Monday night's episode of NFL Network's "Top 100 Players of 2018" revealed Nos. 31 to 40, with Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff landing at Nos. 31 and 38, respectively, bringing the total number of quarterbacks ranked so far to eight.
Eight more quarterbacks are still yet to be revealed on the series, which airs every Monday at 8 p.m. ET. But scanning the bunch that we know of to this point -- Stafford and Goff joined Deshaun Watson (No. 50), Case Keenum (51), Philip Rivers (56), Derek Carr (60), Jimmy Garoppolo (90) and Kirk Cousins (94) -- who do you want under center for your team right now?
When you're on a 9-7 team that isn't on national TV all that much, you tend to fly under the radar a bit, but consider his numbers last season. In 2017, Stafford threw for more yards (4,446) than anyone but Tom Brady and Philip Rivers. He completed more touchdown passes (29) than anyone but Brady, Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz. And his completion percentage (65.7) was better than that of anyone but Drew Brees, Case Keenum, Alex Smith, Josh McCown and Brady.
He's also excelled -- passing for 8,773 yards and 53 touchdowns with a 65.5 percent completion rate -- over the last two seasons despite the complete lack of a run game (Detroit ranked 30th in rushing in 2016 and 32nd in '17). If the Lions had been able to mount a better ground attack last season, Stafford probably would have led them to 11 wins. He's the guy I'd want.
The quarterback I would take right now is Deshaun Watson. And maybe I'm being swayed by an extremely small sample size -- unlike the excessive sample size fueling the Jimmy G backers ... -- but the dude was absolutely electric in those early games with the Texans. I felt Houston was a legitimate Super Bowl contender for, like, the first time ever. They had those great defenses over the year, but Watson made them a true team. I don't expect him to take a step back at all. Instead, I assume he'll continue to flourish in the coming years.
Watson's the guy I would want to lead my squad. Well, of the players listed here. Obvs.
Just 26 years old, Garoppolo shined down the stretch to lead the league in scoring efficiency, squeezing past Brady for the top spot. To put this in context, Jimmy G generated 30 scoring marches in just 50 drives. Jameis Winston pulled off 40 in a whopping 124. There's nobody else on this list I'd rather have.