12. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
In terms of overall talent, Justin Herbert is a top-five quarterback in the NFL right now. In terms of what we see every single week, there’s no way he’s a top-five quarterback in the NFL right now. There are always injuries to talk about with the Chargers, but Herbert might have his most valid excuse for any struggles with both Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt out for the year.
Not having your bookend tackles, especially two guys who are outstanding at their jobs, is rough. The play of Herbert has sort of reflected the struggles this team is having to stay healthy. He’s been a bit uneven in his performance this season, carrying the team at times and getting dragged by them at others. And Herbert has turned the ball over more this year than we saw last season, proof that maybe he feels that pressure on himself to make plays.
Herbert isn’t lacking for star qualities with his player attributes, but we need to see him win a big game when it matters.
11. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Once again, Ravens fans don’t need to be worried. We’re not saying some of the players on this list are better overall than Lamar Jackson, but there’s no denying that other QBs have played a lot better on the whole this season. Jackson has been back for a couple of games now, and as many quarterbacks do, he struggled for a bit against the Brian Flores/Vikings defense.
He had 176 yards and a touchdown on 17 completions against the Vikings, and the most important thing is that the Ravens won. But again, that Flores defense is a tough one to navigate, especially with their pass rush and blitz packages, and Jackson wasn’t exactly putting up the same video game-like numbers we have grown accustomed to from him.
We’ll see how he continues to progress this season after missing some time due to injury, but for now, he and the Ravens are creeping back into the playoff picture.