NFL quarterback tiers, 2018: Ranking each team’s starter by category
By Peter Panacy
Niner Noise takes a look around the NFL in 2018 and categorizes each starting quarterback by tiers, from the franchise guy to the QB you can’t wait to see leave.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is poised to play in the NFL’s biggest game for the eighth time in his storied, Hall of Fame career, and most teams around the league could only wish to have a signal-caller anywhere close to his caliber.
Simply put, the teams with the best winning consistency, year to year, have good quarterbacks. True, a team can get by with sub-par quarterback play, usually riding an elite-level defense. But that approach lasts a year, maybe two.
A year ago at this time, Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young noted on San Francisco’s KNBR 680 the perennial playoff teams all have one thing in common — a great quarterback.
San Francisco 49ers
And it can be one of, if not the most difficult piece for any NFL team to find.
With all but the Super Bowl in the books heading into 2018, Niner Noise takes all the starting QBs from the league and places them into our tiered categories. They are as follows:
- Franchise-caliber quarterbacks
- Proven winners
- Above-average signal-callers
- Game managers
- Stopgap options
The first two categories can carry teams to the Super Bowl. The only difference, of course, is franchise-caliber QBs can put an entire team on their shoulders. Proven winners aren’t quite on that level but are good enough to be considered near the top.
Above-average QBs help their teams win but typically need a strong supporting cast, while game managers, well… they manage games. They don’t hurt you.
Stopgap options, like the San Francisco 49ers had with Brian Hoyer earlier this season, are place holders. Nothing more. This last category, you don’t want to be in unless you’re just happy to assume a starting job in the league.
Starting from the top, let’s place the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks into each one of these tiers.