STAMFORD, CT – Another wild NFL week is in the books. The Jets are on fire and the Giants can somehow still win the division. Every week a contender or two goes mushy and others rise from the ashes. Jesus Bartkowski Whiteshoes Christ, who can figure it out? Things are getting so wacky that three QBs named John Wolford, Taylor Heinicke, and Chris Streveler are poised to possibly have a big impact on the playoffs. QB play is more important than ever as only the teams with a top signal caller have a chance to win it all. With several big prospects coming out in 2021, I thought I’d spin the 2021 NFL QB Carousel while Predicting Every Team’s Starting QB.
Franchise QB Locked in Place
Kansas City Chiefs – Patrick Mahomes. The best player in the league.
Buffalo Bills – Josh Allen. Trading the pick used to get Mahomes could have been an epic blunder, but landing Allen righted the wrong.
Green Bay Packers – Aaron Rogers. The Love pick was premature. A-Rodg will win the MVP and has at least a few more years at a high level.
Seattle Seahawks – Russell Wilson. He as fallen off a bit lately from his early MVP pace, but he’s one of the best.
Houston Texans – Desean Watson. The trade of Hopkins was not wise, but Watson is still a stud.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tom Brady. Tompa the Goat is in place for one more year and I’d be shocked if he didn’t come back.
Arizona Cardinals – Kyler Murray. We’ve seen enough to know he’s in place for the foreseeable future.
Los Angeles Chargers – Justin Herbert. He might be the first QB to go in a draft do over
Baltimore Ravens – Lamar Jackson. He is starting to rekindle his 2019 magic and no one wants to see him in the first round.
Cleveland Browns – Baker Mayfield. He has stepped up his game this year, supported by a strong running game and offensive line.
Pretty Happy But Starting to Look Around
Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan. He has a huge dead money number for the next two years. He’s not going anywhere.
Tennessee Titans – Ryan Tannehill. They are committed to him for at least two more years.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben has threatened to hang ‘em up. I reckon he’ll be back for one more, but the Steelers had better get serious about his replacement.
Las Vegas Raiders – Derek Carr. He hasn’t been the problem, but I get the feeling Gruden isn’t in full-blown love with him. He’ll be back for at least one more.
Looking Good… Probably
Miami Dolphins – Tua Tagovailoa. He looks capable but I think that mediocre arm is going to hold him back from being great. How good would Miami look going forward with Herbert (and still a bunch of draft picks) right now?
Cincinnati Bengals – Brandon Allen. Joe Burrow is the guy and hopefully he’ll be back for 2022. Allen has shown enough to get a shot at the temp gig, though they may bring in a veteran.
Dallas Cowboys – Dak Prescott. It seems likely they’ll work something out.
Minnesota Vikings – Kirk Cousins. He isn’t really the problem, but he’s not going to take them to the promised land. They’re committed to him for two more years.
LA Rams – Jared Goff. His success looks system-based, but they’re committed.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Trevor Lawrence. The only thing that stops this from happening is Trevor staying in school, because he has so much more to prove, or pulling an Eli and refusing to play for Jacksonville.
Short Leash
Giants – Daniel Jones. They tried to reign him in to cut down on the turnovers, but they’ve also cut down on the good stuff. I think they’ll try to surround him with more talent and give him one more year.
Denver Broncos – Drew Lock. He’s been pretty spotty but they seem likely to give him one year.
Chicago Bears – Mitch Trubisky. They’ve already declined his fifth year option but he’s played his way back to relevance. I think they’ll have to bring him back.
San Francisco 49ers – Jimmy Garappolo. Rough year for the Niners with more injuries than I’ve had girlfriends. A lot. But they can win with Jimmy if they get healthy.
Philadelphia Eagles – Jalen Hurts. He’s shown enough to get the first shot, I think. It doesn’t seem likely they can find a taker for Wentz, so this situation is going to be interesting.
Making Changes
New York Jets – Justin Fields. The Jets could go a lot of ways. They could bring in a QB guru and use their plethora of draft picks to surround Darnold with talent. They could opt for Zachary Wilson out of BYU instead of Fields. I think they move on with Fields.
New Orleans Saints – Taysom Hill. If Brees wants back in, they’ll probably let him. But I get the feeling they are starting to get itchy to move on. Do they think Hill can be the guy? My Whitney Sense (TM) says yes.
Carolina Panthers – Zachary Wilson. Teddy has been solid, but he’s not the long-term solution.
Indianapolis Colts – Matthew Stafford. This is a win now team that needs a QB. Rivers is dunzo. The Colts make it happen with Stafford.
Detroit Lions – Mac Jones. The Lions find a taker for Stafford and move on with the Alabama stud.
New England – Kyle Trask. The Pats get their guy with Trask.
Washington Football Team – Trey Lance. This team has the makings of a powerhouse apart from QB. A lot depends on whether they win the division or not, because that will determine if they’re picking in the top 10 or closer to 20. I say they blow it against the Eagles and the Cowboys get in. WFT moves on with the uber talented Lance.
I dunno, that’s a lot of rookies. Where did I go wrong?
That’s it for me. Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward, who went wrong a lot time ago. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
