Who’s the best under center in the NFL? Sam Farmer ranks the quarterbacks top to bottom

Staff Writer

Sept. 3, 2018 6 AM PT

Ranking the NFL’s quarterbacks, with comment from Los Angeles Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer:

Rk, Player, Team, Comment

1. Tom Brady, New England: Five rings and, even at 41, still the platinum standard.

2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay: He’ll miss Jordy Nelson, but Jimmy Graham will help.

3. Drew Brees, New Orleans: Completed an NFL-record 72% of his passes last season.

4. Russell Wilson, Seattle: Responsible for 86% of Seahawks’ total offense in 2017.

5. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia: Set Eagles season record for TD passes even missing three games.

6. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh: Did his part in the playoff loss: 469 yards, five TDs.

7. Philip Rivers, Chargers: More than halved his INTs last season, from 21 to 10.

8. Matt Ryan, Atlanta: Despite dip in numbers, still stands in pocket and makes throws.

9. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis: No QB has taken more of a beating, yet he produces.

10. Deshaun Watson, Houston: He could be in the top three. Too small a sample size.

11. Matthew Stafford, Detroit: Wins for a team without 100-yard rusher since 2013.

12. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco: Like Watson, looks really good but need to see more.

13. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota: Found a way to thrive in a dysfunctional organization.

14. Derek Carr, Oakland: Jon Gruden will strive to find Carr of 2016 — 28 TDs, six INTs.

15. Cam Newton, Carolina: Can be exceptional or lousy, depends on which Cam shows up.

16. Jared Goff, Rams: Coming off a strong year and growing into Sean McVay’s offense.

17. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee: Excellent two years ago but 2017 numbers hit the skids.

18. Dak Prescott, Dallas: By own admission, he made “a lot of mental mistakes” last year.

19. Eli Manning, N.Y. Giants: Two rings, but benched last season for the first time.

20. Alex Smith, Washington: Coming off great year, but big weapons downgrade in D.C.

21. Joe Flacco, Baltimore: Where did the deep ball go? Yards per completion in the gutter.

22. Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay: Talented, yes, but too many red flags off the field.

23. Sam Bradford/Josh Rosen, Arizona: Bradford can’t stay healthy. Rosen is intriguing talent.

24. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati: As the years go by, MVP push in 2015 looking like an anomaly.

25. Case Keenum, Denver: Overachiever, so he could be better than this ranking.

26. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City: NFL’s best arsenal of skill-position players should mask rawness.

27. Sam Darnold, N.Y. Jets: Framework is in place, now Darnold can grow into job.

28. Ryan Tannehill, Miami: Still hanging onto his job, but it’s a tenuous grip.

29. Blake Bortles, Jacksonville: Coming off wrist surgery, inaccurate short-to-middle range.

30. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago: Seven TDs, seven picks, 77.5 rating — definition of so-so.

31. Tyrod Taylor/Baker Mayfield, Cleveland: When a team is 1-31, odds are against young QB.

32. Josh Allen/AJ McCarron, Buffalo: Allen’s 56% completion rate at Wyoming is troubling.

Follow Sam Farmer on Twitter @LATimesfarmer