NEWSLETTER
The NFL offseason is so long, you end up stumbling across a number of absurd rankings at any number of positions. But the FiveThirtyEight quarterback rankings for 2022 take the cake. And in the most preposterous way you could think.
If you’re drinking a beverage right now, swallow it completely or otherwise prepare yourself for a spit-take that would make a Looney Tunes cartoon blush:
Sheesh! And I thought 538’s latest NBA player projections were just a teeny-tiny bit … utterly ridiculous.
This is one of the most absurd quarterback rankings lists I’ve ever seen. No notes. No hyperbole. I almost wish I hadn’t seen it in the first place.
Colt McCoy ahead of Tua Tagovailoa? Drew Lock ahead of Matt Ryan? Teddy Bridgewater in front of Trey Lance? C.J. Beathard ranking higher than Trevor Lawrence, who happens to be ahead of him on the depth chart in Jacksonville is wild. And while I was sure nothing was more ridiculous than Mitchell Trubisky being one spot ahead of Russell Wilson and two spots in front of Lamar Jackson, I kept reading the list. That’s then I saw Bears backup QB Trevor Siemian (40th) ahead of starter Justin Fields (43rd).
WHAT IN THE WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS IS GOING ON HERE!?
Again, I’m no fancy, big city mathematician. But whatever statistical model that churned out this ranking system needs an update. Or it needs to be thrown out entirely. Rebuild the dang thing from scratch for all I care. This is the kind of chart that sets back analytics movements and sends them back to the stone ages. And as someone who likes to use data to build arguments, I’m not sure how I can apply any of this when it all seems so out of touch.
This might be one of those things to take back to the drawing board and start again. Or, at minimum, maybe go back and delete and pretend like it never existed in the first place. Treat it like the Armin Tanzarian of quarterback rankings.
