rush, who arguably had a better season than Dak Prescott did in Dallas last year and eventually signed with Baltimore to backup Lamar Jackson.

In addition to those free agents, former starters Zach Wilson, Carson Wentz, Jameis Winston and Jacoby Brissett are available, as well. I've never understood the animosity towards Wentz, but even so, I think Winston would be the only one of that group to be seen as a potential starter anywhere. There are a further twenty-six free agent QBs, but most of them would only merit a backup spot at this point in their careers, and Joe Flacco might finally be put to rest at 41. Then again, he might be signed as a backup and then supplant the ineffective starter. Seems to be going around these days!

Also, Matthew Stafford was the subject of many trade rumors and speculation, which may have made him a target for those teams who do not have an early draft pick or luck in the free agent period. After he re-signed with the Rams, Cousins will take that mantle for those teams that view him as a better fit than the free agent/draft options. 

Also, likely available, IF he decides to keep playing, is Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is not the Rodgers of old, but frankly, he actually had a pretty decent season in 2024. Not up to his usual standard, but above average for sure. And that is a lesson in itself...namely that the overall Jets team is probably over-hyped and not quite as good as everyone seems to think they are. With Rodgers having the season he had last year, a team that was supposedly as good as people are saying the Jets are should have been a 9-win team, at minimum, especially in a relatively weak division. They won 5. That should tell you something.

Another lesson learned, in the opposite direction, was that the Falcons are probably the best overall team in the NFC South, when the QB is taken out of account. Atlanta was dominating the division after week 9, two games ahead of second place Tampa (and having beaten them twice) and without a division loss. Then, Kirk Cousins gets injured and selfishly hides the extent of that injury to the team. What followed then was a stretch in which he threw 1 TD and 9 interceptions in a 5-game stretch in which the Falcons went 1-4 and coughed up the division. Had Cousins sat out a few games and they went 2-3 instead, Atlanta still could have won the division. As far as Tampa was concerned, all credit to Baker Mayfield, but let's face it...he had to play lights out for them to win the division and they still needed help from the outside in the form of the Falcons debacle.

Looking at overall statistical passing trends, I noticed that between 2009 and 2024, there was an average of about ten and a half teams per year with over 4000 yards passing per season. However, between 2013 and 2020, there were 6 seasons where between 12 and 15 teams met that yardage mark, with two outlier years, 2017 and 2019 with only 7 teams doing so in each year. So, passing offense is trending down, with the 4 years between 2021 and 2024 almost a perfect match with 2009-2012 in the number of teams hitting that threshold. However....2021 was the first season with the new 17 game schedule. That means that passing is trending down just that little bit more.

The 2009 - 2012 seasons saw the average team pass for 225 yards per game. For 2021 - 2024, that was down to 221 yards per game, which is not a huge difference, obviously, until you compare it to the typical seasons between 2013 - 2020, when teams were averaging in the high 230s or low 240s in passing yards per game. And while the QB stars of the game in this era, Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, Burrow, Prescott and Goff, would compare quite favorable with any historical group, the league passing numbers overall are falling. We are also very early in a trend where the running game is finally being valued slightly more, although that is more apocryphal than evidentiary. But the number of 1000 plus rushing yard seasons by a player has been steadily increasing over the last 3 or 4 seasons, from around 7 to 9 per season, up into the low and mid-teens per season.

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This year's scoring criteria is very similar to last year, with one addition and one subtraction. I am reintroducing a modified rushing category, giving a half score for rushing stats as a method to differentiate between those who are close in score. If nothing else, this alone should help Pittsburgh decide between Russell and Fields! I eliminated Yards per game because (DUH!) it is just yardage expressed as an average and yields the exact same scores set.

This year's comparison stats are Completions, Attempts, Completion Percentage, Yards, Touchdowns, Interceptions, Yards/Attempt, Yards/Completion, QB Rating and my favorite teller of all tales, TD to INT Ratio, plus the half score for rushing yards. I am returning to normal scoring this year, so the team that finishes first in a category gets a score of 32 and one who finishes last gets the lonely single point. Tie scores in categories, as before, are added and then divided. In other words, if three teams finish tied for 16th best in a category, they occupy 16th, 17th and 18th places and each team gets the average of those three scores, 17. The team finishing just above them will have 19 points and the one right behind them would get 15 points. 

In addition, this year I will add a plus/minus score to each team's position on this list as compared to last year. But, because I can't keep a secret, here are some of the biggest movers, both positive and negative. The big movers upward are the New York Jets (+15, surprising, but you can only go up from the bottom), Washington (+14), Cincinnati (+12), Tampa (+11) and Philadelphia (+10). The biggest fallers are Dallas (-20, from 1st!), Houston (-18), New Orleans (-16), Jacksonville (-12) and Miami (-10). 

It is not surprising that some are on this list, as Dallas, Jacksonville, Miami and New Orleans had QB injuries last season and New York and Cincinnati got their starters back after injuries the previous year. The surprises are the big jump up made by Baker Mayfield in Tampa and Jaylen Hurts in Philadelphia and the precipitous drop-off of C. J. Stroud in Houston.

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The 2024 Ratings

*indicates the highest score for a QB room compared to the other teams in the league

The Elites

1) Cincinnati (⬆ 12 spots from 2023)

The return of Joe Burrow from injury for a full season was outstanding for the Bengals' QB ratings even if it didn't impact their playoff status. Both the 2023 and 2024 seasons ended with Cincinnati at 9-8 and out of the playoffs. The 2024 season could not have started worse, either, as the Bengals came out of the gate 0-3 on their way to a 4-8 record after 12 games before winning their last 5 and scaring the entire AFC with the prospect of potentially playing that team in the playoffs. Essentially, Denver not facing Patrick Mahomes in the season finale and getting the win to move to 10-7 was what kept Cincinnati out, as the Bengals had beaten Denver already and had the tiebreaker if they both finished 9-8.

Burrow was basically elite in every category with the exception of rushing and Yards per completion and he truly was the entirety of the Bengals' QB room. He led the league in yards passing*, TDs* and completions* and was in the top three for pass attempts, completion percentage and QB rating, as well. Jake Browning, who was surprisingly good last year filling in for Burrow, was a non-factor in 2024, his only two plays being two rushes for -2 yards, both being end of game kneel-downs. 

2) Detroit (⬆ 1)

The Lions still haven't gained the ultimate payoff, a Super Bowl win, for trading Matthew Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff, but they have everything else. They built their team on the basis of that deal and have steadily grown from a 3-win team in 2021 into one of the NFC's title contenders every year. And 2024's 15-2 record was built largely on the shoulders of Goff, as the Lions were hit with a series of devastating injuries to their defense throughout the season. With everyone returning healthy for 2025, there is no reason that the Lions shouldn't be the favorites to win the NFC championship, even with the 2024 season's Super Bowl champs in their conference. 

Much like with Cincinnati, Detroit's QB room WAS Jared Goff. Backup Hendon Hooker saw action in 3 games, a total of 33 offensive snaps, and late season acquisition, Teddy Bridgewater, was inactive for the 2 games played after he signed. 

And Goff was spectacular. He had the league's best completion percentage at 72.4%* and finished second in passing yards, yards per attempt and QB rating. His only low points were rushing yards (and why run?) and his 12 INTs were pretty middle of the league stuff. Otherwise, he was elite, as he was the previous two years, as well. In the top three all three years, in fact. And it has only taken 3 spectacular years in Detroit for the pundits and "eye test" guys to see what I have seen all along. Jared Goff is HOF good.

3) Baltimore (⬆ 7)

In truth, just like with Josh Allen, the only thing Lamar Jackson needs to prove is that he can complete the journey in the playoffs. But I will leave that discussion to the legacy guys and the "championships are the only thing that matters" crowd. Put Lamar Jackson on the Chiefs or Eagles and he would win, too. The Ravens negotiate and often win what is usually the toughest division in the NFL, while the Eagles and Chiefs are often skating through the weak NFC East and AFC West divisions. In my opinion, that counts a lot in Jackson's favor.

Like with the previous two teams, the Ravens' 2024 passing game WAS Lamar Jackson. Ageless wonder Josh Johnson, his backup, played 36 snaps during the entire season, getting game time in just 5 of the Ravens' 17 games. And, obviously, Lamar was OUTSTANDING!!!

Jackson led the league by miles in ratio* (a whopping 10.25 TDs to every Interception!!), yards per attempt* and per completion* and QB rating*. He was second in rushing yards and fewest interceptions and tied for second in TD passes thrown. His lowest scores reflected the nature of the team's offense, with his 139 rushing attempts for 915 yards added to Derrick Henry's 325 attempts and 1921 yards. This definitely lowered the number of attempts (only Philadelphia threw less - #SaquonBarkley) and completions.

4) Tampa Bay (⬆ 11)

In case you missed it, Baker Mayfield is a very good NFL QB. Yes, his early years in Cleveland were inconsistent, playing young on a team that was usually not good. What Mayfield's career stats show is that he presses a bit on a team that is outgunned, becoming a bit reckless and his numbers suffer. On a good to great team, he is VERY capable. His three best team seasons have coincided with his best seasons as a QB, suggesting that he can elevate a team but also conversely suggesting a belief that I have held for a long time, chiefly that a QB always looks like a better player on a good team. But in those three seasons, he has a high-level ratio of 2.79 to 1, with 95 TDs and 34 INTs. That doesn't happen by accident to a QB with sub-par talent.

As Mayfield has aged, his career numbers have gotten better overall and the fact that his accuracy has INCREASED as he has thrown more passes suggests that he has matured and learned the game better. There were no "number 1 in the league" categories for Mayfield, but he was top three in passing yards, TD passes* and completion percentage*. His QB rating was 4th, also. His only true drawback categories were in Interceptions, where the team was tied for 4th worst in the league and in yards per completion, which was in the middle of the league. Baker Mayfield is even a sneaky good scrambler, finishing 12th with 378 rushing yards. There is no doubt for now that as far as the QB position goes, Tampa has the best in the NFC South and one of the best in the league,

5) Minnesota (⬆ 1)

Sam Darnold turned out to be the 2023 Baker Mayfield story of 2024. The maligned former starter excelling in a new situation. However, he might also have been the Carson Wentz of 2021 story, too. That same maligned former starter excelling for a season but leaving the league with questions due to one less than stellar start in a season finale, losing to a bad Jacksonville team to miss the playoffs. 

Darnold's poor last game didn't cost the Vikings a playoff berth, but it did cost them the division and put them in a wild card game, which they lost badly, 27-9 against the LA Rams. Darnold was not terrible in that game, but the loss and the poor game combined with the poor game #17 performance has people calling him into question.

What all of this means is that someone is going to get the 2024 season's fifth best QB for relatively cheap (that ended up being Seattle, after they traded Geno Smith). Darnold was essentially all of the Vikings passing game (notice a trend here?) with his backup, Nick Mullens, getting 7 offensive snaps doled out over 4 appearances. The Vikings passing game had no categories in which it was number one, but finished in the top 5 in yards, TDs thrown*, yards per attempt*, yards per completion and overall QB rating. They only failed to score in the top half of the league INTs thrown, pass attempts and QB rushing yards. Sam Darnold, get ready to make some money. Probably not as much as deserved, but a whole new level up from where you were. You have survived the "early starter on a bad team" test. Congratulations!

6) Washington (⬆ 14)

The Commanders may have picked second, but they were the winners in what was a pretty terrific QB draft contest of 2024. Jayden Daniels took the keys in week one, and even though he didn't throw his first TD pass until week three, he drove the team like Lewis Hamilton in an F1 car, with Washington achieving their first winning record since 2016 and leading them into the playoffs, where they lost the NFC title game to the eventual Super Bowl champs, Philadelphia. In the meantime, Daniels picked up a slew of different rookie and offensive rookie of the year awards.

Washington is the first team on this list with any significant playing time from a backup. Marcus Mariota took over early after a Daniel's injury on October 20th against Carolina and played from the end of the 1st quarter through the rest of the game. Mariota also started the 2nd half and finished the game in the season finale at Dallas and contributed a nice hefty total of 34/44 for 364 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs to the stat line. He also rushed for 92 of the 983 QB rushing yards.

The Commanders' overall QB room finished high in TDs and fewest INTs, so naturally the ratio was high, too. Completion percentage was 6th best in the league and overall rating was 7th. In addition, the fleet footed combo of Daniels and Mariota led the league in QB rushing* yards.

7) Buffalo (⬆ 4)

Strangely enough, Josh Allen won the AP MVP award for 2024 but was only second team on the same AP's All Pro team. That is a bit of a head scratcher, just as much as him winning the MVP award over the likes of Burrows, Goff or Jackson was in the first place. When you consider that Jackson has won the award twice, him not being chosen makes some sense, but neither Burrow nor Goff had won the MVP before and both of them had better seasons than Allen.

That said, Josh Allen had his typical great year for the Bills. And he was 95 % of the QB room. Backup Mitch Trubisky did start the finale with playoff positioning locked up. Trubisky took 102 snaps in 8 games, but half of them were in that last game. 3rd string QB Mike White also chipped in his season's total of 20 snaps in the same game.

The total QB room finished in the top 6 in the league in INTs thrown, Ratio*, yards per completion and QB rushing. They were also top 10 in passing yards, TD passes, yards per attempt and overall QB rating. The low spots were completions, attempts (contributing to that high INT score) and completion percentage. 

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Settled Starters

8) Los Angeles Chargers (⬇ 1)

Now we are back to a team in which the QB room was basically one player, and in consideration of the fact that Justin Herbert was injured for a good part of 2023, this is a welcome relief to the Chargers and their fans. The Chargers are also the first team in this year's analysis whose place in the standings went down from last year, but only by one space.

Despite that injury, you pretty much can't start a career off better than Herbert has. In particular in consideration of how the wags are already questioning his skills because the TEAM hasn't always been great. As if their team's QB is this good. The Chargers hit the jackpot with Herbert. He was the third QB drafted in 2020, another year with what has turned out to be a pretty damn good QB class, with Burrow, Tagavailoa, Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts also picked with Herbert in that year. 

Taylor Heinecke backed up Herbert in 2024 but only saw 22 snaps on the season. Herbert threw 3 interceptions*, leading the league in that category. And that leads to the second-place score in ratio, a whopping 7.66 to 1. Herbert's career ratio is an excellent 3.04 - 1, by the way. New coach Jim Harbaugh's approach to the passing game led to the lowest scores in the categories of completions and attempts, but yards were in the middle of the league pack, and the scores in yards per attempt and completion and QB rating were all in the top third of the league. 

9) Philadelphia (⬆ 10)

Remember 12 months prior to the end of THIS season, in which the Eagles won the Super Bowl, and the talk of the football world at the end of the 2023 season was of the "collapse" of the Eagles, and should Nick Sirianni be fired and is Jalen Hurts really the answer at QB. One year later and things look pretty solid in Philly, both in coaching and quarterbacking.

Jalen Hurts was the bulk of the QB room, but backup Kenny Pickett got 134 snaps in 5 games, most of it in game 15 and 16, when Hurts was out with an injury. The Eagles' 2023 6th round draft pick Tanner McKee got his first NFL snaps in game 16 and 17, closing out a 41-7 blowout of Dallas, taking over for Pickett. And then McKee started the season finale and played well, beating the Giants in his first career start, 20-13. 

Philadelphia threw for the 3rd fewest yards in the league, but hey, if you have Saquon Barkley in your backfield, why over-throw? Philly was top five in fewest interceptions thrown, TD/INT ratio, QB rushing yards* and overall QB rating. With Saquon running and the use of the "tush push" play, the Eagles were not throwing in the red zone, so were only 12th in the league in TD passes. In three other categories, completion percentage, yards per completion and yards per attempt, the Eagles finished in the top 9. The yards, attempts and completions numbers, all at the bottom of the league, tell the tale. The Eagles didn't throw much, but when they did, they threw long and they were accurate. And that is a deadly combo to defenses, especially in concert with the running game. It was definitely a winner last season.

10) Los Angeles Rams (⬆ 6)

There was much recent speculation about the fate of Matthew Stafford going forward, with all thought being toward the Rams trading him away. Instead, they resigned him to a restructured deal, so a trade is still possible, but it looks more like he is off the table, which increases the potential future contracts of Justin Fields, Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson.

Stafford was the entirety of the Rams passing game until game 17, when Jimmy Garoppolo (who, by the way, should be viewed as a viable starter somewhere) was given a start in the "meaningless" final game. Garoppolo contributed a healthy stat line of 27/41 (65.9 comp. %) for 334 yards, two TDs and one INT.

Collectively, the Rams scored no higher than 8th best in any category, with them hitting that spot in fewest interceptions* thrown. Where the Rams excelled was in consistency. QB rushing yards was the only low category, last in the league. They were right in the middle of the league in TD passes and every other category was above that, between 15th and 10th best in the league, with passing yards being that 10th place finish. The whole being greater than the sum of the parts, the overall score evened out to 10th place overall.

11) Kansas City (⬆ 1)

There is little doubt that Patrick Mahomes is an absolute magician playing QB. He is also the poster child for the crowd that always over-value the QB position, because the Chiefs have been, basically, the best team in the NFL for the last 6 years, even though the overall talent of the team has fallen consistently during that time. And that is down to Mahomes and his ability to always make something from nothing. That, however, has bit them a couple of times in bad Super Bowl losses that were remarkably similar. 

Like the Rams above, Kansas City's QB room was largely Mahomes, alone. Carson Wentz (another guy who should be getting a chance to start somewhere), saw a few snaps during the season before getting a start in the finale for the then 15-1 Chiefs. Also like the Rams, KC was not spectacular in any particular stat (6th in the league in both Attempts* and Completions* were their highest rankings) and their lowest scores were in yards per attempt and per completion. But everything else fell between a low of 16th in the league and a high of 9th in the league. Essentially a lot of better than average scores melding into their collective spot in the rankings. 

It wasn't a great looking season in KC, but it WAS a weird season. Somehow, they managed a 15-2 record while only managing to outscore their opponents by an average of 5 points per game. That per game spread translated out to an expected record of 10-7, according to Pro Football Reference, which means they managed a 50% increase over expected wins. Looking at the schedule results is absolutely crazy. Kansas City beat Denver in their 10th game, 16-14, to go to 10-0 on the season. They followed that with their first loss, 30-21 at Buffalo, and then proceeded to win their next 3 games by a total of 7 points. That was a microcosm of their season, a stretch in which they went 4-1 while scoring collectively the exact same 105 points as their opponents did over the five games. That is pure magic. 

12) Miami (↧ 10)

Once again, Tua Tagavailoa missed significant time due to injury and a concussion, which has been a worrying trend over the course of his career. Not worrying for the team, but for his personal future. Miami is the highest rated team in the survey that had significant playing time place in the hands of backup QBs. Skylar Thompson subbed in for Tagavailoa after he was injured in the third quarter in week two and then started the next week. Then Thompson was hurt in that game and replaced by Tim Boyle, who was later released and signed by the Giants. Tyler Huntley started week 4, 5 and 6 but he was replaced in the 3rd quarter in week six, once again by Tim Boyle. Huntley also started the last 2 games of the season. None of the three were particularly bad or good, with a pedestrian collective line of 122/192 (63%) for 1169 yards, 3 TDs and 3 INTs and a record of 2-4.

Tagavailoa had good numbers when he played, and if his stats were extrapolated out to a full season, his season would have been pretty great. He already led the NFL with a 72.9% completion rate and he would have passed for 4430 yards, which would have been 4th highest in 2024, with 29 TDs and 11 INTs, adding up to a 2.63 - 1 ratio.

The Dolphins collective obviously had their numbers brought down from that a bit with 6 starts going to backups. As it was, they were still good enough to finish 12th out of 32 teams. The highest rankings were tied for 2nd in Completions*, fourth in completion percentage (69.9%) and tied for 8th in pass attempts. Everything else was mostly in the midfield, with the exceptions of low scores in QB rushing yards and yards per completion. Yards per attempt was also a bit below league average.

13) San Francisco (⬇ 8)

The 49ers were 5-4 at one point last season but simply couldn't keep pace because of all of the injuries to important players and closed out 2024 on a 1-7 slide. Brock Purdy was not one of the players to lose significant time to injury, although he did miss two starts, one of which was the last game of the season, where he probably would have started with more on the line. The two backups, Josh Dobbs (another guy who is at least as good as several of the starters in the league) and Brandon Allen got 135 snaps between the two of them, with Dobbs closing out game 16 and starting game 17 and Allen starting in game 11.

The 49ers, collectively, were 3rd in the league in both Yards per Attempt* and Yards per Completion* and 4th in overall Passing Yards. Otherwise, the scores were all over the place. Low in Ratio and INTs, a little above average in TD passes, completion percentage and QB rushing yards, a little below average in completions and attempts. The clearest point at which an improvement would have been made had Purdy started every game was in ratio, as Dobbs and Allen contributed 25% of the INTS thrown in only 14% of the team's pass attempts, with only 13% of the 23 overall TDs thrown.

QB is still in a relatively strong position in San Francisco. The team looks like it may re-set on the fly, trading Deebo Samuel to the Commanders and potentially trading Brandon Aiyuk, as well. That would be the two best Wide Receivers on the team gone before the 2025 season. Whatever happens, it appears that the 49ers window might be closing for a bit.

14) Seattle (⬆ 3)

The NFC West is good if not great in the QB department, with 3 teams between 10 and 14 in the ranking, and only Arizona in the bottom half of the league, if only just barely. Geno Smith was basically all of the Seahawks' passing game, with backup Sam Howell getting 25 snaps in two games after being the Number 1 in Washington the previous year.

The highlights for Seattle were in completions* (tied for 2nd), completion percentage, pass attempts and passing yards, all of which were in the top 7 in the league. TD Passes thrown, yards per completion, overall QB rating and QB rushing made another cluster, ranking below average in the low teens. Add in being tied for 6th worst in the league in INTs thrown, and the ratio was low, too. Record wise, it was Smith's best season as a starter (10-7) but it was his worst season for interceptions since his rookie season with the Jets.

What is absolutely amazing is that if you add Smith to Sam Darnold (4th and fifth in passing yards last season, exactly one yard passing apart!), you see that the Jets as a team are QB killers. Zach Wilson, time to step up, bro!

Note: As of March 7, Geno Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for a 3rd round pick. It is anybody's guess as to who the Seahawks will sign to replace him. The ironic side of me sort of wants it to be Russell Wilson. (In the end, it turned out to be Sam Darnold)

15) (tie) NY Jets (⬆ 15) and Green Bay (⬇ 7)

First of all, oh the irony of the Jets and Packers tying after two years of the saga of Aaron Rodgers. And because they were on the rise, by a whopping 15 spots, no less, we will start with Rodgers' soon to be former team, the Jets.

Lost in all of the hoopla and the Jets finishing 5-12 was that Rodgers actually had a pretty good comeback season. In consideration of his age, it was probably as good as you can expect from him these days. And the Jets, lauded as a contender that just needed a QB, found out that they apparently need more than that! Backup Tyrod Taylor got just 36 snaps in 2 games, contributing 3 extra TD passes with zero interceptions, which is the hallmark of his career. He is an intriguing QB that should have had more than 3 years as a primary starter in his long career. Taylor's career ratio is 2.34 to 1 and he was 22-20 starting in Buffalo from 2015-2017, all while playing for 3 different head coaches in those 3 years. He has never been a big yards guy, and his completion percentage is in the low 60s, but he also rarely throws interceptions.

The 2024 Jets were in the top six in the league in Pass Attempts* and TD passes and in the top half of the NFL in passing yards, fewest INTs thrown, ratio and completions. Overall QB rating was just below the NFL average, while completion percentage, yards per attempt and per catch and QB rushing yards were all twelfth worst in the league or lower. 

No one knows where Rodgers will end up, although if he is done, it wasn't a bad year to go out on in personal terms. As for Taylor, New York has him under contract. C'mon, Jets, you're going nowhere in 2025...just start him!

Now, on to the Packers. Jordan Love had a slight drop-off from his breakout 2023 season. The Packers had a better record, but Love missed two starts, passed for about 20 yards less per game and threw 7 fewer TD passes in '24 while throwing the same number of INTs in both seasons. Malik Willis, the backup QB, got 217 snaps over the course of 7 games, including two starts, and acquitted himself quite well. Like Tyrod Taylor above, Willis also chipped in 3 TD passes while not throwing an interception.

The Packers overall had high marks in yards per completion* (2nd in the league) and yards per attempt, which makes sense because they were in the middle of the league in passing yards but 30th in the league in both pass attempts and pass completions. They were 10th in the NFL in both TD passes thrown and overall QB rating, and three spots lower in both INTs thrown and ratio. They were below league average in both completion percentage (another stat with a moderate drop-off for Love) and QB rushing. 

Despite being tied with the Jets, the Packers' QB situation has far more future upside, even playing in the tough NFC North division.

17) Denver (⬆ 2)

Speaking of QB upside in a tough division, the Broncos were another team that was rewarded by making a good QB draft pick and playing him right away. Bo Nix was the "old man" college QB with 61 college starts in 5 seasons at Auburn and Oregon, being drafted at the ripe old age of 24. Nix was also the entirety of Denver's 2024 QB room, with WR Courtland Sutton and P Riley Dixon the only other Broncos to throw a 2024 pass. Backup QB Jarrett Stidham did get 14 snaps in three games but made no throws.

Denver finished with more passing yards than only 10 other NFL teams, which suggests sound strategy with a rookie starter. They finished in the top twelve in a whopping 6 categories, TD passes thrown*, pass completions and attempts, completion percentage, overall QB rating and QB rushing yards. Ratio was also in the top half of the league. Yards per attempt and per completion were both bottom 10 (see passing yards above) and they were just a touch below average in Interceptions thrown.

Of the six QBs drafted in the first round, Nix was the last one picked and by far the biggest surprise. J.J. McCarthy was injured and didn't play and Michael Penix, Jr. only started 3 games. Fifth round pick (#150) Spencer Rattler had twice as many pass attempts as Penix, in fact. Bo Nix didn't win the rookie of the year award, but he had more yards passing, more pass attempts and completions and more TD passes thrown than Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, and Drake Maye, and obviously Penix and McCarthy, as well. But, then again, maybe he wasn't so surprising, coming into the league with 5 years as a starter at two pressure cooker schools, playing the highest quality of competition every year.

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Acceptable Starters

18) Arizona (⬆ 8)

You could say that Kyler Murray is the poor man's Lamar Jackson, except that up until now, Murray's contract money has been pretty close to Jackson's and will remain so in 2025. In 2026, however, Jackson's salary will be almost 2.5 times higher than it was in 2024 and 2025, while Murray's salary peaked in 2024 and is going down. 

More to the point is that his respective game is somewhat similar, but Jackson is just plain better. On a positive note, for Arizona, after two injury plagued seasons, Murray was fully healthy in 2024, and his play returned to typical form. Murray was durable in his first two seasons, but last year was the first season in which he has started every Cardinals' game since the league moved to a 17-game schedule in 2021. Murray had his second-best career completion percentage year in 2024, and passed for near his typical season totals for yards, TD passes and Interceptions, but just a smidge on the low side. A quick survey of his stats reveals that Kyler Murray has been remarkably consistent as a starter. His typical season is 21-24 TD passes, 11 or 12 Interceptions and about 3800 yards passing, with a completion percentage around 67.5%. In the 2021-2023 seasons, he played almost exactly 2 seasons worth of games (33) and if you add all of the stats together for those 3 seasons and divide by two, you get almost those exact same numbers. Even his QB rushing numbers, which are the thing that most makes him Lamar Jackson Light, show that consistency. Except for one outlier year, 2020, when he had 819 yards running the ball, he is consistently in the 540-570 range for rushing yards.

The Cardinals backup QB, the beautifully named Clayton Tune, saw only 31 snaps over 6 games on the season, so Kyler Murray was the 2024 show at QB. Murray ranked 7th best in the NFL in completion percentage and was 4th best in QB Rushing yards*. He also scored above league average in fewest interceptions thrown, completions, yards per attempt and overall QB rating. Murray had a just below average score in ratio and was in the bottom 12 in the league in passing yards, TD passes, yards per completion and pass attempts, which explains those previous two lower scores and the high completion percentage score, as well.

19) Pittsburgh (⬆ 6)

The Steelers were a true 2 QB team, with anointed starter Russell Wilson starting the year injured and Justin Fields starting the first six games. And while those two were definitely better than 2023's trio of Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky, inconsistency was the byword of the 2024 QB room in the Steel City. 

Fields did go 4-2 in his six starts and the numbers as a whole look okay, but extrapolated out, he passed for only 184 yards per game and his 5 TDs and 1 INT (an outstanding ratio, to be sure) would have only put him at 14 TD passes total on the season. The interceptions would be incredibly low at 3, but 14 TD passes estimated over a full season would have ranked him at 26th most in the league, in a territory full of guys like Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, Cooper Rush and Joe Flacco, none of whom started more than 10 games in 2024. What seems very clear to me was that the Steelers' coaching was reluctant to let Fields  cut it loose and played things very conservatively with him behind center. Of course, Fields also ran the ball 19 times more than Wilson in roughly half the number of games.

Russell Wilson's numbers are pretty similar to those of Fields, but Wilson was making about 5 more pass attempts per game and throwing for about 40 more yards per game, a stat that was somewhat skewed by him averaging a whopping 270 yards passing in his first 6 games (when the team went 5-1), including a ridiculous 414 yards passing in a shootout win at Cincinatti on December 1st. 

Wilson's stats really spiraled downward in the last 5 games of the season. After the 414 yard game, the Steelers won the following week, but Wilson only passed for 15 completions and 158 yards. After that first six game average of 270+ yards per game, the last 5 saw him average 100 yards per game LESS than that as Pittsburgh closed out 2024 with 4 straight losses. I think it might have behooved the Steelers to put Fields back in, but that is all irrelevant now. As for 2025, who knows if either one of these two will still be a Steeler. 

The Steelers' QBs ranked in the top 6 in two categories, fewest interceptions thrown* and ratio. Yards per attempt and per completion, QB rushing yards and overall QB rating were above league average, while TD passes thrown and completion percentage were both moderately below average. Not surprisingly, passing yards, completions and attempts were all in the bottom 7.

20) Atlanta (⬆ 4)

Kirk Cousins was supposed to be the answer in Atlanta and much like with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, it turned out he wasn't. There is a whole saga about Captain Kirk's 2024 season, but I already wrote that (What the hell happened? A Kirk Cousins saga!) and will just leave that as it is. The short version was he was really good as Atlanta started out at 6-3, he had an undisclosed injury(ies?) against New Orleans and that started a 2-6 run to end the season, with Cousins playing the worst stretch of his career and eventually being replaced by rookie draft pick Michael Penix, Jr. for the last three games. Atlanta seems enthused enough to go ahead with Penix as the starter for 2025, but I am seeing shades of Desmond Ridder in that decision. Actually, Ridder's 2023 stats were a little better than Penix in 2024, as Ridder was passing for about 25 more yards per game with a completion percentage 6 points higher. 

Cousins does still remain on the roster and while he would likely be moved, as a Falcons fan, I wish they would retain him. Most likely, he will either be released or traded before the season or later during the season if Penix turns out to be solid early, but the Falcons still have the talent to win the south despite Baker Mayfield's play for the Bucs and I am not sure yet if Penix is the answer. And the numbers tell the tale. Yes, it is a small sample and yes, it was an impressive feat that he got the game tying TD pass late against Washington and almost drove the Falcons in the last seconds to a winning FG after that. And he did throw for 312 yards against Carolina in the finale, but he also threw a pick deep in his own territory that led to a game tying Panthers' TD in the 3rd quarter.

The Falcons' QBs were top 8 in the league in three categories, passing yards*, yards per completion* and yards per attempt. They were average to a little above average in completions, attempts and completion percentage, just outside the bottom ten in TD passes and overall QB rating. The Falcons QBs were also dead last in QB rushing yards (11!!!), 31st in ratio and tied for 31st in fewest INTs thrown. All eleven of the rushing yards belonged to Penix, while Cousins was almost wholly responsible for the woeful INT and ratio numbers, as he threw one TD pass and 9 interceptions in his last 5 games before being benched. Ugly!!!

21) Dallas (⬇ 20)

The Cowboys QB room ranked #1 last year in this survey. And Dak Prescott missing 9 games to injury was not the only reason for the precipitous 20 point drop this year. Dak Prescott, for the bulk of his career, has been an elite to near elite QB in the NFL. But he was having a little bit of a blip season in 2024 up until he was injured. Prescott's yards per game average was down about 10 yards compared to his career totals and 35 yards per game less than the average of his previous 5 seasons preceding 2024. He was on his way to his worst TD and INT numbers of his career (23 TDs and 15 INTs in 2022 being his previous worst) and, obviously, the worst ratio year of his career. And his completion percentage was the second lowest of his career. 

It could be argued, in fact, that Cooper Rush was at least equal to Prescott in performance in 2024. That is not saying he was great, however. Rush's completion percentage was lower and his yards passing per game was 50 short of Prescott's on average, but he threw more TDs and less INTs and his ration was 2.40 -1 versus the 1.37 - 1 ratio that Prescott had. Trey Lance also had one of those "let's see what we got" starts in the finale, and he acquitted himself pretty well. Both Lance and Rush are free agents, but Rush has a much lower market value, so despite him being 7 years older than Lance, I predict Dallas will resign him and let Lance go. (It turns out that Rush signed a free agent contract to back up Lamar Jackson in Baltimore)

Dallas was in the top 11 in the NFL in passing yards, completions and attempts* and 14th in the NFL in TD passes. In every other category, the Cowboys finished in the bottom 12 in the league.

22) Houston (⬇ 18)

The state of Texas had a very down quarterback year, at least in the NFL. Houston finished with the same 10-7 record and won a relatively weak AFC South again. But, while C.J. Stroud was a revelation in 2023 as a rookie, he decidedly had a sophomore slump in 2024. And Stroud was another 17-game starter who made up the bulk of his team's stats for the season. Backup Davis Mills took 72 snaps in 4 games, the bulk of which were in the finale after replacing Stroud in the first quarter in a game that didn't matter in the overall scheme of things.

Stroud in 2023 was better than any of the 2024 rookies, who, collectively, made up a pretty great QB class. He started from week one, missed two late season games and still managed to pass for over 4100 yards in 2023. Stroud also threw 23 TDs and a measly 5 INTs in 2023, a remarkable (especially for a rookie) 4.60 - 1 ratio, which would have been 5th best in the league this year. 

In 2024, Stroud played 2 more games than in 2023 and yet threw for almost 400 yards less, dropping his average by almost 54 yards per game. He threw 20 TDs and 12 INTs, with his ratio falling to a much more pedestrian 1.66 - 1. He was sacked an average of almost one time more per game (38 in 2023 versus 52 in '24) and his overall QB rating fell from 100.8 to 87.0. And all of this happened with essentially the same receiving corps PLUS Stefon Diggs! This led to the firing of Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slowik, who was also the OC in Stroud's rookie year.

Houston's scores were somewhat consistent and none were particularly high. The team tied for 11th best in the league in pass attempts* and that was their high-water mark. Yards passing and yards per completion were solidly above average, while TD passes thrown and completion percentage were equally as solidly below average. Everything else was sort of jumbled in the middle, within 5 spots plus or minus of league average. Definitely not the equal of the breakout 2023 season.

23) Chicago (⬆ 6) 

There are basically two reasons why the Bears rose in the survey that have nothing to do with the actual QB play. First, in general, the quality of the passing game is trending down a bit across the league. And two, the starting QB played almost all of the Bears' snaps in 2024. 

Chicago didn't realize very much of a playing advantage gain by letting 2023 starter Justin Fields go and drafting Caleb Williams. The advantage was all financial, essentially by extending the QB rookie contract another few years down the road. In terms of statistics, the 2023 Fields campaign and the 2024 Williams line are remarkably similar. Fields only played 13 games in 2023, so a bit of extrapolation must take place. Fields passed for 197 yards per game in 2023 and Williams for 208 in '24. Williams was sacked for a league leading 68 times in 2024, while Fields 17 game extrapolated total would have been 57 in 2023. Williams did throw for more TDs and less INTs (20 and 6 versus 16 and 9) while Fields had the big rushing advantage. His 17-game total would have been 370 yards more than Williams, and as it was. He out rushed Williams by 168 yards in 4 fewer games.

What that entire convoluted paragraph above suggests to me more than anything is that the Bears need to invest more in their Offensive Line than anything. Chicago plays in what is arguably the best division in the NFL. The other three teams had an average record of 13-4! The clearest path the Bears have to any future success is to stop their QB from getting killed every week.

The Bears QBs (basically Williams, as backup Tyson Bagent only had 13 snaps scattered over 4 games) were in the top 13 in 4 categories, fewest interceptions thrown*, ratio, pass attempts and QB rushing yards. They were also in the bottom 9 in 5 other categories, namely passing yards, TD passes thrown, completion percentage, yards per attempt and yards per completion. The only two remaining categories, completions and overall QB rating were just a smidge below league average.

The "Needing To Work On It" Tier

24) Las Vegas (⬆ 3)

To give you a very good reason why the Raiders are ranked down here, it is illustrative to note that all 3 QBs on their team, Gardner Minshew II, Aiden O'Connell and Desmond Ridder, started games and none of them had less than 132 offensive snaps. Basically, like a lot of bad teams, what Las Vegas had were 3 QB 1.5s. All three of these guys can start, and ultimately, Minshew II, in particular, has had some pretty good play over his career. 

Gardner Minshew II suffers from a perception of him based on where he went to college and when he was drafted, and that perception is entirely wrong. He has started 46 career games, which equals 2.7 seasons as a starter. Counting only games that he has started, his average 17 game season line would be 366/580 (63%) for 4009 yards with 23 TDs and 11 INTs. Some franchise needs to hand him the keys and keep sending him out EVERY week and stop dicking this guy around based on perceptions. He certainly is not the best starter in the league, but he is a lot better than the guy that many franchises have. 

Minshew is the poster child for the "you're good enough to start, but not on a good team" syndrome. The vast majority of his career starts have come on moribund teams, like the 2019 and 2020 Jags and the 2024 Raiders. He did start 13 games for the 9-8 Colts in 2023, but he was still seen as the backup to first round pick Anthony Richardson. And the thing that goes missing in most people's eyes is that he played well. 

The point of this rant is this: People like Zach Wilson will get a chance to start again while having proved nothing in the NFL, while Minshew, who has played very well on a lot of bad teams, will probably not. The Raiders just traded for Geno Smith, who will be the starter. Aiden O'Connell and Minshew are both still signed by the club, while Ridder is a free agent. If I was Seattle (who ultimately signed Sam Darnold on the first day of free agency), I would be on the phone to the Raiders right now, asking what they want for Minshew, because that is a pretty good team that could probably maintain that status by making that move. Most likely, though, Minshew will end up somewhere like Cleveland or Tennessee, playing well but being blamed because the team around him is not good. Or he will just remain in Las Vegas as the QB 2. (Minshew eventually ended up in KC as Mahomes' back up).

As for that trio of 2024 Raiders' QBs, after all of my ranting above, Minshew didn't play nearly up to his usual capabilities last season, and it is quite possible that Aiden O'Connell was the better QB on the team. Minshew threw 3 interceptions in the one game he played in that he didn't start, so he was under water in ratio for the only time in his career, and his yards per game were underwhelming at just 207 yards per start. There was some real inconsistency, too. O'Connell wasn't better in terms of yards per game or completion percentage, but his ratio was 2 to 1. Either way, as attested to by the Raiders' location in this survey, the QB room could stand some improvement from 2024.

Raiders' QBs threw a lot of passes last season, with the 4th highest total of attempts* and completions* and 9th in the league in passing yards. Other than those, every other category was in the bottom 7 in the league, with the lone exception of completion percentage, which was one spot below league average. 

25) New Orleans (⬇ 16)

The Saints' QB stats plummet is largely attributable to a late game injury to Derek Carr in game 5 at Kansas City that knocked him out for three weeks, followed later in the season by another injury that took him out of the final 4 games of the season. The Saints were 5-5 with Carr behind center and 0-7 with him out. 

Surprisingly, the Saints passed, on average, for a little more yardage without Carr than they did with him. New Orleans passed for 3730 yards, collectively, whereas Carr's stats, extrapolated out to 17 games would have equaled 3647 yards. Carr had his 10 starts, Jake Haener had one start and rookie Spencer Rattler started 6 games. The Saints are the first team in these rankings who did not rank in the top 12 in the league in ANY category. The best stat was yards per completion*, where they were ranked in a tie for 14th best. QB rushing would have ranked higher than that (7th in the league) if you added in Taysom Hill's rushing stats, but he is listed on the depth chart as a Tight End and not a QB. Seven of the remaining stats fall in between league average, 16th, and 10th worst in the league. Completion percentage and pass completions are both in the bottom 9. 

Had Carr played the season, his extrapolated stat line would have completions, attempts and passing yards all falling into the bottom 10, but completion percentage would have risen to 26th (23 places higher!), and TD passes and fewest Interceptions thrown would have ranked at 22nd best and 25th best in the league, an improvement of 11 and 10 spots, respectively. Ratio would then have been 23rd best, up nine spots. 

26) Jacksonville (⬇ 12)

It would be really easy just to say that the Jags fell off last year because Trevor Lawrence missed 7 starts, basically playing 9 and a half games. But frankly, Lawrence really didn't play any better than Mac Jones did at the helm of the Jags' offense last season and the Jags need to see some real improvement in him in 2025. 

The truth is far more likely that the Jags really didn't have much of a passing game because they didn't have much of a receiving corps. Calvin Ridley left, but he was adequately replaced by rookie Brian Thomas. Zay Jones also left, for Arizona, but the huge drop-off came from the injury to TE Evan Engram, who went from 114 receptions in 2023 down to 47 in 2024! He missed 4 games after week 1 with a hamstring injury and the last 4 games of the season with a shoulder injury, and while he was not on his way to 114 receptions, he was in line for 89. And Engram still led the team's tight ends in receptions, despite missing those 8 games. The Jags lost 30 TE receptions from 2023 in 2024, a 23% drop off in production. 

The Offensive Line measurable, sacks, actually reduced from 2023 to 2024 and the running game produced at roughly the same level, although the distribution of carries drastically changed, as Travis Etienne had 117 fewer carries in 2024 than the previous year, while Tank Bigsby added 118 to his total.

Trevor Lawrence is still very young and he has never played on a great or even very good team, but he also has only had one season in which he even reached the "very good" label himself, that being the 2022 season. In 2023, his ratio was only 1.5 - 1 and he was on his way to the same type of season in 2024. His 2024 completion percentage was down to 60.6%, which was great in 1980 but definitely not starter material these days. Lawrence has a lot of talent, and he is also an above average runner, but his game is also trending downward, and he needs to reverse that trend if he wants his game to match the perception of his game. On the positive side, however, he proved a lot about himself winning that epic Wild Card game in 2022, reversing a 20-point halftime deficit to the Chargers while leading the Jags to a 31-30 win.

Jaguars' QBs had a dismal 2024, with their highest ranked category being league average, 16th in yards per completion*. Seven of the remaining 10 categories were ranked in the bottom 10, with the 19 TD passes thrown being their lowest rank, 4th worst in the NFL. The Jags were also 12th worst in completions, 13th worst in attempts and tied for 13th worst in yards per attempt. 

Hopefully, Trevor Lawrence can find it in 2025, working with his 3rd head coach and offensive coordinator in 5 seasons. He has shown the talent to be a good NFL QB, but great remains to be seen. Mac Jones has moved on to San Francisco and Nick Mullens has signed for 2025 to back up Lawrence.

27) New England (⬆ 5)

The Patriots QB room had only one direction to go from last in 2023. They were saved by three things in 2024. QB Rushing Yards*, fewest Interceptions thrown and Completion percentage. The rushing was 7th best in the league, while interceptions were 12th best and completion percentage was at the league average.

Jacoby Brissett started 2024 as the QB1 for the Patriots but was done in by abysmal yardage numbers (168 was his high for passing yards in 5 starts!), an inability to throw TD passes and a low completion percentage. QB3 Joe Milton, the other QB drafted in 2024 by the Patriots, didn't start but played all of the season finale other than the first series and had a really solid game in beating the Bills' second string. The rest of the starts went to the Pats QB of the future, Drake Maye, who wasn't earth shattering but played well for a rookie. Milton did not take a sack in his 9/10ths of a game, but Maye and Brissett were battered to the tune of 51 sacks in 16 games, which might have had some bearing on their play, especially on Brissett.

In every category other than the ones noted above in the first paragraph, New England was in the bottom 11 in the league, with the fewest passing yards of an NFL team last year. Things might be looking up, though. As a rookie, Drake Maye started 12 games, but 2 of those I eliminated for comparison purposes, namely game 8, in which he played a quarter and a half and in game 17 where he started but only played 1 series. If we extrapolate his stats of the remaining ten games he started as a rookie out to a 17-game season, he would have thrown for 3793 yards, 25 TDs and 15 INTs, completing 66% of his passes. Not great, but pretty impressive for a first campaign. Time for the Pats to go get an offensive line.

28) Tennessee (⬇ 5)

If you straight look at the stats, there doesn't seem to be much to differentiate between Will Levis and Mason Rudolph in 2024. Levis started 12 games, but was replaced due to injury or ineffectiveness in 3 of those starts. Rudolph started 5 games and the two of them were the only QBs who played for the Titans in 2024.

For the most part, they were, essentially, equals in terms of production with one big caveat: passing yards. If you remove the 2 games in which Levis left early and give a 1/2 game of credit for game 17 (he left the game early in the second quarter and returned late in the 3rd quarter to finish that game), his starts produced an average of 208 yards per game. Rudolph averaged 233 yards passing in his starts, and his worst start for passing yards still had him throwing for 193 yards. Levis had 5 starts out of those 9.5 in which he threw for less than Rudolph's worst total, including a dismal 95 yards full game total against Indianapolis in game five. 

Mason Rudolph signed to return back to Pittsburgh for 2025, so Levis will be backed up in 2025 by former 49er Brandon Allen. The Titans 2024 QB room had their highest ranking, 16th or tied for 16th best in the NFL in three categories, TD Passes thrown*, yards per completion* and QB rushing yards*. Completion percentage and yards per attempt were tied for 12th and 13th worst in the league, respectively, a little below league average. All of the other categories had Tennessee ranked in the bottom 10 in the NFL.

29) Cleveland (⬇ 7)

The Browns crazy QB by committee approach in 2023 did not make for great quarterback play, but it did get them into the playoffs with an 11-6 record. That year had 5 QBs start a game, with Deshaun Watson (6 starts) and Joe Flacco (5 starts) getting the most 2023 playing time.

In 2024, the Browns dropped to 3-14 and 4 QBs started, and they all got bashed by opposing defenses, to the tune of being sacked 66 times in 2024. Watson took the brunt, being sacked half of that total in just 7 starts. No wonder he was on injured reserve for the season's last 10 games. 

Jameis Winston took the reins for most of the rest of the season and did some very Jameis Winston things......his passing yards average per start was a monstrous 291 yards per game, bolstered by a ridiculous 497 yard game at Denver. His completion percentage was right at his career average, 61.1%, and he passed for 13 TDs and 12 Interceptions, which also fall into Winston norms, as well. In fact, if you take those numbers and stretch them out to 17 games and you get a season very similar to his 2019 campaign in Tampa...4900+ yards, but with 31 TDs and 29 Interceptions. In other words, if the rest of your team is good, you can live with Winston at QB, but his game has ceased advancing. He is what he is, and you know what you are getting.

Speaking of not progressing, Deshaun Watson is an absolute mystery. He was positioned to be one of the best QBs in the league after his first 4 seasons in Houston. We all know about his personal implosion, but his playing collapse has been both terrible and surprising. Since his return from suspension in late 2022, he has been injured both seasons and thus has only played 19 games out of a possible 40 since his return. And when he has played, he has been mediocre, at best. He has microscopically improved at a rate in which it would probably take him 15 years to get back to where he was in 2020 as a Texan. 

As an off shoot of being behind in so many games, the 2024 Browns passed A LOT!!! In fact, the only thing that bolstered their scores was that they lead the league in Pass Attempts* and were 9th best in Completions. They were also 13th best in QB rushing yards. But this was offset by worst in the league rankings in Interceptions thrown, ratio, yards per attempt and QB rating. TD passes thrown, completion percentage and yards per completion were all in the bottom 4 in league rankings. Passing yards was a little below average at 13th best in the league.

30) tie Indianapolis (⬇ 8) and Carolina (⬇ 1)

The Panthers and the Colts are both going through the throes of perhaps "reaching" on your QB draft picks. Anthony Richardson and Bryce Young are both going through the throes of starting early on a bad team, although, to be fair, Indianapolis is not nearly as bad as Carolina has been the last two years.

Young was picked first and Richardson 4th in the 2023 draft. Richardson, despite his draft position, was seen more as a raw talent, project type, but then he did end up starting 4 of the first 5 games that season, missing week 3 and then the rest of the season after game 5 due to injury. He can run and he has a powerful but seemingly very erratic, arm. He is the first NFL QB that we have seen for a while that has started the majority of a team's games in a season with a completion percentage below 50%. That kind of percentage hasn't been commonly seen since the late 1970s and even then, it was usually the worst QBs in the league who had them. It appears that Tim Tebow (2011) and Akili Smith (2001) were the last two previous NFL QBs to start at least half of their team's games in a season with a completion percentage below Richardson's 2024 mark of 47.7%.

Bryce Young was pretty awful in 2023, starting 16 games in his rookie season for a terrible Panthers team. The 2024 season seemed to be on the same track, but then he was benched in favor of old hand Andy Dalton for 5 games. Once re-instated, Young seemed to find himself a bit. The team closed out the season 4-6 in the last 10 games, about as good as can be expected considering their overall talent. They played well enough in two of the losses, as well, to maybe have some reason for optimism in Charlotte. During those last ten games, Young was 197/319, 61.7% for 210.4 yards per game, 15 TDs and only 6 INTs. 

Dalton was okay as a starter, with a high completion percentage (66.3%), but he was only passing for about 197 yards per start and his 7 TDs and 6 INTs kept the ratio on the very low side. All of the positives, however, did not save 2024 in the QB rankings. The highest rankings were in TD Passes* and QB Rushing yards*, where the Panthers were ranked just below league average, tied for 15th best and 15th by themselves, respectively. Four other categories were between tied for 10th worst up to 14th worst in the league. Everything else was bottom 7, with an abysmal second fewest passing yards (3411) in the NFL being their lowest rank. 

Indianapolis, as noted above, also did the QB by committee. Apparently, QB rushing had great meaning for the Colts, as Richardson finished with a record of 6-5 while Joe Flacco finished 2-4 in his starts despite VASTLY outplaying Richardson in every stat OTHER than rushing yards. To be fair, Richardson got 4 of his 6 wins over very subpar teams (Tennessee, New England, the Jets and Chicago) and he "won" against Pittsburgh because he started that game, even though he only played 9 minutes and 27 seconds of the game and Flacco did the heavy lifting.

The Colts QB room had two highlights, finishing 4th best in the league in Yards per completion* and sixth best in QB rushing yards (ALL Richardson!!) and they were league average in yards per attempt. They were in the bottom 8 in the league in all 8 of the other categories, including two last place finishes, in Completion percentage (again, ALL Richardson!!) and Completions (I won't say it again!).

32) New York Giants (⬇ 4)

We should be clear here that while I believe that Daniel Jones was not to blame for the Giants poor season, in terms of their ranking here, he did start the majority of the games in 2024 and he was not exactly stellar. He has never been great, nor has he ever been terrible. The Giants reached in the 2019 draft and Jones was drafted too high (pick 6) that year. And, to make matters worse for New York, he came through with his best season and put the Giants into the playoffs in his walk year. The Giants then overpaid to keep him, compounding the earlier mistake in drafting him too high, with a rookie extension worth $40 million a year and that has brought us to where we are. He was being paid like Mahomes while giving you, essentially, league average stats. If Daniel Jones' last Giants contract had paid him like Gardner Minshew or Jimmy Garoppolo, he would probably still be the Giants QB. But what the Giants discovered was that they could lose without him just as much as they could lose with him, all while getting a similar level of QB play from others who cost much less. Thus, he was released after game 10 and the reins were handed over to the QB Committee of Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle.

The four headed monster (including Jones) was, in a word, ineffective. They were above league average in Pass Attempts*, QB rushing yards and Completions. Beyond that, they finished ranked in the bottom 5 in every category with the exception of Interceptions thrown, where the Giants were 12th worst in the NFL. In addition, they finished dead last in TD passes thrown and Yards per completion.

As for now, Daniel Jones has been signed by Indianapolis, to be the QB that the Colts turn to when Anthony Richardson inevitably fails or gets injured. Lock and Boyle are both unsigned free agents and the only QB the Giants have at the moment is DeVito. Soon to be joined by whom? Rodgers? Wilson? Winston? Flacco? Hey. Giants....why not give Carson Wentz a shot...you're not going anywhere, anyways, and you might be pleasantly surprised!

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So what will 2025 look like? So far, of the 17 free agent QBs signed, only two (Sam Darnold and Justin Fields) will be starters, although it is entirely possible that Daniel Jones will end up starting the majority of the Colts games, even though he was signed as the backup. Geno Smith was traded to the Raiders and will be the starter there. 

Of the remaining 18 available free agent QBs, only two, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, are pretty good bets to start after being signed. Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston could be signed as starters, potentially, and Carson Wentz should be, but he won't.

Going into 2025, 3 teams (the Giants, Steelers, and Browns) definitely need a new starter or to re-sign one they already had, in the case of Pittsburgh. I consider there to be three other teams, Tennessee, Carolina and Indianapolis, that should be taking a hard look at their incumbent and planning RIGHT NOW. The Jets. Seahawks and Raiders have made their changes already and Minnesota will have a new/old QB as last year's injured draft pick, J. J. McCarthy will probably be their new starter in 2025.

The 2024 draft, along with the rebirth of Sam Darnold as a viable starter, actually settled much of the flux in the league's 2023 QB situation. Six teams selected a QB in the first 12 picks and 4 of those teams that had a need in '24 have a solidly settled QB situation going into 2025. We shall see about Michael Penix, Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, but Atlanta still has Kirk Cousins to fall back on (for now) and Minnesota still has decent options they could sign as a backup/mentor. The three teams that really need a QB have three to 4 viable starter options to chose from...Rodgers, Wilson, Flacco and Winston. And if that is not enough, former starters Teddy Bridgewater and Carson Wentz are also out there, waiting for the call. It is a good thing for those teams that the 2024 draft played out the way it did, leaving starters ava8ilable through trades and free agency, because there is not much to be excited about in 2025's QB draft class.