NFL Analysis
11/13/24
16 min read
2024 NFL Week 11 Quarterback Rankings: Justin Herbert Makes Big Jump
Welcome to Week 11 of the quarterback rankings.
These are not your typical quarterback rankings, which is why you might see some differences from what you’d expect to see in a ranking system that was built off a box score or reputation.
As a reminder, our new grading system combines the skill set rankings (how good a quarterback is in a vacuum) and production (based on a composite of EPA per play and success rate from TruMedia) for the 2024 season.
The hope is that the mix of the skill set rankings and the production rankings will give a more complete picture of what is actually happening on the field during the 2024 season.
The skill set rankings are from me, watching and grading each quarterback in the individual categories. If you feel like I hate your favorite quarterback, those are the rankings you should be looking at and yelling at me for.
The skill score is then combined with the production score to get the full rankings.
The full rankings, including each individual skill set, will be at the bottom of this article. If you liked the old rankings, you can filter by Skill Score. If you're more interested in production, you can filter by that, too.
Each week, we’ll be ranking the league’s 32 starting quarterbacks. That means if a quarterback switch is made, it will be reflected in the rankings. With the production rankings, we’ll start ranking new quarterbacks after their first start or if an official move is made.
With that out of the way, here are the new quarterback rankings heading into Week 11. All stats provided by TruMedia unless noted otherwise.
Week 11 quarterback rankings
1. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens 
Skill Score: 9.70 | Production Score: 8.21 | Ranking Score: 8.96
Here’s another week of talking about how cool and fun Lamar Jackson is. He remains playing at another level. Jackson keeps extending plays in the pocket to throw, and then he can also have an impossible scramble like he did against Cincinnati on Thursday.
There’s no good way to defend Jackson right now, and the Ravens are taking full advantage.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Skill Score: 9.66 | Production Score: 6.73 | Ranking Score: 8.20
Josh Allen did not have his best came against the Colts, throwing two interceptions, one never seeing a linebacker sitting in the throwing lane and the other throwing late to the outside. Still, there was enough consistency in the other plays to not make those turnovers too costly.
This was also without Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman. Coleman has already been ruled out for Week 11 against the Chiefs, with Cooper’s status still up in the air.
3. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Skill Score: 9.20 | Production Score: 7.11 | Ranking Score: 8.16
Jayden Daniels had his worst game of the season, held to -0.10 EPA per play and a 30 percent success rate. But it still wasn’t a discouraging performance from the rookie.
There were still some good throws mixed in, and the Pittsburgh defense forced Daniels to stay in the pocket and not scramble. That led to a quick release and shorter passes, as Steelers defenders were ready to rally and tackle. A down game was inevitable, and if this was his down game, Daniels is still doing pretty well.
4. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Skill Score: 9.10 | Production Score: 6.80 | Ranking Score: 7.95
Jared Goff tried to throw the game away with five interceptions. It was not his best performance. However, this offense is still structured so that Goff had a path to keep the Lions in the game and lead the team to three scores on their final three drives.
In the second half, Goff got the ball out quicker and targeted the middle of the field. When all else fails, that’s going to be a recipe for success in this offense.
5. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Skill Score: 9.74 | Production Score: 6.05 | Ranking Score: 7.90
The Kansas City offense is reliant on Patrick Mahomes being magic on third down. It’s been the case all season, and it was the case against the Broncos. We had this chart in 1st & 10 this week:
Mahomes might be the only quarterback capable of making this even relatively sustainable, but obviously, the hope is that Kansas City can figure out the early down offense during the second half of the season and head into the playoffs.
6. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Skill Score: 9.34 | Production Score: 6.29 | Ranking Score: 7.82
Joe Burrow might be in the middle of one of the great lost seasons. He’d end up on MVP ballots at the end of the season if the Bengals were in a playoff spot, though at 4-6, they could still end up there.
On Thursday against the Ravens, Burrow dropped back 60 times, the third-most in his career, and carried the Cincinnati offense to keep pace with Baltimore. He was pressured at 48.3 percent of his passes, and he managed that well, going 13-of-25 for 141 yards and a touchdown.
Burrow is playing well and elevating the offense, even if the record hasn’t shown it.
7. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Skill Score: 9.30 | Production Score: 6.29 | Ranking Score: 7.80
Kyler Murray is playing the best football of his career. He’s finding passes in rhythm, extending plays, making big runs, and playing well under pressure.
He currently has multiple avenues to succeed. His game against the Jets was one of the best of the season with a 71.4 percent success rate.
8. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Skill Score: 9.10 | Production Score: 6.41 | Ranking Score: 7.76
Brock Purdy got Christian McCaffrey back and had his best success rate of the season. Now, that isn’t a 1-to-1 correlation because there were still some kinks in the San Francisco offense, and McCaffrey wasn’t the fix-all, but there were some more plays that looked like the 2023 offense, even if Purdy still isn’t using all that much play-action.
The best play was an extended play that resulted in a spectacular Geroge Kittle catch in the corner of the end zone.
9. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Skill Score: 9.08 | Production Score: 6.26 | Ranking Score: 7.67
Baker Mayfield had an up-and-down outing but still kept the Buccaneers in the game with some San Francisco mistakes, especially on special teams. The 49ers flooded the middle of the field, so the Buccaneers leaned on a bunch of screens, and Mayfield had a 1.8-yard average depth of completion.
He’s still susceptible to pressure when he’s forced to hold onto the ball, but Tampa Bay has done a good job at limiting those types of plays.
10. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Skill Score: 8.96 | Production Score: 5.84 | Ranking Score: 7.40
Jalen Hurts has fully taken advantage of the wide margin of error in the Philadelphia passing game.
Add in his added value on scrambles lately, and that’s enough to produce an efficient offense, especially against a struggling Dallas defense. Hurts put up a 53.1 percent success rate while averaging 10.1 yards per attempt.
11. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Skill Score: 9.04 | Production Score: 5.57 | Ranking Score: 7.31
Kirk Cousins had his highest aDOT of the season against the Saints, and the deep throws were mostly successful. Some of those were necessary because the Falcons were trailing during the game, but the offense still remained fairly efficient.
His three sacks and an interception didn’t help, but Cousins has still made the right play more often than not this season. Without much danger of a pass rush, Cousins held onto the ball to throw deep. We’ll see if that’s something the Falcons try to work in a little more often down the stretch after relying on the quick game for most of the season.
12. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Skill Score: 9.20 | Production Score: 5.33 | Ranking Score: 7.27
The big thing that stood out in Miami’s Monday night win against the Rams was the out-of-structure success of Tua Tagovailoa.
He had seven pass attempts outside of the pocket and he averaged 14.3 yards per attempt on those plays, his highest in the Mike McDaniel era. That was necessary as the Rams’ defensive line was in control, and the Dolphins also had their lowest rushing success rate in a game under McDaniel.
Miami shouldn’t want to live off out-of-structure plays, but if those can be options in the offense when things break down, the floor raises quite a bit.
13. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Skill Score: 9.30 | Production Score: 4.72 | Ranking Score: 7.01
Jordan Love was on a bye in Week 10.
14. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Skill Score: 9.52 | Production Score: 4.30 | Ranking Score: 6.91
Matthew Stafford wasn’t sharp on Monday night, but the Rams could have stayed in the game if not for some costly mistakes. There was just no margin for error with how many mistakes, from fumbles and penalties, that the Rams took.
This was the first game with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua in the lineup that the offense did not look in control. The Rams also got back their original starting lineup on the offensive line, but that group did not immediately click upon its return.
15. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Skill Score: 9.32 | Production Score: 4.11 | Ranking Score: 6.72
Geno Smith was on a bye in Week 10.
16. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
Skill Score: 9.04 | Production Score: 4.19 | Ranking Score: 6.62
From 1st & 10 this week:
Darnold threw three interceptions and could have thrown more in a 12-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Jaguars were starting a quarterback other than Mac Jones, this could have been a game that got away from the Vikings. As it was, Jacksonville scored zero points off turnovers in this game and could not cross the goal line in general.
But the focus is on Darnold, who has five interceptions over the past two weeks in close wins against Jacksonville and Indianapolis. These are not the types of games Minnesota should be having.
But, there is a bright spot. Even with the higher interception rates, these games aren’t far off from the ones Darnold was having earlier in the year. Despite the picks and averaging -0.12 EPA per play against the Jaguars, Darnold still had a 45.7 percent success rate, which was the 11th-highest of the week.
There are still the easy buttons in this offense, and Darnold is hitting them. It’s not a total collapse where Darnold is forcing these bad throws and falling apart elsewhere in the passing offense.
17. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Skill Score: 9.58 | Production Score: 3.61 | Ranking Score: 6.60
This might have been the most fun Justin Herbert game of his career. Herbert has been low in these rankings because of the production score, and that’s mostly been due to his supporting cast failing him.
Against the Titans, he flicked a Josh Allen switch and decided to do everything himself. Herbert had a career-high 21.7 percent scramble rate, which doesn’t include his designed run for a touchdown.
If this is a trick Herbert decides to pull out of his bag more often for the remainder of the season, it opens up a ton of possibilities for the offense, with conversions from legs keeping the offense moving instead of trying to force passes that may or may not be caught.
18. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
Skill Score: 8.86 | Production Score: 4.26 | Ranking Score: 6.56
Low-stakes Derek Carr can make some plays. The Saints are bad; there was nothing to lose, and the Falcons don’t have much of a pass rush.
So that led to Carr letting it rip and having two big deep touchdown passes. However, he still just had a 27.6 percent success rate, which is more emblematic of his play than the touchdowns.
19. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Skill Score: 8.92 | Production Score: 3.98 | Ranking Score: 6.45
The fit between Russell Wilson and this Steelers offense works. Wilson can live on deep shots down the sideline, and George Pickens is incredible at adjusting to those types of passes.
Add in Mike Williams, who had a deep touchdown in his debut, and the Steelers can live this way for a bit. Few other quarterbacks and offenses would make this passing map work, but the Steelers can have just enough success down the field with a good defense to let this ride.
20. Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns
Skill Score: 8.78 | Production Score: 3.97 | Ranking Score: 6.38
Jameis Winston was on a bye in Week 10.
21. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Skill Score: 9.58 | Production Score: 3.02 | Ranking Score: 6.30
Sunday night was the first game where it really felt like C.J. Stroud was adding to the offensive struggles. But there was also a reason why he was in that situation.
The Texans continue to have one of the least efficient early-down run games we’ve ever seen, and Stroud in constantly in third and long. It’s an impossible way to live, and it’s taking its toll on the quarterback.
22. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Skill Score: 9.06 | Production Score: 3.41 | Ranking Score: 6.24
It’s the same story for Aaron Rodgers every week. The offense is still not in a rhythm, and constant miscommunications plague it.
When the protection breaks down, Rodgers doesn’t have the tools to mitigate the pressure anymore. On Sunday, 10 different Cardinals recorded a pressure.
23. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Skill Score: 9.14 | Production Score: 2.91 | Ranking Score: 6.03
Drake Maye continues to improve. While he hasn’t had a breakout game just yet, he’s kept a baseline level of success even against tougher defenses like Chicago.
He’s found a bit of a safety net in Austin Hooper, who has also been the recipient of some downfield throws. The way Maye has managed the pocket and won with his legs makes the offense more functional than it was under Jacoby Brissett.
Full Breakdown on Drake Maye's Strong Start
24. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Skill Score: 8.74 | Production Score: 3.22 | Ranking Score: 5.98
There might never be a lower point for the Giants than the third-and-9 quarterback sneak from their own goal line, but Daniel Jones taking a sack off a flea-flicker with two receivers open downfield against the Carolina Panthers in Germany is a play that encapsulates everything that’s gone wrong with this current era of the Giants.
With the Giants heading into their bye, Jones could be nearing a benching for Drew Lock.
Giants' Best Draft, FA Options to Replace Jones
25. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Skill Score: 9.16 | Production Score: 2.17 | Ranking Score: 5.67
The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, and it’s easy to see why.
The offense has regressed from the good three-game stretch in the middle of the season and had gone back to not having any answers, which forced Caleb Williams to try to make things happen on his own.
During the good three games, Williams had a lower aDOT with more work to the intermediate middle of the field. The Bears also ran more screens (19 percent, down to just 3.2 percent in the past three games) and have the fourth-highest success rate on those plays. There could be some easy fixes that at least get the Bears back on track after the bye.
26. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
Skill Score: 9.02 | Production Score: 2.28| Ranking Score: 5.65
The switch to Joe Flacco did not help the Indianapolis offense at all. His past two starts have produced worse EPA per play than any Anthony Richardson start this season.
Flacco started with a pick-6 to Taron Johnson and it didn’t get much better from there. He completes more passes, but his play does not give the Colts a better chance to win. The Colts just announced Richardson is back as the starter and will be for the rest of the season.
27. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Skill Score: 8.70 | Production Score: 2.49 | Ranking Score: 5.60
Bo Nix’s game against the Chiefs was the type of game expected of the rookie, but it also showed some of the limits of his game. He had a 51.4 percent success rate and completed 73.3 percent of his passes, including a nice deep touchdown to Courtland Sutton. But that also only resulted in 14 points and kept the door open for the Chiefs. Making an easy 35-yard field goal would have won the game, but still, that only would have been 17 points.
Most of that production came without pressure. When he was pressured, Nix had a 0 percent success rate.
Nix got the ball out quicker (2.51 seconds to throw) and used more play-action, which the Broncos could lean into more in the second half of the season.
28. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Skill Score: 8.60 | Production Score: 1.84 | Ranking Score: 5.22
Will Levis did not make any back-breaking mistakes in his return to the lineup, which was a positive. He also played a relatively clean game when he threw the ball.
However, he still took seven sacks on nine hits, which is unsustainable but not completely out of line for Levis. It is tough to have any sustainable offense with those types of plays, even when not turning the ball over.
29. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders
Skill Score: 8.62 | Production Score: 1.19 | Ranking Score: 4.91
Gardner Minshew was on a bye in Week 10.
30. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Skill Score: 8.68 | Production Score: 0.00 | Ranking Score: 4.34
Bryce Young has looked more confident in his return to the lineup. It hasn’t completely led to great games, but small wins can be appreciated.
Against the Giants, he was pressured on 53.6 percent of his dropbacks but had just a 6.7 percent pressure-to-sack rate. That type of type of pocket management had been unheard of to this point in his career.
31. Mac Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars
Skill Score: 8.66 | Production Score: -0.16 | Ranking Score: 4.25
Mac Jones will get at least a second start with Trevor Lawrence out. While there were rumors Lawrence could have surgery, there is optimism he could return after the Week 12 bye.
With a better quarterback, the Jaguars might have been able to sneak out a win against the Vikings, but Jacksonville produced no points off turnovers, and Jones threw two picks of his own in the fourth quarter.
32. Cooper Rush Dallas Cowboys
Skill Score: 8.56 | Production Score: -0.11 | Ranking Score: 4.23
Cooper Rush averaged 2.0 yards per attempt and a 19.2 percent success rate against the Eagles. We don’t have to spend a lot of time here. The offense was bad.
We should see Trey Lance at some point because there is nothing to lose in doing so, but we’ll see if the Cowboys are inclined to make that move.
Week 11 Full Rankings Breakdown
