Open Rants by kkunert327

Quarterback Power Rankings

Normally, I am just a mock draft guy, but with so much up in the air for this upcoming college season I think trying to even do a mock will be almost impossible to do. In the meantime, I will hop on the trend of ranking the top players by their position. Starting with the most important position on the field at quarterback. If you have any disagreements please feel free to voice them down in the comments, I love engaging in healthy and productive sports banter in a period without anything going on to take up my attention. Without further adieu, here we go!

26) Phillip Rivers - Indianapolis Colts

25) Joe Burrow - Cincinnati Bengals

24) Drew Lock - Denver Broncos

23) Daniel Jones - New York Giants

22) Sam Darnold - New York Jets

A lot of the names on this list are really young and still on the rise. Burrow is clearly the biggest mystery, and many have super high expectations for the young rookie. I do expect him to be poise, accurate, and a step above Andy Dalton. However, if he can give them a Dalton-esque rookie year with the lack of talent around him then that would be great. Lock and Jones are two sophomores who look like they can be the next wave of talent in the league. I give Jones a leg up with him playing more last year and really surprising me with how well he played. Lock is a bigger mystery only playing a few games last year, but like many I see big things in store for the young gunslinger. Darnold looked great after his little mono hiccup at the beginning of the year. What bothers me most is his coaching staff and ownership group that I think could bring him down and stunt his growth. Rivers is clearly past his prime, but he is a better option than Jacoby Brissett up in Indy. He should play well behind a better o-line with the Colts, but I doubt he will be much the reason why they win consistently. I expect their defense and running game to be the bigger reasons. 

21) Ryan Tannehill - Tennessee Titans

20) Baker Mayfield - Cleveland Browns 

19) Derek Carr - Las Vegas Raiders 

18) Teddy Bridgewater - Carolina Panthers 

17) Dak Prescott - Dallas Cowboys

The one with the most upside here is clearly Baker Mayfield, but with so much pressure on him to win in Cleveland anything other than a playoff push will be seen as a disappointment. Tannehill is a serviceable starter and shockingly has a viable winning record when healthy. Of course, Tennessee probably overpaid him and his lack of an ability to stay healthy will all likelihood blow up in their face. Carr I think could find a resurgence if the Raiders let him go after this season. He needs to be coached up better than the tough love style that Gruden loves to give out. Bridgewater to me is a sneaky strong quarterback who will make the Panthers viable. Unfortunately, a division with Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady may have Teddy become a short time starter if they end up with a top 10 pick. I do think wherever he lands after he should still be a difference maker at the quarterback position. Lastly, Dak Prescott to me is the safest quarterback in the league who can start and be successful. However, that is not always a good thing to hang your hat on. He will not lose you games, but I really do not see him being a consistent winner if he is on a less than stellar roster. Say he was on the Jags, Bengals, or Jets he would not be the household name he is now and certainly not winning so many games like he has with the Cowboys. If Jerry Jones was smart a franchise tag year would be perfect and if it fails with Mike McCarthy this could be a sneaky good draft to finally draft a quarterback in the first round for the first time since Troy Aikman. 

16) Matthew Stafford - Detroit Lions 

15) Kirk Cousins - Minnesota Vikings 

14) Josh Allen - Buffalo Bills

13) Kyler Murray - Arizona Cardinals 

12) Ben Roethlisberger - Pittsburgh Steelers

This is an odd group of veterans and a few young guns who can take the next step to stardom. Stafford to me if he is healthy again could certainly use a change of scenery. I was hoping after this season that the Lions could trade him to the Patriots so he can finally be surrounded in a winning culture. However, with that scary back injury it will be interesting to see if he can return to form. Cousins is a little bit better version of Dak Prescott, but to me he is more willing to take chances down field when given the opportunity. He also proved to be viable in Washington with a less talented roster. Now if only he can learn how to win playoff and primetime games. Allen to me has surprised me the most out of that 2018 class. I thought he was going to be more of a project, but in a sneaky great coaching situation up in Buffalo. Murray also surprised me with how well he played even behind a shaky o-line. With a better pass catching option like DeAndre Hopkins I can really see the former baseball star blow up displaying his impressive down field arm strength. Big Ben is the last viable quarterback from his great 2004 draft class and to me still could make the Steelers a sneaky good contender this season. They almost made the playoffs with Duck Hodges for crying out loud, if Big Ben plays even 50 percent of his former self he should be a much better option. 

11) Jimmy Garoppolo - San Francisco 49ers

10) Jared Goff - Los Angeles Rams 

9) Carson Wentz - Philadelphia Eagles

8) Lamar Jackson - Baltimore Ravens 

7) Matt Ryan - Atlanta Falcons

I know Jimmy Garoppolo has his haters after a thud of a performance in the Super Bowl. However, up until his bad 4th quarter he was well on his way to win the Super Bowl MVP award had their game plan been more conservative. You can blame that on Kyle Shanahan again if you ask me. He essentially just played his first full season last year after a few injury riddled seasons. If he is healthy he could certainly prove he can be a franchise quarterback with another full season. Goff is a bit of a mystery to me where he looked great the past two seasons, but failed to live up to the hype last year. Maybe Sean McVay’s tool box of plays has grown stale and predictable. Both need to have a redemption year next year. However, I think GM Les Snead killed their salary cap so bad the past few years with big signings. I think their roster is a bit worse for the wear going into a competitive NFC West next year. We all know how talented Wentz can be if he can just stay healthy. He took Greg Ward Jr and a bunch of other guys to the playoffs last year before taking an illegal spear tackle in the playoffs by Jadeveon Clowney. He needs to learn how to stay in the pocket and play more like Aaron Rodgers if he wants to take the next step. I am still quite bullish on Lamar Jackson being “the next guy” after Mahomes on most qb lists. He has yet to prove he can win from behind yet with his run first playing style. I also think he gets propped up a bit by Harbaugh’s offensive scheme that puts him in excellent plays to show off his athleticism. He has a ton of potential, but I am not yet ready to crown him as a top 5 qb. Matt Ryan is another guy who could use a change of scenery or at least a new head coach in Atlanta. He put up perfect numbers last year and still ended up losing games by 20. To me he is quietly one of the best quarterbacks in the league. 

6) Deshaun Watson - Houston Texans

5) Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints

4) Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers

3) Patrick Mahomes - Kansas City Chiefs 

2) Tom Brady - Tampa Buccaneers 

1) Russell Wilson - Seattle Seahawks 

I made this into a top 6 instead of the normal top 5 because if you had a chance to start a franchise with any of these 6 you might as well be golden. Watson is clearly one of the best young quarterbacks in the game, but I need to see him play a full season healthy. That might be hard with Bill O’Brien as your coach and GM who seems destined to take away any of your best players when he gets the opportunit. It will be interesting to see if he can produce as well as he did the past few seasons without DeAndre Hopkins. I lump Brees, and Rodgers in the same camp together. Obviously one has a lot more in the tank over the other, but both are elite quarterbacks still. Brees has a solid roster to do one last hurrah before he retires after this season. I just worry without that month off from his thumb injury like he had last year that he might peeter out down the stretch like he has done the past few seasons. As for Rodgers, I still see him as one of the most talented players in the league. He might not have the best roster around him, but he will continue to pull a team with his ability. I would not be shocked if he turns in another MVP season this after the Packers disrespected him by drafting Jordan Love. 

I know many are ready to crown Patrick Mahomes as the best quarterback in the league after his MVP year, Super Bowl win, and now huge team friendly deal. However, I am not ready to do so yet. We have seen guys like Big Ben, Brees, Rodgers, and Peyton Manning as great quarterbacks who cannot seem to quite get there again at the Super Bowl. I know they have great talent, but eventually guys get hurt, Andy Reid could be fired, or Mahomes could get hurt with his extending the play type of play style. It is extremely difficult to put up a career like the next guy Tom Brady has been able to do. Brady to me is being quietly overlooked in a lot of quarterback lists. To me he is still the champ and could still contend to be the number one quarterback in the league still. It has been quite a long time since he has had a talent like Mike Evans, or Chris Godwin to work with. In Bruce Arians deep passing attack he could really flourish and age gracefully. Now my number one quarterback Russell Wilson could be the most disrespected guy in the league. He rarely has a talent on his side of the ball like Mahomes, Watson, or even Brady has had the past few seasons. If Wilson was not drafted by the Seahawks, Pete Carroll and company would have been fired years ago and the Seahawks would be competing for the number one pick every season. Wilson is just special with his ability to avoid hits, keep his eyes down field, and he quite possibly throws the most catchable deep ball in the league. I know the flashier guy is Mahomes right now, but Wilson did everything Mahomes did to start his career outside of receiving votes for an MVP. In any case, any of those 6 can win the Super Bowl this year, but I just think Wilson and Brady need more respect in a lot of these rankings. Even though I do know that Mahomes is one of the rapidly rising stars.