In the NFL, few things excite fans more than watching a first-year QB light it up from the get-go. While it marks the beginning of a successful career for some, other hot-shot rookie QBS wound up just experiencing beginner’s luck before disappearing into irrelevance.
You’ll be awfully familiar with some names on this list. Others? Not so much. Without further ado, let’s dive into the best NFL rookie QB season every year since 2000.
2000: Aaron Brooks
Tom Brady, of course, is the greatest QB to emerge from the 2000 draft. But the future GOAT only attempted three passes in his rookie year, so the nod here goes to Aaron Brooks — and by a country mile.
Brooks was the only rookie QB in 2000 to play at least six games – and to hit the 600-yard mark. Brooks went 3-and-2 as the New Orleans Saints’ starting QB, throwing for 1,514 yards and nine TDs against six interceptions.
2001: Chris Weinke
Drew Brees and Michael Vick both emerged as superstars from this 2001 draft class — but they saw minimal playing time as rookies. So Chris Weinke of all guys gets the nod here, simply by virtue of being the rookie QB who got the most playing time.
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The 2000 Heisman Trophy winner and Florida State star lost 14 of 15 starts for the Carolina Panthers in his rookie year. Don’t fault Weinke for the horrendous coaching staff and lackluster supporting cast he had to work with, though.
Weinke had 2,931 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 19 picks to go along with six rushing TDs.
2002: Joey Harrington
The 2002 rookie QB class was simply one of the worst in NFL history. David Carr and Joey Harrington went down as two of the all-time greatest draft busts — but again, someone had to qualify for this spot.
Carr and Harrington had similar stats — but Harrington was a tad better statistically despite playing two less games. He finished his rookie year with 2,294 yards, 12 touchdowns and 16 picks on a miserable Detroit team.
That counts for something.
2003: Byron Leftwich
Leftwich had a couple of good years as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ starter, but his rookie season was lackluster at best. He only makes this list because there was no other option for the ‘03 class.
Leftwich went 5-and-8 in games he started, completing 57.2 percent of pass attempts for 2,819 yards and 14 touchdowns against 16 interceptions.
2004: Ben Roethlisberger
The dream 2004 NFL QB draft class included Big Ben, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. The first two went on to win two Super Bowl rings apiece, and all three pieced together Hall of Fame-caliber resumes.
But it was Roethlisberger who had far-and-away the best rookie season of this ‘04 class. He won all 13 starts for the Steelers and paced them to football’s best record at 15-1. Roethlisberger completed 66.4 percent of pass attempts and tossed 17 touchdowns.
The Steelers went all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they were throttled by Tom Brady’s dynastic New England Patriots. Of course, the Steelers redeemed themselves by winning the Super Bowl the following year anyway.
2005: Kyle Orton
Chicago Bears’ starting QB Rex Grossman missed most of the regular season recovering from a broken ankle, forcing Lovie Smith and company to start Kyle Orton.
The 106th overall pick out of Purdue won 10 of 15 starts, but he barely completed more than half his pass attempts for 1,869 yards, nine touchdowns and 13 picks. Orton was benched in favor of Grossman for the Bears’ Divisional Round game against Carolina — a 29-21 loss.
2006: Vince Young
Well, Young at least looked like a future superstar and not a draft bust in his rookie season…
The Texas Longhorns product won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after winning eight of his 13 starts with the Tennessee Titans. Though he had just 12 passing TDs against 13 interceptions, Young dazzled as a rusher with 552 yards and seven touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl nod.
2007: Trent Edwards
As legendary as the 2007 NFL Draft class was, it was certainly a disaster for QBs. I mean, undrafted product Matt Moore turned out to be the best quarterback of the ‘07 class.
Ex-Buffalo Bill Trent Edwards gets the nod here because he was the only rookie QB that got considerable playing time.
On a lousy Bills’ squad, Edwards still managed to win five of nine starts as a rookie — tossing
1,630 yards and seven touchdowns against eight picks.
2008: Matt Ryan
The Boston College product came completely as advertised for the Atlanta Falcons — who took Matty Ice third overall in 2008.
Ryan led Atlanta to an 11-win season in his rookie year, throwing for 3,440 yards and 16 touchdowns against 11 interceptions en route to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Needless to say, a very stellar start for a man who wound up becoming the greatest QB in franchise history.
2009: Mark Sanchez
Make no mistake, Sanchez’s rookie stats were awful — but he found a way to win. And that’s why he barely gets the nod over first overall pick Matthew Stafford.
Sanchez had 2,444 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and 20 picks in his rookie year for the Jets. But it was enough to finish with a winning record and qualify for the postseason. And to Sanchez’s credit, he was much better in the postseason with 539 passing yards, four touchdowns and two picks.
Sanchez led the Jets to upsets over Carson Palmer’s Cincinnati Bengals and Philip Rivers’ San Diego Chargers in the postseason before bowing out to Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game.
2010: Sam Bradford
Bradford went down as a mega bust in Rams land — but you wouldn’t have thought it back in 2010 following his superb rookie campaign.
Bradford won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after throwing for 3,512 yards and 18 touchdowns and 15 picks. His Rams were in contention for the NFC West but fell to the Seahawks in the win-or-go-home contest in Week 17.
2011: Cam Newton
It certainly didn’t take “Super Cam” long to inject new energy into the Panthers’ franchise. The first overall pick of 2011 was a star from the get-go, tossing what turned out to be a career-high 4,051 passing yards and 17 touchdowns.
Newton was just as scary as a runner, finishing with 706 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He finished with 4,784 total yards — a rookie single-season record that still stands today
2012: Robert Griffin III
Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck also garnered consideration here, but it was tough to go against the actual recipient of the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Yes, RG3’s career was sadly derailed by injuries. But as Washington’s rookie QB in 2012, he was truly a sight to behold: A 65.6 completion percentage, 3,200 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions, 815 rushing yards and seven rushing scores.
And for good measure, RG3 led Washington to its first division crown since 1999. Sadly, this would be peak RG3 because of mounting injuries and gross mismanagement of his health by the dysfunctional organization.
2013: Geno Smith
Everyone knew heading into this year’s draft class that it simply was not the year for quarterbacks. So credit to QB Geno Smith for making this class look semi-respectable in his rookie year.
Smith won the starting nods over Mark Sanchez in 2013 and somehow led a talent-less Jets team to eight wins in his rookie year. Smith threw for 3,046 yards, 12 touchdowns and 21 picks to go along with 366 rushing yards and six rushing scores.
Incredibly, Smith’s rookie year included wins over Tom Brady’s Patriots, Drew Brees’ Saints and Matt Ryan’s Falcons.
2014: Derek Carr
Even on a miserable Raiders team in his rookie year, Carr put together some real-solid numbers that marked the beginning of a mostly-solid nine-year run as the Black and Silver’s franchise player.
Carr threw for 3,270 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on a three-win Raiders team in his rookie year. Two years later, he guided them to their first postseason appearance in 14 years.
2015: Jameis Winston
Like Austin Powers, “Famous Jameis” loves to live dangerously. In Winston’s case, he’s the ultimate all-or-nothing QB. So of course he racked up some solid passing numbers as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ starting signal-caller in 2015.
That year, Winston threw for 4,042 yards, 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He earned his lone career Pro Bowl nod, and was just the third rookie QB to throw for 4K yards at the time.
2016: Dak Prescott
Prescott was thrust into the starting role after Tony Romo suffered a compression fracture in his back during a preseason game — and the Dallas Cowboys would never look back.
Prescott pieced together an MVP-like year for Big D, completing 67.8 percent of his pass attempts for 3,667 yards and 23 touchdowns against only four interceptions to go along with six rushing scores.
That was enough for Dallas to finish as the NFC’s top seed with a 13-3 record. Prescott’s dream rookie season ended with a heartbreaking last-second loss to Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round, but not before he replaced Romo and asserted himself as the new QB1 in Dallas.
2017: Deshaun Watson
DeShone Kizer of all people on the 0-and-16 Browns led all rookies in passing yards this year. Patrick Mahomes served as a backup to Alex Smith in his rookie year, and Mitch Trubisky – ahem — did not come as advertised.
So allow us to actually go with then-Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson year. Yes, a torn ACL limited him to seven games as a rookie, but the stats don’t lie: 1,699 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 269 rushing yards and two rushing scores.
Watson had Houston in playoff contention before his season-ending injury. He also went head-to-head with Tom Brady and Russell Wilson in thrilling shootouts that only ended in losses because the Texans’ D blew it at the very end of both games.
Despite being limited to seven games, Watson’s 19 TD passes were tops for all rookie QBs in 2017.
2018: Baker Mayfield
The first overall pick of 2018 backed up Tyrod Taylor for his first two games before having to relieve the injured journeyman in Week 3. There, Mayfield led the Browns to a thrilling comeback win over the New York Jets.
It was the start of Mayfield’s thrilling rookie year in The Land. He tossed a then-rookie QB record 27 touchdown passes as well as 3,725 passing yards in just 13 and a half games.
Hard to believe that Mayfield wound up being the best rookie QB that year over Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, both of whom quickly established themselves as superstars. Mayfield, meanwhile, only lasted four years in Cleveland before getting the boot.
2019: Kyler Murray
The first overall pick of his class didn’t exactly look like your typical rookie in his first NFL season. Murray looked like a seasoned pro, with a 64.4 completion percentage for 3,722 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.
On the ground, the eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year award-winner had 544 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Let’s also give an honorable mention to Gardner Minshew while we’re at it. He turned out to be more than just a guy with a slick mustache.
2020: Justin Herbert
Statistically speaking, Herbert’s 2020 rookie year is the best ever for a QB. He had 396 completions and 31 passing touchdowns — all rookie records.
He finished with 4,336 passing yards — trailing only Andrew Luck’s 4,374 for the most ever. The catch? Luck played 16 games. Herbert played 165. And Luck attempted 32 more passes…so yeah.
A few more extra pass attempts, and Herbert would have easily broken Luck’s record as well. To us, there’s no doubt that the former was the better all-around rookie, though.
2021: Mac Jones
Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance and Justin Fields were all taken before Jones – yet it was the Alabama product — the fifth QB taken — who had the best rookie season of this bunch.
Jones completed 67.6 percent of pass attempts for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns against 13 picks — leading New England to 10 wins and a return to the postseason. He was second in OROY voting, behind only Ja’Marr Chase.
Unfortunately, Jones’ career in New England quickly crumbled after his impressive rookie year. Well, Pats Nation will always have 2021 MJ!
2022: Brock Purdy
The 2022 Mr. Irrelevant was none other than the 49ers’ superstar QB. Purdy was the final pick of 2022 by the 49ers at No. 262 overall — joining a crowded depth chart with Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
When both suffered season-ending injuries, Purdy was pushed into the starting job. All he did was win all five starts and toss 13 touchdowns against four picks — leading San Fran to its second straight NFC title game.
Sadly, Purdy suffered a torn UCL in the championship game — and the 49ers stood no chance against the Eagles. Proving it wasn’t beginner’s luck, though, Purdy returned with a vengeance in 2023 and asserted himself as the franchise signal-caller on the west coast.
So much for being “Irrelevant.”
2023: C.J. Stroud
Most first-year QBs struggled in 2023 — but not CJ Stroud. Oh no, the No. 2 overall pick of the Texans played like an established and multi-time MVP winner from day one.
In a Week 9 win against Tampa, he threw for a rookie record 470 passing yards. Also, he set a record for most pass attempts without an interception to begin a career with 191. According to our calculations, that’s ridiculously good stuff.
Who do you think had the best rookie quarterback season in NFL history?
