The top 10 quarterbacks a third into the 2023 NFL season

Top 10 quarterbacks of the 2023 NFL season: 1-man shows

#3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Top 10 quarterbacks of the 2023 NFL season

I’m not sure if there’s a more underappreciated player in the league right now than Lamar Jackson. Answering some comments on my team-based power rankings a couple of weeks ago (where somebody brought up his raw passing numbers (208.8 yards per game, five TDs vs. three INTs), someone asked me what “my excuse was” following the Pittsburgh Steelers game.

Seeing someone criticize THAT guy, after his receivers dropped three touchdowns and the most passes overall since 2017 (later earning the highest PFF passing grade of the week) perfectly encapsulates where we are with the box-score-watching public.

We just watched the Cleveland Browns defense be dominant against what had been an unstoppable San Francisco 49ers offense. Lamar made about five plays when he faced that unit which made those guys look foolish.

Then against the Steelers and Titans these last two weeks, he was moving his offense down the field at will, before OC Todd Monken refused to let him finish off those drives by throwing in goal-to-go situations.

Lamar Jackson is currently fourth in success rate per dropback (52.5%) and he’s tied for sixth among all players (including running backs) in first downs picked up on the ground (23). If he starts getting some help in terms of those skill-position guys, he’s an MVP candidate and the Ravens are a Super Bowl threat.

#4. Justin Herbert, LA Chargers

There are some concerns bout whether we’ll ever see a Justin Herbert-led team live up to their potential. Getting Kellen Moore to take over play-calling duties from Joe Lombardi has certainly been a lot more fun to watch in many ways.

We've seen them push the ball down the field and create YAC thanks to less static concepts, but his running backs have averaged just 2.5 yards per carry since Week 1, the defense has not come through late in the game and the decision-making by the head coach has been a nightmare.

Herbert is a well-calibrated machine as a thrower, who can hit any spot on the field with the appropriate touch and/or velocity on the ball. Unfortunately, he just had arguably the worst performance of his career, if you take out the stretch in which he struggled with the rib injury last year.

Herbert missed Keenan Allen streaking open a couple of times this past Monday night and there were a couple of uncharacteristically poor decisions against the Dallas Cowboys, including just his second INT of the season.

With that being said, he has thrown lasers out there all year long, ranking third in “on-target rate” of his passes (83.0%) and his ability to avoid getting sacked by using subtle movement around the pocket is outstanding. Plus, after the rib bothered him for most of 2022, he’s been a lot more active as a runner, picking up a lot of crucial first downs when given a lane.

#5. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

There’s really a theme with this tier of guys, as once again Trevor Lawrence’s numbers should be better than where they are. Unfortunately, there’s no official tracking of this, but I feel confident about saying he leads the league in would-be touchdown throws, where his receivers weren’t able to get both feet in bounds.

Overall, the Jaguars offense has been plagued with untimely drops, turnovers in the red zone and those missed TD opportunities. However, I believe their quarterback has been exceptional over the last three weeks against the Falcons, Bills and Colts.

If you take out end-of-half situations (only on one of those did they even throw the ball), 15 of their 31 possessions added in points and three ended in a (strip-)sack. If you want to blame T-Law for holding onto the ball too long a couple of times, all three of those came on third or fourth down instead of forcing balls into traffic, while generally only Tua has a lower time to throw so far this season (2.46 seconds).

While having Calvin Ridley in some isolated situations for key downs has helped, three Jaguars pass-catchers have been targeted at least 44 times and Lawrence has started using his backs as more than just a last resort. So he’s utilizing his play-makers to take pressure off himself, yet still has a 4.9% big-time throw rate (eighth-highest in the league) according to PFF.

#6. Matthew Stafford, LA Rams

I don’t think there’s been a quarterback I’ve enjoyed watching more so far this year than Matthew Stafford. The man has been an absolute flame-thrower. He can dice up static zone coverages with underneath throws as well as lead his receivers down the field towards open grass, but most impressive has been the insane amount of tight-window balls on the intermediate level he’s drilled.

Along with that, his pocket movement has been superb, being able to navigate around multiple pressure points, quickly re-set and rip throws to any spot on the field, and regularly drop down the arm-angle when needed.

Sean McVay certainly deserves a lot of credit. The O-line has done a much better job than I anticipated of protecting their 35-year-old signal-caller coming off a season in which he got banged around pretty good, and they’ve had young skill-position players step up around him.

However, he’s only had Cooper Kupp for the last two weeks and his numbers almost feel detached from reality, when it comes to a couple of interceptions based on bad luck in terms of how the ball bounced and the fact they’ve relied on running back Kyren Williams converting at the goal-line.

What matters more is his big-time throw (7.6% – easily first) vs. turnover-worthy play rate (1.9% – third-lowest), while leading the league in completed air yards per attempt total (1040) and per attempt (7.5). He’s been slinging it all around the yard, without giving defenders many chances to make plays on the ball.