Which Quarterbacks Are Getting High Marks or Flunking?
How important is the quarterback position in the NFL? You may notice a trend from this week’s power rankings that give you the answer to that.
A team will only go so far if their starting quarterback is handicapping the team in anyway.
With the NFL reaching the halfway point in Week 8, today’s power rankings will focus on each team’s starting quarterback and their performance to this point.
No, there’s a good chance you may not agree with all 32 grades listed below.
And no, I didn’t factor in Bortles Facts twitter account when coming up for a definitive grade for Blake Bortles.
Here are my power rankings for Week 8 of the NFL Season.
1. Los Angeles Rams (7-0)
Jared Goff has not had to put the ball in the air as much with the big play ability of the Rams passing offense (Goff leads NFL in yards per completion at 9.8) coupled with Todd Gurley, but Goff has been strong with a 2,130 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions to go along with a 112.7 Passer Rating.
Grade: A-
2. New England Patriots (5-2)
Tom Brady may be 41-years-old, but that has not stopped the NFL icon from putting up his usual statistical numbers. Considering the situation through the first four weeks of the season, his 16 touchdowns to this point are quite remarkable.
Grade: A-
3. Kansas City Chiefs (6-1)
Patrick Mahomes is the front runner for NFL MVP. The electric second-year quarterback leads the NFL in passing yards (2,223), touchdowns (22) and pass plays of 20+ yards (42).
Grade: A+
4. New Orleans Saints (5-1)
Through six games now Drew Brees has thrown zero interceptions. He’s also thrown 13 touchdowns and is completing 77.3 percent of his passes.
Not bad.
Grade: A+
5. Los Angeles Chargers (5-2)
Philip Rivers is enjoying throwing to his many weapons in Los Angeles as he has 17 touchdowns to only three interceptions.
Grade: A+
6. Baltimore Ravens (4-3)
Joe Flacco is not putting up eye-popping touchdown numbers, but he’s been solid for Baltimore. Flacco is second in the NFL with 303 passing attempts.
Grade: B
7. Carolina Panthers (4-2)
The Panthers offense on a week-to-week basis may change, but Cam Newton has remained consistent. He’s on pace to complete a career-high 65.6 percent of his passes.
Grade: B+
8. Minnesota Vikings (3-2-1)
Kirk Cousins has been as advertised. The Vikings signal caller is completing 70 percent of his passes to go along with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Grade: A
9. Chicago Bears (3-3)
Mitchell Trubisky has 11 touchdowns over the past three games, the problem is the first three games existed too.
Grade: B-
10. Philadelphia Eagles (3-4)
Carson Wentz has started the Eagles last five games, and he’s mostly looked strong. Wentz is completing 70.8 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns to one interception.
Grade: B+
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2-1)
Ben Roethlisberger has been solid with his numbers being inflated some facing some of the worst defenses in the NFL. Roethlisberger is averaging 338 passing yards per game, 1st in the NFL.
Grade: B-
12. Green Bay Packers (3-2-1)
Aaron Rodgers is on pace to set a new career-high in passing attempts, but it’s not happening because of their success through the air but because of their defense and inability to run the ball consistently. Still, Rodgers with a bad leg has 12 touchdowns to one interception.
Grade: B
13. Washington Redskins (4-2)
Alex Smith is not lighting it up like he did through the first seven games last season, but he’s been just what the Redskins have needed. Smith has seven touchdowns to two interceptions.
Grade: B-
14. Cincinnati Bengals (4-3)
Outside of a four interception game vs the Panthers back in Week 3, there’s been little to criticize Andy Dalton about this season. Dalton is on pace to break his own career-high of touchdowns passes this season.
Grade: B-
15. Houston Texans (4-3)
After a slow start, Deshaun Watson has put things together for the Texans. Even behind a porous o-line, Watson is averaging 8.04 yards per pass attempt, 7th in the NFL.
Grade: B-
16. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4)
Blake Bortles over the last three weeks has reverted back to being the quarterback who Jacksonville seemed close to getting rid of before the beginning of last season. Benched in Week 7, Bortles has committed 11 turnovers, tied for worst in the NFL.
Grade: C-
17. Detroit Lions (3-3)
The road to recovery after four picks in Week 1 vs the Jets has been a good one as Matthew Stafford has 11 touchdown passes to one interception since.
Grade: B-
18. Miami Dolphins (4-3)
Ryan Tannehill has given the Dolphins an OK start to the season, the question is will he be replaced by backup quarterback Brock Osweiler? Osweiler has started in place of an injured Tannehill the last two weeks, throwing five touchdowns in the process.
Grade: C+
19. Seattle Seahawks (3-3)
Considering the parts around Russell Wilson (spare parts at that) it is remarkable to seen him with a 104.8 Passer Rating through six games.
Grade: A-
20. Atlanta Falcons (3-4)
It’s been a return to MVP form for Matt Ryan, who leads the NFL in passing yards (2,335) and has completed 71.1 percent of his passes with a 114.2 Passer Rating.
Grade: A
21. Dallas Cowboys (3-4)
Not really to a fault of his, Dak Prescott has been mostly mediocre to start the season. His 6.88 yards per completion is 27th in the NFL among starting quarterbacks.
Grade: C+
22. Tennessee Titans (3-4)
The Tennessee Titans offense is one of the worst in the NFL and fair or unfair, Marcus Mariota is a big reason why. Mariota has only three touchdown passes to five interceptions this season.
Grade: C-
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-3)
Jameis Winston has only started two games for the Buccaneers and has looked OK in both of those games, minus the interceptions. We’ll just say Ryan Fitzpatrick having three consecutive 400-yard games to begin the year factors into the grade here.
Grade: B-
24. Cleveland Browns (2-4-1)
Baker Mayfield can make all the throws, but at this point in time he’s still learning. His 78.5 Passer Rating is among the worst in the NFL.
Grade: C
25. New York Jets (3-4)
Much like his draft classmate listed above, Darnold is still learning but is making great strides. Darnold leads the NFL in interceptions with 10.
Grade: C
26. Denver Broncos (3-4)
Case Keenum has thrown the second most interceptions in the NFL this season and went three games without throwing a touchdown pass.
Grade: C-
27. Indianapolis Colts (2-5)
Andrew Luck has done what he can for the Colts, but even he has struggled. His 6.2 yards per completion is ranked 30th in the NFL but is second in the NFL with 20 touchdown passes.
Grade: B-
28. Buffalo Bills (2-5)
Josh Allen is the starting quarterback and has played well, but you also have to factor in the other two stooges who started a game this season in Nathan Peterman and Derek Anderson. Peterman didn’t need a full game to throw two more interceptions for the Bills this season.
Grade: D-
29. San Francisco 49ers (1-6)
C.J. Beathard is the 49ers starting quarterback the rest of the way with Garoppolo’s injury, and that’s a tough reality. Beathard has committed 10 turnovers in just four starts this season.
Grade: F
30. New York Giants (1-6)
Don’t be fooled by Eli Manning’s completion percentage and passing yards, he’s been one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks this season. His seven touchdown passes are ranked 25th in the NFL.
Grade: D
31. Oakland Raiders (1-5)
Same for Derek Carr, except there’s no reason you would be fooled by a quarterback who’s on pace to throw over 20 interceptions. Carr has eight of them in six games.
Grade: D
32. Arizona Cardinals (1-6)
Josh Rosen has started each of the last four games, and well, it hasn’t been pretty. Rosen is averaging only 164 passing yards per game while completing only 55 percent of his passes.
Grade: D-
What are your thoughts on this week’s power rankings? Leave your comments below!