Here’s the current state of the NFL at the Quarterback position. Below is every QB who has started a game this year, along with how many overall starts they have, and their record as starter.
*QBs in bold are not currently starting.
Takeaways:
1. The old guard is disappearing. 6 of the top 12 quarterbacks, and 7 of the top 14 are no longer starting. Some have lost their jobs due to injury (Roethlisberger, Flacco, Stafford) and some have lost their jobs due to younger bucks coming along (Eli Manning) and some have just lost them (Andy Dalton).
The NFL feels like we’re in the midst of a generational shift as the older guard moves away and the younger QBs begin filling their spots in. Brady and Brees are both coming close to the end, and in fact Brees was out for five games earlier this season. The ’04 Triplets (Manning, Roethlisberg, and Rivers) all appears close to the end. Rivers is the only one still starting and he hasn’t looked great. That means Aaron Rodgers, ’05 draft pick, should be getting a bit worried as he’d be next on that list.
2. The second quadrant (9-16) is in flux.
James Winston (#11), Nick Foles (#15) and Mitchell Trubisky (#16) all are questionable to be starters next year. Winston is in the last year of his contract, and while it looks like he may be franchised for another year, the Bucs have not confirmed that Winston will be back in 2020.
Foles, in the first year of his contract, got overshadowed by his replacement Gardner Minshew. Jacksonville will have to flip one of these qbs, and while it’ll be easier to flip Minshew, dumping Foles and his now very large salary may be the wiser move. Building around a QB on a rookie contract makes more financial sense.
Trubisky is under contract through 2021 on his rookie deal, along with a rookie-option year, so he’s not costing Chicago very much right now. Chicago should and will likely bring him back to get one more good look at him before making a real decision. But because he’s on a rookie contract, this is a good situation for Chicago to sign a veteran qb to push Trubisky.
Others: Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins both appear to be overpriced, and potential cap hits in the near future.
RIP Marcus Mariota, we hardly knew ye.
3. Half the league’s starters have under 32 starts, the equivalent of two years or less. While many of these QBs are filling in for injured qbs, the NFL will get a good look at what the next generation of QBs will be.
Watson (#17) and Mahomes (#19) appear headed to be decade-long starters.
The jury remains out on Garoppolo (#22) despite his absurd 17-3 record.
But the jury is really out on Brissett (#18), Mayfield (#20), Allen (#21) and Darnold (#23). Three of the four have a losing record, only Allen at 12-9 bucks that trend, and none of the three have stood out enough to really declare any of them a franchise qb. Each of the four should be back next year on team friendly/rookie deals that give the teams another year to monitor progress and gather intel.
Low-key winner of this group: Lamar Jackson. This guy appears to be the real deal and while a lot of his stats aren’t eye popping, like passing yards, he’s putting together an incredible season with 19 TDs and a 6.8% TD rate (the second highest in the league).
QBS STARTS W-L
1. Tom Brady 277 216-61
2. Drew Brees 268 158-110
Eli Manning 232 116-116
3. Philip Rivers 218 122-96
Ben Roethlisberger 216 144-71-1
4. Matt Ryan 183 105-78
5. Aaron Rodgers 168 108-59-1
Joe Flacco 161 98-73
Matthew Stafford 149 69-79-1
6. Ryan Fitzpatrick 133 52-80-1
Andy Dalton 128 68-58-2
Cam Newton 124 68-55-1
7. Russell Wilson 122 83-38-1
Matt Schaub 93 47-46
8. Ryan Tannehill 92 45-47
9. Derek Carr 88 38-50
10. Kirk Cousins 84 42-40-2
11. Jameis Winston 64 24-40
Case Keenum 61 27-34
Marcus Mariota 61 29-32
12. Dak Prescott 58 38-20
13. Carson Wentz 50 28-22
14. Jared Goff 48 30-18
15. Nick Foles 46 26-20
Brian Hoyer 38 16-22
16. Mitchell Trubisky 35 19-16
Teddy Bridgewater 34 22-12
17. Deshaun Watson 32 20-12
Matt Moore 32 16-16
Colt McCoy 28 7-21
18. Jacoby Brissett 26 11-15
19. Patrick Mahomes 25 18-7
Trevor Siemian 25 13-12
20. Baker Mayfield 23 10-13
21. Josh Allen 21 12-9
22. Jimmy Garoppolo 20 17-3
23. Sam Darnold 20 7-13
24. Lamar Jackson 17 14-3
Josh Rosen 16 3-13
25. Kyler Murray 11 3-7-1
26. Kyle Allen 9 6-3
Gardner Minshew 8 4-4
27. Daniel Jones 8 2-6
28. Mason Rudolph 7 4-3
Chase Daniel 5 2-3
29. Brandon Allen 2 1-1
30. Dwayne Haskins 2 0-2
31. Ryan Finley 2 0-2
32. Jeff Driskel 2 0-2
Luke Falk 2 0-2
Devlin Hodges 1 1-0
QB Watch 