RANKING THE NFC QUARTERBACKS

BY ADAM GREENE

You’ll notice that the NFC list looks very different from the AFC list, as pretty much all the best quarterbacks, with the exception of the top three here, currently reside outside this particular conference. That’s not to say one of the younger guys might make a jump this season. There’s certainly some contenders. But, a lot of these guys, we’ve seen plenty of at this point. We know what they can do and if they’re ranked high here, it’s just because the rest of the field is wanting.

As crazy as it, considering only three of these QBs are worth significant debate, there’ll still be some. It is June and this is what we in the NFL media do, but I’ll do my best to explain why I’ve ranked each man at his particular spot. If you’d like to talk about it, my Twitter link is at the bottom of the article.

Like I did with the AFC list, I had to expand this one past the 16 franchises in the NFC as multiple teams currently have open quarterback competitions. Which, honestly, just goes to show the mess that the NFC is in as a conference at the moment.

1. MATTHEW STAFFORD, LOS ANGELES RAMS

Age: 35

Size: 6-3, 220 pounds

2022: 68.0 completion percentage, 2,087 yards, 10 touchdowns, eight interceptions, nine rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 87.4 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 67.0

NFL MVP Odds: +6600

Comeback Player of the Year Odds: +2500

Alright, here we go. Let the hate flow through you. It will make you powerful. Here’s the deal, Matthew Stafford played in just nine games a season ago after being hurt all offseason. He had shoulder surgery after the Super Bowl and never got to work with the team. He also, we’ve since learned, wasn’t fully recovered and the Los Angeles back up quarterback situation was so bad there was no chance he could hold off until he was truly ready. Stafford is too tough for his own good sometimes and 2022 exemplifies that. The team, rightly, shut him down and I expect the Rams, and Stafford, to benefit from that this season.

Why is he No. 1? Because, healthy, he’s easily the best QB in the NFC. He’s the only one with a Super Bowl ring and that ring came just two seasons ago, a season where he completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 4,886 yards, 41 touchdowns (the second highest total in the NFL, behind only Tom Brady) and 17 interceptions. In the playoffs, he played at another level, completing 70 percent of his passes for 1,188 yards, nine touchdowns and just three picks. He won three consecutive games, the NFC Divisional Round at the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hosting the San Francisco 49ers who had beaten the Rams in six consecutive regular season games and the Cincinnati Bengals, when his roster was down to one receiver and a handful of offensive lineman, and took every victory with a game-winning scoring drive in the final minutes. Stafford’s no-look throw to Cooper Kupp on that go-ahead scoring drive in the Super Bowl, is unquestionably one of the three best throws in Super Bowl history and might be No. 1.

If you’re keeping track, that’s 50 touchdowns, an NFC Championship and a Super Bowl Championship. Only two other quarterbacks in the NFC have even started Super Bowls and they both lost. He’s the best in the NFC and the fourth best in the NFL, barring an injury, coming into this season. And no one currently playing in the NFL has more fourth quarter comebacks (34) than Stafford. He’s currently ranked sixth in NFL history in that particular category, with only Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady ahead of him.

Like Lamar Jackson in the AFC, I don’t like his odds for Comeback Player of the Year, considering he did appear in nine games a season ago. But he’s a better bet to win it than Jackson, who played in 12 and helped his team make the playoffs.

2. DAK PRESCOTT, DALLAS COWBOYS

Age: 29

Size: 6-2, 238 pounds

2022: 66.2 completion percentage, 2,860 yards, 23 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 182 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 91.1 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 72.0

NFL MVP Odds: +2800

Again, I see you swelling out there, like a crocodile about to charge at a wildebeest at the side of a river. But, I am here to tell you, Dak Prescott is perhaps the most undeservedly maligned quarterback in the NFL and, if I had to rank him overall, he’d be the seventh best quarterback in the league. All he has done, since his rookie season, is put up elite numbers and win games like no Dallas Cowboys quarterback has done since Troy Aikman, who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s done this in spite of being hamstrung by two of the worst head coaches in the NFL, Jason Garrett and now Mike McCarthy.

Tossing out the season where he was injured (2020), he’s taken the Cowboys to the playoffs in four of the six seasons in which he played 12 or more games. He’s won two playoff games and never played poorly in the postseason. As a rookie, Dallas, with Prescott, fell 34-31 to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round. In the 2018 playoffs, they lost 30-22 to the Los Angeles Rams, who went on to the Super Bowl, in the Divisional Round. They fell 23-17 in 2021 to the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round, who would make it all the way to the NFC Championship and last year, lost to those same 49ers, who again made it to the conference title game, 19-12. Those are all one-score losses that came right down to the wire against very good, elite teams. Prescott isn’t stumbling against squads like the Seattle Seahawks or Minnesota Vikings. The better team won those match ups. Prescott wasn’t on the better team.

The Cowboys are good, though, and if the Eagles weren’t loaded, top to bottom, they’d be a safe bet to win the NFC East, even with McCarthy burping up his breakfast burrito on the sideline. The best thing that can happen for Prescott this season, is for this team to miss the playoffs or make a quick exit, prompting Jerry Jones to rectify just the latest of many disastrous mistakes he’s made, not counting what he’s done to his face — by firing McCarthy. Because if a real head coach came to Dallas while Prescott is in his prime, they could be real trouble.

3. JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Age: 24

Size: 6-1, 223 pounds

2022: 66.5 completion percentage, 3,701 yards, 22 touchdowns, six interceptions, 760  rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, 101.4 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 85.9

NFL MVP Odds: +1000

Jalen Hurts sits atop most of these lists you’ll see for good reason. He had an All-Universe campaign in 2022 and was a stupid, cartoonishly bad fumble away from winning a Super Bowl. But, he still committed said stupid, cartoonish fumble. It was on him. The reason I rank him third is that, as good a year as he had last season, it’s just one season. Stafford and Prescott have performed at a high level for years. Hurts did it once. Now, do I believe he can do it again? Absolutely. Will I rank him higher if he unleashes a repeat performance in 2023? Again, absolutely. Especially if he hoists a Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of it. And, believe me, it could happen. The Eagles are the favorites to win the NFC and should be.

Ranking Hurts third after his third season is no insult. He’d be my No. 8 overall QB in the NFL right now, but he’s absolutely trending up. And I can’t pretend I’m surprised that Hurts is playing so well in the NFL. I had him as one of my top ranked QB prospects coming out in the draft in 2020 and even had him ranked above Justin Herbert.  And I’ll admit that I was wrong about Herbert then as being a potential bust, but would still rank Hurts above him now.

4. KIRK COUSINS, MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Age: 34

Size: 6-3, 205 pounds

2022: 65.9 completion percentage, 4,547 yards, 29 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 97 yards, two touchdowns, 92.5 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 77.4

NFL MVP Odds: +10000

Yeah. This is where we are in the NFC. We all, everyone putting any of these lists together, must put Kirk Cousins as a Top Five quarterback and shake our heads while we do it. Why is the AFC, overall, so much better right now? Cousins is one of the reasons why. He’s very much like a Tony Romo, where he’s not good enough to win you anything, but not bad enough to tank your team and lead to a rebuild with a high draft choice. The worst any team will do with Cousins under center is hover around .500 and that’s not going to get you anywhere near the top of the draft order and the top QB prospects. The Cowboys escaped that purgatory by accidentally drafting Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft when, if any team had actually listened to me, they would have known he was the best QB in that class. Yes, I will never drop that I was the only national NFL media writer to publicly state, in multiple articles, that Prescott was better than Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.

Minnesota really only had one potential shot at nabbing a replacement for Cousins in this draft, but they didn’t pull the trigger on Hendon Hooker in the first or second round and now have to hope they can, somehow, find a diamond in the rough like that in 2024. I’m looking at you, former top overall prospect Spencer Rattler. Cousins has made the Pro Bowl four times and led the NFL in completion percentage in 2015 (69.8). He also won a playoff game in 2019 and only eight quarterbacks on this 19-man list can even make that claim. The Vikings are probably going to win 11-13 games this season. We might as well prepare ourselves for it.

5. DEREK CARR, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Age: 32

Size: 6-3, 210 pounds

2022: 60.8 completion percentage, 3,522 yards, 24 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 102 rushing yards, 86.3 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 66.6

NFL MVP Odds: +5000

Oh yeah. If you thought it was ridiculous that Kirk Cousins made the Top Five, I hope the spit take you performed when seeing Carr next didn’t mess up your laptop or mobile device. Carr is probably more talented than Cousins, but it’s not shown up on the stat sheet or in the playoffs. Of course, Carr helped the Las Vegas Raiders get to the playoffs twice, but didn’t get to play in 2016-17 as he was injured. In 2021, he was a play away from knocking off the eventual AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round.

I think the Saints coast to the playoffs with Carr at quarterback this season. Now, will they win their game? I don’t know, considering they’d likely be playing the Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers. It doesn’t look good.

6. JARED GOFF, DETROIT LIONS

Age: 28

Size: 6-4, 217 pounds

2022: 65.1 completion percentage, 4,438 yards, 29 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 73 rushing yards, 99.3 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 72.4

NFL MVP Odds: +3300

You could make an argument that I’ve ranked Goff too low. After all, only three quarterbacks in the NFC have even made it to a Super Bowl and Goff is one of them. Still, I feel like he’s topped out at what he can be. Considering he’s led a team to nine wins max in three of his last four seasons and two of those were with a loaded Los Angeles Rams roster (John Wolford won the 10^th game for the Rams in 2020), I think the jury is in.

While Dan Campbell thinks Goff played his best football last year for the Lions, the record does not show that. His 2018 with the Rams was elite, as he completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 4,688 yards, a career high 32 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. If Goff had stayed that guy, he would have never been traded out of Los Angeles. But he didn’t. He’s this guy, an above average NFL starter who needs lots of help to get a team to the promised land. Luckily, Detroit has done nothing but draft guys to do that, including the Todd Gurley-like Jahmyr Gibbs, this year. It’ll make a difference. The Lions are probably making the playoffs and Goff will get his chance to move back up the list.

7. KYLER MURRAY, ARIZONA CARDINALS

Age: 25

Size: 5-10, 207 pounds

2022: 66.4 completion percentage, 2,368 yards, 14 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 418 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 87.2 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 67.1

NFL MVP Odds: +6600

Comeback Player of the Year Odds: +2800

For Kyler Murray to get a shot at the comeback player of the year, he’ll need to actually suit up for his team before Halloween and it’s not looking good. Arizona appears to be in, if not tank mode, certainly in “coasting to a losing 5-7 win season” mode with Murray out for a significant amount of time. Arizona only has itself to blame. They had him on a rookie deal and could have used their fifth-year option before giving him a giant contract, but they pulled the trigger early. And now they have to deal with it. For a team looking at possibly ending up with the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, that’s quite a stinker.

There’s plenty of issues with Murray. His work ethic has come into question, and it wasn’t from outside the organization. The Cardinals demanded he study game film in his new contract, which means he obviously wasn’t. When someone ran his numbers after new Call of Duty updates came out, there was a conspicuous drop. No one even thought about that until Arizona spilled the beans.

Murray has a new head coach now in former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Gannon brought in Drew Petzing to run the offense after three years as an offensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns. Now, Kliff Kingsbury designed an offense specifically for Murray. No one knows what Petzing’s offense is going to look like and Murray won’t even be able to practice in it for a while. You’d think this would be a good time for the Cards to enforce that “study” requirement in Murray’s contract, but they took it out after the deal was made public and embarrassed everyone involved. While I doubt Murray will make any move up on next year’s list, he won’t have the quality starts after being hurt, his 2024 will tell the tale of his future in the league.

8. DANIEL JONES, NEW YORK GIANTS

Age: 26

Size: 6-5, 221 pounds

2022: 67.2 completion percentage, 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns, five interceptions, 708 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 92.5 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 76.0

NFL MVP Odds: +5000

We need to all understand one thing — this narrative that Daniel Jones was trash is just wrong. Was he great? No. Was he OK? Yeah. Jones put up good numbers, consistently, on a bad team with two horrible head coaches, Pat Shurmer and Joe Judge. Judge, I would argue, was not only the worst head coach in the league over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he was one of the worst head coaches in NFL history. Jones, even before Brian Daboll entered the picture, never completed less than 61.9 percent of his passes and always had a positive touchdown to interception ratio. He did fumble a lot, leading the league with 19 as a rookie, then 10 the following year. He then coughed it up seven times in 2021 and six times last year, so he’s getting better at protecting the ball.

That whole time he was doing a decent job, with subpar Giants receivers I might add, passing the ball. Jones was also dangerous with his legs. In fact, you could argue that after Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, Jones is the third best dual threat quarterback in the league and was even before Daboll took the whistle and clipboard.

I’m not shocked at all that Jones excelled the first chance he got to take the field with a competent head coach and play caller. Nor am I shocked that he led New York to its first playoff victory since Super Bowl XLVI. While I don’t think Murray will move up this list next season, there’s a good chance Jones will. Especially if he can get the Giants back into the playoffs. Which will be a much taller order in 2023.

9. JUSTIN FIELDS, CHICGAGO BEARS

Age: 24

Size: 6-3, 228 pounds

2022: 60.4 completion percentage, 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 1,143 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns, 85.2 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 70.2

NFL MVP Odds: +1800

Chicago Bears fans are excited about what Justin Fields will do in his third season with better weapons around him and so am I. Do I think all these Bears faithful (and apparently the Madden game engine) are right about a playoff run in Chicago? Absolutely not. This team is not there yet. The roster is far too weak, but Fields, at least, is a budding superstar. And while I don’t think he’ll win any NFL championships this season, there’s a good chance he’ll nab a few fantasy football championships with the video game numbers he consistently puts up.

I loved Fields coming out of Ohio State and my opinion hasn’t changed. He was my No. 2 rated QB behind only Trevor Lawrence in that class.  I’m feeling pretty comfortable with that call. I’m glad the team is building around him and his strengths, much like the Eagles did with Jalen Hurts. It’s a recipe for success, but one that will pay off in 2024, not 2023. I do think he’ll be higher on next year’s list.

10. GENO SMITH, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Age: 32

Size: 6-3, 221 pounds

2022: 69.8 completion percentage, 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 366 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 100.9 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 79.8

NFL MVP Odds: +3300

Geno Smith didn’t just have a career year last season. Smith had a great year for anybody. His 69.8 completion percentage led the NFL and his yardage, touchdown and interception numbers are all franchise quarterback caliber. So why isn’t he ranked higher?

Because it was one year. And while Geno can rightly feel vindicated by the season he put down, I’m going to need to see it again before I believe it. It’s not like Smith was given up on too soon in New York. He had four seasons there and was terrible, getting benched for good for Ryan Fitzpatrick. And, yes, I know Smith got his jaw broken and that’s how Fitzpatrick got the job originally, but he never got it back.

Fitzpatrick, in that 2015 season, is a great example of why I need another good to great year from Smith to buy into him. Fitzmagic went 10-6 as a starter, got the New York Jets to the playoffs and threw for 3,905 yards, 31 touchdowns and 15 picks. His completion percentage was a tad too low, 59.6 percent, but, again, those are franchise QB numbers. The next year, he was good for 56.6 percent, 2.710 yards, 12 touchdowns, 17 picks and was benched for Geno once and Bryce Petty four times. I don’t see the Seahawks making a return to the playoffs this season, regardless of how well Smith plays, but if he stumbles, it will not be unexpected.

11. SAM DARNOLD, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Age: 26

Size: 6-3, 225 pounds

2022: 58.6 completion percentage, 1,142 yards, seven touchdowns, three interceptions, 106 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, l02.6 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 62.2

NFL MVP Odds: +700

Comeback Player of the Year Odds: +1000

Signing with the 49ers is the best move Sam Darnold has made since coming out of USC. It’s not his fault that he went to the Jets, a place where NFL QB careers end before they’re even started. It’s also not his fault that they traded him to the Carolina Panthers and Matt Rhule, one of the worst head coaches and offensive minds in the league. What didn’t surprise me is Darnold actually making a significant jump in offensive production once Rhule was shot out the nearest airlock. His six games in Carolina were easily the best stretch of his career.

So why is he ranked above Brock Purdy? Because I think he’s better than Brock Purdy. In fact, I think in any honest and open competition in San Francisco, Darndol will win the job outright over both Purdy and Trey Lance, who will go down as one of the most wasted NFL daft picks in all of history. We’ll talk about that some later down the list.

Darnold isn’t as physically gifted as Lance, but he’s better. He’s not as good as Jimmy Garoppolo was, but he’s more physically gifted. The last guy Kyle Shanahan coached with Darnold’s general tools was Matt Ryan as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons and we all know how that ended — with Shanahan calling a championship game that saw his team surrender a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. It’s kind of his thing.

I don’t think the 49ers will win 13 games this season, but it won’t be on Darnold. The landscape of the NFC West will be different to say the least. I do think that Darnold can lead them to the playoffs. I don’t think the same about Purdy or Lance.

So, you know, look hard at those Comeback Player of the Year odds.

12. BROCK PURDY, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Age: 23

Size: 6-1, 220 pounds

2022: 67.1 completion percentage, 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions, 13 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 107.3 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 76.6

NFL MVP Odds: +6600

Make no mistake, Brock Purdy played at the highest level for his five regular season and three playoff starts until he nearly got his arm torn off in the NFC Championship game against the Eagles. I just don’t think he’ll keep it up and I definitely don’t think he’ll be ready to play when the season starts.

If Darnold opens the year strong, Purdy may never see the field again. And if Darnold stumbles and Purdy gets called in, there’s some solid film on him now. I don’t think that the Niners could have beaten the Eagles in the NFC Championship if Purdy had been healthy and I don’t think he would keep the job this season if he’d come in as the presumptive starter. Again, I have to see it to believe it.

And there’s every chance that I’m wrong and I would love to be. The NFL needs more good quarterbacks. I write it out all the time and it remains true every time I do — there are 32 franchises in the NFL, but there are not 32 NFL franchise quarterbacks on Planet Earth. If Purdy is one, it’s good for the game and good for San Francisco. Maybe they won’t hate him like they did the winning quarterback he replaced last year.

13. BAKER MAYFIELD, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Age: 28

Size: 6-1, 215 pounds

2022: 60.0 completion percentage, 2,163 yards, 10 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 134 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 79.0 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 50.6

NFL MVP Odds: +700

Comeback Player of the Year Odds: +3300

Baker Mayfield is and has been the bare minimum you should expect out of an NFL starting quarterback. And all that means is he probably shouldn’t be a starting NFL quarterback. The days where you could win a title with a guy like Mayfield pulling the trigger with an elite running game and all-time defense has passed. The 2001 Baltimore Ravens could probably never exist again. No one is paying middle linebackers and safeties that much money anymore.

Mayfield isn’t terrible and will probably win the job in Tampa Bay this season, setting them up for a Top 5 Draft pick and the opportunity to trade multiple first rounders to get up to No. 1 and draft Caleb Williams.

Mayfield has won a playoff game and, I firmly believe, if he’d been the Rams’ back up all last season, LA would have sneaked into the playoffs as a seventh seed. He’d definitely good enough to make the starter cut, but only if losing in the Wild Card or Divisional Round is good enough for you.

14. BRYCE YOUNG, CAROLINA PANTHERS

Age: 21

Size: 6-0, 194 pounds

2022: N/A

PFF Grade: N/A

NFL MVP Odds: +1500

Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds: +400

Yes, I have rookie Bryce Young ranked above four players who’ve started games in the NFL and I don’t have the slightest doubt it’s correct. In fact, I’m thinking that if I were to make this list at the end of the upcoming season and ranked Young here, I’d get many a controversial Tweet sent my way. He’s that good.

Now, I like CJ Stroud better. I feel like, talent wise, there’s not a gap at all between Young and Stroud. I simply trust Stroud to be healthier and play more consecutive games without injury than Young. Guys Young’s size, like Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa, have struggled in that regard and Young himself was banged up most of last season. I’m not sure he’s fully healthy right now, even though all the reports out of Panthers OTAs are that he’s tearing it up.

I’m glad. Like I said, the NFL needs more quarterbacks and as long as Young can stay off the injury report, I fully expect him to be one. In his two full seasons (and some mop up duty in 2020) starting for Alabama, he completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 8,356 yards and 80 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions. And that was playing in the College Football Playoff for a season and facing future NFL players in the SEC every single week. The kid’s good and, barring injury, will be good in the NFL. I do not expect him to be ranked 14^th on next year’s list.

15. DESMOND RIDDER, ATLANTA FALCONS

Age: 23

Size: 6-4, 215 pounds

2022: 63.5 completion percentage 708 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, 16 rushing yards, 86.4 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 55.9

NFL MVP Odds: +15000

Desmond Ridder made four starts for the Falcons last season, going 2-2 in the process. What he didn’t do was look terribly impressive in those games. He threw for just 708 yards over his four starts, that’s a USFL/XFL QB-like 177 yards per game. He tossed just two touchdowns and no picks, so at least he wasn’t sloppy with the ball. But you can’t exactly call him a playmaker either.

I didn’t hate Ridder as a prospect coming out of college and he always looked like a solid potential back up to me with some real upside. There’s a chance with a full offseason as the presumptive starter he could show something. He’ll get every opportunity to. Atlanta has put some solid offensive pieces around him and the NFC South is there for the taking. But, last year? I didn’t see much to make me believe it could happen.

16. KYLE TRASK, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Age: 25

Size: 6-5, 236 pounds

2022: 33.3 completion percentage, 23 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, 42.4 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 43.1

NFL MVP Odds: N/A

Kyle Trask has been a real disappointment for me as a pro quarterback. Not that I expected him to beat out Tom Brady in his two seasons as a backup for the future first ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame QB, but I expected him to generate some excitement with his arm and talent in camp. That didn’t happen and it’s still not happening. He’s obviously not shined in OTAs this year. In fact, the videos released from Bucs OTAs are laughably bad, for both him and Mayfield.

If a guy is impressing in camp, you hear about it. There’s a buzz. There’s never been a buzz about Trask. Not this year and not last year and not his rookie year. And the fact the team brought in Mayfield is a bad look for his future NFL prospects. But, as a college quarterback, this guy absolutely looked the part. His senior season at Florida, against SEC competition who are almost all playing in the NFL right now, he completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 4,283 yards, 43 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. That is an elite performance against elite competition. That was the COVID-19 year where the SEC teams only played other SEC teams. His film looked fantastic and I thought he’d, for sure, be a good NFL quarterback. Which just goes to show you, at the end of the day, I’m like every other QB evaluator on the planet. I don’t know anything about anything.

17. JORDAN LOVE, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Age: 24

Size: 6-4, 219 pounds

2022: 66.7 completion percentage, 195 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions, 82.0 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 78.7

NFL MVP Odds: +4000

Here’s the deal. I didn’t like Jordan Love coming out of Utah State and I’ve not seen anything when he’s on the field as a professional football player to make me feel differently. Like Trask, the telling issue is no one out of Packers OTAs is talking up how good Love looks. I’ve not heard it from any coaches, any general manager or any media attending practices. The only positive words have been from Jair Alexander, who said Love is “the best quarterback in the league.” That’s fine. He’s hyping his boy up and hoping for the best, because nobody outside of Love’s mom believes that right now.

If the Packers had taken Love in the second or third round, this wouldn’t be an issue. And he probably wouldn’t have this weight on his shoulders. His final season at Utah State was nothing spectacular. He completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,402 yards, 20 touchdowns and a ridiculous 17 interceptions. And that’s against an Aggies schedule that probably didn’t have him going against a lot of NFL talent in the Mountain West. If you can’t do better than that against future Fudrucker’s Grillmasters, Subway Sandwich Artists and XFL/USFL all-stars, how could anyone think you could perform at an NFL level? I said the same thing when the Jets drafted Zach Wilson out of BYU and it appears I was right about that too.

I’m not a hater. I hope Love makes it happen. The NFL is better when the Packers are good. They’re a crown jewel franchise of the NFL, it’s first and second ever Super Bowl champions. Their head coach then, Vince Lombardi, is the guy they named the Super Bowl trophy after. I just don’t see anything positive happening for Green Bay this season.

18. TREY LANCE, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Age: 23

Size: 6-4, 224 pounds

2022: 48.4 completion percentage, 194 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, 67 yards, 34.9 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 53.1

NFL MVP Odds: +6600

Comeback Player of the Year Odds: +2800

Speaking of a guy that never faced an NFL defender, Trey Lance will go down as one of the dumbest picks in the history of the 49ers organization. San Francisco probably has the most loaded roster in the NFL and did when they traded three first rounders and third to move up and take Lance, out of FCS North Dakota State, in 2021. And, let me tell you, as a Rams fan I was thrilled because this was going to be a disaster from the start.

Imagine, if you will, a universe in which the Niners did not make that stupid trade and, instead, with their original selection in the 2021 draft, took Micah Parsons, who went to the Dallas Cowboys. Add him to that already elite, star studded defense. With the 29^th pick of the 2022 Draft, they could have taken Christian Watson, George Pickens or Alec Pierce at wide receiver. They could have nabbed Breece Hall or Kenneth Walker, III at running back, which would have kept them from spending even more precious draft capital on Christian McCaffrey.

With their third rounder in 2021, No. 102, they could have taken running back Dameon Pierce. And considering they probably still needed a back up quarterback to Jimmy Garoppolo, that would have given them the excuse to take Bailey Zappe at No. 105 instead of flushing that pick right down the toilet by selecting Danny Gray out of SMU who has caught exactly one pass for 10 yards in two seasons with San Francisco. He’ll probably be cut in training camp in August.

Finally, with the No. 29 pick in this past year’s draft, they could have a plethora of potential star players — Bryan Breese, Nolan Smith, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Joey Porter, Jr., Sam LaPorta or Michael Mayer (imagine either of them lining up opposite George Kittle in a 12 formation. Sheesh!), Steve Avila, Isaiah Foskey, BJ Ojulari and I could go on.

But, here’s the thing. The 49ers should not have used that No. 29 pick this past April. It should have been one of the two first rounders it would have required to sign Lamar Jackson to a monster contract while he was on the unexclusive franchise tag. Yeah. The Niners could have added Lamar Jackson this offseason to their insanely loaded roster. Can you imagine, for even a moment, what this team would look like with Jackson at quarterback?

Now put Micah Parsons, Breece Hall amd Dameon Pierce on that same team. Hell, you could still make the McCaffrey trade. Those picks would not have been affected. Dynasty is not the word for what would have been built in the Bay Area there. San Francisco would probably win the next four Super Bowls and maybe not lose a game in the process. It would be like a Madden franchise set on rookie mode.

That is what the stupid Trey Lance trade cost the 49ers. And he might not take a snap for the team ever again. It’s just farcical.

19. SAM HOWELL, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

Age: 22

Size: 6-1, 220 pounds

2022: 57.9 completion percentage, 169 yards, one touchdown, one interception, 35 yards, one touchdown, 46.4 QB Rating

PFF Grade: 68.5

NFL MVP Odds: +15000

As much as I don’t like Jordan Love and Trey Lance and as much as I’m disappointed with Kyle Trask, make no mistake, I would take any of them in a heartbeat over Sam Howell. Not only is he the worst starting quarterback in the NFC, he’s the worst in the entire league. To make it more ridiculous, I would absolutely start the XFL’s AJ McCarron or Ben DiNucci over him tomorrow.

Of course, the reason you plug in Howell as your starting quarterback is simple. You want a significantly better quarterback by landing the No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Commanders are tanking, but they’re doing it in such a way that they can claim they aren’t. Those 2022 stats up there are from Howell’s only start. He didn’t complete even 60 percent of his passes, which should be the bare minimum for an NFL quarterback. He threw for 169 yards, which are USFL numbers and why that league is in real trouble. Washington won his start, 16-6 over the Dallas Cowboys which shows that they’re a decent team if they had a quarterback. Of course, considering they’re about to change ownership, they stayed out of any real free agent acquisitions or a Lamar Jackson trade (which would have been fantastic and changed the whole NFC).

So, this is probably Caleb Williams’ next team is what I’m saying. And Howell will be his backup for the first two years of the Heisman Trophy winner’s career.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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