Future QB Rankings: Rating all 32 NFL teams’ situations from worst to best
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Tom Brady might be the best quarterback ever, but he’s not the best in the NFL right now. He certainly won’t be the best in 2022.
He’s human, after all, and at age 42, regression is inevitable even for someone with six Super Bowl rings. That puts the New England Patriots in an uncertain situation at quarterback two or three years down the road. The New Orleans Saints, with 40-year-old Drew Brees under center, find themselves in a similar scenario.
Other teams, such as the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, likely will face difficult personnel decisions at the quarterback position much sooner than that. Only a handful of teams, notably the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, appear secure in their quarterback situation for years to come.
All this got us thinking about the quarterback situations of the future — and where each of the NFL’s 32 teams ranks in terms of preparedness at the game’s most crucial position.
By quarterback situations, we mean the full overview of each team’s quarterbacks group, including backups and a potential succession plan, if necessary. For this exercise, we will define the future as three to four years down the road.
To help form these opinions, we consulted with a blue-ribbon panel of one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager. They were asked for their thoughts on each team’s quarterback situation. They provided insight to inform our rankings.
With that in mind, we present Touchdown Wire’s future quarterback rankings for every NFL team, from worst to first:
Earlier this season, many observers accused the Dolphins of tanking to earn the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and presumably select a quarterback. Since then, Miami (2-8) has been eclipsed by the ineptitude of Cincinnati (0-10) and Washington (1-9), so the Dolphins might not get the first QB off the board. Currently, the Dolphins have Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen on their roster. Rosen has failed in his playing time. There’s no way he’ll be back next year. The Dolphins have the option to hang onto Fitzpatrick, 36, who’s currently under contract next season at $5.5 million. It makes sense to keep Fitzpatrick around for one more year to help groom a young quarterback. That could be LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagavailoa (although his recent hip injury now complicates his draft status), Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. Two members of my panel said they like Burrow better than Tagovailoa. Either way, it’s going to take some time to develop a young quarterback.
For the moment, Mitchell Trubisky is Chicago’s starting quarterback. But it doesn’t appear that he will be in that role next year — although he remains under contract and the team holds a fifth-year option on the No. 2 overall pick from 2017. Given his level of play this season, it’s highly unlikely he will receive the option year, and he might not even see 2020 with the Bears — although the cap hit for cutting him would be slightly more than $9 million. The Bears are 4-6 after going 12-4 last year. There’s one main reason for the decline. That’s Trubisky. My panelists say he’s holding the offense back and could end up keeping a good team out of the playoffs. All four panelists agree Trubisky should be nothing more than a backup. Current backup Chase Daniel’s contract expires after this season. So there’s no telling who will be Chicago’s quarterback next year. Maybe the Bears will draft a quarterback. But with a talented roster already in place, the Bears should be first in line to sign New Orleans backup Teddy Bridgewater as a free agent.
Veteran Andy Dalton has been benched, and the Bengals are giving rookie fourth-rounder Ryan Finley a shot. There should be no turning back to Dalton, even though he remains under contract for 2020 with a $17.5 million scheduled salary. The Bengals can cut Dalton after the season without any salary cap ramifications. It’s too early to judge Finley. Cincinnati is going to end up with an early draft pick and could have a shot at Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jalen Hurts. The Bengals will be starting over. But, given their current state, that’s not a bad thing. “Dalton had more than enough time and couldn’t win consistently,” one panelist said. “I have no idea what they have in Finley. But they have to draft a quarterback if they’re sitting there at No. 1 or 2.”
The current situation is a mess. Veterans Colt McCoy and Case Keenum, who clearly aren’t the answer, each is in the last year of their contract. The Redskins have little choice but to play rookie Dwayne Haskins, who has five interceptions and two touchdown passes, the rest of this season. Call it an audition for Haskins. But this situation is complicated because the Redskins currently have interim coach Bill Callahan, who took over when Jay Gruden was fired. There will be a new coach next year, and he might not like Haskins. With an early draft pick likely, the new coach might want his own guy. Give up on Haskins after only one season? Arizona did it with 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen after drafting Kyler Murray. All four of our panelists said Haskins was overrated when he was drafted.
The New Orleans Saints lost backup TE Josh Hill during their game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a concussion, leaving them shorthanded.
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The New Orleans Saints ruled backup tight end Josh Hill out for the rest of their game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team announced Sunday. Hill suffered a concussion during the first half and was not cleared to return by team medical staff.
It’s made the Saints short-handed at the position, with Jared Cook the only active tight end left in the game. Third-year reserve Dan Arnold was a healthy scratch before kickoff, though the Saints can shift do-it-all quarterback Taysom Hill into the tight end spot in a pinch.
One other adjustment the Saints can make in Hill’s absence is the use of extra offensive linemen in heavy personnel packages. They went to that exact look early in the fourth quarter for a short-yardage situation, sending backup blockers Will Clapp and Patrick Omameh out to reinforce the formation — meaning every active offensive lineman was on the field at the same time. Quarterback Drew Brees ended up leaping over the top of the line to pick up a fresh set of downs.
Hopefully Hill won’t be plagued by concussion symptoms in the coming weeks. He was limited in practice throughout the past week with a calf injury, though it obviously didn’t prevent him from suiting up. The Saints lack depth at tight end and haven’t gotten consistent production out of Cook to this point in the season. Still, Hill’s health is what is most important, and he shouldn’t rush to return from this brain injury.
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The New Orleans Saints will be without their breakout star punt returner against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so who fills in for Deonte Harris?
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Breakout rookie punt returner Deonte Harris was an unexpected absentee on the New Orleans Saints injury report, with the team ruling him out for their Sunday game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Harris’s loss is huge; he’s been the best to do it for New Orleans since Sean Payton was hired as head coach, and the rookie is the only player in the NFL with 200-plus yards on both punts and kickoffs.
Unfortunately, a late-game hamstring injury versus the Atlanta Falcons has put his availability in doubt, though the team already put him on the shelf this week. Hopefully this won’t become a lingering issue that derails his promising NFL debut.
In the meantime, who will the Saints roll out to fill in for him against the Buccaneers?
The easy answer on punts is Ted Ginn Jr., who has the most NFL experience doing that of anyone else left on the roster. But Saints coach Sean Payton has been critical of Ginn’s shaky hands in the past and may prefer to give younger teammates a shot first.
One of those candidates could be Krishawn Hogan, who was the only other player warming up as a punt returner next to Harris before last week’s Falcons game. Hogan has only played a handful of snaps so far, mostly blocking on run plays, but he might be someone Payton considers for the job.
Two other names to monitor are players more familiar with Saints fans: quarterback Taysom Hill and running back Alvin Kamara. They have both returned punts and kickoffs in the past, with Kamara notching a 106-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Tampa Bay back in his 2017 rookie season. He’s since eased off of return duties due to his value on offense, but it’s possible the Saints get desperate for a spark and trot him out.
.@Saints @A_kamara6 was offensive ROY in ‘17 behind a very good OL. How much better can Kamara & the @Saints be in ‘18? I think they can be a lot better! How many days til @NFL kickoff 2018? #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/yWXFexOsOP
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 27, 2018
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New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton won’t watch Colin Kaepernick’s workout. He’s happy with Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, and Taysom Hill.
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The NFL is hurrying to put together a Saturday workout for free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who ranks twenty-third in career passing rating in NFL history but hasn’t had a team in almost three years despite training five days a week to remain game-ready. Count New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton in the camp who isn’t interested in what Kaepernick has to offer.
“I won’t pay attention because it isn’t a need for us,” Payton said during his Thursday conference call with New Orleans media, hours before Saints practice. The Saints do have depth at quarterback that would envy any team around the league; Drew Brees is one of the greatest passers of all time, while Teddy Bridgewater proved to be a starting-quality fill-in during Brees’ absence. Taysom Hill rounds out the group as someone who has made strides early in his career.
However, that depth may be temporary. None of those three quarterbacks are under contract after this season, with Brees and Bridgewater both eligible for unrestricted free agency. Hill is designated as a restricted free agent, which is a little more complicated but doesn’t guarantee he’ll return.
Payton and the Saints would be wise to evaluate all available options, but in this case they’re hedging their bets that their quarterbacks depth chart should look much the same even after new contracts for Brees, Bridgewater, and Hill are drawn up.
Now, it doesn’t mean that the Saints won’t have someone in attendance to observe Kaepernick’s workout. Payton being disinterested doesn’t mean they won’t assign a scout or personnel executive to check in. Payton previously voiced support for Kaepernick’s ability to compete in the NFL despite a prolonged absence.
“It is a little surprising that he is still available, and I don’t think he will be available too long,” Payton said back in May 2017. “I think the key is the fit and the vision for a club offensively but I think there will be a team that has that vision and has an offense that builds around some of the things he does well.”
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The 2020 Pro Bowl Ballot features Saints players like Deonte Harris while Demario Davis faces tough sledding and Taysom Hill isn’t an option
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The 2020 Pro Bowl Ballot is up at NFL.com, giving fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite players. However, some notable New Orleans Saints players didn’t make the cut, while others are victims of bad classifications. Here is the list of which players are eligible, organized by offense, defense, and special teams, along with our notes on what the ballot got wrong:
Where is Taysom Hill? He plays quarterback, fullback, halfback, tight end, slot receiver, and a few other positions we may not even have names for, but he isn’t listed on the ballot. It’s a heck of an oversight considering how often the Saints find opportunities for him to go out there and make a play.
Other than that, this is a solid list of contributors. Be sure to vote for Line at fullback; the Saints are one of the most creative teams in the league at deploying their fullbacks, and his inclusion would be a welcome reward for putting in so much thankless work in the trenches.
Rankins must have gotten in off of name recognition, because he’s nowhere near to playing like his old self. He’s played 194 snaps in six games since returning from last year’s Achilles injury, and has picked up one sack and two hits in that time. He hasn’t logged so much as a tackle in his last three games. The Saints are determined to play him over David Onyemata (two sacks and five hits in eight games), but there’s no questioning which of them is more productive, and more deserving of a Pro Bowl nomination.
Alonso may line up as the middle linebacker, but he only plays 25% of snaps. The Saints rotate their linebackers around and juggle their responsibilities so often that Davis could be listed at inside linebacker on the ballot and no one would bat an eye; instead, he’s forced to compete with well-known edge rushers like Von Miller, T.J. Watt, Khalil Mack, and Chandler Jones for recognition. The Pro Bowl ballot badly needs a redesign to reflect different schemes around the league.
Robertson is a special teams captain, but he’s not the most prominent member of the coverage units. He’s played 176 snaps on special teams so far, which trails cornerback Justin Hardee (198) for the team lead. Hill was played sparingly in that phase of the game while Brees missed time with his thumb injury, though he’s matched Hardee’s team-leading pace of play when given the green light to go help cover punts and kickoffs. Robertson would also have matched Hardee had he been healthy for the season-opener, so his inclusion isn’t much of a slight to his teammates.
We don’t need to tell you to vote for Harris among the return specialists, but you should make an effort to do that anyway. He’s the only player in the NFL to rack up 200 or more return yards on both punts (232) and kickoffs (309), and the rookie deserves this recognition. Still, hopefully he’ll be preparing for the Super Bowl with his teammates rather than taking in some sun at the Pro Bowl.
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The New Orleans Saints picked a dynamo in the latest 2020 NFL mock draft, landing versatile Colorado football prospect Laviska Shenault Jr.
The New Orleans Saints offense is paper-thin, and that’s never been more clear than in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Despite 13 catches and 152 receiving yards from all-star wide receiver Michael Thomas, they were outplayed and outgunned, which was reflected in the final score of 26-9. The final play of the game was almost a metaphor, with Thomas reeling in a catch and fighting his way to the goal-line, only to be touched down a short away from a score.
Outside of Thomas, every other wide receiver on the team combined for one catch on five targets. Ted Ginn Jr. dropped all three passes sent his way, and Tre’Quan Smith struggled to adjust to off-target looks in his first game back from injury. Backups Krishawn Hogan and Deonte Harris were afterthoughts at best.
New Orleans has top-end talent in the receiving corps (just look at what Thomas can do, and tight end Jared Cook and running back Alvin Kamara are getting back up to speed after missing time with their own injuries). What they don’t have is much they can count on behind their star players. For decades the belief has been that Drew Brees can score touchdowns with anybody; Sunday’s loss proves that theory is outdated. Great as he has been, Brees can’t be expected to put the world on his shoulders anymore.
Fortunately, the Saints will have opportunities to improve in the offseason. The latest 2020 mock draft comes from Trevor Sikkema of The Draft Network, who sees the Saints’ need for more juice on offense and addressed it with one of the most versatile playmakers in college football: Colorado Buffaloes do-it-all athlete Laviska Shenault Jr. Here’s what Sikkema wrote to justify the selection:
It feels like wide receiver Michael Thomas is about to break every NFL record for the position. That’s certainly due to how talented Thomas is, but it also has to do with the fact that the Saints don’t have much outside of Thomas in the passing game.
Shenault joining forces with the creative mind of Sean Payton and a group that already consists of Thomas and Alvin Kamara would be incredible to watch.
Shenault lives up to that billing. He’s racked up 2,038 yards from scrimmage and scored 17 combined touchdowns (9 as a receiver, 7 as a runner) in his career with the Buffaloes, though he’s only been a big part of their offense the last two years. While his junior year numbers aren’t as impressive in volume as what he accomplished as a sophomore, his efficiency has increased (jumping up from 11.8 yards per catch to 13.8, and 6.8 yards per carry to 7.9 this season) as Colorado has learned to spread the ball around more evenly. That’s a combined 11.4 yards per touch from 2018 to 2019, or 103.6 yards from scrimmage per game in the same span.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Shenault’s versatility would play well off of what the Saints have done with Kamara and Taysom Hill. All three players are experienced at moving all over the field, playing from different alignments and exploiting athletic mismatches with the defense. Saints coach Sean Payton loves using different personnel packages to put opposing defenses in a bind, and it’s easy to see Shenault’s appeal in New Orleans’ system. If the junior prospect does declare early for the 2020 draft, he’d definitely be worth keeping on the Saints’ radar.