Nick Wrights quarterback hierarchy saw a handful of names tumble this week but one signal caller stayed at the top of the mountain: Patrick Mahomes is alone at the summit.
Jalen Hurts falls again, Dak Prescott drops after an underwhelming Thursday night, and Matthew Stafford actually climbs despite a loss â while a trio of backups quietly moved up the board.
Heres how Wright sees the leagues quarterbacks this week:
Wright’s thoughts: “Off the mountain, injured and off the mountain because of performance. Injured: Lamar should be back, Caleb should be back, Baker should be back. Jaxson Dart wont be back.”
Wright’s thoughts: “Cam Ward, Malik Willis, Tyson Bagent â yikes. And Justin Herbert, who I dont see, how, right now, hes not one of the 28 best quarterbacks in the league. They got the ball back down six, and I felt like they had no shot whatsoever. I dont know whats wrong. Well talk about him later.”
Wright: “Bottom of the mountain. Jalen Hurts has to fall again. I understand theres a lot working against him, the injuries, the retirement [of offensive tackle Lane Johnson], the head coach â I get it. But the offense is also not functional. His whole thing had been, hey, the stats might not be pretty, but were winning. You dont have that either on a three-game losing streak. He tumbles a bit.Â
“Daniel Jones, Deshaun Watson drop a bit. Bo Nix, Geno Smith and Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston â theyre probably bottom-row guys at this point in their careers. Not a problem, probably not going off the mountain, but bottom-row guys.”
Wright: “Sixth row, fair is fair, move them up. Kyler finally got a little juice in that offense â nice touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson, looked good for his first time in a Vikings uniform. He moves up. Tyler Huntley, maybe he needs to take the mantle as the best backup quarterback in the league. They went about half the games with him, and they didnt look like a knee-capped operation that had no chance of moving the ball. He moves up.
“Sam Darnold has not looked great yet this year, and the benefit of the doubt hes built up is shrinking just a bit. He drops. Tyler Shough â maybe it turns out a lot of the optimism was from playing the Lions, and playing Detroit can do a lot for whoevers on the other side.Â
“Shout out to Jalon Daniels for Thursday night and Jalon Daniels’ delightful interview with his mother that I liked a lot.Â
“Jayden Daniels is back on the mountain because you’re healthy again. The stuff you did with your legs in this game was actually really dynamic, and there were a lot of positive moments. I can’t get over the ending. I understand. All probably David Blough’s fault. I like my quarterbacks to have you know an idea of what quarter it is, what the rules are, if you have timeouts.”
Wright: “Look at Drake Maye â back in, back. Thats the steady climb back up the mountain. He almost got row four after a five-touchdown performance. Aaron Rodgers is playing really well â fair is fair, two of his last three games, hes been excellent. C.J. Stroud stays where he is, even though they finally got a win. It took three quarters against the Titans, but hes been consistent all year, playing really well.
“Penix got hit in the ribs â I dont know if hell miss time, so hes not off the mountain for injury, but after a shaky early part of that game I thought he looked really sharp against Baltimore. And Kirk Cousins falls to the fifth row. Feels fair.”
Wright: “Fourth row â Bryce had a bye week, so he stays where he is. Stafford moved up in a loss â I thought Stafford was really good. Dak moves down after an awful Thursday Night Football performance â well, he wasnt awful, but he wasnt great.Â
“Jordan Love, holy moly, how about that possession â chucking it deep, offensive pass interference, chucking it deep again, dropped, doing it ag
