Which QB Is Playing The Best Through Two Weeks Of Football?
We're now two weeks into the season and the under reactions and overreactions have already begun at the QB position. Instead of letting the media run wild with speculation based on one or two bad plays or applying team performance to a single player, lets take a look at the numbers.
As a disclaimer, numbers obviously can't tell the full story. These can't show you situations, coaching choices, what their opponents were doing etc. These can, however, do better than a blowhard pundits offering zero analysis other than "Well this team won so obviously the QB is elite". Reminder, this conversation is NOT "who is the best QB". It is "Which QB is playing the best through 2 weeks". Let's go through the top 5.
1. Josh Allen. He's the MVP among QBs right now. He's passing and running at as high as a level as you can ask for. On top of that, I don't think it is appreciated enough that he isn't exactly playing with premier weapons. How many teams would Coleman, Palmer or Shakir be the #1 option for? The best thing he has going for him is a top O-line and a very good RB. He engineered that insanely clutch comeback vs the Ravens and didn't need to do as much vs the Jets.
2. Justin Herbert. He's throwing the ball as well as Allen, seems to have gotten the green light to run and is as efficient as you could possibly ask for. His O-line is significantly worse than Allen's (despite Alt being better than any single player on the Bills line) and his RB situation is terrible but he at least has two dependable WRs in Allen and McConkey. He quarterbacked a clutch win vs the Chiefs, one of the best defenses of 2024, and was a bit more measured vs the Raiders.
3. Lamar Jackson. He is still the most electric QB in football. Hyper-efficient and nearly impossible to bring down. Derrick Henry is probably the single best complimentary piece of these top three (with the exception of the one fumble week 1). His line also features probably the 1b best center in the league in Linderbaum + Stanley who is still a gamer. I think if John Harbaugh wasn't a coward, Lamar probably wins them the Bills game. Week 2, though, he absolutely dismantled the Browns. As of right now, he is quarterbacking the highest scoring offense in the league.
4. Daniel Jones. Man, I love Shane Steichen and I'm not sure if there is a more QB friendly coach in the league. He engineered Herbert's first year, which was statistically the best rookie QB performance ever. Then he takes over with a very different style of QB in Hurts and gets him going. Now, in Indy, he has been absolutely cursed at the position with Richardson, who is seemingly made of glass, and a series of backups. Jones is the best actual QB he has worked with so far as a HC and it's showing up on the field. Steichen is playing to his strengths and it's lead to him being efficient and complementary to their best players like Taylor. The win vs Miami might not be that impressive but battling out a win vs Denver, one of the best defenses of last year, is.
5. Jared Goff. Other than Hurts, Goff is probably the most blessed QB in football. He has 2 incredible WRs (maybe 3 because TeSlaa looks insane). Their O-line, which most people thought would dip a little after losing 2 starters, looks incredible. AND he has the best RB tandem in the league to rely on on top of that. Unlike the Eagles, who are taking more of a "take what the other team gives us" approach (which is not a bad thing, wins are wins), the Lions are pushing the envelope on offense. I know it's only 2 weeks in, but an 80% completion percentage is absolutely insane.
One more I definitely want to shout out is Baker. Talk about a god damn gamer, man. Super clutch last week and still wheeling and dealing with the best of them. If he can ease up on the turnovers this year, I think you can firmly cement him as a top guy.
Again, don't take this for anything that it isn't. At the end of the year, is it still going to look like Jones is playing better than Mahomes? I highly doubt it. Water WILL find it's level.
