QB Stock Market: Ranking all 32 starters after the 2024 regular season
2025-01-07
Category: sports

It's over. For the quarterbacks moving onto the postseason, it's a whole new animal. Single elimination. None of those statistics will count toward the 2024 season totals. It happens in a vacuum. And, now that the regular season is over, we're going to look at that in a vacuum, too. Because even as roughly half of these QBs go on to the postseason, we're going to hit pause and reflect on what happened within the QB ranks between Weeks 1 and 18. It's time for the final QB ranking of the year. Let's talk stocks. In the QB Stock Market, we normally hold one question above all others: What have you done for your team lately? But with the season over, we will look at each player's entire body of work. These rankings instead ask the question: How much did you do for your team this year? For this edition, we ranked each team's primary starter for the 2024 season. Preseason rankings are listed in parentheses. Previous weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18&nbsp; 1.&nbsp;Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (2) I asked Damar Hamlin whether there was any one moment that proved Allen should win MVP. "Every f---ing day. Every Sunday. Every f---ing Sunday. Like, it's no specific moment. It's every f---ing Sunday he gets out there, lines up and proves it. Just turn the tape on." 2.&nbsp;Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (3) He is the most all-around dangerous QB, even if Allen was more valuable to his team.  3.&nbsp;Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (4) If a tree falls in the woods, did it happen? If a QB misses the playoffs, did his career year even happen? 4.&nbsp;Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (16) Yes, he has the best offensive coordinator in football. But Goff is in the conversation of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. 5.&nbsp;Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (25) You rarely want to win the "Most Improved," because of the award's backhanded nature. But if the NFL had that award, Darnold would get every vote.&nbsp; 6.&nbsp;Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20) No Dave Canales, no problem. Since joining Tampa two years ago, Mayfield put up 8,544 passing yards, 69 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. Despite even more adversity than last year, Mayfield was even better.  7.&nbsp;Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (1) It was largely an off season for the league's best player. I don't know if he was experimenting. Or if he was bored. But he played down to his opponents for most of the year. 8.&nbsp;Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (12) It turned out Herbert was a Harbaugh guy, through and through. Harbaugh might not unlock creativity in Herbert's game. But maybe these two can actually win a few playoff games. 9.&nbsp;Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (18) He's the Offensive Rookie of the Year, but he needs to learn from C.J. Stroud that a great rookie season doesn't naturally lead to growth. 10.&nbsp;Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (11) Had he not dealt with the knee injury, Love might've had a season to rival last year. But until he starts beating some of the league's best teams, I don't know if he's elite.  11. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (7) He took a step back this year, in part because the offense was better with Saquon Barkley as the centerpiece. But what does that say about Hurts? 12.&nbsp;Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (13) The Rams' season felt a little like a game of Oregon Trail.&nbsp; A turf monster bit Cooper Kupp and he suffered an ankle injury! A snake got Puka Nacua, and he's out indefinitely with a knee injury! Through it all, Stafford pulled his wagon into the playoffs. 13.&nbsp;Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (30) I kept expecting Nix to slip up — to regress. But this was an impeccable rookie season: 3,775 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a playoff berth.  14.&nbsp;Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (21) Smith is a textbook system quarterback. He's&nbsp;not a game manager, however. It's hard to move on from a QB like that. They'll woo you with big stats, even if the wins don't match. 15.&nbsp;C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (9) He started the season roughly where he left off last year, but he began to regress when receiver Nico Collins dealt with an injury. Even when Collins returned, Stroud declined. 16.&nbsp;Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers (31) Coincidentally, Wilson’s story looks a lot like Stroud’s: started strong, faded late and limped into the playoffs.  17.&nbsp;Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (17) An electric player like Murray has the potential to take over a game with explosive plays. But at this point in his career, he still lacks the control over the game flow that stars like Lamar and Allen have developed. In other words, Murray isn't a game manager. It's his biggest flaw. 18.&nbsp;Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (6) I don't want to say the emperor has no clothes. But right now, all he's wearing is underwear. 19. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (10) His talent makes him a top-10 QB. His injuries landed him here, however. 20. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (8) It was such an incomplete year from Prescott, but what we did see was … not good.  21.&nbsp;Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (29) The most improved award goes to Darnold, but his runner-up is Young. Over the past eight games, he has been outstanding. And that's fascinating, because over the first four weeks of the season, he looked like he didn't belong in the NFL. 22.&nbsp;Drake Maye, New England Patriots (N/A) With Maye, there is a gulf between his statistics and his film. The stats show a kid who couldn't cut it in Week 1 and, when he finally went into the lineup, he struggled the rest of the way. But the film showed a kid who — every week — saw his teammates disappoint him.&nbsp; 23. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (14) Can we all just forget about 2024? I genuinely think that if Williams can do that, he'll be better off. He got worse. And he needs to start over. 24. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (27) New Orleans can't afford to cut him. So, the next coach will probably have two difficult tasks: trying to reclaim Carr's career and trying to develop his replacement. 25. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (23) I love his potential. He has just 15 starts. He's still 22 years old. He's a better prospect than any of the QBs in the 2025 draft. If you're the Colts, you can't fixate on his statistics. Just embrace the ongoing project. 26. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (15) Lawrence is unable or unwilling to grow from the mistakes that plagued him going back to his rookie season. It's almost like he thought that his status as a generational prospect would instantly grant him success as a generational QB. 27.&nbsp;Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (5) He doesn't seem to be an NFL quarterback anymore.  28. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (22) It's Michael Penix time. But somebody's going to trade for Cousins. Who's it gonna be? 29. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (32) Minshew is a backup whom the Raiders asked to start. That's on Las Vegas — not Minshew. 30. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (24) I look forward to Levis landing with a team that can develop him. I won't rule him out as a potential starter … someday. Right now, he ain't it. 31. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (26) Jones is one step ahead of Levis. He's already with the Vikings studying under the NFL's hottest quarterback whisperer, Kevin O'Connell. And judging from Jones' film, O'Connell has his work cut out for him. 32. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (19) Not an NFL quarterback, and Browns general manager Andrew Berry's revelation that Watson suffered a setback in his recovery from an Achilles injury lays the groundwork for Cleveland to move on from him on the field, if not on their books. Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;@henrycmckenna. [Want great stories delivered right to your inbox?&nbsp;Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]