24. Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders
Marcus Mariota has played much of the season for the Washington Commanders, as Jayden Daniels has been in and out of the lineup with injuries. At this point in his career, Mariota is simply a high-quality backup, and that is the type of play that Washington has gotten from their backup QB.
That isn’t the story, though - Mariota is what he is and could play for another five years as a desired backup in this league. He didn’t end up working out as the franchise QB with the Tennessee Titans years ago, but that happens.
Mariota is no. 24 in our QB rankings and is really just doing what he can at this point. He’s played in the NFL for a while and has seen a lot, so there really isn’t much that an NFL defense can throw at him that he has not already seen
23. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow had a disastrous two-interception performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15, and that basically ended the Cincinnati Bengals’ season. It’s been another injury-riddled year for Burrow, but he was able to return from his turf toe injury.
Things just have not gone well for Burrow and the Bengals, as they are tracking to miss the playoffs for the third year in a row, and some have wondered if Burrow is going to force his way out of Cincy.
He’s not played enough this year to get much going, as four interceptions over his past two games kind of proves that. When healthy and when things are not falling apart around him, Joe Burrow is quite good and a quarterback that about 27 other NFL franchises would swap for who they have now.
He’s no. 23 in our power rankings, as he hasn’t done much in his limited action this year.