Introduction
Here we are! Four months of weekly power rankings culminating in one all-encompassing, season-long quarterback power ranking! The 2020-2021 NFL season was a season to remember for some, a season to forget for others, but a unique season for everybody nonetheless. We saw resurgent seasons from players like Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger, breakout seasons from players like Josh Allen and Kyler Murray, more sustained greatness from players like Tom Brady and Russell Wilson, and much more.
It has been quite the experience to watch and analyze every game from every quarterback this season, and I am delighted to finally put it all together. After every week, I would log every quarterback’s ranking into a spreadsheet and keep track of how each of them were performing over the course of this season. This cumulative ranking will average every single weekly ranking for each of the quarterbacks in my spreadsheet, and place them from best to worst.
Rules and Regulations
For practical reasons, I chose to only include players who played six games or more. Unfortunately, this means Dak Prescott, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jalen Hurts will not be eligible.
In the case of games where two or more quarterbacks played, I tried to rank the quarterback who had more of an impact on the game, which was almost always the one with more attempts.
The Top 10
- Aaron Rodgers– 4.93
Top Rank: 1 (3x, t-1st)
Bottom Rank: 26
Top 5: 14x (1st)
Description: Simply said, Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of the league. Aside from a poor performance against Tampa Bay, Aaron Rodgers likely had the greatest season of his historic career. Rodgers logged an asinine 48/5 TD/INT ratio and was Pro Football Focus’s #1 graded quarterback with a 94.5. Now it is time for him to put it all together with another Super Bowl.
- Josh Allen– 7.12
Top Rank: 1 (3x, t-1st)
Bottom Rank: 22
Top 5: 8x (2nd)
Description: After week 16, Allen and Mahomes were tied for second place at 7.20. Subsequently, Allen had a monster first half showing against the Dolphins in week 17 while Mahomes sat out and therefore, Josh took it home. Josh has been on a linear incline each year in regards to his talent, and the sky is the limit going into the future.
- Patrick Mahomes– 7.20
Top Rank: 1 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 16
Top 5: 6x (t-3rd)
Description: Mahomes had a virtual lock on the MVP until December. Out of the top three quarterbacks, he had the highest bottom rank. Mahomes is already one of the best players to ever play the position and will more than likely hold the top spot on this ranking at some point in the near future. Nevertheless, top three is not anything to scoff at.
- Kyler Murray– 9.47
Top Rank: 1
Bottom Rank: 22
Top 5: 4x (5th)
Description: Kyler Murray was my dark horse MVP coming into the season and this was truly a breakout year for him. With the addition of DeAndre Hopkins and continued consistency from Larry Fitzgerald, he was able to take a major step forward. Murray hit his stride from weeks 5-10, but he never fell completely off track. Kyler cracking the top five in his second year is almost as impressive as the Hail Murray. Actually… not really!
- Russell Wilson– 10.25
Top Rank: 1
Bottom Rank: 23
Top 5: 5x (t-4th)
Description: After a lethal start to the season, it’s a wonder how Russell Wilson dropped to five. Wilson’s average rank through the first half of the season was 4.00, which would have snagged the top spot by a mile. However, after an average rank of 15.11 through the second half of the season, he allowed room for guys like Kyler Murray to pass him. I was strong on the Wilson MVP bandwagon early, but a string of underwhelming performances facilitated is fall.
- Ben Roethlisberger– 10.43
Top Rank: 2
Bottom Rank: 32
Top 5: 3x
Description: We all got to see vintage Big Ben in what could possibly be his last season with Pittsburgh. After season ending elbow surgery last year, Ben had a CPOTY worthy outing this year. Through the first nine weeks, Ben was averaging a stellar 7.20 rank. If it were not for a poor stretch in weeks 13-16 where he averaged a 17.50 ranking, Ben may have been able to continue the Steelers’ undefeated season.
- Justin Herbert– 11.00
Top Rank: 1 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 30
Top 5: 6x (t-3rd)
Description: I have never seen a rookie emerge with as much confidence as I saw with Justin Herbert This season. He plays the position like a veteran and has answered most of the question marks around his name coming in. He will most likely win OROTY, and without the inept game management from the newly unemployed head coach, Anthony Lynn, he should have logged a few more wins as well.
- Ryan Tannehill– 11.25
Top Rank: 1 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 22
Top 5: 5x (t-4th)
Description: Ryan Tannehill backed up his explosive season last year with another stout season and proved that he was worth every penny. Derrick Henry is a major catalyst for this team’s success, but it does not take a genius to recognize Tannehill’s position makes him the more valuable player. It is awesome to see a player like Tannehill, who’s career almost came to an untimely end due to injury, show that he is still capable of being a top player in this league.
- Tom Brady– 11.63
Top Rank: 1
Top 5: 6x (t-3rd)
Bottom Rank: 28
Description: At the ripe age of 43, Tom Brady finally proved to me that he is not a “system quarterback”. I have never been so wrong about a football player in my life. It took the Patriots suffering without him, and him balling out on another team to make me realize this. I take full responsibility. Although I still believe he is not better than Aaron Rodgers, he earned some major respect from me this year.
- Lamar Jackson– 12.13
Top Rank: 2
Bottom Rank: 31
Top 5: 2x
Description: This year was a roller coaster for Lamar Jackson’s perception, at least in my eyes. He opened the season with a bang, then went on a rather cold spell through the middle of the season. His five straight top 10 performances to close out the season was enough to propel him into the top 10 overall this year. Lamar became the first quarterback to log two 1,000 yard rushing seasons, and this is just the beginning.
Rankings: 11-15
- Kirk Cousins– 12.81
Top Rank: 1
Bottom Rank: 32
Top 5: 2x
- Deshaun Watson– 12.88
Top Rank: 1
Bottom Rank: 25
Top 5: 4x
- Derek Carr– 14.00
Top Rank: 3
Bottom Rank: 26
Top 5: 2x
- Drew Brees– 14.33
Top Rank: 8 (4x)
Bottom Rank: 26
Top 5: 0
- Matthew Stafford– 14.80
Top Rank: 4 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 27
Top 5: 2x
Rankings: 16-20
- Phillip Rivers– 15.50
Top Rank: 4
Bottom Rank: 28
Top 5: 2x
- Ryan Fitzpatrick– 16.00
Top Rank: 2
Bottom Rank: 32
Top 5: 1x
- Matt Ryan– 16.62
Top Rank: 2
Bottom Rank: 30
Top 5: 1x
- Baker Mayfield– 16.69
Top Rank: 2
Bottom Rank: 31
Top 5: 3x
- Joe Burrow– 17.11
Top Rank: 6 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 30
Top 5: 0
Rankings: 21-25
- Andy Dalton– 17.44
Top Rank: 7
Bottom Rank: 27
Top 5: 0
- Jared Goff– 17.53
Top Rank: 6
Bottom Rank: 28
Top 5: 0
- Mitchell Trubisky– 17.88
Top Rank: 5
Bottom Rank: 26
Top 5: 1x
- Gardner Minshew– 18.11
Top Rank: 5
Bottom Rank: 26
Top 5: 1x
- Nick Foles– 18.13
Top Rank: 8
Bottom Rank: 25
Top 5: 0
Rankings: 26-30
- Tua Tagovailoa– 18.25
Top Rank: 7
Bottom Rank: 25
Top 5: 0
- Teddy Bridgewater– 18.33
Top Rank: 4
Bottom Rank: 30
Top 5: 1
- Drew Lock– 19.25
Top Rank: 3 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 29
Top 5: 2x
- Cam Newton– 20.60
Top Rank: 7
Bottom Rank: 32
Top 5: 0
- Carson Wentz– 20.82
Top Rank: 10
Bottom Rank: 31
Top 5: 0
Rankings: 31-35
- Nick Mullens– 20.89
Top Rank: 11
Bottom Rank: 29
Top 5: 0
- Alex Smith– 22.75
Top Rank: 16 (2x)
Bottom Rank: 32
Top 5: 0
- Daniel Jones– 23.14
Top Rank: 13
Bottom Rank: 30
Top 5: 0
- Sam Darnold– 25.00
Top Rank: 12
Bottom Rank: 32
Top 5: 0
- Dwayne Haskins– 26.17
Top Rank: 21
Bottom Rank: 30
Top 5: 0