TMQ: Introducing a Simple Quarterback Rating System

No decimal places, whole numbers only – Good Less Bad.

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Tuesday Morning Quarterback distrusts complex pseudo-scientific quarterback ratings. On Monday morning, for example, ESPN said Baker Mayfield had a 104.9 quarterback rating, while Jayden Daniels’s rating is 104.3.

Obviously Mayfield is 0.6 better!

TMQ cleaves to a whole-numbers formula: Good Less Bad. Touchdown passes minus interceptions.

I don’t factor in quarterback rushing touchdowns or quarterback lost fumbles, because this is a passer rating. I arbitrarily pick-and-choose gents who are starting quarterbacks, not ranking those such as Joe Flacco who only start occasionally. Should Flacco, in that example, become the Colts’ preferred starter, he will join the leaderboard.

Now that almost half the regular season has been played, there’s enough data that Good Less Bad becomes meaningful. So I reintroduce the item today.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback will track this number as the season progresses.

Initial 2024 Good Less Bad standings:

Lamar Jackson -- 15

Josh Allen -- 13

Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow – 12

Sam Darnold, Jared Goff -- 9

Kyler Murray -- 8

Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Stroud, Kirk Cousins, Justin Herbert -- 7

Jordan Love - 6

Aaron Rodgers, Jayden Daniels – 5

Caleb Williams, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields – 4

Bo Nix, Russell Wilson, Brock Purdy - 3

Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson – 2

Daniel Jones, Geno Smith – 1

Tua Tagovailoa – 0

Patrick Mahomes – minus 1

Will Levis -- minus 2

Anthony Richardson – minus 3

Note Jackson and Allen are viewed as MVP leaders, and here they are atop my whole-numbers ranking system.

Obviously the surprise is the ranking for Mahomes, quarterback of the defending champions and the league’s sole remaining unbeaten club. This can’t be a flaw of my system!