Moorhead’s Way Too Early 2020 Quarterback Rankings

With the news of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being able to throw again, it got me to ponder some questions.

Who are gonna be the best quarterbacks at the end of the 2020 season?

Who are gonna be the worst?

Well, my job here today is to try to rank these quarterbacks based on what I know right now about their weapons, lines, and the ability to be coached. It couldn’t also hurt to throw in how teams either could rise or fall apart, but enough talk let’s get started.

32.) Mitch Trubisky

Team: Chicago Bears

Concerns: Nick Foles and Pressure

Trubisky did not have the same energy this year as he did in 2018. He was inaccurate and cost the Bears a lot of games. Bringing in Nick Foles as competition does nothing positive for Trubisky unless he can suck it up and roll with the flow. He puts too much pressure on himself as a player, and with karma coming back to haunt him for replacing Mike Glennon. He is the starter for now, but he’ll have to prove why he should still be that person, and I think he will crack under the pressure.

31.) Tyrod Taylor

Team: Los Angeles Chargers

Concerns: Playing Time and Justin Herbert

Tyrod is a good mobile quarterback and a right fit for this Chargers team, but my overall assumption is that he won’t be their long term plan. We saw this in Cleveland when he was the starter. It took three games before the Browns put in Baker Mayfield and Taylor never saw the starting position again. Fast forward to now and the situation is similar with the Chargers drafting shiny new quarterback Justin Herbert, who has the potential to start right now. Tyrod will experience the same hardships unfortunately.

30.) Dwayne Haskins

Team: Washington Redskins

Concerns: Office Management and a Young Roster

Haskins did the best he could despite what was thrown at him last year. He will look to try to build up a positive resume this season. Ron Rivera won’t be the problem, but I still don’t trust Dan Synder in his position. Haskins has to put the team on his back and prove they can rely on their offense just as well as the defense. His young leadership also has to play a big part in this.

29.) Jarrett Stidham

Team: New England Patriots

Concerns: Playing Time and a Lack of Weapons

Being behind a great like Tom Brady is an extreme help to now starter Jarrett Stidham, but let’s not kid ourselves here. This team is about to be a run first and defensive power house. Stidham is there simply because he has to be. Unless weapons are given to him, the offensive side for New England will be very rough especially since I am pretty sure he has only thrown four times in his entire career for the Patriots.

28.) Jared Goff

Team: Los Angeles Rams

Concerns: Pressure and Missing Pieces

Going into last year, Goff signed a very lucrative contract and sense hasn’t produced like he did in his Super Bowl run season. Now the pressure is all on Goff if he can prove the haters wrong. Gurley’s loss will most likely affect Goff’s ability to throw. Also, who knows how well this offensive line will be now because it was garbage last season. Couple that in with a lot of defensive players missing and that brings the Rams’ quarterback into the lower column of this ranking.

27.) Gardner Minshew

Team: Jacksonville Jaguars

Concerns: Rebuilding and Being the Man

Minshew came into the last season and took everyone by surprise when Nick Foles went down with an injury. Minshew delivered a spicy southern nature of doing well and having fun with it outside of the game. The Jorts, the Mustache, the Bandannas, etc. Now the fun is over. Minshew is the guy now in Jacksonville and he will have to put a lot into a horrible rebuilding process from Jacksonville’s front office.

26.) Teddy Bridgewater

Team: Carolina Panthers

Concerns: Starting Rust and a Running Back’s Team

I am very happy that Teddy Bridgewater finally gets to be a starting NFL quarterback again. However, the Panthers don’t have very many options to throw to. They have D.J. Moore and newcomer from the Jets; Robby Anderson. This is essentially Christian McCaffrey’s team since he does everything so in my mind Teddy’s production depends on him.

25.) Ryan Fitzpatrick

Team: Miami Dolphins

Concerns: End of the Road and a Defensive Battle Mode

Ryan Fitzpatrick comes into this year as the Dolphin’s starting quarterback yet again, but I have a feeling this might be his last year unless something extravagant comes his way. The Dolphins took their quarterback of the future in Tua Tagovailoa, so essentially this will be his red shirt year learning under Fitzmagic. The acquiring of running backs Jordan Howard and Matt Breida and the work put into the defense makes me think they won’t need to depend on Fitzpatrick a lot for this year signaling the end of the magic.

24.) Daniel Jones

Team: New York Giants

Concerns: Fumbling Issues and Awareness

Daniel Jones proved a lot of fans wrong last year when they said he was already a bust. He replaced Eli Manning with flying colors and added a sense of mobility to a struggling position. Now with an addition to the offensive line, hopefully Jones won’t be pressured as much and rely on the run game to ease his passing mistakes. He should rely on Darius Slayton a lot when passing. He just needs to work on securing the ball.

23.) Sam Darnold

Team: New York Jets

Concerns: Weapons and Seeing Ghosts

I think Darnold was in a predicament last year, and I think he might struggle with some of those again this year. His receiving core takes a hit with the loss of Robby Anderson, but he gains rookie Denzel Mims and still has Jamison Crowder who flourished last year. Darnold also needs to get on the same page with Adam Gase even though he’s an idiot. Get the run game involved and Darnold shouldn’t see a lot of ghosts passing the ball this upcoming year.

22.) Derek Carr

Team: Las Vegas Raiders

Concerns: Locker Room Presence and Pressure

Derek Carr’s stats were under valued last year, but in my mind he’s a decent quarterback. The real pressure will be finding to keep his good graces with Gruden and Mayock as they seemed to have lost a little bit of faith with him. He also needs to find his ability to motivate a locker room again as those conversations came into question last year. Hopefully he can lead this team to do something great in 2020.

21.) Ryan Tannehill

Team: Tennessee Titans

Concerns: Consistency and Money

Tannehill going to the Titans was the best thing that could have happened with the team, but in all honestly Derrick Henry destroyed opposing teams. Now the Titans have to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke. Ryan Tannehill hasn’t been the most consistent quarterback so that is a little scary. Also add in the fact that their best tackle is gone, and Tannehill got paid a bunch of money doesn’t bring me a lot of good energy when ranking him.

20.) Joe Burrow

Team: Cincinnati Bengals

Concerns: Offensive Line and Transitioning

Burrow is entering his rookie year as the starting quarterback for the Bengals. Anytime that happens to a rookie, the main obstacles are going to be inexperience because he’s a rookie (obviously) with the transitioning from college style play to the pros. Also, you don’t have the best offensive line in the AFC North, not just the entire NFL. Guys that were great in college sometimes don’t pan out like RGIII, Johnny Manziel, and Sam Bradford. Hopefully he can be like Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes. I like the kid even though he plays for a bad organization.

19.) Baker Mayfield

Team: Cleveland Browns

Concerns: Pressure and Another Playbook to Learn

This is Baker’s last year to prove that he can get the job done. He did pretty well his rookie season, but crashed hard last year. Now all the pressure is on this kid again to get back into Cleveland’s good graces. Honestly, though this organization is so screwed up, and the players are hurting from incompetence. Baker now with a good set of O-linemen needs to get the ball rolling in the right direction as he will have to learn yet another playbook from another head coach.

18.) Jimmy Garoppolo

Team: San Francisco 49ers

Concerns: Weapons and Consistency

Jimmy was blamed for the Super Bowl loss by a lot of people, but honestly it was more on the defense than the offense. Still, Jimmy will have some difficulty come through this season when the defense is still as good as it is and their offense mostly depends on the run game. His only weapons now are Kittle, Samuel, and the new kid; Brandon Aiyuk. Jimmy has to keep up his consistency, but with fewer weapons it will be a little difficult.

17.) Matthew Stafford

Team: Detroit Lions

Concerns: Injury and Coaching Situations

Stafford has seen his fair share of injuries and a fair share of mediocrity in Detroit. Hopefully, he can finally make it to the promise land just once for the sake of Detroit. They don’t deserve it. If he stays healthy, Stafford is a very good play at the quarterback position. His stats will be good again, but he has to stay healthy which for him is kind of hard.

16.) Drew Lock

Team: Denver Broncos

Concerns: First Full Starting Season and Hunger

Drew Lock gets a great opportunity to take Denver back to the promise land. He has plenty of weapons to work with including receivers Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and KJ Hamler while having the additions of running back Melvin Gordon to compliment Phillip Lindsay. Don’t forget about Noah Fant either. Some say however that Lock’s hunger for success could prove too much and overload him in his first starting season. Who knows, but I like this kid a lot this year. Dark horse success right here.

15.) Philip Rivers

Team: Indianapolis Colts

Concerns: Making Simple Mistakes and New Weapons

Rivers is coming off a bad season last year and his last season with the Chargers. Rivers will now be the starting quarterback for the Colts and somehow this feels better. However, he has to avoid making simple mistakes and to trust his new weapons like Marlon Mack, Jonathan Taylor, Jack Doyle, Michael Pittman Jr, and especially T.Y. Hilton.

14.) Kyler Murray

Team: Arizona Cardinals

Concerns: Offensive Line and DeAndre Hopkins

I was very surprised to see Murray excel at the quarterback position when he wasn’t given a lot to work with a new head coach and being a rookie. However, he made a good enough impact in my eyes to put him this far up. The addition of Hopkins is a double edge sword as he’s great, but most likely Murray will pass to him a lot which greatly increases his chances of being picked off. The obvious other one would be a dreadful offensive line. Murray will still be running for his life I guess.

13.) Josh Allen

Team: Buffalo Bills

Concerns: Pressure and Stefon Diggs

I really like Josh Allen and even though he appears to drop from my 2019 rankings, it isn’t by much. I think the main reason why Allen could struggle this upcoming season is due to the fact that the Bills are in line to win the division for the first time in years. The Patriots don’t have Brady anymore which means they are out and the Bills are in. The second may just be for the fact that he has a new toy in Diggs and will want to throw to him more often which might not be the wisest thing if he is completely covered.

12.) Carson Wentz

Team: Philadelphia Eagles

Concerns: Injury and More Injuries

This isn’t totally Wentz’s fault, but he seems to be hurt every single year. When he isn’t hurt, his entire team falls to injury like it did last year. I’m not sure what the football gods think of Philadelphia, but they are evil to this team man. If this team can stay healthy, than perhaps they actually might have a shot at something. Wentz is good when he is at full strength and made novices look like superstars last year.

11.) Kirk Cousins

Team: Minnesota Vikings

Concerns: Prime Time Games and Leadership

Cousins is a good average quarterback and now he gets a nice new weapon to compliment Adam Thielen and to replace Stefon Diggs; Justin Jefferson. That and his nice accuracy should do fine, but there are still some issues with Cousins. He still chokes during prime time games which is not a good quality to have in a quarterback. The second lies in his leadership ability. We saw last year how frustrated he got with Thielen. Those two will be what he needs to work on for 2020.

10.) Aaron Rodgers

Team: Green Bay Packers

Concerns: Weapons and Coaching

If the front office wanted to piss off Aaron Rodgers going into the 2020 season, man they sure did it. They drafted Jordan Love to be Rodger’s successor, but at the same time gave him no weapons in receivers to get the job done. This ties in with coaching. I can’t imagine cool heads will prevail between him and LaFleur. He will still play great though because he’s f**king Aaron Rodgers.

9.) Tom Brady

Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Concerns: Durability and a Whole New System

It is still weird typing that Tom Brady is the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The old veteran will have much to prove this season in order to shut Bill Belichick up once and for all. However, even with the vast amounts of weapons at his disposal, Brady’s concerns come down to simply him getting older. His durability gets put into question, and his throwing strength might not much match up with the likes of Mike Evans. Plus, he has to learn a whole new system after being with the Patriots for so long.

8.) Matt Ryan

Team: Atlanta Falcons

Concerns: Interceptions and Coaching

Ryan had a lot of bumps and bruises to get through last year considering that his team was a poop stain for much of the season until they remembered how to play football. This team should be good this year and so should Ryan if two things can be corrected. One, he has to stop throwing a lot of interceptions. Last year he threw way too many. Also, he needs to get Quinn into a new gear. His coaching cost them quite a few games last year not to mention a lot of injuries.

7.) Dak Prescott

Team: Dallas Cowboys

Concerns: Money and Pressure with Production

Dak’s contract negotiations are really making me an angry person. Just sign him already Jerry Jones you piece of garbage drafting CeeDee Lamb on a yacht ass. Nonetheless, money is a big reason if Dak will step onto the field or not this year, and in my mind he deserves it. Next comes the subject of production. The world will be watching Dak to see if he can deliver better production than last year. CeeDee Lamb should help, but man that’s a lot of pressure for a guy still having to prove he’s Dallas’ quarterback of the future.

6.) Deshaun Watson

Team: Houston Texans

Concerns: Bill O’ Brien and Not Having DeAndre Hopkins

Honestly, if you are Watson or a Texans fan you have to wonder what the hell Bill O’ Brien is doing to your team. Having him as the coach and general manager is seriously screwing up the team and their motivation to win. If I were Watson, I’d honestly ask for a trade after getting rid of my best weapon. Brandin Cooks should be fine, but it won’t be the same. Hopkins was a once in a lifetime receiver and Watson won’t do as well without him. He’ll still do good folks, don’t choke on anything. He’ll be fine, but it just won’t be the same.

5.) Ben Roethlisberger

Team: Pittsburgh Steelers

Concerns: Injury and Attitude

Big Ben is bacccckkkkk babyyyyyyyyy!! He’s trimmed his beard, got his hair cut, and threw to his receivers. For the first time in a while it seems like Big Ben is healthy and ready to go to lead the Steel City to the Stairway to Seven. The only things that would be of concern would be injury just because he’s been through it. The attitude also comes into play as Ben is emotional when he plays and sometimes his emotions and his attitude affect his gameplay. However, I believe he”ll do great things this 2020 in his comeback season.

4.) Russell Wilson

Team: Seattle Seahawks

Concerns: Offensive Line and a Rough Defense

Wilson is a great quarterback and aside from Big Ben and Drew Brees is my favorite quarterback in the NFL. He’s great and such a fun guy to watch whether he scrambles or throws the ball. There are some issues to discuss with Wilson though. One, is that his offensive line is still in shambles so he will be most likely running for his life. Two, the defense will give up a lot of points which means Wilson will have to produce a lot more to keep the pace. Otherwise, the guy is gonna do great in 2020.

3.) Drew Brees

Team: New Orleans Saints

Concerns: Last Shot and the Refs

Brees is riding his last two years in New Orleans, and honestly to me it seems more like one year which means this is his last shot to do something great for the city of New Orleans. So the pressure will be on for him to accomplish the main goal once again. The second thing might be a little petty, but I’m saying it because it’s happened two years in a row. The refs have cost the Saints multiple chances to get to the Super Bowl. Brees has to put up enough points so mistakes that the refs make won’t matter.

2.) Lamar Jackson

Team: Baltimore Ravens

Concerns: Pressure and Play-Style

Man I hate saying this because of the fact he’s a Raven, but man is Lamar Jackson something else. He’s a really gifted athlete and should do well again this season. The things that he might struggle with is number one; pressure. He got the Ravens to the playoffs last year and won the AFC North. Now he has to put his ability into overdrive to do it once again. The main thing however will be the play-style. Teams were definitely taking notes on how the Ravens played so Jackson’s style of play might have to change in order for them to excel again. Can that happen? Most likely, but it is still interesting to think about.

1.) Patrick Mahomes

Team: Kansas City Chiefs

Concerns: Overconfidence and Risky Play Calling

I mean you guys saw this coming right? This kid is incredible. The ketchup lovin, frog voice havin, touchdown machine is looking to break even more records in 2020. However, even Mahomes isn’t able to slide away from some concerns just like every other quarterback. The concerns for him are simple. One; overconfidence. Mahomes has been “the” guy for two seasons now and while it won’t go to his head, we have seen him make some questionable calls to get stats and results. Two; risky play calling. This is between him and coach Andy Reid. Some calls that they make are risky. Look what happened last season. Mahomes got hurt and thankfully only had to miss two games. This man can bleed just like everyone else. Don’t screw yourself here by getting hurt or making stupid plays.