It would be a little over-the-top to say that the NFL was totally topsy-turvy in 2022, but there were a lot of shocking developments all throughout the season, specifically when it comes to the quarterback position. We saw some great seasons from players we didn’t expect, and we saw some pretty bad seasons from players we’ve come to expect greatness from.
For this post, we’re going to be focusing more on the former. Which NFL quarterbacks did the best job of exceeding expectations in 2022? Which NFL quarterbacks, quite frankly, shocked us all and put together outstanding seasons, leading their teams to the postseason and perhaps even a victory on Wild Card weekend?
These players deserve recognition for the outstanding work they did throughout the 2022 season. Let’s take a look at the most shocking QB stories from 2022.
5 most shocking NFL quarterbacks from the 2022 NFL season
1. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks said goodbye to a team legend in 2022 when they traded former franchise QB Russell Wilson away to the Denver Broncos for a bounty of picks and players. After that trade, the Seahawks decided to enter the 2022 season with a quarterback competition between Geno Smith and Drew Lock.
It’s kind of funny when you think about it in hindsight, knowing what we know now. When Geno was last a starting quarterback on a full-time basis, he seemingly threw as many interceptions as he did passes in general. He proved in 2022 that he’s a completely different player, one who made the Pro Bowl after putting up these numbers and leading the Seahawks to the playoffs:
- 4,282 yards
- 69.8 completion rate
- 30 touchdowns
- 11 INTs
Smith and the Seahawks were extremely balanced on offense this year and he did a tremendous job of not just distributing the ball to his playmakers but actually making a lot of big-time throws. The Seahawks will now have to either tag Smith in 2023 or give him a long-term deal, because they can’t let him go.
2. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Daniel Jones’ career arc has taken a significant turn for the better here in the 2022 season. The Giants haven’t always won with pretty offense, but they have won a lot more in 2022 than they have since Jones was drafted in 2019, and they’re not dragging no. 8 to the finish line every week.
He’s contributing significantly to the rise of this team, and a lot of credit is due to Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka, and the Giants coaching staff. Let’s take a look statistically at what Jones was able to do here in the 2022 season:
- 67.2 completion rate
- 15 passing TDs
- 5 INTs (1.1 interception percentage, career-best)
- 708 rushing yards (career-high)
- 7 rushing touchdowns (career-high)
Remember when Brian Daboll was in Buffalo and that staff really unlocked Josh Allen’s skill set by allowing him to run the ball and utilize his elite athleticism? It seems as though Daboll and his staff are taking a similar tactic with Daniel Jones. He’s not putting the ball in harm’s way with a stellar 1.1 interception percentage and he had a career-low six fumbles to go along with that.
Jones is learning how to take care of the ball and be more efficient, and it led to the Giants winning a road playoff game against the Vikings last weekend.
You’ve got to tip your cap to the former Duke star who has potentially reshaped the conversation regarding the Giants’ future at the position.
3. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
In five of the last six seasons, teams led by Jared Goff have won nine or more games. I know a lot of people hate talking about “QB wins” but I do think that Goff deserves a lot of credit for the way the Lions have ascended the last couple of seasons, especially the way their offense has been able to take a massive leap.
The Lions won nine games in 2022, but narrowly missed the postseason. Even though they went into Week 18 knowing their trip to Green Bay was ultimately a “meaningless” game, they still prevented their division rivals from reaching the postseason by gutting out a tough win.
Goff has been pretty great for the Lions since about midway through the 2021 season, quite frankly. In 2022? Well, he raised a lot of eyebrows and may have just put himself back in the ‘franchise QB’ discussion.
- 65.1 completion rate
- 4438 yards
- 29 touchdowns
- 7 INTs
- 4.9 TD percentage (best since 2018)
- 1.2 INT percentage (best in career)
Goff has a pretty good thing going in Detroit right now with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson coming back, a couple of really good backs in the backfield to hand the ball to, a tremendous and very underrated offensive line, as well as some excellent weapons at receiver.
Although he was included in the Matthew Stafford trade as somewhat of an afterthought and salary cap dump for the Rams, he’s played extremely well for Dan Campbell and looked every bit the part of a franchise QB in 2022.
4. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Although Tua Tagovailoa was limited to just 13 games due to injuries (some of them extremely scary), he had a breakout season in 2022 for the Dolphins.
Miami made a rather unpopular decision in 2022 to fire former head coach Brian Flores and hire former 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who not only brought a new brand of offense to South Beach, but also a completely different style of leadership than Brian Flores.
And the Dolphins wound up making it to the playoffs.
While Tagovailoa was healthy, the Dolphins were tough to beat. He put up some big numbers, and big enough that people were talking about him as an MVP candidate…
- 64.8 completion rate
- 3,548 yards
- 25 touchdowns
- 8 interceptions
Consider this: In 2021, Tagovailoa played one fewer game than he did in 2022. He threw 12 more passes in 2022 (400) than he did in 2021 (388). Despite only throwing 12 more passes in 2022 than he did in 2021, Tagovailoa had nearly 1,000 more passing yards and nine more touchdowns with two fewer interceptions than he did the year before.
Coaching matters in the NFL and Mike McDaniel proved that with Tua Tagovailoa in 2022. Hopefully, Tua is able to be healthy enough to get back out on the field and continue building on this success.
5. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
One of the most incredible stories of the NFL in the entire 2022 season is the QB saga for the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers went through an offseason saga in which Trey Lance was their QB1 and Jimmy Garoppolo was on the trade block for months. And there he sat thanks to offseason surgery.
That offseason surgery proved to be fortuitous for the 49ers who couldn’t trade him, and then ultimately decided not to trade him and re-do his contract to make him the backup to Lance. And they needed to call on Garoppolo quickly when Lance suffered a season-ending injury.
Garoppolo and the 49ers sputtered a bit early in the season, but started to find a groove, and just as they were finding that groove, Garoppolo then went down with a season-ending injury. The 49ers were left with just Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft and a player who was being thrust into a division race as a 7th-round rookie.
Purdy has been nothing short of sensational.
- 67.1 completion rate
- 1,374 yards
- 13 TDs
- 4 INTs
- 107.3 rating
If Purdy would have been able to keep this pace for 500 pass attempts this season, he would have thrown for a whopping 38 touchdowns. He’s done more than just manage the game for the 49ers — as we saw in the playoff game against the Seahawks, this guy is a bit of a playmaker.
There was some talk about Purdy being a possible first-round talent at one point in time, but obviously, that fizzled and he became somewhat of an NFL Draft afterthought. Now, he’s leading one of the most prolific offenses in the league and proving he belongs.