NFL: Quarterback index post week 6

The jury is still out

17. Andy Dalton

18. Joe Flacco

19. Dak Prescott

20. Jameis Winston

21. Marcus Mariota

22. Mitch Trubisky

23. Derek Carr

24. Ryan Tannehill

Andy Dalton has been the standard for mediocre quarterback play for the last several seasons. He has moments where he looks like he belongs in that group above and other times you ask yourself if he’s even among the top 20 at the position. With that being said, if you take that game at Carolina away, where two of his four interceptions were kind of fluky, he has thrown 12 TDs compared to three picks and has his team scoring more than 30 points on average.

Flacco is having a career year, averaging the most passing yards per game so far as a pro. He has had two games, where he has been mediocre at best – at Cincinnati and at Cleveland. Outside of those two matchups, he has turned the ball over just once and has an average QB rating North of 100. The Ravens have surrounded him with much better weapons and he is getting all of them involved. With that being said, the front office didn’t draft Lamar Jackson without a reason.

There was a lot of blame towards Prescott when the Cowboys couldn’t put up points and lost games in the process, but the critics got silent when they saw them whoop the Jaguars 40-7 at home last Sunday. Dak is still throwing for less than 200 yards a game and he is dependent on Zeke and the rushing attack, to be able to win off play-action, but let’s give him some credit here. The receiving core is one of the worst in the league and Prescott is punishing defenses off the zone-read and as a scrambler.

Say what you want about Winston and I thought too that it was unfair of the Bucs coaches to take out Ryan Fitzpatrick after one sub-par half in which their defense gave up 37 points, but the guy has looked better than he has ever done maybe in the preseason and on Sunday at Atlanta. While he has yet to establish himself as a franchise guy, he has some Roethlisberger in him in terms of shaking off defenders and keeping his eyes downfield. With all those weapons around him, this offense could put up some numbers.

Mariota’s stats look horrific so far this season – he is completing just 63.6 percent of his passes for less than 160 yards per game, two touchdowns through the air and four INTs. Based on those, he should be in the bottom group of guys, but let’s remember he is only now getting back feeling in some of his fingers and he still has come up big when his team really needed him. He converted crucial third downs with his legs versus Jacksonville, instigated a huge comeback versus the Eagles and you can’t blame 11 sacks versus Baltimore on him.

After a very shaky start to the season, which was overshadowed by a dominant defense, Mitch Trubisky has been on fire over these last two games. Obviously he had that six-touchdown performances versus Tampa Bay, but even last Sunday at Miami he was dropping some dimes. His own head coach even says that he has yet to get a full grasp of the playbook, but as he continues to grow this offense will only get more diverse. Trubisky has excellent athleticism and arm talent.

The Raiders are a mess right now. Everybody talks about the defense and how Jon Gruden traded away a Defensive Player of the Year in Khalil Mack, who they desperately need right now, but it’s also the offense that has struggled mightily in most games. Carr has made some bone-headed mistakes throughout the early season and they have put up more than 20 points just once so far, highlighted by that 27-3 beatdown by the Seahawks in London.

I’m not sure what to make of the Dolphins. They won their first three games of the season and then got destroyed in New England before blowing a 17-0 lead to the Bengals. While I like a lot of their pieces on defense, their offense has been highly inconsistent and their quarterback kind of embodies that. He moves the ball in those early games before stagnating against the Patriots and then being a big part in giving away a game against Cincinnati. I mean Brock Osweiler might have looked better on Sunday.