Gregg Rosenthal watches every rookie quarterback snap and ranks them every Tuesday based on that week only. It's a tough job, but he's man enough to do it.
A lot of superlatives have been thrown RG3's way this week. We haven't heard "steady" to describe him enough. Every week feels like only a slight variation on the one before. He's patient. He's very accurate from the pocket. He makes good decisions -- often safe ones.
Griffin would just barely edge out Andrew Luck for my Rookie of the Year vote because he's so consistent. He's finished first or second in this weekly exercise six times in seven tries. Of course, he can mix in the spectacular too.
His fourth-down throw to Logan Paulsen was one of the plays of the year. He picked up two other fourth downs in the fourth quarter with a designed run and a fake draw where he took a step forward, got the linebacker to bit, and found Leonard Hankerson. Griffin actually had his least steady stretch before his dramatic TD drive -- two fumbles and an interception in 2 drives -- but he was nearly flawless in the rest of the Redskins' 27-23 loss to the New York Giants. Washington's powerful offense is basically all about the RG3 Zone.
Weeden improves every week. He nabs the second spot this here because he showed the full arsenal in the Browns' 17-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He's got a big arm and used it on a perfect third-and-13 conversion. He found his second read for a potential touchdown that was called back by penalty. On the next play, he showed touch on a toss Greg Little turned on for a highlight reel. Weeden gives his receivers chances to make plays; he's not afraid.
Weeden missed a few deep passes, but a beautiful bomb thrown to Josh Gordon was dropped. Weeden was hit on the play and continues to stand tall in the pocket. He even made a surprising scramble to pick up another third-and-long. The Browns have a nice mix of slants, screens, and vertical throws. Weeden hit three plays over 25 yards and there should have been four. He's probably played his best game of the season four weeks running and hits No. 2 on our countdown for the first time. A true honor.
Luck bounced back nicely from his rough game against the Jets. He made two long touchdown drives look easy to start the game. He got great protection in the first half, but still showed off his knack for movement inside the pocket. His rushing ability continues to be extremely valuable -- he ran for two scores.
The offense stagnated in the second half. A drop by T.Y. Hilton and a miscommunication with Lavon Brazill didn't help. The Browns played nickel the entire game, so the Colts relied on the running game far more to mixed results. (That's an improvement.) Luck played a good game, but Weeden got the slight edge because he was asked to do more and he was a little more accurate. The Colts are 3-3 almost entirely because of Luck. This is not a good team.
Wilson's ugly stats (9-for-23, one pick) don't tell the story. There were five big drops, many on third down. Wilson did a better job hanging in the pocket and making plays on drop-back throws. He moved the ball on the San Francisco 49ers in the first half.
With all that said, Wilson only completed one pass in the second half. His decision making slowed down and the 49ers seemed to confuse him late in the game. Wilson was trending upwards before this game and we still saw a lot of positive moments in the Seahawks' 13-6 loss compared to early in the season.
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