NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 6: The Best Five And Worst Five Through Five Weeks

Another week of the NFL season has come and gone, and there is major movement in the top and bottom quarterbacks in the league.

Another week of the NFL season has come and gone, and there is major movement in the top and bottom quarterbacks in the league.

28. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Season Stats: 92/144, 63.9%, 750 yds, 5 TD, 4 INT

Bryce Young had the best outing of his NFL career on Sunday, throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns while only taking one sack against the Detroit Lions in the team’s 42-24 loss. But, two interceptions do spoil the statline a bit.

Still, for me, this was progress from the 2023 first-overall-pick. Is he lighting the world on fire like fellow rookie CJ Stroud down in Houston? No. But, the signs are there for improvement in what is overall a less-than-ideal development situation in Carolina.

29. Zach Wilson, New York Jets

Season Stats: 91/149 61.1%, 911 yds, 4 TD 5 INT

For the second week in a row, Zach Wilson showed signs of improvement, even if they were baby steps. His 19/26 for 199 yds and an interception performance won’t jump off the stat sheet as anything earth-shattering. And, it wasn’t. But, it wasn’t the shockingly awful football we’ve become accustomed to seeing from Wilson.

Actually, at this point, I think the New York Jets need to start trusting Wilson a little more and letting him attack down the field. This season is only going somewhere if he can do that. Why not find out now instead of later in the season when a move can’t be made to save the season. I’m skeptical he can attack down the field efficiently, but there’s no downside in finding out.

30. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers

Season Stats: 95/159, 59.7%, 1,027 yds, 5 TD 4 INT

Yes, Kenny Pickett did lead an excellent go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter to give the Steelers the lead over the Ravens late in the game, and made a great throw to George Pickens for the game-winning touchdown on that drive. No, he is not a starting-caliber quarterback, and for the vast majority of the game he was absolutely terrible. Consider that his QBR, which heavily rewards quarterbacks for clutch plays and drives, was just 43.2 out of 100 despite the game-winning drive.

Every win by a Steelers team that has no chance of competing for a Super Bowl any time soon with Pickett at the helm just moves them further and further away from landing the signal-caller Pittsburgh Steelers fans and that excellent defense deserve.

31. Mac Jones, New England Patriots

Season Stats: 105/168, 62.5% 1,008 yds, 5 TD, 6 INT

Mac Jones couldn’t get the benefit of the doubt any longer, and he’s jumped all the way from unranked to nearly the back of the pack following two straight weeks in which Bill Belichick elected to let backup Bailey Zappe finish the game.

It’s a stunning fall for Mac Jones, who looked solid the first three weeks of the season as the Patriots played two competitive games against powerhouses in Miami and Philadelphia and beat the Jets. But, the last two weeks have been awful, as he’s a combined 24-43 for 260 yards and no touchdowns with four interceptions. If you were a Mac Jones detractor during the draft process, then you may have been right-on when you said that Jones simply doesn’t have enough good traits to be a good NFL starting quarterback. Nothing is elite, and right now, nothing is even league average for a guy suddenly only completing 62.5% of his passes with no ability to create plays himself.

And, he takes a hit due to his camp going straight to the media after the game to blame two games in which his QBR’s were 7 and 14 on poor weapons. That’s not how quarterbacks act, and that will cost you points in these rankings.

32. Daniel Jones, New York Giants

Season Stats: 104/151 68.9%, 884 yds, 2 TD, 6 INT

For the second week in a row Daniel Jones is on the bottom of the rankings. Yes, the offensive line is historically bad. No, the weapons aren’t good. But, Daniel Jones is making it all much worse than it should be due to his inability to get the Giants in the right protections and concepts pre-snap, and his ability to adjust to what’s happening after the snap.

He’s been sacked sixteen times the last two weeks, including six in his 14-20 for 119 yards performance against the Miami Dolphins that saw him left with an injury. The offensive line is at fault, but he has absolutely no feel either pre-snap or during the play of where the pressure is coming from and how to effectively move in the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield to make plays. And, when he does have time to throw, he’s simply not good enough in terms of ball placement to put throws in places where his receivers can gain yards after the catch.

Daniel Jones is not as bad of a player as he’s shown so far. We saw that in the second half of the Cardinals game, where he led the Giants back from a huge deficit to a dramatic win. But, right now, he is playing like the worst quarterback in the NFL.

5. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Season Stats: 103/145, 71.0%, 1,106 yds, 7 TD 1 INT

Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers were on a bye in week five, and it came at a good time. With star wideout Mike Williams having gone down with a season-ending injury in week 3, it provided the perfect opportunity for Herbert to develop chemistry with rookie first-round pick Quentin Johnston. That connection will be key for the Chargers the rest of the way.

As long as Herbert continues his elite play that he’s shown so far this season and throughout much of his NFL career, expect him to continue to show up in these rankings.

4. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

Season Stats: 98/136, 72.1%, 1,271 yds, 9 TD, 0 INT

Many people who love analyzing quarterback play, including myself, can often get caught up in whether a quarterback has “all the tools”. We want to see a quarterback be able to throw the whole route tree with zip and accuracy, be able to create off-schedule, and fit balls into incredibly tight windows. Oftentimes, we overlook a very simple question: Can the player in question get the ball where it needs to go on time and accurately, over and over again?

And, right now, no one in the National Football League is getting the ball where it needs to be, on time and accurately, over and over again, better than Brock Purdy is. Yes, he has the best situation around him in all of football, but playing the position at the level he’s playing at is simply not as easy as he’s making it look.

For a guy that just 18 months ago was the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, he’s in complete command of the 49ers offense at a level that no quarterback that has ever played for Kyle Shanahan has been. Even Matt Ryan, who won an MVP and came within a Tom Brady miracle of winning the Super Bowl with Shanahan as his offensive coordinator didn’t make it look easy.

That was on display in a big way in Sunday night’s massive matchup against the Dallas Cowboys and their feared defense. Brock Purdy ripped them to shreds with the efficiency of a Swiss watch. He was 17/24 for 252 yards and four touchdowns, including some absolute strikes in the red zone to George Kittle. Watching him orchestrate pre-snap is a real treat. In a league where quarterbacks all around the league are frequently screwing up the protection calls, he seemingly never gets it wrong. And, once the protection is set, he simply takes what the defense gives him, every time.

People are going to want to make Tom Brady comparisons at the respective stages of their career. That’s a bridge too far for me, as Brady is the best quarterback the league has ever seen. But, this skeptic has been convinced that Brock Purdy is more than just a plug-and-play guy in a great system.

3. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Season Stats: 119/166, 71.7%, 11 TD, 5 INT

Tua Tagovailoa rebounded from the Bills bottling up the Dolphins likely as well as anyone will all year in a 48-20 win in a big way on Sunday. He gashed the Giants defense for 308 yards and two touchdowns, as he and Tyreek Hill continue to be the best quarterback-wide receiver combo in the league. The two interceptions were a blemish on the scorecard, but he’s orchestrating the offense at such a high level that most weeks they’re going to be able to get away with a turnover or two.

Just as encouraging as his play is the noticeable change in the way he’s protecting himself from hits. After multiple head injuries last year, there were questions about him potentially walking away from football altogether to preserve his long term health. He’s getting the ball out much quicker this year and when he does get hit, is falling with good technique to protect his head from bouncing off the turf. As long as he stays healthy, he will be in the MVP race this year.

2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Season Stats: 128/175, 71.3%, 1,407 yds, 11 TD, 5 INT

Yes, the Buffalo Bills did suffer a loss over the weekend to the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, Josh Allen looked every bit the same guy that shot to the top of these rankings last week. Don’t let the interception in the stat line on a jump ball to Stefon Diggs fool you. He’s on top of his game right now.

Josh Allen has struck the right balance between playing within the system and creating out of the system following week one’s disaster against the New York Jets. Keeping that equilibrium is always the key for Josh Allen, as is keeping Diggs happy. Keeping him happy may actually be the harder of the two tasks.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Season Stats: 123/184, 66.8%, 1,287 yds, 10 TD, 4 INT

The best player in football returns to the top of this list after an outstanding performance on the road in Minnesota. Mahomes went 31/41 for 281 yards and two touchdowns while not turning the ball over. That he’s doing this with Travis Kelce and a ragtag group of wide receivers compared to the other guys on this list makes this even more impressive.

Head coach and offensive genius Andy Reid truly has a coach on the field with Mahomes, who runs that west coast scheme to perfection. That was on display on Sunday. In a game where the Vikings did a nice job stopping the Chiefs’ running game and were forcing Kansas City to dink and dunk their way down the field, Patrick Mahomes did just that.

To me, that’s the most underrated part of Patrick Mahomes’ game. The guy can do things throwing a football that nobody else on the planet can do. And yet, he is perfectly content beating defenses with death by a thousand cuts if that’s what they give him.