• Joe Burrow leads the way: Through eight weeks, the Bengals quarterback leads the position in PFF grade and PFF WAR.
• Here comes Justin Herbert: The Chargers quarterback has come alive over the last two weeks, earning passing grades above 89.0 in consecutive games after posting sub-65.0 grades in his first five outings.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Quarterback is the most important position on the field, but we can often get stuck in their most recent blunders or successes, making it difficult to come up with an objective ranking.
In this quarterback rankings breakdown, we've evaluated the top performers based on PFF passing grades. Using insights from Premium Stats, we’ll also present a variety of key grades beyond passing grade, including grades under pressure, from a clean pocket, against the blitz and more.
To unlock these PFF grades and explore even more advanced statistics, sign up for PFF+ today!
A look at big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays
Before we get to the updated weekly rankings, let’s look at the big-time throw and turnover-worthy play rates for the season so far.
As discussed in a recent article on the topic, PFF grades on a plus/minus scale, in which players are rewarded for positive plays above expectation and penalized for negative plays in increments of 0.5. Throws graded at the higher end of PFF's scale (+1.0, +1.5, and +2.0) are categorized as big-time throws. The lower range of the scale (-1.0, -1.5, and -2.0) are classified as turnover-worthy plays.
The chart below can be divided into four quadrants:
• The top left shows quarterbacks with a high turnover-worthy play rate and low big-time throw rate — those struggling to protect the ball while doing little to mitigate the risks.
• The top right quadrant includes QBs with high big-time throw and turnover-worthy play rates, those who “live by the sword and die by the sword.”
• At the bottom left, we find the “Alex Smith zone,” populated by safe quarterbacks with low rates in both categories.
• The bottom right is the sweet spot — quarterbacks with a high big-time throw rate and low turnover-worthy play rate, exactly where every passer wants to be.
Some quick takeaways:
Josh Allen leads the pack with a 7.5% big-time throw rate, showcasing his ability to consistently make difficult, high-reward throws.
Anthony Richardson (7.2%) and Justin Herbert (6.3%) have also performed well in this area, demonstrating their aggressiveness and downfield accuracy. Unfortunately for Richardson, he also sports a bottom-five turnover-worthy play rate. That's his game right now — there's a lot of risk for the reward.
Jalen Hurts (5.1%) and Dak Prescott (5.1%) have relatively high turnover-worthy rates, issues they'll have to figure out to remain in contention for the NFC East. On the positive side, Joe Burrow (1.3%) and Aaron Rodgers (1.5%) are excelling at limiting mistakes.
Patrick Mahomes has just a 2.1% big-time throw rate, which is surprisingly low given his talent, and a 2.5% turnover-worthy play rate, indicating a more conservative approach this season.
Week 9 Quarterback rankings
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