Is Justin Herbert making his move from one of the better QBs in the league to one of the best players overall?
If the last couple of weeks have been any indication, the answer is yes. He’s not at the top of the QB power rankings yet, as a familiar face has reclaimed the top spot.
Here's our ranking of the league’s starting quarterbacks entering Week 6:
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32. Zach Wilson, Jets
Last week’s ranking: 31
Week 5 stats: 19-of-32, 192 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,117 yards, 4 TD, 9 INT
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Wilson has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in three of his five NFL games. That’s not going to cut it at all.
31. Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars
Last week’s ranking: 30
Week 5 stats: 23-of-33, 273 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 28 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Season stats: 1,146 yards, 6 TD, 8 INT, 110 rush yards, 2 rush TD
Winless through five games, Lawrence has improved over the last couple of weeks but has nothing to show for it. Like Wilson, a lot of that falls on the rookie’s situation.
30. Whoever Starts for 49ers, 49ers
Last week’s ranking: 21
The bye week could not be hitting at a better time for Kyle Shanahan, who has seen his starting QB get hurt in back-to-back games. After Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a calf injury in Week 4 against the Seahawks, Trey Lance sprained his knee against the Cardinals and should miss time. Ideally, Garoppolo is ready for Week 7.
29. Geno Smith, Seahawks
Last week’s ranking: N/A
Week 5 stats: 10-of-17, 131 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 23 rush yards
Season stats: 10-of-17, 131 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 23 rush yards
I was not even sure Geno Smith was on the Seahawks until Wilson left Thursday Night Football with a finger injury. Wilson had surgery and will be out for the time being, making it Smith’s show in Seattle.
28. Whoever Starts for the Giants, Giants
Last week’s ranking: 19 (Daniel Jones)
Jones got concussed in the Giants’ loss to the Cowboys and the Rams are up next. With New York sitting at 1-4, the move is probably to just start Mike Glennon and take the L, as the kids say. I’m pretty sure Jones is a good quarterback who’s just on a bad team; risking his health at this point would be silly.
27. Mac Jones, Patriots
Last week’s ranking: 28
Week 5 stats: 23-of-30, 231 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,243 yards, 5 TD, 5 INT
Jones was outplayed by fellow rookie Davis Mills Sunday. His stat line was very forgiving, but he threw a lot of interceptable balls that weren’t grabbed by a weak Texans defense.
26. Whoever Starts for the Dolphins, Dolphins
Last week’s ranking: 27 (Jacoby Brissett)
Week 5 stats: 27-of-39, 275 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (Jacoby Brissett)
Brissett got hurt Sunday against the Bucs and Tua Tagovailoa has returned to practice. I’m not sure which is the better player between the two, but the Dolphins have lost four straight.
25. Davis Mills, Texans
Last week’s ranking: 32
Week 5 stats: 21-of-29, 312 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 669 yards, 5 TD, 5 INT
One week after New England’s defense muzzled Tom Brady, Mills impressed against it. That was a much-needed step forward after his dreadful showing against the Bills.
24. Justin Fields, Bears
Last week’s ranking: 29
Week 5 stats: 12-of-20, 111 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 458 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 1 rush TD
Fields had an eventful Sunday, throwing his first touchdown pass and beating a good Raiders team. He’s improved incrementally from a terrible first start in Week 3 against the Browns.
23. Baker Mayfield, Browns
Last week’s ranking: 26
Week 5 stats: 23-of-32, 305 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 1,240 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 67 rush yards, 1 rush TD
I was completely wrong about the Browns this season. I figured Kevin Stefanski and Baker Mayfield were going to make big strides together this season. Instead, Stefanski opted to run the ball on 3rd and 10 in the final minutes rather than trust Mayfield to put the game away. Mayfield was good in the game too; he just wasn’t Justin Herbert.
22. Taylor Heinicke, Football Team
Last week’s ranking: 16
Week 5 stats: 20-of-41, 248 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 40 rush yards
Season stats: 1,208 yards, 8 TD, 5 INT, 127 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Heinicke followed a great performance against the Falcons with his first Officially Bad game of the season. Realistically it’s hard to be mad at his performance given what he is, but the Football Team is in no man’s land.
21. Ryan Tannehill, Titans
Last week’s ranking: 24
Week 5 stats: 14-of-22, 197 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 1,251 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT, 130 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Sunday might have been his best passing performance of the season, yet he didn’t break 200 yards or throw for multiple touchdowns. Are we far enough into the season where we can ask what happened to the dominant Tannehill of the last couple of years?
20. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
Last week’s ranking: 25
Week 5 stats: 15-of-25, 253 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 1,286 yards, 6 TD, 4 INT
Roethlisberger looked good Sunday, but his season is about to get harder. JuJu Smith-Schuster is out for the season after suffering a shoulder injury against the Broncos.
19. Jared Goff, Lions
Last week’s ranking: 15
Week 5 stats: 21-of-35, 203 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,303 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT, 72 rush yards
This season has had a lot of “he was good, but they lost” games for Goff (typical Lions stuff). Goff finally got on the same page as the rest of his team in Week 5, playing poorly in the loss.
18. Joe Burrow, Bengals
Last week’s ranking: 18
Week 5 stats: 26-of-38, 281 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Season stats: 1,269 yards, 11 TD, 6 INT
Burrow had to go to the hospital after the Packers game due to a throat contusion and is on vocal rest for the week. Whatever it takes to get to play against the terrible Lions.
17. Teddy Bridgewater, Broncos
Last week’s ranking: 22
Week 5 stats: 24-of-38, 288 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,180 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT
After a promising start, Bridgewater has been just OK the last couple of weeks. The Broncos need him at his Weeks 1-3 form if they’re going to snap out of their two-game losing streak.
15. Sam Darnold, Panthers
Last week’s ranking: 10
Week 5 stats: 21-of-37, 177 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Season stats: 1,366 yards, 6 TD, 6 INT, 5 rush TD
Darnold had his worst game as a Panther Sunday, but he’s been really good in the other four games. Given how poorly his career started with the Jets, he shouldn’t be too frustrated. He’s in a good situation.
14. Matt Ryan, Falcons
Last week’s ranking: 20
Week 5 stats: 33-of-45, 342 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 1,332 yards, 10 TD, 3 INT
Sure, it’s been against the Jets and the Football Team, but Ryan is starting to string together some strong performances. He’s also starting to develop a rapport with Kyle Pitts, which will go a long way.
13. Derek Carr, Raiders
Last week’s ranking: 12
Week 5 stats: 22-of-35, 206 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,605 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT
One big winner of the John Gruden fallout is Carr, one of the better QBs in the league who seemingly always had a coach who wasn’t crazy about him. It took terrible circumstances, but Carr outlasted Gruden.
12. Kirk Cousins, Vikings
Last week’s ranking: 11
Week 5 stats: 25-of-34, 275 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,396 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT
Cousins has been slipping the last couple of weeks after a very impressive (and clean) start to the season. He’s got picks in his last two games after throwing none over the first three weeks.
11. Jalen Hurts, Eagles
Last week’s ranking: 13
Week 5 stats: 22-of-37, 198 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 30 rush yards, 2 rush TD
Season stats: 1,365 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT, 256 rush yards, 3 rush TD
Hurts has been good and the Eagles haven’t (2-3). The good news there is that the team could very well have three first-round picks this year (w
10. Jameis Winston, Saints
Last week’s ranking: 17
Week 5 stats: 15-of-30, 279 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 26 rush yards
Season stats: 892 yards, 12 TD, 3 INT, 86 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Winston is a new man in New Orleans. He’s on pace for just 10 interceptions, which would be a career low despite it being a 17-game season.
hich are all currently projected in the top 10) without needing to make a move for a signal-caller. Especially when considering DeVonta Smith is already in the fold, they could build something really good around Hurts.
9. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
Last week’s ranking: 7
Week 5 stats: 27-of-39, 344 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,241 yards, 10 TD, 3 INT, 1 rush TD
It’s easy to forget anyone but kickers played in that Packers-Bengals game. Rodgers had a mediocre afternoon for him, but he’s got the Packers at 4-1 after that dreadful Week 1 loss to the Saints.
8. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Last week’s ranking: 14
Week 5 stats: 37-of-43, 442 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT, 62 rush yards
Season stats: 1,519 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT, 341 rush yards, 2 rush TD
Jackson barely did anything for the first three quarters Monday night, then absolutely went off to lead the Ravens to an overtime win over the Colts. Few can take over a game the way Jackson can.
7. Matthew Stafford, Rams
Last week’s ranking: 3
Week 5 stats: 25-of-37, 365 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,587 yards, 12 TD, 3 INT
Thursday’s win over the Seahawks marked the first time this season Stafford hadn’t thrown for multiple touchdowns, but I’m sure he’ll take winning over putting up numbers after experiencing the opposite in Detroit.
6. Kyler Murray, Cardinals
Last week’s ranking: 2
Week 5 stats: 22-of-31, 239 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 1,512 yards, 10 TD, 4 INT, 110 rush yards, 3 rush TD
Week 5 was Murray’s quietest passing performance this season, but he came through with a fourth-quarter touchdown to keep the Cardinals undefeated.
5. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: 6
Week 5 stats: 22-of-32, 302 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
Season stats: 1,368 yards, 13 TD, 3 INT
Prescott’s been a mad man this season. He’s thrown for at least three touchdowns in four of his five games.
4. Josh Allen, Bills
Last week’s ranking: 8
Week 5 stats: 15-of-26, 315 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 59 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Season stats: 1,370 yards, 12 TD, 2 INT, 188 rush yards, 2 rush TD
Any concerns with Allen’s unimpressive first couple of weeks should be long gone. He’s been fantastic the last three weeks, throwing nine touchdowns and only one pick.
3. Justin Herbert, Chargers
Last week’s ranking: 9
Week 5 stats: 26-of-43, 398 yards, 4 TD, 29 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Season stats: 1,576 yards, 13 TD, 3 INT, 1 rush TD
Herbert is locked in. His last three games have seen him throw 11 touchdowns and no picks, all in Chargers wins. He might be pushing his way into the MVP conversation.
2. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
Last week’s ranking: 1
Week 5 stats: 33-of-54, 272 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 61 rush yards
Season stats: 1,490 yards, 16 TD, 6 INT, 153 rush yards, 1 rush TD
Mahomes has already matched his 2020 interception total, but he still leads the league in Total QBR.
1. Tom Brady, Buccaneers
Last week’s ranking: 5
Week 5 stats: 30-of-41, 411 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT
Season stats: 1,767 yards, 15 TD, 2 INT, 1 rush TD
Well that’s a nice way to bounce back from your first zero-touchdown performance of the season. Brady now has three games with four-plus touchdowns this season.