Before the 2020 season, we ranked Tyrod Taylor and all 32 starting quarterbacks. At midseason, with the quarterback change on the LA Chargers, we ranked Justin Herbert and all 32 starting quarterbacks. Now that the 2020 season is over, the Bolt Beat staff had to get together yet again and rank all 32 starters.
Of course, some of these starters will either be with new teams, will be back-ups or might retire from the league before the 2021 season. This ranking is purely from a talent standpoint in 2020, and does not include the playoff results thus far.
Without further ado, let’s get into the list to see how high LA Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert ranks.
32. Cam Newton, New England Patriots
- Average ranking: 31.6
- Highest ranking: 31
- Midseason ranking: 27
Cam Newton was already trending in the wrong direction at the midseason rankings and it continued to go downhill for the former MVP. It will be very surprising if Cam gets a starting job in 2021 and quite frankly, it would not be that surprising if he was not in the league.
Cam is one of the most exciting quarterbacks of all-time, but the previous injuries in his career added up and he just is not the same quarterback.
31. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
- Average ranking: 29.6
- Highest ranking: 28
- Midseason ranking: 30
Daniel Jones slips a spot in our end-of-season rankings and it was not really his fault. He did not play any worse than we expect over the final stretch, but other quarterbacks did play better than him.
If he was able to lead the New York Giants into the playoffs then maybe he would have ranked higher. For now, the Giants still have the second-worst quarterback in the league.
30. Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Averaging ranking: 29
- Highest ranking: 27
- Midseason ranking: 25
Gardner Minshew started the year ranked 31st, climbed up to 25 after a fairly decent start but lost his job midseason to Jake Luton and then to Mike Glennon to end the season. Since Minshew started the most games we counted him as the starter.
It does not really matter for the Jaguars, as Trevor Lawrence is going to be the starting quarterback next season and Urban Meyer is going to give the NFL a whirl.
29. Sam Darnold, New York Jets
- Averaging ranking: 28.6
- Highest ranking: 24
- Midseason ranking: 31
At least Sam Darnold went up! At least now there is not a 100% chance that Darnold loses his starting job as the Jets are not getting Lawrence as we all thought they would at the midseason mark.
Darnold has potential, but it is put up or shut up time in 2021. He does not have any more excuses now that Adam Gase is not calling the shots for him. If he does not take the proper steps forward in 2021 then it is time to consider him a bust.