How do you quantify whether something is “overrated” or not?
There’s no objective metric for it like passing yards, receiving touchdowns or sacks so we have to go with our gut.
Here are the top five quarterbacks, ranked fifth to first, who get more hype than they deserve based on either their accomplishments (or lack thereof), their past versus their present, expectations and number of other categories:
5. Dak Prescott
After seven years with Dak Prescott as the Dallas Cowboys starter, they seem no closer to reaching the Super Bowl in Year 8 than they did in Years 1-3.
There’s no denying that he’s a superb talent and the fact that not one of Dak’s backups has distinguished themselves during his occasional absences shows that he’s the driving force behind the Cowboys’ offensive success.
But sooner or later simply reaching the Divisional Round isn’t enough. Canton won’t be calling for Tony Romo anytime soon and if Prescott wants to avoid going down as good but not great, he has to take the Cowboys on a run soon.
4. Aaron Rodgers
The Green Bay Packers committed highway robbery without a gun, fleecing the New York Jets for a second-round pick, a first-round pick swap and a future pick that will either be a second- or first-round pick. And in exchange the Jets got a quarterback who couldn’t get through his first OTA without sustaining an injury.
The NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately kind of league and fans seem too dazzled by Rodgers’ 2020 and 2021 MVP seasons to remember that just six months ago he was in the midst of his worst season since the Bush administration.
It’s extremely rare for a quarterback to have an objectively bad year and then simply bounce back into a great one – which the Jets would need to reach their long-awaited second Super Bowl trip.
2023 and potentially 2024 could be ugly with Rodgers under center, even by their standards.
3. Justin Fields
Maybe this will be the year that the former Ohio State quarterback puts it all together and becomes the elite quarterback that the Chicago Bears thought they drafted in 2021.
To date though, Fields has been underwhelming. Whether that falls at his feet or that of the front office, the end result is the same: a mere 150 passing yards per game, recurring injuries, an unsustainable tuck-and-run strategy and a 20-percent win rate over two years.
Heading into 2023, the Bears finally seem to have surrounded Fields with sufficient NFL talent. We’ll see if he can do something with all of it.
2. Jimmy Garoppolo
When healthy, the 49er-turned-Raider is one of the most efficient throwers of the football in the league. Or at least, he was under the brilliant tutelage of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Much like assistant coaches who leave Bill Belichick to become head coaches (one such coach will now be coaching Garoppolo), quarterbacks who leave Shanahan’s side just don’t look the same afterwards.
2023 could be the year that really shows whether Shanahan’s brilliance was carrying Garoppolo to prominence through these few years.
1. Daniel Jones
Let’s not stand around and pretend that the quarterback was the driving force behind the New York Giants’ incredible 2022 season under Coach of the Year Brian Daboll.
And yet, despite averaging only 12 touchdowns per year over the past three seasons, Jones is now tied with Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott as the ninth-highest paid player in the NFL.
Don’t get me wrong: Daniel Jones bet on himself and won in a big way. But they’re assuming an awful lot about Jones’ trajectory for the future and won’t be in a position to surround him with playmakers now that they’re paying him like one of the elite.
