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Nick Wright’s quarterback mountain has a new occupant at the top.
Trevor Lawrence’s stay at No. 1 lasted exactly one week, and after a Sunday that included a bad half from Lamar Jackson, a big statistical outing that still wasn’t enough for Patrick Mahomes to take the top spot.
The injury list keeps growing, too. Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels and Jaxson Dart are all off the mountain due to injuries.
So who does that leave at the top? Here’s how Wright sees the league’s quarterbacks entering Week 3:
Off The Mountain:
Wright: “Sadly, we must start with off the mountain, and the growing list of quarterback injuries. Take a moment, pour one out for 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers. I don’t know if he gets back on the mountain. I don’t know how interested he is in climbing the mountain, and I’m sure it’s all Mike McCarthy’s fault.”
“Jameis Winston is going to be pressed into service. Cam Ward almost got the best win of his career. Malik Willis is in a tough spot.”
On the injury list, Wright said: “Jayden Daniels evidently might not want to have surgery. Jaxson Dart, we’re still awaiting the news on. Darnold could be back soon, but he’s been out, so he’s off the mountain.” Caleb Williams stays eligible: “Caleb hasn’t missed a game yet and might play, so he’s still mountain eligible.”
7th Row:
Wright: “Bake show, It hurts my heart, man. That was rough…I’m glad he got his money.”
“It’s been a rough going of it, Justin Herbert. It’s not your fault, man. What’s not your fault is that you are this polarizing figure in the NFL, that the sycophantic nerds have decided you’re the one $55 million-a-year quarterback in the league that has no accountability to the team’s offensive success whatsoever. It’s Trey Harris’s fault. It’s Jim Harbaugh’s fault. It’s the left guard’s fault.”
“Daniel Jones, Geno stay where they are. Penix makes the mountain just because I believe in him. Deep sleeper, Mariota — I thought he played well, and as far as limited time goes, that’s why he wasn’t on the mountain before now. Deshaun Watson makes the mountain for the first time all year. Couldn’t happen to a better guy.”
6th Row:
Wright: “Sixth row. Jordan Love stays where he is. Drew Lock’s playing well, man.”
“Bo Nix, again, the sliding-door stuff. The Broncos were one quarter away from full-blown panic. They have that. Trevor throws a pick, they have the fourth-quarter comeback, and now maybe they’re feeling like it’s last year all over again. Didn’t play well for three quarters, got it together in the fourth, defense stiffened. You’re not playing the juggernaut Kansas City Chiefs, but Bo Nix got his mojo back. He moves up.”
“Kyler moves up from off the mountain…He’s back. He’s going to be fine. He’s on the same row that he was going into the season.”
“Jacoby Brissett, again, was really good week one, tough week two. That’s going to be Jacoby Brissett. It’s fine.”
5th Row:
Wright: “Fifth row, which happens to be young quarterbacks in different states of transition. Caleb moved down because of his performance before he got injured. We’re not penalizing him for being injured, he just hasn’t missed time yet.”
“Drake Maye had a really, really poor start to this season. I don’t know what we want to attribute it to. I do know that thus far the Patriots’ defense has been better than I thought it would be, and I am more pessimistic about their team than I was going into the year. It’s almost entirely because I don’t know what version of Drake Maye we’re going to get. If you were to ask me what would surprise me more this week, an awesome Drake Maye game or another game like the first two weeks, the awesome game would be more surprising for me. That’s concerning.”
“C.J. (Stroud), I know they only scored six points, but I didn’t think he played terribly against Cincinnati. I thought he played pretty well, saved the final fumble against the Bills in Week One. I think C.J.’s been fine, which the Texans would probably sign up for.”
4th Row:
Wright: “Joe Burrow, who again has been fine, but he usually struggles early in the year. He’ll get better.”
“Jalen Hurts, very interesting game, where they dared him to pass. He did, and it didn’t go well at all until he beat them by passing.”
“Jared Goff, they’ve scored 30-plus in each of their games. That game against the Bills, his numbers were awesome. Now the game got out of hand pretty early, but Goff solidly deserved to move back up.”
3rd Row:
Wright: “The prince’s reign atop the mountain, sadly, was short-lived.”
“Lamar (Jackson) drops just a bit. Disappointing second half, took a couple bad sacks. The pick at the end, I’m not going to kill him for, but it obviously wasn’t great. So he moves down.”
“Brock Purdy’s been absolutely sensational… absolutely great. Keeps losing receivers, doesn’t matter.”
2nd Row:
Wright: “Now I know what everyone’s expecting — fresh off 400 yards, three touchdowns, a perfect pass rate, Patrick Mahomes to be atop the mountain. He is not. Row two of the mountain, along with Matthew Stafford. Patrick is going to climb his way up to the top. I am confident in that.”
“Stafford is obviously getting some last-year benefit of the doubt. He’s the reigning MVP. He had a bad game in Australia. He was great last night.”
1st Row:
Wright: “Josh Allen, who is arguably as good as any — not arguably. There is no player, maybe in the history of the NFL, certainly in the league right now, you would rather have quarterbacking your team when it’s pumpkin spice latte season. That is Josh Allen. He is atop the mountain.”
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