The run-first offenses finally let their quarterbacks cook.
For most of the season, the Chargers, the Lions and the Patriots have asked their quarterbacks to step aside and let the running game lead the way. But not this past weekend. In Week 6, those signal-callers got to step into the limelight. Or rather, they stepped up in the pocket and let it rip. And they all played well — in some cases outstanding.
It was a week full of changes for the NFL and for the QB Stock Market.
For these rankings, we weigh the most recent performances with 30% importance, while 70% is applied to the rest of 2024. One question holds importance above all others: What have you done for your team lately?
Previous weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
1. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (↔)
2. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (↔)
3. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (⬆️ 3)
4. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (⬆️ 4)
If Stroud was prepping for a job interview, he should have no problem addressing his biggest weakness. You know the difficulty of that question — where you try to reveal a fault that ideally builds you up. I work too hard. I’m having trouble saying no. I am too detail-oriented.
Well, Stroud is too quick.
We saw that against the Patriots on a third-and-manageable in the fourth quarter. New England brought six rushers — an all-out blitz. Stroud knew it and got the ball out before tight end Dalton Schultz was out of his break. Schultz lazily got his head around and wasn’t ready. Too quick.
But that’s been true of Stroud for some time. He’s a fast processor and has a quick release. It’s what makes him so hard to defend. What made him even more difficult this week was the return of Joe Mixon. He brought balance back to this offense and made it feel as though Nico Collins‘ absence would be no big deal. I didn’t realize just how much Mixon could change this offense, but he accounted for over 150 yards from scrimmage and helped Stroud lead a blowout.
5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (⬇️ 2)
6. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (⬆️ 1)
7. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (⬇️ 2)
8. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (⬇️ 4)
9. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (⬆️ 15)
10. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (⬆️ 7)
11. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (⬆️ 8)
It was a beautiful blend of Jim Harbaugh’s meat-and-potatoes football and Herbert’s Oregon-spread playmaking.
The two most important Chargers are figuring out how to make their football cultures mesh.
Because of that, there might not have been a smoother operator at quarterback on Sunday. He was in total control of the Chargers’ win over the Broncos. He attempted just one pass in the fourth quarter, largely because he’d done all that he needed to do in the opening 45 minutes. Herbert finished 21 of 34 for 237 yards and one touchdown. He probably should have had three touchdowns if not for a rough performance from rookie receiver Ladd McConkey. The rookie receiver dropped a deep pass in the end zone and, earlier in the game, decided not to dive for the pylon at the goal line and got stuffed cutting back.
But that’s a reminder of what Herbert is managing at receiver — unproven players. And he’s doing what he can, including his prettiest pass of the day to running back Kimani Vidal for a 38-yard touchdown.
This was the first time the Chargers have let Herbert rip the ball around. He had not attempted 30 or more passes, or consequently tallied 200 yards, at any point this season. Was it out of necessity, with the run game stalling? Or might we see more games like this from Herbert?
12. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (⬇️ 3)
13. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (⬇️ 3)
14. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (⬇️ 2)
15. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (⬇️ 1)
In the past two weeks, Williams has scored six touchdowns. That’s as many as Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels have thrown all season.
I get it: Williams has kicked the crap out of the league’s worst defenses. The Jaguars and the Panthers have a mess to clean up on their back end. But Williams only made things worse for their defensive coordinators, with masterful games in consecutive weeks.
He started the season missing open receivers, but in a short time, he has evolved into a tight-window thrower. Against the Jags, 10.3% of his passes were into tight windows. And he finished with a completion percentage of 12.5% over expected, per Next Gen Stats. You could see his arm strength and decisiveness on chunk gains to Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen on third-down conversions.
The lingering weakness? Williams is fixated on the deep left portion of the field, where he’s 2 of 13 with three of his five interceptions, including one this past Sunday. It’s bad. And resisting the temptation to go deep — and/or recalibrating his timing so he doesn’t short-arm it — will be key in avoiding turnovers.
16. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (⬇️ 5)
The Lions broke him.
Given the lack of run support and the poor offensive line play, Dak was performing admirably this year. He drew some criticism for not showing up when it mattered most and padding his stats in garbage time. But this past weekend against Detroit showed just how bad the Cowboys can be if Prescott doesn’t elevate them. He truly played poorly. And that’s why Dallas took a shellacking.
It started with an interception in the low red zone where the Lions fooled him into throwing the ball. On the next drive, he nearly threw an interception to Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone while the two nearby Dallas receivers knocked each other over.
It summed up the state of the Cowboys in one play.
During the second quarter, as the Lions pulled away, Dak had a stretch where he dropped back 10 times for two sacks, two completions and minus-10 yards of offense.
Without Prescott and CeeDee Lamb playing perfect football, the Cowboys didn’t stand a chance.
17. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (⬇️ 4)
18. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (⬆️ 3)
19. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (⬇️ 4)
20. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (⬆️ 3)
21. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (⬇️ 1)
22. Drake Maye, New England Patriots (new)
For the first two drives, this had the makings of a disastrous debut. Maye went three-and-out and then threw an interception on his second series. But by the end of the second quarter, while operating in the two-minute drill, Maye’s nerves were gone and his talent, instincts and development kicked in.
He saw a matchup he liked in coverage that was advantageous for the offense — and he pulled the trigger. That’s how Maye scored his first touchdown: a 40-yard dime to Kayshon Boutte.
It was a smart, decisive read and a pinpoint pass with ample arm strength. It was everything Maye was chalked up to be.
The game had highs and lows: three touchdowns and three turnovers from Maye.
So now comes the hard part. This performance confirmed how good Maye can be — and also how bad he can be. We can’t absolve him entirely from the messy drives when he was jittery. Quieting those nerves in high-pressure situations will be an important skill for him to learn. There will be plenty of opportunities, given that the Patriots decided to play him this year without a supporting cast.
Now, they must take the utmost care in developing him into his best version. Because there are so many pitfalls for a young QB who feels he has to put the entire offense on his shoulders. And that’s what he’ll have to do.
23. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (⬇️ 1)
24. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts (⬆️ 1)
25. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (⬆️ 4)
26. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (⬇️ 8)
We’re well past the point of thinking Jones will be consistent from play to play or week to week.
He’s up. He’s down. He’s Danny Dimes. He’s Danny Crimes against the Giants fan base.
But the film from the Bengals game should be about enough for the coaching staff to give up on Jones. There were open receivers that he either failed to target or failed to hit with a catchable pass. At times, coach Brian Daboll dialed up plays that simply beat out the defense. Those were what Jones could execute. But the quarterback largely detracts from this offense, with a blend of bad decisions and bad passes. And, occasionally, he’ll make a bad decision and a bad pass on the same play — and that’s when his turnovers and turnover-worthy plays have happened, including against Cincinnati in the red zone when he got hit backpedaling and heaved up a mind-numbingly bad floater for the Bengals defense to easily field.
His total expected points added is -16.2 on the season, per Next Gen Stats. His completion percentage over expected is -2.7%. He has completed 62.1% of his passes for 1,343 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. None of that looks atrocious — until you watch the misses from this game. I shiver to think about what Jones would do without his elite run game.
27. Aidan O’Connell, Las Vegas Raiders (new)
28. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (⬇️ 2)
29. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints (new)
30. Tyler Huntley, Miami Dolphins (⬆️ 1)
31. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (⬇️ 1)
32. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (↔)
Henry McKenna is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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