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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Tim Weaver

Ranking the NFL’s top 40 QBs by PFF grades going into Week 17

NFL United States PFF Geno Smith Seahawks Bailey Zappe CJ Stroud Drew Lock Gardner Minshew New England Patriots

The Seahawks have one of the stronger quarterback rooms in the NFL. While Geno Smith and Drew Lock both have their flaws, these last couple of weeks have demonstrated that they are both very-much capable of leading late game-winning drives, which is perhaps the most valuable quality that a QB can have at this level – where so many games come down to one possession.

While Geno Smith’s traditional numbers for the season are down, the same is true for every other quarterback, who have been limited by a league-wide defensive adjustment against giving up deep passes. Smith was the NFL’s best deep ball thrower in 2022, so he’s had to adjust as much as anybody. Considering the context, Smith is playing at a far above-average level and giving great value to Seattle given the size of his contract. The PFF grades support that.

NFL Power Rankings Week 17: Ravens topple 49ers, Seahawks up 3 spots

Each week this season we have been evalauting QB play using different stats. This week we will be ranking the top 40 quarterbacks based on PFF’s position grades. Heading into Week 17, Smith is grading out at 80.2, which ranks No. 13 in the league, sandwiching him between two of the NFL’s rising young stars in C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence. That’s good company to keep. Meanwhile, Drew Lock doesn’t have enough snaps to qualify but his grade (61.3) would place him in the high 30s right next to Gardner Minshew – which is about all you can ask of a backup.

Before we start, there are a few quarterbacks who are not on this list but are worth mentioning. Among the other QBs who don’t have enough snaps to qualify for PFF’s list are Taylor Heinicke, who’s at 64.3 for the Falcons, Nick Mullens at 52.9 for the Vikings and Case Keenum at 44.4 with the Texans. This week’s opponent will be Mason Rudolph, who earned a 65.0 grade for his first start with the Steelers last week. He’s at 60.2 for the year.

Let’s get to the list. Here is how the top 40 rank according to the Pro Football Focus QB position grades.