I wanted to rank every starting QB for the 2023 season. Then I realized that would be impossible, and did not align with the spirit of the reasoning for the post. So I tiered them in the following tiers: Literally What, Leftovers + Week 18, Got Benched - Should not start ever, Made the Best Out of It, Could Start but Ideally No, Limited - Liked what I saw, Disappointment, Next Best, and The Best.
I did not rank the quarterbacks in the individual tiers so the order within is completely random. Without further ado: my final 2023 NFL quarterback tiers.
"Literally What": Couldn't Put Them in Any Other Tier
Bryce Young: Bryce Young came into a less than ideal situation in Carolina, dealt with poor ownership, and a lack of attention from his head coach. However, these challenges cannot, and should not, justify Bryce Young's poor performance as a rookie. I believe that his career can only go up from here, and the negative dialogue around will only increase if his team underperforms. Bryce is not even close to a complete bust, but he needs to sharpen up on most of his tools coming into his sophomore year.
Aaron Rodgers: We saw not even a full drive from Aaron Rodgers in 2023. What I do know is that if Aaron wants to return to MVP form, the Jets need to surround him with actual NFL starters and not just his washed friends.
Deshaun Watson: Deshaun and the Browns are an interesting case study. They're obviously locked into his contract and he so far has not played up to that contract. However, his team was successful when he was the starter (5-1) this season, granted not completely due to his play but they had success with him. They also had success without him. Deshaun Watson was traded for with the expectation that he would perform as a top 5 quarterback, he was paid with the expectation that he would perform as a top 5 quarterback, and so far he has been maybe average. His contract situation plays a part into my perception of him and his standing in this list.
"Leftovers + Week 18": Say One Nice Thing Challenge
Sam Darnold: Career backup in a good way.
Jeff Driskel: Career backup in a good way.
Clayton Tune: May have potential.
Easton Stick: NDSU.
Blaine Gabbert: Mahomes' backup.
C.J. Beathard: Beat the Panthers.
Andy Dalton: Retirement is going to be nice.
Brett Rypien: Career backup.
Carson Wentz: You have a ring.
Tyler Huntley: Pro Bowler and you are actually good.
Case Keenum: Stefon Diggs got you paid.
Jaren Hall: BYU.
Nick Mullens: Career backup.
"It was Fun, but No.": Interesting Experiments. No.
Jarrett Stidham: Broncos switched to him after benching Russ. He is bad.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson: Same player as PJ Walker. Not gonna work.
P.J. Walker: Same player as DTR. Not gonna work.
Tommy DeVito: Mamma mia! Fun but not a serious NFL quarterback. Good clubhouse guy though I'd keep him around.
Daniel Jones: Experiment officially over.
Tim Boyle: Aaron Rodgers' friend. He is bad.
Bailey Zappe: Loved Zappe coming into the NFL. I think under a different system / atmosphere he could work but I have not seen anything from him that would make me strong-willed in that opinion.
Jimmy Garoppolo: Shanahan merchant. He is the flooriest "floor QB" I think of all time.
Aidan O'Connell: Big 10 legend AOC. Raiders will quickly move elsewhere.
Mason Rudolph: Carried by Tomlin and a pretty good defense. Could be a career backup but in a good way.
"Got Benched. Should not Start Ever": Self Explanatory.
Joshua Dobbs: He was fun when teams had no tape and he was a threat on the ground. Once teams got tape on him, well he got benched.
Taylor Heinicke: Good clubhouse guy.
Desmond Ridder: BAD. Not even backup level just bad.
Zach Wilson: 2021 BYU Pro Day merchant.
Trevor Siemian: Last Broncos QB to lead them to a winning record.
Mac Jones: Would be good on 49ers.
Mitchell Trubisky: Would be bad on 49ers. (That is saying a lot).
"Made the Best out of It": Title
Jake Browning: Legitimately played well. Kept the Bengals in the race when everyone counted them out. Got himself paid.
Joe Flacco: Legitimately played very well. One last ride for Flacco. Happy for him.
Gardner Minshew II: Thrust into another less-than-ideal situation with AR15 going down. Kept Colts competitive. Mustache.
Tyrod Taylor: One of the best 32 in my opinion. Should be Giants' starter.
Drew Lock: Played well when he needed to. Expiring contract so he got himself paid.
Tyson Bagent: Tyson Bagent's starts did not exist but he was ok.
"Could Start but Ideally No": Analysis Starts Here
Russell Wilson: Russ cannot operate an offense properly. He cannot stay in the pocket without dropping his eyes, which in turn makes his play limited to check downs or deep shots. Operating an offense with a quarterback like Russ is almost impossible, and if Sean Payton cannot do it I am unsure if anyone can.
Baker Mayfield: Baker played 2023 on a contract year. Led his team to a divisional title and a home playoff victory. He is a servicable starter and someone will pay him for his efforts. I do not think it should be the Bucs unless it is an extremely team-friendly deal. He needs GREAT receivers. Mike Evans is one of the safest targets of all time, and unless you pair Baker with someone as big and sure as Evans, he will not live up to his 2023 season.
Sam Howell: Although he did get benched, I do think he could be a starter. His main issue is dealing with pressure as he was the most sacked quarterback in the league this season. I think he can be a transitional starter for a team that could compete.
Derek Carr: Carr is at the end of his journey. Not being able to take the Saints to the playoffs is honestly an ambarassment. I am not sure under what situation you would want him as a starter would be, but for me he would ideally not start.
Kenny Pickett: Kenny was never going to be THAT guy. The problem with Pickett is that he is not even A guy. He is just there. I think his age and experience could lead to a team convincing themselves that he could turn it around, but for me, no.
Ryan Tannehill: He either starts for the Falcons or for no one. He has an extremely limited playstyle and his strengths stopped being useful to the Titans.
"Limited. Liked what I Saw": Did Not Play the Whole Season and that is OK
Kirk Cousins: Achilles injury for Kirk ended his season early (and ultimately most likely ended his career in Minnesota). Coming into a contract year, he will get paid to finish out his career. Achilles injuries for QBs like Kirk are not detremental, and I think he will get a shot on a contending team.
Justin Fields: I do not think he could have played into being the Bears 2024 starting QB. However, he played himself into being a sure-bet "best 32" QBs in the league. Hopefully he will get traded to a good situation and continue his career.
Kyler Murray: Came back from an ACL and he looked like he has not missed a step. Get him weapons and a more stable offensive line and I like Kyler in 2024.
Anthony Richardson: You always hate to see injuries on young mobile quarterbacks, but Richardson showed that he is more than just his mobility. Especially with the Colts supporting staff, I like him in the 2024 season.
Will Levis: Is he limited? Yes. Is he fun? Also yes. I saw enough out of Will Levis to convince myself he will be a good starter, but in order for him to become that he needs to tune some of his tendencies. He sometimes plays like Josh Allen while not having Josh Allen like skills.
"Disappointments"
Trevor Lawrence: Injuries. This is Trevor's 3rd year in the league and in each year he has disappointed. I am willing to forgoe his rookie campaign and chalk up the first half of his sophomore season to growing pains / adjustments to the Doug P system, but for me he had no excuses to underperform in 2023. The Jaguars made an effort to surround him with playmakers and I still left the 2023 season wanting more from the #1 overall pick. The end of season injuries and overall poor play changed Trevor's narrative from "a 2nd half type QB" to "?????". I mean seriously, what is the narrative around Trevor. Younger and less experienced QBs played better than him with less around them. 2024 is a make or break season for me with Trevor.
Patrick Mahomes: Something looked off with Mahomes. I understand he had limited tools to work with, but are we going to pretend that every wide receiver room Mahomes has worked with has been full of all pros? His decision making at times was questionable, he was less of a threat outside of the pocket, and overall he seemed like HE THOUGHT he was always playing from behind. Mahomes' biggest strength is how he can hurt you even when you spend weeks gameplanning against him. As I watched their games in real time and watched film after-the-fact, I did not see a QB that was that large of a threat.
Tua Tagovailoa: Tua came into this league with limitations. He ends his 4th year in the league with limitations. The Dolphins offense is the 1st offense in the NFL in terms of how much they help their QB. The inherent problems with those offenses is that at some point, teams will make your QB beat them. Tua is not a QB that can threaten and beat an opposing defense when everything else around him is not working. That issue comes from the fact that Tua himself rarely threatens the limits of his own offense. Watch the film and see how often Tua takes the easy route, how often Tua is perfect on HIS timing but not the timing of the play. Tua needs to understand that HE has to fix the system when it is not working. You cannot rely on Tyreek Hill and Devon Achane to bail you out of a poor decision. I would not pay Tua.
Geno Smith: Coming off a season where we saw Geno get legitimate MVP discussion, he fell off a bit. I still believe he is a servicable quarterback, but his bread and butter of the 2022 season did not meet the same results in 2023. I do not think he is the problem with the Seahawks, nor do I think they should move on from him. But, his play in the middle of the season is a big reason why the Seahawks were not playing in the post season.
"Next-Up": Any of these Guys Could be 6th Best
Jordan Love: We finally got to see the Jordan Love season, and it exceeded every expectation. Watching film from Jordan's early 2023 tape compared to his late 2023 tape is astounding. I saw a quarterback who evolved to become a more confident, more aware, and overall more focused player than his early season self. He really learned to trust the offense in making the easy plays and learned to trust his arm in making the more difficult throws. He progressed in terms of reading the field and working through his progressions, he got more patient, and he got more comfortable moving withing the pocket. These are all aspects of a quarterback's game that you are woried about with a young player and throughout 2023 Jordan showed that he has eclipsed all of the doubts. My 2024 NFL MVP.
Brock Purdy: Brock often gets the short end of the stick in these conversations, with most citing his lack of physical talent or arm strength as a reason to rate him lower than most. However, pysical talent and arm strength are not required for this offense; anticipation, accuracy, and pocket awareness are and Brock excels at each of those qualities. It is easy to look at the weapons around Brock and sum his game up to being a product of the system, a product of the All-Pros around him. It is much harder to watch film and realize how Brock helps this offense. He is constantly throwing receivers open. He throws with anticipation. He knows when to climb a pocket versus abandoning it. And when he does abandon it he has enough field awareness to make a play happen down field. He is not a perfect quarterback, but he is running that offense bette than anyone I have ever seen. Which says a lot.
Jalen Hurts: Sirianni scheme routes to the middle of the field challenge impossible. Some may look at Jalen's 2023 season and want to put him in a tier below. I challenge you to watch that he has been working with on offense. This Eagle's "scheme" is atrotious. Now, can Jalen be better? Of course. I think he missed some reads at times and often put the ball in interesting spots. However, his talent is still there. His arm strength is still there. His accuracy is still there. And his ground threat will always be there. Right now he is the captain of a dingy. Get this man a warship and you'll see him turn it around.
Justin Herbert: Justin Herbert good Brandon Staley bad. There really is not much to say about Herbert's 2023 season. He performed as expected for the games he was healthy for, his offense failed him numerous times, his defense failed him every time. Everything that Justin can more or les control, is very good. He just needs maybe two more playmakers on offense and a defense that is not paper-thin.
Joe Burrow: Similar analysis to Herbert. Burrow had another Burrow season. He started this season off to a slow start; dealing with injuries sustained in OTAs and eventually sustaining a season-ending injury. From what I saw in 2023, Burrow looked like he has looked throughout his career. I trust him to come back healthy in 2024.
Jared Goff: Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins occupy the same space in my mind. I am honestly not really sure why they're good, but they are. Jared operates this offense in an extremely effective manner. After hitting a midseason wall in 2023 where he started to turn the ball over a bit more, he returned back to his old ways of ball security and poise in the pocket. The emergence of Sam LaPorta has helped his progressions out a lot, as he is much more willing to go to his TE when the longer developing routes are not there.
"The Best": Top 5 Quarterback Seasons (Remember, in no particular order).
Lamar Jackson: What is there even left to say about Lamar? He has progressed in almost every aspect of his game, turning himself from a liability in the pocket to a quarterback that in some cases you would rather see on the run. His accuracy, anticipation, and understanding of his offense have all only increased since coming into the league. He will most likely be this season's MVP and for good reason. You watch tape on Lamar and you see a quarterback that is able to threaten every player on the defensive side of the ball. A player that REQUIRES attention from all 22 eyes on the defense, and a player that can easily manipulate those eyes in order to make space for himself or for his targets. Even though Lamar can escape pockets like it is nobody's business, one of his biggest strengths is his ability to manuever around a pocket. He is able to create so much more time for himself and his receivers because of his awareness in the pocket.
Josh Allen: Another quarterback where his analysis should be left unsaid. Josh is similar to Lamar where he requires all 22 eyes on him. His big build and tough style of running provides the Bills offense with a lot of avenues for success and his arm strength more than opens the field up for his receivers. His ability to avoid sacks and to shrug off additional pressure in the pocket is what makes him just that much more valuable to his offense.
Dak Prescott: Dak improved his game in every aspect that is unseen from statistics. He got better and processing the routes, he got better at anticipating his receivers, and he got better moving within the pocket. His tenacity, arm talent, and play making ability are all still present which is why he impressed me so much in how he improved his intangibles.
C.J. Stroud: Stroud is already a top 10 quarterback and he is only in his rookie season. Stroud's biggest strength is his arm talent, but his accuracy and anticipation are key elements of his arm that perfectly work off of his natural strength. His ability to see a field at such a young age is incredibly impressive. He needs to cut down on his risky throws, but that will inevitably work itself out in his sophomore season.
Matthew Stafford: Stafford with another masterpiece of a season. His ability to sense open space and where his receivers will be is world class. Constantly throwing his guys open, throwing to the correct body position and angle. Stafford truly does it all.
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