On Monday’s episode of The Terrible Podcast, Dave Bryan and I ranked where Russell Wilson is among the 32 starting quarterbacks heading into the season. We worked off the top of our heads as I ran through the list of 2024 opening day starters (so Jacoby Brissett over Drake Maye in New England, even though Maye is the long-term plan).
Before we went through the list, I asked Dave where he thought he’d rank Wilson before discussing each name. Dave predicted 22nd, I predicted 20th. With that, we went through each name to find out.
Below are the quarterbacks we’d rank ahead of Russell Wilson. Important disclaimer. These names aren’t in order. We went through things by division and conference and aren’t reflective of anything other than them being ahead of Wilson.
Dave’s List
Josh Allen
Tua Tagovailoa
Aaron Rodgers
Lamar Jackson
Joe Burrow
Deshaun Watson
C.J. Stroud
Trevor Lawrence
Patrick Mahomes
Justin Herbert
Dak Prescott
Jalen Hurts
Jared Goff
Jordan Love
Kirk Cousins
Baker Mayfield
Matthew Stafford
Brock Purdy
Geno Smith
Alex’s List
Josh Allen
Tua Tagovailoa
Aaron Rodgers
Lamar Jackson
Joe Burrow
Deshaun Watson
C.J. Stroud
Anthony Richardson
Trevor Lawrence
Patrick Mahomes
Justin Herbert
Dak Prescott
Jalen Hurts
Caleb Williams
Jared Goff
Jordan Love
Kirk Cousins
Baker Mayfield
Kyler Murray
Matthew Stafford
Brock Purdy
The results? Dave has 19 quarterbacks ahead of Russell Wilson, placing him 20th. I have 21 quarterbacks ahead of him, placing him 22nd. Funny enough, an inverse of what our pre-list predictions were (on the podcast, I incorrectly tallied having both of us ranking Wilson 21st – I’m not a strong multi-tasker).
In the AFC, Dave has Wilson 11th of 16th while I have him 12th.
Here’s the quarterback Dave ranked ahead of Wilson I didn’t: Geno Smith.
And the quarterbacks I put ahead of Wilson Dave didn’t: Anthony Richardson, Caleb Williams, and Kyler Murray.
By year’s end, we’ll attempt to remember this exercise and re-rank Wilson against the starting quarterbacks. Hopefully he’s moved up both our lists. Pittsburgh can win with a 20-something-ranked quarterback, but it won’t be easy, especially in a loaded AFC where Wilson is no better than bottom-six on both of our lists.
If you’d like to make your own list, you can use Ourlads’ QB depth chart to make your own ranking. Feel free to list them in the comments below.
