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Nick Wright’s quarterback hierarchy saw a handful of names tumble this week but one signal caller stayed at the top of the mountain: Patrick Mahomes is alone at the summit.
Jalen Hurts falls again, Dak Prescott drops after an underwhelming Thursday night, and Matthew Stafford actually climbs despite a loss — while a trio of backups quietly moved up the board.
Here’s how Wright sees the league’s quarterbacks this week:
Injured:
Wright’s thoughts: “Off the mountain, injured and off the mountain because of performance. Injured: Lamar should be back, Caleb should be back, Baker should be back. Jaxson Dart won’t be back.”
Off the mountain:
Wright’s thoughts: “Cam Ward, Malik Willis, Tyson Bagent — yikes. And Justin Herbert, who I don’t see, how, right now, he’s not one of the 28 best quarterbacks in the league. They got the ball back down six, and I felt like they had no shot whatsoever. I don’t know what’s wrong. We’ll talk about him later.”
7th Row:
Wright: “Bottom of the mountain. Jalen Hurts has to fall again. I understand there’s a lot working against him, the injuries, the retirement [of offensive tackle Lane Johnson], the head coach — I get it. But the offense is also not functional. His whole thing had been, hey, the stats might not be pretty, but we’re winning. You don’t have that either on a three-game losing streak. He tumbles a bit.
“Daniel Jones, Deshaun Watson drop a bit. Bo Nix, Geno Smith and Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston — they’re probably bottom-row guys at this point in their careers. Not a problem, probably not going off the mountain, but bottom-row guys.”
6th Row:
Wright: “Sixth row, fair is fair, move them up. Kyler finally got a little juice in that offense — nice touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson, looked good for his first time in a Vikings uniform. He moves up. Tyler Huntley, maybe he needs to take the mantle as the best backup quarterback in the league. They went about half the games with him, and they didn’t look like a knee-capped operation that had no chance of moving the ball. He moves up.
“Sam Darnold has not looked great yet this year, and the benefit of the doubt he’s built up is shrinking just a bit. He drops. Tyler Shough — maybe it turns out a lot of the optimism was from playing the Lions, and playing Detroit can do a lot for whoever’s on the other side.
“Shout out to Jalon Daniels for Thursday night and Jalon Daniels’ delightful interview with his mother that I liked a lot.
“Jayden Daniels is back on the mountain because you’re healthy again. The stuff you did with your legs in this game was actually really dynamic, and there were a lot of positive moments. I can’t get over the ending. I understand. All probably David Blough’s fault. I like my quarterbacks to have you know an idea of what quarter it is, what the rules are, if you have timeouts.”
5th Row:
Wright: “Look at Drake Maye — back in, back. That’s the steady climb back up the mountain. He almost got row four after a five-touchdown performance. Aaron Rodgers is playing really well — fair is fair, two of his last three games, he’s been excellent. C.J. Stroud stays where he is, even though they finally got a win. It took three quarters against the Titans, but he’s been consistent all year, playing really well.
“Penix got hit in the ribs — I don’t know if he’ll miss time, so he’s not off the mountain for injury, but after a shaky early part of that game I thought he looked really sharp against Baltimore. And Kirk Cousins falls to the fifth row. Feels fair.”
4th Row:
Wright: “Fourth row — Bryce had a bye week, so he stays where he is. Stafford moved up in a loss — I thought Stafford was really good. Dak moves down after an awful Thursday Night Football performance — well, he wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t great.
“Jordan Love, holy moly, how about that possession — chucking it deep, offensive pass interference, chucking it deep again, dropped, doing it again, touchdown. Jordan Love looked really good. He moves up.”
3rd Row:
Wright: “The prince made it onto the ballot but drops on the mountain. I didn’t think Trevor (Lawrence) was great in that game — the fourth-and-five throw to Parker Washington was awesome, an unbelievable catch, but there’s no shame in being on row three.
“Look who he’s with: Josh Allen, who, despite only completing 12 passes, was dynamic in the fourth quarter and overtime and deadly with his legs all game, and Joe Burrow. An interesting year where he hasn’t made terrible mistakes and has obviously been good, but by his standards the numbers are just good, not great. Three of the six best plays in the NFL this season are by his receivers in the last few weeks, so Higgins and Chase are doing a lot this year. Burrow’s still great. The team’s good, not great yet.”
2nd Row:
Wright: “A change in row two: Jared Goff. They’re scoring more points than anyone in the league, they have one of the most efficient offenses ever. He’s not turning the ball over. He’s been fantastic; they have to score these kinds of points.
“Brock Purdy almost moved up to the top — he was brilliant late in that game. However, it was also the lowest passer rating he’s had this year, the fewest yards, and the first time he’s been intercepted this year. I thought it was not his worst performance of the year, but I’d rather it be next week, when he takes the all-time passer rating lead.”
1st Row:
Wright: “Still atop the mountain, because unlike Brock Purdy, he was not intercepted this week. Patrick Mahomes.”
