{"id":892846,"date":"2026-09-12T09:30:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/892846\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T09:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T09:30:53","slug":"the-most-underrated-quarterback-in-the-nfl-is-the-one-on-your-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/892846\/","title":{"rendered":"The most underrated quarterback in the NFL is the one on your team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, The Athletic released Mike Sando\u2019s Quarterback Tiers<\/a> \u2014 the definitive annual survey assessing NFL quarterbacks, according to a panel of NFL coaches, executives and other insiders.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Tiers has been going strong for more than a decade. But this year, we tried something new: We invited readers to weigh in, too, by giving them an option to place quarterbacks in the tier where they thought they belonged, ranging from Tier 1 (elite, franchise quarterbacks) to Tier 5 (not an NFL starter). In all, more than 45,000 readers cast more than half a million votes.<\/p>\n

In general, readers and the experts agreed, with both groups having very similar overall rankings of the 35 quarterbacks. (More on that in a moment.)<\/p>\n

But a closer look at the reader data also revealed something striking: a home-team bias.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Athletic doesn\u2019t know which teams its readers actually support, but we do have something close: the list of teams they \u201cfollow\u201d in our app. Using that data \u2014 all anonymized, without names or other personal information \u2014 we were able to see whether followers of a team rated their quarterback differently than other readers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They did.<\/p>\n

Across all 32 teams, followers rated their team\u2019s quarterback higher than other readers did, often by a significant margin. For example, where most readers saw a Tier 2 quarterback \u2014 say, Drake Maye or Lamar Jackson \u2014 followers of their teams, the Patriots or Ravens, were much more likely to put them in Tier 1. The ratings were not wildly different; it was more of an upward shift in each player\u2019s entire distribution of votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On average, the home-team bump was worth about a half-tier, roughly the difference between how experts rated Jackson (1.6, on average) and Jared Goff (2.1).<\/p>\n

How followers of a team rated their QBs compared to other readers, ordered by who got the biggest \u2018home-team bump\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Tyler Shough T. Shough<\/p>\n

Saints<\/p>\n

2.8 \u25b2 0.9<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Drake Maye D. Maye<\/p>\n

Patriots<\/p>\n

1.4 \u25b2 0.9<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Trevor Lawrence T. Lawrence<\/p>\n

Jaguars<\/p>\n

1.9 \u25b2 0.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jordan Love J. Love<\/p>\n

Packers<\/p>\n

1.8 \u25b2 0.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jayden Daniels J. Daniels<\/p>\n

Commanders<\/p>\n

1.9 \u25b2 0.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

2.1 \u25b2 0.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Justin Herbert J. Herbert<\/p>\n

Chargers<\/p>\n

1.3 \u25b2 0.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Brock Purdy B. Purdy<\/p>\n

49ers<\/p>\n

1.7 \u25b2 0.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Caleb Williams C. Williams<\/p>\n

Bears<\/p>\n

1.7 \u25b2 0.7<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Kyler Murray K. Murray<\/p>\n

Vikings<\/p>\n

2.9 \u25b2 0.7<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jalen Hurts J. Hurts<\/p>\n

Eagles<\/p>\n

1.9 \u25b2 0.7<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

3.0 \u25b2 0.7<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jaxson Dart J. Dart<\/p>\n

Giants<\/p>\n

2.9 \u25b2 0.7<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Bryce Young B. Young<\/p>\n

Panthers<\/p>\n

2.9 \u25b2 0.6<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Daniel Jones D. Jones<\/p>\n

Colts<\/p>\n

2.7 \u25b2 0.6<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Dak Prescott D. Prescott<\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

1.8 \u25b2 0.6<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

3.7 \u25b2 0.6<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

1.8 \u25b2 0.5<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Sam Darnold S. Darnold<\/p>\n

Seahawks<\/p>\n

2.0 \u25b2 0.5<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Aaron Rodgers A. Rodgers<\/p>\n

Steelers<\/p>\n

3.1 \u25b2 0.5<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Lamar Jackson L. Jackson<\/p>\n

Ravens<\/p>\n

1.2 \u25b2 0.4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

C.J. Stroud C.J. Stroud<\/p>\n

Texans<\/p>\n

2.8 \u25b2 0.4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Shedeur Sanders S. Sanders<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

4.2 \u25b2 0.4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Malik Willis M. Willis<\/p>\n

Dolphins<\/p>\n

3.7 \u25b2 0.4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Kirk Cousins K. Cousins<\/p>\n

Raiders<\/p>\n

3.5 \u25b2 0.4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Joe Burrow J. Burrow<\/p>\n

Bengals<\/p>\n

1.1 \u25b2 0.4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Baker Mayfield B. Mayfield<\/p>\n

Buccaneers<\/p>\n

2.3 \u25b2 0.3<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

J.J. McCarthy J.J. McCarthy<\/p>\n

Vikings<\/p>\n

4.3 \u25b2 0.3<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Tua Tagovailoa T. Tagovailoa<\/p>\n

Falcons<\/p>\n

3.9 \u25b2 0.3<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Michael Penix Jr. M. Penix<\/p>\n

Falcons<\/p>\n

4.0 \u25b2 0.3<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jacoby Brissett J. Brissett<\/p>\n

Cardinals<\/p>\n

4.0 \u25b2 0.2<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Patrick Mahomes P. Mahomes<\/p>\n

Chiefs<\/p>\n

1.0 \u25b2 0.2<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Matthew Stafford M. Stafford<\/p>\n

Rams<\/p>\n

1.1 \u25b2 0.2<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Josh Allen J. Allen<\/p>\n

Bills<\/p>\n

1.0 \u25b2 0.1<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Deshaun Watson D. Watson<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

4.8 \u25b2 0.01<\/p>\n

A handful of quarterbacks received a particularly large bump from their team\u2019s followers, with Tyler Shough (Saints) and Maye topping the list.<\/p>\n

And at the bottom, with essentially no favorable fan bump, was the Browns\u2019 Deshaun Watson. Both followers and other readers rated him as a Tier 5 quarterback, a classification reserved for quarterbacks who panelists think are not good enough to be NFL starters. (The Browns named Watson their starter<\/a> in late August; the expert panel rated him solidly in Tier 4, though he received<\/a> votes for Tiers 2, 3 and 5 as well.)<\/p>\n

The top three quarterbacks according to readers \u2014 Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford \u2014 also had relatively small bumps, suggesting they are viewed similarly by their own fans and those of opposing teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Readers and experts\u2019 rankings compared<\/p>\n

As a group, readers\u2019 views of the 35 quarterbacks lined up closely with those of the GMs, coaches and executives on the expert panel. If you arrange the quarterbacks by overall rank, as measured by \u201caverage\u201d tier, the two lists are very similar, with most quarterbacks moving up or down only a spot or two.<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Josh Allen J. Allen<\/p>\n

Bills<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Patrick Mahomes P. Mahomes<\/p>\n

Chiefs<\/p>\n

\u25bc 1<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Matthew Stafford M. Stafford<\/p>\n

Rams<\/p>\n

\u25bc 1<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Joe Burrow J. Burrow<\/p>\n

Bengals<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Lamar Jackson L. Jackson<\/p>\n

Ravens<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Justin Herbert J. Herbert<\/p>\n

Chargers<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Drake Maye D. Maye<\/p>\n

Patriots<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Dak Prescott D. Prescott<\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

\u25bc 2<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Caleb Williams C. Williams<\/p>\n

Bears<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Brock Purdy B. Purdy<\/p>\n

49ers<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Sam Darnold S. Darnold<\/p>\n

Seahawks<\/p>\n

\u25b2 2<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jordan Love J. Love<\/p>\n

Packers<\/p>\n

\u25bc 3<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jalen Hurts J. Hurts<\/p>\n

Eagles<\/p>\n

\u25b2 3<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jayden Daniels J. Daniels<\/p>\n

Commanders<\/p>\n

\u25bc 2<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Baker Mayfield B. Mayfield<\/p>\n

Buccaneers<\/p>\n

\u25bc 2<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Trevor Lawrence T. Lawrence<\/p>\n

Jaguars<\/p>\n

\u25bc 1<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

19<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

C.J. Stroud C.J. Stroud<\/p>\n

Texans<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

20<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Daniel Jones D. Jones<\/p>\n

Colts<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Bryce Young B. Young<\/p>\n

Panthers<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

22<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Aaron Rodgers A. Rodgers<\/p>\n

Steelers<\/p>\n

\u25bc 3<\/p>\n

23<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jaxson Dart J. Dart<\/p>\n

Giants<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

24<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Kyler Murray K. Murray<\/p>\n

Vikings<\/p>\n

\u25bc 1<\/p>\n

25<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

26<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Tyler Shough T. Shough<\/p>\n

Saints<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

27<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Kirk Cousins K. Cousins<\/p>\n

Raiders<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

28<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Malik Willis M. Willis<\/p>\n

Dolphins<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

29<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Tua Tagovailoa T. Tagovailoa<\/p>\n

Falcons<\/p>\n

\u25bc 3<\/p>\n

30<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Jacoby Brissett J. Brissett<\/p>\n

Cardinals<\/p>\n

\u25b2 3<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

\u25bc 1<\/p>\n

32<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Michael Penix Jr. M. Penix<\/p>\n

Falcons<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

33<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

J.J. McCarthy J.J. McCarthy<\/p>\n

Vikings<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

34<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Shedeur Sanders S. Sanders<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

\u25b2 1<\/p>\n

35<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Deshaun Watson D. Watson<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

\u25bc 4<\/p>\n

The biggest differences<\/p>\n

While their overall rankings were similar, readers\u2019 ratings were consistently lower than those of the experts. On average, readers rated the 35 quarterbacks about 0.3 tiers lower than the panelists did.<\/p>\n

For example, about 10 percent of reader votes were for Tier 5 (and three quarterbacks ended up with an average rating that landed them in that tier), compared to just 2 percent of votes from the experts. And all quarterbacks received at least some reader votes for each tier.<\/p>\n

This is understandable; readers voting on the internet are, by and large, not a group we\u2019d expect to take the challenge as seriously as an NFL coach or GM might. For this reason, it is not particularly meaningful to directly compare the average tier between readers and the expert panel.<\/p>\n

But in some cases, the gaps between readers and experts give a clear signal about which quarterbacks readers felt were particularly overrated. Watson, Aaron Rodgers and Tua Tagovailoa topped that list.<\/p>\n

QBs whom readers and panelists disagree about the most<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Deshaun Watson D. Watson<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

3.8<\/p>\n

4.8<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Aaron Rodgers A. Rodgers<\/p>\n

Steelers<\/p>\n

2.7<\/p>\n

3.5<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Tua Tagovailoa T. Tagovailoa<\/p>\n

Falcons<\/p>\n

3.4<\/p>\n

4.1<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

3.7<\/p>\n

4.2<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Dak Prescott D. Prescott<\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

1.8<\/p>\n

2.3<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

C.J. Stroud C.J. Stroud<\/p>\n

Texans<\/p>\n

2.7<\/p>\n

3.2<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Kirk Cousins K. Cousins<\/p>\n

Raiders<\/p>\n

3.4<\/p>\n

3.9<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Kyler Murray K. Murray<\/p>\n

Vikings<\/p>\n

3.1<\/p>\n

3.5<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

J.J. McCarthy J.J. McCarthy<\/p>\n

Vikings<\/p>\n

4.2<\/p>\n

4.6<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Shedeur Sanders S. Sanders<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

4.2<\/p>\n

4.6<\/p>\n

Watson was accused by more than 20 women of sexual misconduct before being traded to the Browns in 2022, then started just 19 games across four seasons (missing most of 2024 and all of 2025 with a twice-torn Achilles tendon). He received, on average, a rating of 4.8 by readers. Watson\u2019s average tier from the panelists was 3.8, giving him the largest difference in rating.<\/p>\n

Rodgers, the Steelers\u2019 42-year-old quarterback, decided to return for another season, which he has said<\/a> will be his last. And Tagovailoa, who\u2019s with the Falcons on a one-year deal, had been named<\/a> the Week 1 starter before being ruled out with an injury. The experts thought both Rodgers and Tagovailoa belonged in Tier 3. Readers placed them in Tier 4.<\/p>\n

Additional work by Ben Warren<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month, The Athletic released Mike Sando\u2019s Quarterback Tiers \u2014 the definitive annual survey assessing NFL quarterbacks, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[1745,1766,1742,1748,49,48,1744,1735,1740,1724,1721,1743,3163,1730,1737,1732,1725,1727,1736,2210,1749,1720,1726,1718,1734,1728,1723,514,1747,949,948,1739,82,1733,1741,1758],"class_list":["post-892846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-chicago-bears","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-denver-broncos","tag-detroit-lions","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-houston-texans","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-washington-commanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}