23. JJ McCarthy, New York Giants
JJ McCarthy was on a bye in Week 8***
For the first time in a long time, there is legitimate optimism about the career arc for JJ McCarthy.
New York Giants fans were understandably crushed when Jaxson Dart went down with an injury back in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams, but the team has stayed afloat in the interim, and it’s not ridiculous to say that McCarthy has played really well in limited action so far.
The Giants clearly believe they have a good enough team to win this year, and McCarthy looks like he’ll be their guy the rest of the way. He’s always had talent, but with the fresh start in New York, he might be thriving. Let’s see how he does coming out of the bye, and what pieces the Giants might add around him before the trade deadline…
22. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Nobody is going to be more excited to play another game than Michael Penix Jr., who had a whopping four interceptions in his team’s loss to the Buccaneers on the road in Week 8. Sure, the weather impacted the game, but Penix had a passer rating of 12, which was three times less than the passer rating of Baker Mayfield (39.6).
Keep in mind: Mayfield did not complete a single pass in Week 8.
Penix has played much better than this at times this season, so we’re not going to drop him too far down the rankings…but that was rough.
21. Kyler Murray, Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings suffered their first loss of the 2026 season at the hands of the Detroit Lions, and Kyler Murray might comfortably be playing the worst football we’ve seen from him in the NFL.
There has been some optimism for the obvious reason that Murray is still adjusting and acclimating himself to a new environment, but he has struggled. And against Detroit, it was obvious that he was playing through some discomfort, which has since been confirmed.
Murray is now dealing with a hamstring issue, which the Vikings are going to continue to evaluate. There was a glimmer of hope a couple of weeks ago, but Murray’s stock is definitely down entering Week 9.
Add us as a preferred source on Google