Gregg Rosenthal will watch every rookie quarterback snap this season, and rank the signal-callers every Tuesday based on that week's performance only. It's a tough job, but he's up for it.
This is a strange week for the rookie quarterback ranks. Two rookies (RG3 and Brandon Weeden) were off and Luck's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars feels like ancient history by now.
Luck's national debut actually wasn't one of his better games. We have it rated below average for his season because of a handful of poor decisions, including one interception overturned by a penalty. It's remarkable that a game from Luck that included an 8.7 yards per attempt average and at least 3 drive-killing drops by his receivers is not a great effort from him.
Luck's terrific rushing season continued with two more scores, and he remains aggressive pushing the ball down the field. He added four plays to his NFL-leading 41 throws over 20 yards this year. Luck is tied for the top spot with ... Peyton Manning. Just two guys with arm strength concerns.
The kid throws such a pretty deep ball. Watch the long scores to Golden Tate and Sidney Rice in the clips below. Wilson has 11 touchdown tosses and no interceptions at home this year. His running was a big positive in this win over the New York Jets. Wilson only got edged out for the top spot because of a lackluster first half.
Wilson still has the tendency to hold the ball too long. He took four sacks and fumbled twice in his own territory. One of the fumbles was returned for a touchdown. The sacks were on Wilson. He had time to throw and often had an open receiver, but reacted slow or didn't pull the trigger. (On the fumble returned for a touchdown, it appears his passing window was blocked by a leaping Jets defensive lineman.)
It was still a strong performance overall and continues Wilson's upward trajectory after a slow start to the season.
Based on the final score, I was expecting a lot worse from Tannehill in a 37-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans. This is why it's so good to watch Game Rewind. Tannehill literally didn't have a bad play on Miami's first three drives while the Dolphins fell behind 14-0. Drops, penalties, a fumble by Reggie Bush and short-yardage running stopped drives. Tannehill had only one bad pass before the score was 21-0. His first interception (returned for a score) came on a tipped pass. Bad luck.
Tannehill's second interception was slightly off target and Anthony Fasano didn't fight for the ball. The third pick was all on Tannehill -- he didn't see linebacker Zack Brown in coverage -- although we were well into garbage time by then. It sounds weird, but this was mostly an accurate game from Tannehill. He saw blitzes coming and went to his second read. Occasionally, Tannehill checked it down too much, which is uncharacteristic for his career. The coaches film showed the Dolphins could not get separation deep. This team needs more speed at wide receiver.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
