We might look back on Week 8 as a pivot point in the 2023 NFL season.
In San Francisco, we watched the Bengals finally look like themselves. Coming out of its bye week, Cincinnati rocked the reeling 49ers, with Joe Burrow nearly having as many touchdown passes as incompletions.
For the Vikings, what was a third consecutive win and an apparent cause for celebration was muted entirely by Kirk Cousins being lost for the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles. Without Cousins, Minnesota is forced to play fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall.
Then there was the continued ascension of Tua Tagovailoa as an MVP candidate. Despite two turnovers, Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to a 31–17 win over the Patriots while throwing for 324 yards and three scores.
So how do our NFL quarterback rankings shake out this week? Let’s take a look.
32. Jaren Hall, Minnesota Vikings (N/A)
31. Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears (30)
30. PJ Walker, Cleveland Browns (28)
Walker is a great story. He was in the NFL, then found himself in the XFL with the Houston Roughnecks in 2020, and now finds himself starting for the Browns.
However, Walker has struggled despite winning two of his three starts. In Seattle on Sunday, the 28-year-old was 15-of-31 for 248 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. His passing chart shows a real struggle to find completions in the middle of the field, with only four completions of more than 10 air yards.
Cleveland (4–3) is in the midst of a playoff push, and if the Browns are going to get there, Walker has to be much better while Deshaun Watson is out.
29. Zach Wilson, New York Jets (24)
28. Mac Jones, New England Patriots (26)
27. Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers (21)
26. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (N/A)
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Levis made his NFL debut Sunday, and gave us one of the more fascinating starts in some time.
Beating the Falcons 28–23, Levis threw four touchdowns. Incredibly, three of them were bombs traveling at least 39 yards in the air. What makes that more incredible is that of Levis’s other 16 completions, only five were more than five air yards downfield.
For the Titans, this is the hope with Levis. A second-round pick out of Kentucky in April, the rookie was willing to do what we saw so often in the SEC, stretching the field with his fantastic arm strength.
The last time Tennessee had a quarterback throw four touchdown passes in a game? Week 17 of the 2021 season.
25. Taylor Heinicke, Atlanta Falcons (N/A)
24. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (27)
23. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (22)
22. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (N/A)
21. Jimmy Garoppolo, Las Vegas Raiders (N/A)
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Coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler have been fired, so barring a miraculous turnaround, the Raiders should be thinking about two things regarding Garoppolo:
- Who can they draft in the first round to replace him?
- Which team would make for a good trade partner?
If Las Vegas moves Garoppolo next offseason, it eats $17 million in dead cap but also saves $11.4 million in cap space. However, a post–June 1 deal saves the Raiders $24.2 million and allows them to have a full reset, while the acquiring team takes on only an $11.25 million cap hit.
This season has been nothing but a mess for Garoppolo, who leads the NFL with nine interceptions despite missing two games.
20. Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts (19)
19. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (17)
18. Sam Howell, Washington Commanders (20)
17. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (14)
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Purdy got into the top 10 on this list for a week, but since has done nothing but lose three consecutive games.
No, not all of that falls on Purdy, but the excuses of being without Trent Williams and Deebo Samuel fall flat. The Niners are still loaded across the offense without them, and Purdy hasn’t made the requisite plays to beat two mediocre teams and another good one.
On Sunday, Purdy once again threw two interceptions, including one in the red zone that all but sealed a loss to Cincinnati. Over his first 10 NFL starts, the Niners were seldom in a position where Purdy was throwing in expected passing situations. Now that he is? Things haven’t gone well.
16. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (18)
15. Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos (16)
14. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (29)
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Murray might be back this Sunday for the first time since Week 14 of last season, when he tore his ACL on a Monday night against the Patriots.
With the Cardinals sitting at 1–7, coach Jonathan Gannon has the option to ease Murray into the lineup while making sure the play-calling can protect him at all costs.
Before sustaining his knee injury in 2022, Murray played in 11 games and threw for 2,368 yards with 14 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Now without coach Kliff Kingsbury for the first time in his pro career, it’ll be intriguing to see how Murray is utilized by a new staff.
13. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (11)
12. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (10)
11. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (15)
10. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (9)
9. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (13)
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It had been a struggle for Burrow this season after straining his calf in training camp, but it appears he’s finally healthy.
Coming out of a bye, Burrow torched the 49ers, going 28-of-32 for 283 yards (8.8 YPA) with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
For the entire season preceding Sunday, Burrow had been the most conservative quarterback in football with the lowest intended air yards per attempt. Against the Niners, Burrow threw nine passes of at least 10 air yards, completing eight of them with two scores.
If Burrow is truly back, the Bengals are going to be a force in the AFC once again.
8. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (8)
7. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (6)
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Herbert did what he was supposed to do Sunday night against the Bears. He completed 31 of 40 passes for 282 yards and three scores, leading the Chargers to an easy 30–13 win.
This week, he gets another prime-time tilt, this time at MetLife Stadium on Monday night against the Jets (4–3). For Herbert, the challenge will be much tougher with New York having arguably the best pair of corners in football with D.J. Reed and Sauce Gardner.
Through seven games this season, Herbert ranks ninth in yards per pass attempt (7.5), fourth in QBR (69.1), sixth in passing touchdowns (13) and eighth in completion rate (68.7%) for quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts.
However, if Herbert wants to shake the label of good numbers and a bad record, he must keep rolling and lead the Chargers back from the brink at 3–4.
6. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (5)
5. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (4)
4. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (7)
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After struggling at times through Philadelphia’s first eight games, Hurts got right in a major way against the Commanders.
Needing to bail out his defense’s uncharacteristic struggles, Hurts threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns, all of which were at least 12 air yards. With the win, the Eagles (7–1) have the best record in the NFL.
Despite uneven plays for chunks of the season, Hurts ranks sixth in both passing yardage (2,140) and touchdown passes (13). It doesn’t hurt that A.J. Brown has a record six consecutive games with at least 125 receiving yards, notching 130 yards and two scores against Washington.
With the Cowboys coming to town this weekend, Hurts is getting hot at the right time.
3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (3)
2. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (2)
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (1)
