Going into this season, we knew there were some superstars at the Quarterback position. You had the perennial greats like Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers. You had the young studs in Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz, and Baker Mayfield. And finally, you have the journeymen and legends like Nick Foles, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Case Keenum. To top all of this off, Andrew Luck retired days before the season began. We already thought this would be the year of the Quarterback.
But then came the injuries. Through three weeks, Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the season, Drew Brees and Nick Foles for ~8 weeks. Sam Darnold got Mono, then his backup Trevor Siemian went down for the season. Add to that, that Eli Manning was finally put on the bench and through 3 weeks, we have seen 40 starting Quarterbacks. This truly is turning out to be the year of the Quarterback.
Year of the Quarterback Disappointments
With this being the Year of the Quarterback, there are definitely some disappointments. Players who were overhyped, but are so far at least, falling short. (No pun intended for the first player on this list). While it’s definitely too early to call these players complete busts, they have let down many a fan so far this year.
Kyler Murray
Yeah I get it. Everyone is high and mighty about the first overall pick. He’s sooo athletic. He’s in the air raid offense. Kingsbury will be the next Sean McVay. In reality, up to this point, Murray has been hot garbage.
Yes, he led the Cardinals to a comeback tie in week 1. Yes, a comeback tie. By the way, it was against the Lions, who completely fell apart in the second half of that game. Through three games, Murray has attempted more passes than any other QB this season at 137. Thats followed by Dalton (129), Keenum (124), Ryan (123) and Wentz (118). The issue is that Murray has only completed 61.3% of his passes. That’s similar to Wentz though at 61.0% right? Well kind of. The Cardinals as a team have accounted for 3 dropped passes. The Eagles? Eight. That’s right, EIGHT dropped passes. If you account for the dropped passes, Wentz’s completion percentage jumps to 67.8%. Murray’s goes to 63.5%.
Along with his low completion percentage, Murray has thrown for 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. This all while being sacked the second most times in the league (16). What happened to his mobility? I get it, he has a bad offensive line. But he has one of the best Center’s in the game right now in A.Q Shipley. Shipley has a 96% pass block win rate, and the Cardinal’s O-line as a whole actually ranks 9th in pass block win rate at 50%. Spoiler alert, the Cowboys didn’t even make the top 10. But he’s athletic, he can run, he probably has loads of rushing yards right? Nope. He has 86. So what is Murray’s excuse? Maybe he just can’t see over the line?
Baker Mayfield
Speaking of number 1 overall picks that went to Oklahoma and won the Heisman trophy. It’s everyone’s favorite overrated player, Baker Mayfield. All offseason, we heard how good the Browns would be. That OBJ and Baker would lead them to the promised land, otherwise known as a first round exit in the playoffs. But that would be more than Browns fans have had to look forward to since their last playoff berth in 2002.
Mayfield has been abysmal though. He has a 56.8% completion percentage. Combine that with his 3 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions and he is off to a rockier start that Rocky IV. Mayfield looks like he just fought Ivan Drago and got his ass kicked. He looks terrible. He’s also been sacked 11 times which is not helping his case. Most of this appears to be due to Baker holding the ball far too long and not being able to make good decisions. We’ll have to see if first year head coach Freddie Kitchens can correct this.
Year of the Quarterback Surprises
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Quarterbacks that are lighting up the league somewhat unexpectedly. No you won’t see Patrick Mahomes on this list. If you didn’t expect him to be averaging about 400 yards per game, you have a lot to learn. These are the guys who are making this the year of the Quarterback by playing great football.
Gardner Minshew II
We can’t not talk about him. I’m fairly certain he would bet Napoleon that he could throw a football over them mountains. He also has the wildest stories I think I’ve ever heard. How many Quarterbacks do you know that stretch in the locker room in a jock strap and aviators? Or that try to break their own hand with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a hammer to get a medical red-shirt in college? (Spoiler alert, it didn’t work). The man is a living legend. I won’t even let my girlfriend watch Jaguars games because I’m pretty sure she’d leave me for him.
All awesome mustaches aside, Minshew is playing out of his mind. The 6th round draft pick (hear that Tom Brady?) took over after Nick Foles broke his collar bone week 1. I’m fairly certain Minshew might be bigger than even BDN though.. Minshew set a record with a 73.9% completion percentage and 110.6 passer rating through his first three games. Both are the highest ever for a QB in the Super Bowl Era. He nearly made a comeback week 2 against a stingy Texans defense, falling a 2 point conversion short. Then, week 3 he came up with a convincing 20-7 win against the Titans. We’ll have to keep an eye to see what happens in Jacksonville when Nick Foles is healthy.
The good news is, you can get on the bandwagon and get your Gardner Minshew II shirt from Belly Up Sports and our friends at DSGN Tree here! And if you don’t think this man could steal your woman, think again. This man is leading the year of the Quarterback, all other QBs need to catch up.
Lamar Jackson
I have to say, I didn’t expect this one. And I don’t really know how long it will last. BUT for now, he belongs here. The running back is part of the year of the Quarterback. Who would’ve expected that Lamar Jackson would have led the Ravens to a 3-0 start? I think I can reasonably say, the majority of NFL fans would not have assumed this start. (No, I’m not saying everyone, I’m saying most. Yes, I get it, someone reading will probably freak out right now saying ‘BuT laMaR JacKSOn Is a gReAT QuARterBacK’ and you guaranteed his exact stats. Sure ya did. Whatever you say).
Now take the Lamar Jackson being impressive thing with a grain of salt. There is one not so great stat after 3 weeks. He currently has a 63% completion percentage. Now, that’s not terrible by any means, but it’s also not great this early in the season. It does rank him 22nd out of QBs that have started a game this season though. But on the other hand, he is averaging nearly 300 Pass ypg, and more importantly he has 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Lamar is not making bad decisions with the ball, and that is huge. Even top QBs can make poor choices and turn the ball over, and that changes the optic for them.
The important thing to keep in mind about Lamar is how long this might last. Now, it’s possible he is really a good Quarterback. But, it’s hard to be confident this early in his career.
Jacoby Brissett
Andrew Luck retired less than two weeks before the Colts first game of the season. If you haven’t heard, or if you aren’t over it yet, this isn’t the right place for you. Since then, Jacoby Brissett has really shown up for Indianapolis and is showing that the Colts are still a playoff competitor. The Colts are 2-1 right now, so far only losing in overtime to the Chargers. Otherwise, they have beaten the Titans (a week after Tennessee dismantled the Browns) and the Falcons (after they narrowly defeated a beat up Eagles team).
Brissett isn’t airing the ball out constantly and putting up huge yardage. BUT, he’s still playing great football. With 215 pass ypg, he is not at the top of the rankings. He does have an impressive 71.7% completion percentage up to this point though. That paired with 7 passing touchdowns and only 1 interception, he has been efficient. Is he a player that will absolutely light up the scoreboard? Probably not. He does deserve more respect than he’s gotten though. I sincerely believe Brissett can take this team to the playoffs and compete this year.
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