24. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
The best games for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa these days are the games in which he can just play an easy-going point guard out there. He’s one of the quarterbacks in the NFL that seems to do worse the more he’s asked to do, and there wasn’t a ton to evaluate from this game that Tua did poorly.
His box score stats won’t blow anyone away, but it wasn’t like he had to be out there slinging the ball around the yard as the Dolphins got out to a 21-0 lead and faced the Jets’ third quarterback for the majority of the game. The Dolphins ran for 241 yards, so Tagovailoa did his part by not turning the ball over and only taking one sack.
23. Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns
Shedeur Sanders just ripped apart the Tennessee Titans’ defense (I know, I know) to the tune of 364 yards with three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. And Kevin Stefanski pulled him off the field for a two-point attempt at the end of the game.
The Browns predictably lost.
Regardless, I think what we’ve seen in the small sample from Sanders so far this year is impressive. He hasn’t had to face off against the greatest teams around the league, but you play who’s in front of you. He’s got the Browns’ offense looking as competent as we’ve seen in recent years and deserves a look for the rest of the year. Putting forth this kind of performance on the same field as the #1 overall pick felt like a statement.
22. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Before this week started, I think you could have made a reasonably strong argument for Jayden Daniels needing to play to get more reps this season, since Marcus Mariota has been the Commanders’ primary starting quarterback. I think you could have also made a compelling argument that he should have never played against the Minnesota Vikings, because of exactly what happened in the game:
Daniels ended up in the medical tent.
The Commanders can’t risk Daniels’s long-term future for anything that could happen yet this season. Of course, they want to compete, but even with Daniels out there, they were oblterated by the Vikings, and Daniels looked horrible. Injury on top of insult this week, and you can only hope that nothing further happens this season.
21. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts (Riley Leonard)
It’s hard to know exactly where to rank Daniel Jones this week. You just feel gutted for the guy after an Achilles injury that knocked him out of the Colts’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, paving the way for Riley Leonard to get some action.
Obviously, Jones has been fantastic for a good chunk of this season. He had an interception early against the Jaguars and obviously went down with the injury, and because of the nature of the injury, this might be the last time we rank him this year. Leonard came in and made some solid throws but also had an interception of his own and the Colts got crushed.
Jones is going to be a free agent in the Spring, so hopefully, he has a quick recovery process.