With the New Orleans Saints signing Derek Carr to be their new QB1, where does the Saints new starter rank among the rest in the conference?
It's really no secret that the list of the quarterbacks in the NFC... leaves a bit to be desired, to put it kindly. The NFC South is even worse, with the New Orleans Saints being the only team in the division that knows with absolute certainty who their starting quarterback will be in 2023. That got us to thinking, where does the Saints new quarterback QB1 rank in the NFC?
With the quarterback landscape being vastly superior in the AFC, Derek Carr was completely overshadowed with the Las Vegas Raiders. With the Saints, he has a chance to shine.
Out of the 16 teams in the conference, we can really only rank ten of them confidently, which is convenient, so we have a nice clean top ten. We don't know what the Atlanta Falcons or Washington Commanders are doing yet, and the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some balls in the air, ranging in quality of course. The Carolina Panthers will almost assuredly draft one but we don't know who that is yet, nor do we know what Jordan Love will be with Aaron Rodgers headed out of Green Bay and likely to the New York Jets.
So with that said, here are the top ten quarterbacks in the NFC, and Saints fans should enjohy where Carr falls on our ranking.
#10 NFC Quarterback: Daniel Jones - New York Giants
We start with the two quarterbacks labeled as "running" quarterbacks. It may come off as a knock, but it's more of a testament to their abilities as ball-carriers. That said, there is still work to be done here in the passing game, but things may be looking up.
With Daniel Jones, he seems to have a very limited and defined ceiling as s quarterback. However, he was able to win himself a playoff game, and has shown the capability to show flashes. Of course, all of those flashes seem to come against the Minnesota Vikings and their porous defense, including the playoff win, so it's tough to rank him higher than ten.
#9 NFC Quarterback: Justin Fields - Chicago Bears
Justin Fields and Jones are similar in their style, but also in that they have to produce with very limited supporting casts. Even though Jones has a playoff game under his belt, we have to give the edge to Fields here, and here is why.
For starters, the starters around Fields are a little worse. As such, he is the one tasked with making plays in efforts to win games. Everything is centered around Fields, and if the Bears go far, it's because of Fields. With the Giants, it's more in spite of Jones. Now that may change, but for now, this is the bottom of the barrel for our rankings.
#8 NFC Quarterback: Geno Smith - Seattle Seahawks
We go to the NFC West for the next two quarterbacks on our list, both with something to prove. In the case of Geno Smith it's simple. The people need to simply see more.
Smith looked like a top-five quarterback in the entire conference a season ago (if not better), and if he can replicate what he did in 2022 in 2023, then he will almost surely fly up this and any other quarterback ranking.
#7 NFC Quarterback: Kyler Murray - Arizona Cardinals
With Kyler Murray, he has all the athletic tools. He throws a beautiful ball, which is usually a backhanded compliment since it's generally brought out if nothing else positive can be said, but that isn't the case here. He can move, he can read coverages, and he is a smart player, when he wants to be.
The problem with Murray, other than size and health, is if he has it all upstairs. A lot was made of the clause in his contract regarding studying and that is something that's hard to ignore. If he can prove that he is the leader the Arizona Cardinals hoped he could be when they made him the number one overall draft choice, then he, like Smith, will fly up rankings.
#6 NFC Quarterback: Kirk Cousins - Minnesota Vikings
Now we go to the curious case of Kirk Cousins. Somehow, he's one of the more polarizing players amongst fans, which is kind of hilarious since he seems like the nicest guy.
Anyhoo, the fact of the matter on Cousins is this. He is a good NFL quarterback. He is. You can win games with him, have your offense put up number, and heck, maybe he'll even mess around and win a playoff game, as Saints fans had to find out the hard way.
The thing is though, he isn't a quarterback you can win a Super Bowl with. He's good, but not great. A case can certainly be made that he can be top five, but with the supporting offensive cast he has with the Minnesota Vikings, for example the best wide receiver in football in Justin Jefferson, more should be expected of Cousins. He also isn't a quarterback that many see has being able to put together an MVP-caliber season, despite some talking heads on the television machine trying to convince the masses of otherwise going into the 2022 season.
When it comes to Cousins, this will be a very telling year. The Vikings won a lot of games, and lost, by the hairs on their chinny-chin-chins, so they need Cousins to step up and show out, even if they are rumored to potentially draft a quarterback...
Now for the top five.
#5 NFC Quarterback: Derek Carr - New Orleans Saints
The Saints have a top-five quarterback in the conference with Derek Carr.
Sure, he may not have a playoff win yet, but in 2016 he was having an MVP-caliber season with the Raiders before suffering a season-ending injury. Carr is a quarterback that needs a supporting cast, and the Saints should be able to give him one.
The Saints also have a defense, and a good one at that. With the Raiders, Carr had a top-20 defense one time, and they were ranked 19th. Carr gets perhaps an unnecessary amount of hate, and it has to do with his lack of team success.
The fact of the matter is though, Carr is one of the better leaders of men you'll find, especially during the circus that was rolling through Las Vegas at the end of the second John Gruden-era.
Carr has an excellent chance to show what he can really do, and if the Saints are fortunate enough to host a playoff game in the Superdome thanks to their weak division, then the sky is the limit. The fact that he's starting his tenure in the Big Easy as a top-five quarterback in the conference should have Saints fans feeling exciting.
#4 NFC Quarterback: Jared Goff - Detroit Lions
It's easy to miss just how good Jared Goff was for the Detroit Lions in 2022. In fact, he was one of the better quarterbacks statistically in the entire NFL, not just the NFC. Sure, it'd be nice to see him do it again with the Lions in 2023, but Goff also has something of a track record in his own right.
You see, Goff actually started a Super Bowl, granted he only scored three points on a loaded offense, but the dance is the dance. Some might say Goff was the weak spot on that loaded team, as they went on to win the Super Bowl with a different quarterback (more on him later), but he still got there, which is more the number three quarterback can say.
#3 NFC Quarterback: Dak Prescott - Dallas Cowboys
It's so hard to rank Dak Prescott, and it's pretty much only to do with the star on his helmet.
Is he close to being elite? Is he closer to Jared Goff? He could also be Kirk Cousins, considering he puts up the numbers, then tends to fade in the playoffs.
Like Goff, he has a loaded roster to enjoy. Unlike Goff, and like Cousins, he hasn't gotten to a Super Bowl, or even a conference title game. That said, he is capable of putting the team on his back when he needs to, even if his backups have also proven capable. His ranking is fair but debatable.
#2 NFC Quarterback: Matthew Stafford - Los Angeles Rams
When Aaron Rodgers finally gets traded, Matthew Stafford will be the only quarterback in the NFC that has won a Super Bowl. Let that sink in for a second.
So why isn't he number one then? Well, he isn't exactly a spring chicken, and before his season was lost to injury in 2022, one year after winning the Super Bowl in 2021, his play looked to be on a bit of a decline. That doesn't mean he isn't still top-tier in the conference however.
Stafford proved to be the missing piece Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams were looking for, to unlock both their offense, and their entire team's potential. It culminated with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, and the crowning achievement in the career of Stafford.
It's entirely possible he bounces back in 2023, and leapfrogs his way to the top of the list. We feel we're giving him respect here, even if those around the league may not do the same when it comes to league-wide rankings. It really is interesting that Stafford is rarely mentioned amongst the elite, and perhaps his years in the Motor City have something to do with it.
Stafford is arguably the best quarterback in the conference, and a borderline future Hall of Fame inductee, but he isn't number one on our list.
Jalen Hurts is the best quarterback in the NFC.
He has already started in a Super Bowl, played brilliantly in it, and came a controversial call away from getting the ball with a chance to win the game, and become immortal. You couple that with the fact that he very easily could have been the 2022 NFL MVP had he not missed a couple games, including one against the Saints, and it's pretty easy to name him as tops.
Of course there are people out there that may want to see him continue on this trajectory he's on, and that's kind of fair, but at the rate the trajectory has already gone, those people should get their wish.
So there you have it, the Philadelphia Eagles have the one quarterback in the conference that many General Managers and franchises would be thrilled to start their team with, and the best quarterback in the conference. That said, the New Orleans Saints have a top-five quarterback in the conference, and an excellent chance to host a playoff game in the Big Easy with that quarterback. Derek Carr is a top-five NFC quarterback as we stand today, and even after the Draft, there are still plenty of unknowns.