Preseason Ranking of All Starting NFL Quarterbacks: Tier 6

Veteran quarterbacks are typically nice to have on a team because they can provide leadership and a sense of stability to a franchise. What they lack in athleticism, due to their age, they can hopefully make up for with their NFL experience. However, at a certain point, their skills have declined enough that they start to become a liability to a team. Tier 6 is where we find the declining veteran quarterbacks in our quarterback rankings.

26. Jacoby Brissett - New England Patriots

Brissett now finds himself as the starter in New England after formerly being a third-stringer on the roster back when Brady and Garoppolo were on the roster. Brissett is an adult at quarterback, but his lack of natural talent will keep him limited this season. He is a great player to have in the locker room and can provide stability and lead a franchise, but would be better as a backup. No one has expectations for Brissett to do big things this season, but at least he will take care of the ball, even if the Patriots don’t score a lot offensively.

25. Derek Carr - New Orleans Saints

When Derek Carr made the move from the Raiders to the Saints I thought that Derek Carr could have a career resurgence, but that is far from what happened. Despite having the best team last year in a weak NFC South division, the Saints only went 9-8 and finished second in the division. Carr will now have less to work with this season and he is starting to look dramatically overpaid for the production that he provides for the Saints.

24. Russell Wilson - Pittsburgh Steelers

Russell Wilson is the current starter listed for the Steelers at the making of this list which could change by the time the regular season rolls around in about a month. Russell Wilson has had a dramatic decline ever since leaving the Seahawks. This falloff can be attributed to Wilson losing his deep ball accuracy and declining athleticism that used to make him so dynamic. I don’t expect Wilson to improve much from the past season. If Justin Fields were to start for the Steelers, I would elevate him to about 22 on this list just because he is more dynamic than Wilson is at this stage in his career.

23. Deshaun Watson - Cleveland Browns

Deshaun Watson has had a tremendous fall from grace from what he was with the Houston Texans. With limited opportunities to play football the past two years for a variety of reasons, Watson has been terrible putting up 14 TDs and 9 Ints over 12 games. While at Houston people were ready to anoint him as a top-5 quarterback and then after his legal troubles, Watson hasn’t looked like the same quarterback. He has potential, but I’m unsure that he can make a resurgence.

22. Geno Smith -Seattle Seahawks

After a bad start to his career, Geno Smith was demoted to a backup role for years until he got his chance with the Seattle Seahawks. Despite an impressive 30-TD season two years ago that earned him a new contract, he badly regressed last year throwing 20 TDs and 9 Ints. It seems that he was able to have some initial success with the Seahawks because teams didn’t have any recent film on Geno Smith. However, after playing an entire season, teams were able to figure him out last year which led to his statistical regression. It is doubtful that Geno can strike lightning twice, especially in a loaded NFC West division.

Who Should be Higher?

• Deshaun Watson
• Russell Wilson
• Geno Smith
• Derek Carr

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Who Should be Lower?

• Deshaun Watson
• Russell Wilson
• Geno Smith
• Derek Carr

See All Options