Justin Herbert was the breakout quarterback of the 2020 NFL season and now he and the LA Chargers enter the 2021 season with high expectations. Herbert was not even meant to be the starting quarterback to start the season.
Last season the staff here at Bolt Beat ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks before the season, at the midpoint way of the season and at the end of the season. Tyrod Taylor made the first ranking while Herbert made the last two.
We are continuing the tradition in 2021. Four Bolt Beat contributors and I ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks (sorry Trey Lance and Justin Fields) ahead of the 2021 season. We took the consensus ranking of each quarterback to bring our official starting quarterback ranking for 2021.
32. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
- Average ranking: 31.6
- Highest ranking: 30
Daniel Jones was the consensus worst quarterback in our rankings and it was not even close. Maybe he can take the same kind of jump that Josh Allen did in year three, as Allen was ranked very low in our preseason rankings last year. However, we cannot yet give Jones that benefit of the doubt.
31. Andy Dalton, Chicago Bears
- Average ranking: 29.4
- Highest ranking: 27
Poor Andy Dalton. He is fine as a game-managing quarterback and 15 years ago he would have made a long career out of being that. However, in 2021, the quarterback position is so talented and he is not even the best quarterback on the Bears roster.
30. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
- Average ranking: 29.4
- Highest ranking: 26
Jalen Hurts is the prime candidate for the player to climb the most on these rankings. He is entering his second season in the league after taking over for Carson Wentz last season and it is fair to say that he was not in the best situation last season.
Hurts and Dalton have the same consensus ranking but since Hurts has the highest ranking among the two he gets the tiebreaker. All thanks to Alex Insdorf.
29. Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers
- Average ranking: 28.6
- Highest ranking: 27
Sam Darnold is on a new team in 2021 but his ranking is the exact same that it was at the end of last season. It is now or never for Darnold. If he cannot figure it out with Matt Rhule and Joe Brady then it might be time to punt on Darnold being a starting quarterback.