QB Tier Rankings

[RazorStar 4,025]

I figured I may as well do one of these before the season starts proper. But first, I’ll explain what each of my tiers means, just for argument’s sake. The general rule is that there is a bigger gap between tiers than there is within them, but some players are hard placements to make so you know, more art than science.

 

Tier 1: Hall of Fame Caliber. That’s not to say that other QB’s that appear on this list won’t go into the hall, just that with the way these guys are playing right now, there is no denying that they will be in Canton some day. These guys are clearly the best in the league.

 

Tier 2: Franchise QB. These are guys you want heading up your franchise. No QB is without flaws, but these players minimize their weaknesses, maximize their strengths, and get the best out of their supporting casts. These players elevate their teams and can put games on their shoulders if the situation calls for it.

 

Tier 3: Dependable Starter. You’re happy to have these players at your QB position, and you know you have a shot as long you have these guys heading up your offense. If you have a QB in this tier, you can at least give your team a shot at winning the super bowl without the need of a transcendent defense and/or offensive supporting cast.

 

Tier 4: Average Starter. The middle of the road. The kind of QB that is hard to find and even harder to find a suitable replacement. This is also the home of QB’s with incredible highs and incredible lows, who can’t seem to find that balance when it matters. Their jobs are rarely in jeopardy, but you often hear talk of replacements whispered or screamed in the media.

 

Tier 5: Journeymen and Mediocrity. These are the folks that tend to straggle along, or are young QB’s who can’t or haven’t yet gotten over the hump. Players like these can be found in any age, in any era, and no team wants anything to do with them. But they find a way to survive.

 

Tier 6: Low Grade Starters. Players like this are usually mired in QB competitions, or end up being the best of a bad situation. This is my default tier for highly drafted rookies, so if you don’t like it, I want evidence to prove me wrong before I change my mind.

 

Tier 7: Should be Backups. Utter and complete trash. Your Jimmy Clausen's and Brandon Weeden's of the world end up here. Players here usually only tend to play due to injury, and if you’re starting a guy in this tier, abandon all hope for a good season, and hope to tank to a high draft pick.

 

Tier 1:

1. Drew Brees

2. Aaron Rodgers

3. Tom Brady

 

I don’t care what your order is, you probably should have these three guys on the top in some order. Brady’s keen intellect has made the Patriots the super bowl favourite practically every year since 2007, Aaron Rodgers is the most dynamic player in the league and turns the Packers from a bottom feeder into a consistent playoff contender by his play alone. Lastly Drew Brees is the warlord of offenses, combining precision footwork with perfect timing to pick apart even the stoutest of defenses. These guys are the best the league has to offer, and a clear dividing line for the rest of the best.

 

Tier 2:

4. Russell Wilson

5. Matt Ryan

6. Ben Roethlisberger

 

Sometimes the second tier is a lot larger, but as I see it right now, I only have three players in which I can definitely say yes to. There are some maybes further down, but I have zero qualms with any of these three guys being called franchise QB’s, and meeting the criteria of my second tier. Each of these guys has taken their team to the biggest stage, and outside of the greatest comeback in super bowl history, all of them have won a championship. These guys have done it with weapons, done it without weapons, put on clinics few could hope to match, and play their best football each and every week.

 

It’ll be interesting to see how Wilson handles Seattle’s continuous decline, but as long as he’s playing healthy, Seattle has a chance in every game they play. Roethlisberger is on a slight decline, a few years ago I’d have said he’d be in the very top tier, but he’s still an incredible QB even as age catches up with him. Lastly Matt Ryan is just mister consistent, accurate with ball placement, great before the snap, and always knows where to find his second and third options.

 

Tier 3:

7. Matt Stafford

8. Carson Wentz

9. Kirk Cousins

10. Alex Smith

11. Philip Rivers

12. Jared Goff

 

This is probably the tier where things start getting really divisive. So let’s take it from the top. Matt Stafford is right on the edge of the second tier, and I think the big thing holding him back is a lack of postseason success. It’s hard to put that alone on his back, considering there have been a lot of strange circumstances in his career, and he’s probably out and out the unluckiest QB in the league right now when it comes to terrible calls. He is pretty clearly everything the Lions wanted and needed from a QB, they just haven’t done enough to get him over the hump.

 

Wentz is the next guy up and this is another case of feeling premature, but when you watch him play, he just has it from the mental and physical point of view, and he still has a lot of room to grow. We’re looking at the next potential great in this league, the question is can he live up to said potential? Following him is the Vikings new Golden Boy, who finally gets a chance to play with some real receivers. Cousins is deceptively good, and has figured out how to maximize his strengths. On a team with some real talent, it’ll be exciting to see what he can do.

 

And I’ve got his Redskins replacement right after. I think it was a genius move for the Skins to lock up Alex Smith, he’s been ol reliable ever since Jim Harbaugh showed him the ropes. He will rarely wow you with his numbers, but the dude is intelligent, finds his best options, and is a threat to scramble for first downs on any situation. He had an MVP caliber year last season, but he just can’t shake the game manager label that’s been stapled to his hind quarters.

 

Philip Rivers has been a great QB in this league for years, but his game is clearly diminishing with age, as he’s been more prone to turnovers as of late. He’s still an incredible force to be reckoned with, but he has more lapses as time goes on, and this might be his last year at this level. His peers in his draft class are declining as well, so it’s not like he’s alone in that regard. The last guy on my list may be premature as well, but I think having Sean McVay as his offensive guru has done a lot for his development, so I’ll tentatively put him here as we watch his development continue in his third year.

 

Tier 4:

 

13. Cam Newton

14. Marcus Mariota

15. Derek Carr

16. Jimmy Garoppolo

17. Andy Dalton

18. Ryan Tannehill

19. Sam Bradford

20. Andrew Luck*

 

So this is your average starter in the league. Guys who you have a hard time replacing, or in some cases, are so wildly inconsistent that they go from MVP caliber players to Brett Hundley in the blink of an eye. So a lot of these names are familiar for those reasons, however I’ve got Jimmy G right in the middle of this pack. This is just based on what I’ve seen from him so far, the record is a little deceptive as there just isn’t a lot of tape on him, and this is the first season he’s going into the field as the expected starter, and that can be a large change for a lot of young QB’s. I like what he can do, but I want to temper my expectations. Andy Dalton is flat out the fodder line for this league, and Andrew Luck is just a giant ass question mark. He’s super inconsistent, and he’s coming off an injury that kept him out for over a year. I don’t think he’ll ever be the guy his potential said he’d be, but he might graduate to dependable one day.

 

Tier 5:

21. Case Keenum

22. DeShaun Watson

23. Jameis Winston

24. Blake Bortles

25. Josh McCown

26. Tyrod Taylor

27. Teddy Bridgewater

28. Dak Prescott

29. Eli Manning

 

Another tier where my previous descriptor does a lot of work for explaining what I think of these guys. Keenum had a good season last year and is set to grow from there, however it’s hard to tell whether that’s the real Keenum or not. If he continues to play like he did in minnesota, he could jump all the way to the third tier, or possibly the second. DeShaun has a ton of potential, but I’m not as impressed as so many others are, because a lot of his numbers were garbage time pump ups. He’s still got a lot to work on with his game. The other name of interest here is Teddy Bridgewater, and this is more me hoping he’ll get his game back and that his career isn’t immediately over.

 

Tier 6:

30. Jacoby Brissett

31. Ryan Fitzpatrick

32. Joe Flacco

33. Josh Rosen

34. Baker Mayfield

35. Josh Allen

36. Sam Darnold

37. Lamar Jackson

38. Patrick Mahomes

39. Mitch Trubisky

 

Now this is the real prove it tier. Jacoby Brissett, Joe Flacco and Ryan Fitzpatrick are the gatekeepers of this group, and if you aren’t better than these guys, you aren’t worth crap. Time to step up Rookies.

 

Tier 7:

40. Nathan Peterman

41. AJ McCarron

42. Deshone Kizer

43. Brett Hundley

44. Blaine Gabbert

45. Brandon Weeden

(Your boy isn’t listed? He’s probably sitting in this pile of crap.)

None of these guys are good enough to waste words on, other than you should probably pray if you have to start someone in this group.

Edited August 16, 2018 by RazorStar

[seanbrock 1,684]

To me Watson could be a Favre/Vick hybrid. Watson also plays with receivers that can kind of box out out DB's and go get the ball. Plus if you're forced to play zone all day against a receiver like Hopkins and you can mix it up it's your ass Mr. Postman. I think like a lot of QB's it depends on how he's used. He's a great character player too so he's going to be working hard to master the mental side of the game. I have a lot of faith in Watson. Vick didn't learn how to be a winner until he went to jail and came out a very respectable positive influence and mento to a lot of players. Watson is already mature. Sky's the limit.

 

My second disagreement is with Cousins. I say he's on the edge of tier 3 and 4. He makes plays but when he makes mistakes they're always horrific and they always come at the worst possible times. Minnesota should have known better than to give him all that money given their history of falling short.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Two QBs in the seventh tier. I am so honored.

[oochymp 2,393]

Weeden's not on our roster, don't associate us with that garbage, we're associated with this garbage thank you very much

[blotsfan 2,112]

Two QBs in the seventh tier. I am so honored.

At least you don't have two that aren't competing for the starting job...