Well, this is interesting... We live in a world where discussions about how well Jalen Hurts is performing splits Philadelphia Eagles fans and NFL media members down the middle. Conversations both stir emotions and rip us at the seams. Something weird happened this past Sunday though. Jalen's stock rose by simply being absent.
A concussion forced him out of action and from the sideline after 12 offensive plays. That Eagles offense looked a lot different with him absent from the lineup.
Jalen is a different animal. He's one of those guys whose performance can be graded simply by reading statistics, but what the heck? Let's talk about QBR anyway.
Also read: Eagles streak-snapping loss was a perfect storm and no reason to lose hope
Here's where a pair of Eagles QBs land when they are stacked vs. the other NFL starters.
To entertain discussions about QBR, we must first offer its definition. 'Total Quarterback Rating' was created by ESPN to help measure how successful QBs were in football games.
ESPN claims to have created QBR as a meaningful alternative to the traditional passer ratings. They believed QBR better encompassed "all of a quarterback's contributions to winning" (i.e. the impact of his passing, rushing, turnovers, and penalties.
QBR accounts for a team's success and/or failure and is graded on a 0-100 scale. Are you confused? Don't fret. We never completely figured out the mathematical formula either, but it's still always interesting to see how these guys are graded.
Kenny Pickett will start for the Eagles if Jalen Hurts hasn't cleared the NFL's concussion protocol ahead of Week 17's game vs. the Dallas Cowboys. He filled in after Hurts suffered an injury in Week 16 vs. the Washington Commanders.
In doing so, he stacked a 55.1 QBR which would have ranked him 20th on the following list. Below is a ranking of starting NFL QBs if we ranked them based on their 2024 QBR stats.
1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills - 76.7
2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens - 75.5
3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals -74.2
4. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders - 71.9
5. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers - 67.8
6. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals -67.6
7. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs - 66.7
8. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions - 66.4
9. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles - 66.3
10. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams -65.7
11. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers -65.2
12. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints - 64.5 (injured) ***
13. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings - 62.0
14. Drake Maye, New England Patriots - 60.0
15. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins - 59.8
16. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers -59.7
17. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars - 58.8
18. Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns - 57.3 *
19. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 57.2
20. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers - 53.5
21. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks - 53.4
22. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos - 53.1
23. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets - 52.2
24. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons - 51.9 **
25. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans - 51.4
26. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears - 47.7
27. Daniel Jones, Minnesota Vikings - 47.5
28. Anthony Richardson. Indianapolis Colts - 47.2
29. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers - 47.1
30. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys - 46.7 (injured)
31. Cooper Rush, Dallas Cowboys - 40.8
32. Aidan O'Connell, Las Vegas Raiders - 39.5
33. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders - 38.0
34. Drew Lock, New York Giants - 32.7 since replacing Daniel Jones
35. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans - 30.2 (replaced by Mason Rudolph)
* Winston was benched ahead of Week 16's game in favor of Dorian Thompson-Robinson (and DTR threw zero TDs and two interceptions vs. the Bengals and boasts a QBR of 18.0).
** Kirk Cousins was benched in Week 16 in favor of Michael Penix who led the Falcons to a 34-7 win over the Giants but threw zero TDs and an interception (Penix's QBR is 50.8).
*** Spencer Rattler has racked up a 37.1 QBR in Derek Carr's absence.
Did you catch that? Pay attention to Hurts ranks ahead of. Numbers don't always tell the tale, but they also can't be ignored. By the looks of things, Philly's offensive signal-caller is doing a better job than most are giving him credit for.