2023 has been a strange year for quarterbacks. Kirk Cousins, Deshaun Watson, Joe Burrow, Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson and LIKELY Aaron Rodgers all suffered season-ending injuries.
Notable names like Zach Wilson, Jimmy Garoppool, Ryan Tanehill all lost their starting jobs. Kyler Murray, Bryce Young and Matthew Stafford missed some time due to injury, too.
As a result, we’ve seen a way larger quantity of starting quarterbacks here in 2023 than usual — so why not turn in a midseason report card for every starting QB up to this point? How have the QBs on your favorite team fared thus far? Let’s dive right into it!
Arizona Cardinals: Josh Dobbs: C+
Dobbs did well with very little talent around him for the Cardinals before Kyler Murray returned. He had eight touchdowns and five picks in eight contests before getting shipped to Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Kyler Murray gets a B+ for his performance since returning from surgery on his torn ACL. Finally, Clayton Tune gets an F for his woeful 58-yard, two-INT outing in the Cardinals’ shutout loss to the Browns in Week 9.
Atlanta Falcons: Desmond Ridder: C-
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Despite ridiculous weaponry around him, Ridder is struggling to push the ball down field. His careless decision-making hasn’t helped, and it prompted Arthur Smith to bench him in favor of Taylor Heinicke for two weeks.
Heinicke made fewer mistakes than Ridder in his two starts, but he too couldn’t move the ball up field consistently. Heinicke gets a C for his “meh” outings which led to Ridder regaining the starting job in Week 12.
Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson: A+
Jackson has thankfully stayed healthy for the first time in three years and has his Ravens in contention for the AFC’s top seed.
He’s dominant as ever in the ground game but has shown remarkable improvement as a passer — as the 2019 league MVP is on pace to set personal bests in completion percentage and yards per pass attempt.
Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen: B-
Record-wise, the Bills have disappointed. But Allen’s 22 TD passes heading into Thanksgiving weekend topped the NFL….so did his 12 interceptions thrown.
Allen’s inconsistent play led to the firing of OC Ken Dorsey. Is Allen playing below expectations? Yes, but he’s also the sole reason this team still has a chance at the postseason.
Carolina Panthers: Bryce Young: F
It’s only year one, but Young’s first NFL season could not be a greater disappointment. Too many missed GIMME throws.Too many careless interceptions. Too many sacks taken when he should just get rid of the ball…and so on, so forth.
LONG way to go for the first overall pick. On the somewhat bright side, Andy Dalton gets an A+ for his 361-yard, two-TD outing in the Panthers’ Week 3 road loss to Seattle. Maybe he should see more action in the final stretch…
Chicago Bears: Justin Fields: C+
Fields missed four games in the first half to injury but has shown considerable improvement in the contests he suited up for. He’s averaging nearly 50 more passing yards per game compared to a year ago, thanks largely to the arrival of DJ Moore.
Fields remains a beast in the ground game, too. The only question is if the Bears will give him another year in 2024.
As for backup Tyson Bagent, he gets a D-. Three picks and six INTs in the five games he’s seen? That won’t cut it at the NFL level.
Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow: B
An unfortunate break for Burrow, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11 against the Ravens — just as Cincy was starting to round into its top form again.
And so, Burrow’s season ends with a 66.8 completion percentage, 2,309 passing yards and 15 touchdowns against six interceptions. Burrow overcame a sluggish start to the season and was playing like an MVP candidate in the weeks leading up to his injury.
It’s on to 2024 for Burrow and the Bengals.
Cleveland Browns: Deshaun Watson: C
The Browns won five of his starts with Watson, but that was mostly because of the league’s No. 1 defense. Before his season-ending shoulder injury, Watson had just 1,115 passing yards and seven touchdowns against four picks.
Second-stringer PJ Walker gets an F. Give games, two starts. One interception and five picks? YIKES. Not that rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson — who gets a D here — was any better, with no TDs and four picks over his first two starts.
Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott: A
Hate on Dak and the Cowboys all you want, but this might be the best version of No. 4 we’ve seen. He’s on pace for his best single-season completion percentage and has cut down considerably on the league-leading 15 interceptions he tossed a year ago.
Dallas put up 30-plus points in six of their first 10 games — including three 40-burgers. Dak for MVP? It’s not out of the question…
Denver Broncos: Russell Wilson: B+
After an awful 1-5 start, Dange-Russ has rallied the Broncos and has them right back in playoff contention. If he gets them there, Wilson just might play his way back into the Comeback Player of the Year discussions.
If he sustains this performance, Wilson will set a career-high in completion percentage. He’s already surpassed last year’s TDs total and is on pace for the second-lowest interception percentage in a season in his career.
Finally, the Wilson the Broncos thought they were getting in 2022 has arrived.
Detroit Lions: Jared Goff: A
Goff isn’t lighting up the stat sheet the way he did for Sean McVay and the Rams, but he’s not supposed to. He just needs to play smart football for Dan Campbell’s rush-first offense and that stingy defense.
And Goff has been up for the challenge. He’s staying careful with the football, has improved his accuracy and has Detroit in position to win its first division title in 30 years.
Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love: C-
We knew this was a year of transition for the Packers, but Love was expected to be far better than this. He had three years to learn behind Aaron Rodgers, after all…
Love didn’t have his first 300-yard game until Week 11 against the LA Chargers. He’s on pace to finish with a sup-60 completion percentage and is challenging Josh Allen for the league-lead in INTs.
Houston Texans: C.J. Stroud: A+
What more can be said about the second overall pick? Statistically speaking, Stroud is having the best rookie QB season in history More importantly, he has the Texans back in postseason contention.
He set the record for most pass attempts to begin a career without an interception at 192. As well, his 470 passing yards in Houston’s Week 9 win over Tampa Bay set a rookie single-game record.
Indianapolis Colts: Gardner Minshew II: B
Minshew II is doing just enough as a game manager to keep the Colts in playoff contention. Of course, offensive weapons Jonathan Taylor, Zack Moss, Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs have made his life a lot easier.
Rookie Anthony Richardson also gets a B. Prior to his season-ending injury, he dazzled as a dual threat with three passing TDS and four rushing TDS in his first four games. The future is ulta-bright for the kid.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence: B+
T-Law hasn’t shown as much improvement as we expected from his 2022 breakout year, but the Jaguars are winning — that’s ultimately what matters.
He’s still a top-10 QB, but we did think he’d do more statistically with an elite set of weapons. Then again, maybe Lawrence is just saving his best for last…? Stay tuned.
Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes: A+
Mahomes is still lighting it up across the board despite lacking any game-changing receivers to complement tight end Travis Kelce.
On the bright side, this Chiefs’ D is easily the best unit Mahomes has ever had. As such, he hasn’t had to pull as much weight this season. His stats are taking a dip, but the Chiefs just keep on winning. And you know how much more dangerous this guy gets when the calendar flips to the new year.
Las Vegas Raiders: Aidan O’Connell: C
The rookie fourth-round pick out of Purdue is at least giving the Raiders some life. O’Connell is making his fair share of rookie mistakes but can at least push the ball down the field and make the most of the weapony around him.
Jimmy Garppolo is getting an F, because seven picks and nine INTS in six games speaks for itself. Brian Hoyer is also getting an F, because he was downright awful in their loss to Tyson Bagent’s lowly Bears in Week 7.
Los Angeles Chargers: Justin Herbert: A-
Without Herbert, the Chargers might challenge Carolina for the worst record in football.
Despite losing top wideout Mike Wililams for the year with a torn ACL back in Week 3, the Oregon product is still slinging it left, right and center with Pro Bowl-caliber numbers. If only Herbert had a defense and a competent coaching staff…
Los Angeles Rams: Matthew Stafford: D
Stafford is well past his prime at this point. 35 years of age and unable to stay healthy, he has limited accuracy and velocity in his throws — and he’s getting more and more careless with his reckless decision-making.
Brett Rypien also gets a D as his fill-in for the Pack in their loss to Green Bay. No wonder they were so quick to waive Mark’s nephew…
Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa: A+
Thankfully, Tua has stayed healthy and is playing lights-out football again. He has Tyreek Hill on pace to shatter the single-season receiving yards record, for starters. Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane and Raheem Moster have been doing just fine themselves, thank you very much.
Because he’s healthy, Tagovailoa — an MVP candidate — will easily set new career bests across the board.
Minnesota Vikings: Kirk Cousins: A+
Cousins was playing his best football before his unfortunate season-ending Achilles tear: A 69.5 completion percentage, 2,331 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and only five picks despite missing Justin Jefferson for most of his short-lived campaign.
Oh, and an A- to trade deadline pickup Josh Dobbs — who’s found a nice home here in Minny. The journeyman is doing a fine job helping the Vikings stay in postseason contention — and he’s gonna LOVE playing with JJ!
New England Patriots: Mac Jones: F
The Patriots brought in Bill O’Brien to run the offense, and they signed JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mike Gesicki and Ezekiel Elliott to bolster Jones’ supporting cast.
The result? An even worse version of Jones from last year. The only thing Jones has done this year is assure the Patriots they need a QB.
New Orleans Saints: Derek Carr: C
Carr has been mediocre at best for the Saints, who would be out of the playoff race by now in any other division. He’s averaging the fewest passing yards per game since his 2014 rookie year and is on pace for a career-low in passing touchdowns.
The Saints are winning in spite of Carr, not because of him.
New York Giants: Daniel Jones: D-
Jones’ career year in 2022 led to a $160 million extension from the G-Men. Before his season-ending ACL tear, however, Danny Dimes had turned in by far the worst year of his career.
Jones lost five of six starts and had two touchdowns and six picks while taking 30 sacks. Second-stringer Tyrod Taylor gets a B for giving the offense some life despite limited help around him, and rookie Tommy DeVito gets a C+ for exceeding expectations as an undrafted rookie. That Week 11 performance and win in Washington was something else.
New York Jets: Aaron Rodgers: Incomplete
Rodgers unfortunately suffered a torn Achilles minutes into his Jets debut — attempting one pass before the devastating injury.
There’s still hope that he’ll perform a miracle recovery and return before the end of the season. For now, he gets an “I” for incomplete, because there’s nothing to grade him on.
Meanwhile, Zach Wilson gets an F because he was absolutely awful before mercilessly getting benched by Robert Saleh after Week 11.S even picks, nine fumbles and 38 sacks in 10 games. Good grief.
Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Hurts: A+
Hurts has been just as good — if not better — than last year. The reigning MVP runner-up is been slightly better as a passer this year, and the whole “tush push” thing has allowed him to rack up the individual TD scores. If the season ended today, Hurts would again be top-two in MVP voting
Pittsburgh Steelers: Kenny Pickett: C
By just about every metric, Pickett has been worse compared to last year. His struggles prompted Mike Tomlin to fire highly-scrutinized offensive coordinator Matt Canada after a Week 10 loss to Cleveland.
Pickett doesn’t grade lower because the Steelers have found ways to win. He’s still a kid, but improvement is a must if they’re to return to the postseason.
San Francisco 49ers: Brock Purdy: A
Turns out 2022 wasn’t beginner’s luck for Purdy, who has cemented himself as the franchise QB in San Fran. Through Week 11, Purdy led the NFL in completion percentage, passer rating, yards per attempt and yards per completion.
Oh, and his 49ers are again among the Super Bowl front-runners. As the cool people say, “The kid’s alright.”
Seattle Seahawks: Geno Smith: C
Smith was never gonna repeat last year’s career year at the age of 33, but we also didn’t expect him to regress this much.
Smith is still a better option than Drew Lock, no doubt. But his completion percentage has dropped by nearly five points, and he’s gone back to some of his old habits of careless interceptions.
Smith will tell ya, though, that winning cures most things.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Baker Mayfield: C+
The Bucs have quickly fallen to irrelevance without Tom Brady, but Mayfield’s play is not a reason why. He’s on pace for his best single-season completion percentage, has cut back on the turnovers and has an outside shot at setting a career high in TD passes.
Tennessee Titans: Will Levis: C+
Levis lit up the Falcons in his NFL debut, with four passing TDS in a 28-23 victory. His next three starts were mediocre at best, but we’re also keeping in mind that he’s a rookie on an awful Titans team with limited talent around him.
Ryan Tannehill gets an F for his awful production that forced Mike Vrabel to bench him after six games. A rather sad way for the 2019 Comeback Player of the Year to end his run in Music City.
Washington Commanders: Sam Howell: C+
Howell’s a tough case here. On one hand, he’s in contention for the passing yards and passing touchdowns crown. But he also leads the league in interceptions and took a ridiculous 51 sacks through Washington’s first 11 games.
Stats don’t lie, but results matter too. Howell’s gonna have to cut back on the turnovers down the stretch if he wants to assert himself as the starting QB in DC for 2024.
Who do you think has been the NFL’s best quarterback up to this point of the season?
