FTW's NFL QB power rankings, Week 4
Welcome to For the Win's weekly quarterback rankings. You can read our preseason rankings here. For these power rankings, we're wiping the slate clean for 2017 and basing these rankings entirely on this season.
Note: Quarterbacks who did not start in Week 4 were not considered for this list. So no Sam Bradford or Andrew Luck.
Deshaun Watson has arrived. After a breakout performance in New England, the Texans rookie dropped five touchdowns and 57 points on the Titans. While Watson has exceeded expectations, he still has some major flaws that he'll need to sort out before becoming even an above average starter in the league.
Watson has improved every week since a shaky first start in Cincinnati when he was clearly uncomfortable in the pocket and struggled to get to his second read. While it was apparent he still needs work in the pocket and it didn't always look smooth, Watson got to his second and third options multiple times against the Titans.
</div> <p>Watson is at his best when he can catch the ball and get the ball out of his hands immediately. It's when he has to hold the ball for more than a few seconds that his flaws start to come out. His accuracy suffers greatly when he has to go to his second read.</p> <div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.338%;" class="streamable-embed-container"> <iframe mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/5dk8f?id=5dk8f&width&height&autoplay&muted" class="streamable-embed"/> </div> <p>Luckily for him, the Titans defense did not offer him very much resistence. Tennessee left his receivers wide open on multiple occasions.</p> <div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.338%;" class="streamable-embed-container"> <iframe mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/pk38h?id=pk38h&width&height&autoplay&muted" class="streamable-embed"/> </div> <p>The Titans eventually adjusted. They started sending only three men after him and dropped eight into coverage. This caused Watson to hold onto the ball longer than he wanted to and we saw some odd decisions.</p> <div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.338%;" class="streamable-embed-container"> <iframe mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/wpkjh?id=wpkjh&width&height&autoplay&muted" class="streamable-embed"/> </div> <p>Watson has looked better than anyone could have reasonably expected, but we should be in no hurry to anoint him as the next great young quarterback. Or to shame the Browns for passing on him, which was the right move in my opinion.</p> <p><asset-embed uri="https://twitter.com/WillBrinson/status/914566127518404609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" /> </p> <p>Watson still has a ways to go before proving he's the answer to Houston's quarterback problem.</p> <h2 class="presto-h2">Tier 1</h2> <p><p><asset-img UniqueId="1507133531493" /></p> </p> <h3 class="presto-h3">1. Tom Brady, Patriots<br/> 2. Drew Brees, Saints<br/> 3. Aaron Rodgers, Packers</h3> <p>It's not looking like any other quarterback will threaten to join these three in the first tier. Brady separated himself from the other two with another faultless performance against the Panthers. I'm not sure if the Pats QB has a significant weakness at this point. Rodgers bounced back after a couple disappointing (by his standards) performances with an efficient performance against the Bears. Brees nearly dropped down to third after an unspectacular game. The Saints did not ask Brees to do too much, but he avoided major mistakes and got the ball into the right player's hands every time.</p> <h2 class="presto-h2">Tier 2</h2> <p><p><asset-img UniqueId="1507133531501" /></p> </p> <h3 class="presto-h3">4. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers<br/> 5. Alex Smith, Chiefs<br/> 6. Russell Wilson, Seahawks<br/> 7. Dak Prescott, Cowboys<br/> 8. Jameis Winston, Buccaneers<br/> 9. Philip Rivers, Chargers<br/> 10. Matthew Stafford, Lions</h3> <p>Smith jumps up into the top-five after his best performance of the season. <a rel="noopener" target="_blank" href="http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/10/nfl-first-quarter-awards-mvp-rookie-of-the-year-alex-smith-kareem-hunt-tom-brady">We're still not on board with the Smith for MVP campaign</a>, because of how much he's relying on his supporting cast to do the work for him. Roethlisberger jumped up to No. 4 almost by default. He was good on Sunday, but we're still not seeing the great quarterback we all expected to see this season. Wilson is starting to come on but there's still seems to be something off with him. His throwing motion hasn't been nearly as tight as it's been his entire career. Stafford is one of the biggest fallers this week after nearly throwing four interceptions against the Vikings. Luckily for him, the Vikings defense left its hands at home.</p> <h2 class="presto-h2">Tier 3</h2> <p><p><asset-img UniqueId="1507133531504" /></p> </p> <h3 class="presto-h3">11. Kirk Cousins, Redskins<br/> 12. Matt Ryan, Falcons<br/> 13. Jared Goff, Rams<br/> 14. Trevor Siemian, Broncos<br/> 15. Derek Carr, Raiders<br/> 16. Cam Newton, Panthers<br/> 17. Tyrod Taylor, Bills</h3> <p>We have three new additions to Tier 3. Cousins jumps up to 11th after his best performance of the season against a good Chiefs defense. He nearly threw an interception or two, but, for the most part, Cousins made good decisions and put the ball where it needed to be. Goff also makes the leap. He still has his flaws, but Goff has grown more comfortable in the pocket and his accuracy improves every week. Newton jumps to No. 16 and really he should not have been as low as he was last week when we had him at No. 23. Outside of a few bad decisions and misses, Newton has been as accurate as ever this season.</p> <h2 class="presto-h2">Tier 4</h2> <p><p><asset-img UniqueId="1507133531508" /></p> </p> <h3 class="presto-h3">18. Carson Palmer, Cardinals<br/> 19. Eli Manning, Giants<br/> 20. Carson Wentz, Eagles</h3> <p>Palmer continues to struggle with pressure, which has long been a problem for him. It's an even bigger problem now given the Cardinals' offensive line issues. Manning knows all too well about bad pass protection, but the Giants coaches did do a much better job of getting the ball out of his hands in a timely manner. Wentz played his best game of the season. He was bailed out by the Chargers dropping a few interceptions, however.</p> <h2 class="presto-h2">Tier 5</h2> <p><p><asset-img UniqueId="1507133531533" /></p> </p> <h3 class="presto-h3">21. Andy Dalton, Bengals<br/> 22. Marcus Mariota, Titans<br/> 23. Jay Cutler, Dolphins<br/> 24. Joe Flacco, Ravens<br/> 25. DeShaun Watson, Texans<br/> 26. DeShone Kizer, Browns<br/> 27. Blake Bortles, Jaguars</h3> <p>This tier is crowded all of a sudden. Dalton is close to moving up thanks to new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor playing to his strengths. Mariota's accuracy continues to be a concern, and he threw two awful interceptions against the Texans. We agree 100% with Flacco's own assessment of his game on Sunday:</p> <p><asset-embed uri="https://twitter.com/MarkWJZ/status/914588834037461003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" /> </p> <p>We also agree with Hue Jackson's assessment of Kizer's supposedly terrible performance.</p> <p><asset-embed uri="https://twitter.com/MaryKayCabot/status/914923543258791936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" /> </p> <p>It was not nearly as bad as the stats say. His process was good even if the results were not ideal. There wasn't really much more he could do outside of a few wayward throws. Kizer's teammates gave him no help.</p> <h2 class="presto-h2">Tier 6</h2><asset-img UniqueId="713706" /> <p>Dennis Schneidler-Paste BN Sports</p> <h3 class="presto-h3">28. Josh McCown, Jets<br/> 29. Jacoby Brissett, Colts<br/> 30. Case Keenum, Vikings<br/> 31. Mike Glennon, Bears<br/> 32. Brian Hoyer, 49ers</h3> <p>McCown has put up good numbers but the Jets really don't trust him to do anything other than throw short passes. He tried his best to give away the game on Sunday. Keenum went back to being his old self (not good), and Hoyer continued to be himself (also not good).</p> <h3 class="presto-h3">Best throw of the week</h3> <div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.338%;" class="streamable-embed-container"> <iframe mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/dk5sw?id=dk5sw&width&height&autoplay&muted" class="streamable-embed"/> </div> <p>No words, Russ. No words.</p> <h3 class="presto-h3">Worst throw of the week</h3> <div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.338%;" class="streamable-embed-container"> <iframe mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="https://streamable.com/e/wpkjh?id=wpkjh&width&height&autoplay&muted" class="streamable-embed"/> </div> <p>I considered picking one of Flacco's two terrible interceptions, but this Watson interception we highlighted earlier is the worst thing I saw this week. From the pocket poise, the decision, the mechanics, the accuracy, the situational awareness, it was all bad.</p> <div id="jwplayer_tmuB7zmv_t2dCqACG_div"/> </body></html>