It’s officially the slowest time of the year in the NFL with absolutely nothing interesting going on. The calm before the storm.
So what better time than now to put together a top-32 quarterbacks list.
It’s a 32-day plan. 32 days, 32 quarterbacks, one quarterback per day. We get through all 32 quarterbacks, and we’re back to the meaningful part of the football season. And you can take that to the bank.
Let’s set the parameters for this list. First, we’re ranking the top-32 starting quarterbacks, which means one quarterback from each team. There are obviously some teams, like the Atlanta Falcons, that have two quarterbacks good enough to be in the top-32. Unfortunately, that means Michael Penix won’t be on this list.
Second, there are some other teams, like the Vikings and Patriots, that selected quarterbacks in the top of the first round who are not likely to start in Week 1. In those cases, I’m still going to be including the rookies on this list. Because quite frankly, I’d rather write about J.J. McCarthy and Drake Maye than Jacoby Brissett and Sam Darnold. And I’m sure you’d rather read about them as well.
And finally, this is about where these 32 quarterbacks rank right now. This season. Some veterans currently are not where they were a few years ago or where they’ll end up in the history books. And on the other end of the spectrum, most of the rookies are likely going to struggle as they get used to the NFL game. Maybe some day they’ll become stars, but for now, they’re mostly at the bottom of the list.
So without further ado, let’s kick this thing off with Broncos quarterback, Bo Nix.
When you’re the 6th quarterback taken in the draft and it’s your rookie season, the only spot that makes sense on this list is dead last.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Nix won’t develop into the something good. He’s a perfect fit for Sean Payton’s system. As I wrote just after the draft, Nix is “a quick decision-maker who gets the ball where it’s supposed to go and plays within the framework of the offense.”
A large component of Oregon’s passing game was RPO-based, which requires the quarterback to read and react quickly. This was something that Nix was comfortable and also highly effective doing. You don’t complete 77.4% of your passes with a 45-3 TD-INT ratio (as he did last season) in that type of offense without the ability to recognize, process, and make snap decisions.
Those traits bode well for being able to succeed in the NFL, and particularly in Payton’s system.
When the timing of the play is there and Nix has a clear and defined place to go with the ball, he can execute an offense at a high level. But if he has to hold the ball or work through his reads late in the play, he tends to struggle.
Nix can make up for some of his late-in-the-down struggles with his ability to scramble and make accurate throws on the run, but this is an area of Nix’s development that we’ll be watching closely. NFL defenses are too good to allow quarterbacks to have consistent success getting the ball out to their first read.
Despite Nix’s experience (he set an NCAA record with 61 career starts in college) and ability to make quick decisions, it could take some time for Payton to mold him into his type of quarterback. His physical skills aren’t overwhelming, and since he’ll have to rely on what’s between his ears to conquer NFL defenses (which is an area where no rookie quarterback has an advantage), it’s hard to argue he should be higher than 32 on this list right now.
Tune in tomorrow to see who #31 is.