The NFL season has concluded and the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. With a concluded season comes debate on how players did throughout the season. This article will review the quarterbacks who were ranked 32nd (dead last) to 22nd. The next article will preview 21st-11th and the final one will be the heralded top 10.
Ranking NFL Quarterbacks: Numbers 32-22
32.) Ryan Fitzpatrick (New York Jets)
2016 Stats: 11 GS, 56.6 CMP%, 2710 yards, 12 TD, 17 INT, 45.2 QBR
Ryan Fitzpatrick is pretty worthy of being the NFL’s worst quarterback. He was in and out as the starter after getting his paycheck last offseason. He passed for 12 touchdowns in 11 starts. Five of those starts ended with him not throwing a touchdown pass. Fitzpatrick managed to throw 6 interceptions against Kansas City in a 24-3 loss in week 3 that all but decided how his season was going to go.
31.) Jared Goff (Los Angeles Rams)
2016 Stats: 7 GS, 54.6 CMP%, 1089 yards, 5 TD, 7 INT, 22.1 QBR
After the Rams traded up to the first pick, they selected Jared Goff with the belief that he was going to be the franchise quarterback. Things didn’t start out too well for Goff as he couldn’t win the job out of training camp. He got the start in week 10 which marked his NFL debut. He showed glimmers of hope the next week when he tossed three touchdown passes in a 49-21 loss to the Saints. Goff only threw two more touchdowns in five games after that as the Rams have yet to win a game in which Goff starts (0-7).
30.) Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers)
2016 Stats: 11 GS, 59.2 CMP%, 2241 yards, 16 TD, 4 INT, 90.7 QBR
The 49’ers have some decisions to make at quarterback after Colin Kaepernick‘s second consecutive season struggling under center. The quarterback started the year out by making headlines with his comments about racism and his decision to kneel during the national anthem. He was backing up Blaine Gabbert to start the year until the 49ers started the season 0-5 and brought change to the quarterback depth chart. Kaepernick held a 16:4 TD/INT ratio but never was able to amount more than 300 yards after a week 9 loss to the Saints. The 49ers ended up going 2-14 on the year after beating the Rams in week 16 for their first win since shutting them out in week 1. Kaepernick did not play that game.
29.) Blake Bortles (Jacksonville Jaguars)
2016 Stats: 16 GS, 58.9 CMP%, 3905 yards, 23 TD, 16 INT, 49 QBR
Jacksonville thought they might’ve found a diamond in the rough when they drafted Blake Bortles three seasons ago but that hasn’t been the case. Bortles has only been average at best as he put up a 49 QBR this season which is his best since entering the league. His yards and touchdown’s took significant hits this season compared to 2015 when it seemed like Bortles potentially could’ve been a franchise quarterback. He threw a career low 16 INT’s this season which is not a good number if you’re talking career lows. Bortles is going to need to cut down on the turnovers if he wants to be a top quarterback in the NFL, or even a good one for that matter.
29.) Brock Osweiler (Houston Texans)
2016 Stats: 14 GS, 59.0 CMP%, 2957 yards, 15 TD, 16 INT, 55.3 QBR
In his first season as a full-time starter, Brock Osweiler had some difficulty. Being 6’7″, you would assume a guy like Osweler would have no trouble elevating passes for his receivers to get but that is something that haunted him throughout the year. He threw more INT’s than TD’s and many of the interceptions were mistakes that he made not giving his wide out the chance to catch the ball. He was paid big money over the offseason and had a terrible first season in an offense with no shortage of receiving weapons such as DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller running routes. Osweiler will need to be considerably better if the Texans want to have success in the coming seasons.
27.) Trevor Siemian (Denver Broncos)
2016 Stats: 14 GS, 59.5 CMP%, 3401 yards, 18 TD, 10 INT, 84.6 QBR
With Peyton Manning retiring and Brock Osweiler signing in Houston, the Broncos were forced to use Trevor Siemian at quarterback. Siemian didn’t play terrible for what was expected of him as he tossed 18 TD’s and put up a good QBR. Despite having some weapons at receiver that many teams couldn’t dream of having, Siemian is a guy who wasn’t expected to start and was kind of thrust into the situation. I’m not sold on Siemian yet but if he can lead his team to a playoff appearance next year, he’s got a chance to be a serviceable NFL signal caller.
26.) Matt Barkley (Chicago Bears)
2016 Stats: 6 GS, 59.7 CMP%, 1611 yards, 8 TD, 14 INT, 39.7 QBR
I’m probably a little bit higher on Matt Barkley than most people. His above numbers don’t speak highly of his abilities. But with the revolving door at quarterback in Chicago, it would’ve been tough to gain any traction. The sad part is, Barkley’s six starts lead the team. With minimal weapons in Chicago, there is a good chance Barkley could be a good starting quarterback in the NFL.
25.) Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers)
2016 Stats: 14 GS, 52.9 CMP%, 3509 yards, 19 TD, 14 INT, 75.8 QBR
After turning in a career-best season in 2015, Cam Newton‘s 2016 season was a career-worst. Newton’s QBR was the worst he’s ever had in his pro career. His INT total was the highest he’s had since his rookie season. His completion percentage was almost 5% lower than any that he’s ever had. If the Panthers want any chance of becoming a relevant playoff game, they’ve got to hope that 2016 was an outlier.
24.) Cody Kessler (Cleveland Browns)
2016 Stats: 8 GS, 65.6 CMP%, 1380 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT, 92.3 QBR
It’s been a long time since the Cleveland Browns could come away confident with the play of a quarterback from the prior season. Maybe Cody Kessler is the answer. Kessler saw the majority of the team’s games this season and only threw two interceptions in eight starts. Kessler wasn’t prone to turning the ball over in one of the most dysfunctional offenses in recent memory and that’s a very encouraging sign. He only threw six touchdowns, but if we are being honest, that might be all Cleveland scores in a year. Kessler is a good quarterback stuck on a really bad team. Maybe the Browns found their guy to move forward with.
23.) Ryan Tannehill (Miami Dolphins)
2016 Stats: 13 GS, 62.7 CMP%, 2995 yards, 19 TD, 12 INT, 54.6 QBR
In a season where Ryan Tannehill didn’t seem as effective in recent years, he had the Dolphins in the thick of a wild card hunt. Obviously, he was hurt in week 14 and missed the final three games and his team lost to the Steelers in the wild card round. His season got cut short and he missed games for the first time in his 5-year career. He finished with the highest completion percentage of his career but couldn’t eclipse 3000 passing yards for the first time ever. Had he started all 16 games though, he undoubtedly would’ve gotten there as he fell 5 yards short. He was an okay quarterback but will need to improve to be considered a top-20 guy next season.
22.) Tyrod Taylor (Buffalo Bills)
2016 Stats: 15 GS, 61.7 CMP%, 3023 yards, 17 TD, 6 INT, 89.7 QBR
Tyrod Taylor was the starter for the second straight season in Buffalo and posted some very similar numbers from the prior season. He led his team to 7 wins in both seasons. He only had 12 less passing yards than 2015. Taylor threw six INT’s for the second consecutive season and only threw 3 less touchdowns. His numbers didn’t regress much at all and it led to an almost similar season from Buffalo. It seemed as though maybe they would finally get over the hump but couldn’t manage to get over that .500 burden. Taylor is a guy where you get what you get with him and that’s exactly what happened in Buffalo this season.
