If you see your favorite NFL team connected with our list of the worst NFL starting quarterbacks here, you may need to have a stiff drink. Your upcoming football season is not likely to end with any confetti or incoherent post game Super Bowl victory speeches from your team owner. Get yourself prepared for records like 4-12 or 6-10. If things go really well, your NFL team will end up 8-8 with their bottom of the food chain quarterback.
I realize that not every team can get lucky with a 6th round miracle like Tom Brady. Or be even more fortunate like Indianapolis, who got Andrew Luck in the draft, to slide right in behind Peyton Manning‘s exit. Hell, San Diego had Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers on the roster at the same time! What team could be that lucky? QB miracles like that are about as rare as a Jacksonville victory.
Some teams get stuck with draft picks that just don’t pan out. Others end up with passers who are good game managers, like Alex Smith, who are not going to cost their team many games. But these game managers are not going to take over games and overwhelm the opponents with their passing skills.
Just who are the worst NFL starters at the QB position? Check the list out below. Don’t get too depressed if your guy is on the list. There is always fantasy football and there is a chance that your franchise could go 1-15 and draft a real quarterback next year.
10. You may have heard of a kid named Johnny Manziel. He is really good at getting into the news cycle, whether he likes it or not. I am not a J-Football hater. I like the guy’s style and the fact that he doesn’t try to be the person everyone else says he should be. However, when he takes over the QB1 position in Cleveland, he will not be surrounded by a great team. The best offensive player, Josh Gordon, will most likely miss the entire season due to a drug suspension. He could have helped Manziel get rolling in the pros a lot faster than without him.
9. Clearly Carson Palmer is on the backside of a decent career. He once had a great NFL arm and looked the part of a prototype pro quarterback. His stats in 2013 were not the worst, but having Larry Fitzgerald to throw to, certainly bolsters his numbers. Take away Fitzgerald, and Palmer would move closer to the top of this list.
8. Let’s be honest, no one in the NFL is fearful of the Miami Dolphins in any season. Similarly, their quarterback Ryan Tannehill does not intimidate any secondaries. He is at best a ‘decent’ player who could gradually get better. I certainly would not place any bets on him leading the Phins to any deep playoff runs anytime soon.
7. The Titans don’t give Jake Locker much to work with as far as weapons and he is less than an iron man when it comes to staying on the field. This, his fourth season, could be his last as a starter in the NFL if he does not take a major leap statistically.
6. EJ Manuel may have shown some flashes of brilliance early on in Buffalo, but he only played in ten games last year due to injuries. He will need to stay on the field to get the experience needed to get to the next tier of NFL quarterbacks. He should have a better shot at improvement in 2014 with speedster Sammie Watkins as a legit franchise wide out. Many a quarterback has been made to look good with a great receiver bailing him out when needed.
5. Don’t worry Jacksonville fans. You’re not to be excluded from the list. Chad Henne comes in at #5 mainly on his inability to throw more TDs than INTs in his six years in the league. Look for their rookie, Blake Bortles, to make an appearance in about game three this year.
4. Ryan Fitzpatrick is far from being the player he was in Buffalo early in his NFL career. That is code for ‘the guy now sucks’. In 2013 he managed to throw more touchdowns than INTs. However, when you add in the eight fumbles, he had six more turnovers than touchdowns. Not a good look, even for a manly bearded QB.
3. If ever there was a backup QB who got hot at the right time, it has to be Matt Cassel. The guy played like a boss when Tom Brady went down in 2008 with a knee blowout. That season he played great and ended up getting a huge deal from Kansas City as a result in 2009. But now the shine is off the former USC Trojan. He will only hold onto the Vikings starting gig for as long as it takes rookie QB, Teddy Bridgewater, to learn the offense.
2. I had big hopes for Matt Schaub when he went from backup in Atlanta to the starter in Houston. But for whatever reason, he just could not get it going like the Texans needed him to do. They were a great team that needed a big time QB. He did not do enough to get them to the big game and then he really went downhill. I think ultimately his confidence is shot and the Raiders will be his last stop in the NFL.
1. I hate to do it Jet fans, but Geno Smith is as bad as it gets as an NFL quarterback. You simply cannot throw 21 interceptions if you are only going to toss 12 TD passes. Hell, you can’t throw 21 picks even if you throw for 50 touchdowns. If Smith makes it as the starter after the preseason, I will be a little shocked. Look for Mike Vick to be the man for the Jets in 2014.
Agree or disagree with the order of these less-than-stellar passers, but you have to admit…you will not be taking any of them in the first five rounds of your fantasy draft.