Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Jimmy Garoppolo, Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins, and Nick Foles Among Those Ranked #15-22 in the Simms Top 40 QB Countdown This Week
“If you start going under-the-radar MVP picks…Jimmy Garoppolo would be one of those guys.” – Simms on the San Francisco 49ers Quarterback’s
Potential in 2019
“You can win a Super Bowl with Trubisky” – Simms
Top Two QBs to be Revealed on Thursday, June 27
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 13, 2019 – Chris Simms continues to unveil his list of the top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL on a pair of NBC Sports’ platforms — the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast and on “PFT Live” – this week, with the QBs ranked 15-22.
“I sit here and I do my best,” Simms said about his rankings. “It’s really hard when you get to numbers eight through 20 because they’re so good and you’re nitpicking.”
Simms began his ranking of the top 40 NFL quarterbacks two weeks ago and will announce his top two quarterbacks in the league on Thursday, June 27.
Among this week’s rankings is Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers, who missed most of the 2018 season with a knee injury, at No. 21. “I don’t know what the odds are, but right now to me he would be a value bet for MVP.” Simms said. “If you start going under-the-radar MVP picks…Jimmy Garoppolo would be one of those guys.”
Simms’ selections for the quarterbacks ranked 15-40 in the NFL:
| 15. | Kirk Cousins, Minnesota | 28. | Case Keenum, Washington |
| 16. | Nick Foles, Jacksonville | 29. | Marcus Mariota, Tennessee |
| 17. | Baker Mayfield, Cleveland | 30. | Lamar Jackson, Baltimore |
| 18. | Derek Carr, Oakland | 31. | Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis |
| 19. | Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams | 32. | Josh Rosen, Miami |
| 20. | Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago | 33. | Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee |
| 21. | Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco | 34. | Eli Manning, New York Giants |
| 22. | Sam Darnold, New York Jets | 35. | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami |
| 23. | Josh Allen, Buffalo | 36. | Robert Griffin III, Baltimore |
| 24. | Kyler Murray, Arizona | 37. | Drew Lock, Denver |
| 25. | Joe Flacco, Denver | 38. | Dwayne Haskins, Washington |
| 26. | Andy Dalton, Cincinnati | 39. | Colt McCoy, Washington |
| 27. | Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay | 40. | Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers |
The rankings will continue next week with numbers 14 and 13 on “PFT Live” beginning Tuesday, June 18.
The following are highlights from this week’s editions of Chris Simms Unbuttoned:
No. 22: Sam Darnold, New York Jets
Simms: “To be totally transparent, in the 2018 draft I had him as the fifth quarterback out of the five that were drafted in the first round. I was wrong…He’s got a great feel within the pocket a lot like a Tom Brady where he knows when to push up, he sees the proper lanes and while doing it, he can keep his eyes down the field…The Jets have to be pumped with what they have in Sam Darnold.”
No. 21: Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers
Simms: “He’s good at everything. I don’t know if there’s one glaring thing I look at to go, ‘He’s great at this’ and I don’t know if there’s one glaring thing that I look at and go, ‘He’s really horrible at this.’…This is a big year for him…I don’t know what the odds are, but right now to me he would be a value bet for MVP. If you start going under-the-radar MVP picks…Jimmy Garoppolo would be one of those guys.”
No. 20: Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears
Simms: “You can certainly talk about him as one of the best running quarterbacks in football…When he tucks it, he is a real threat to gain big-time yards…Is the throwing perfect? No, it’s not…But it’s year two, he just led a team that was 12-4 to the NFC playoffs and in the biggest drive of the year he made some big throws…I really believe a lot of the hate that’s thrown out towards him is all because Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were drafted after him. That’s not his fault…You can win a Super Bowl with Trubisky.”
No. 19: Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
Simms: “I hold big-time quarterbacks to the standard of you have to be able to do some things outside of the system from time to time. The system can’t give you the plays…When you’re the number one pick in the draft or the franchise quarterback, I expect you to make some plays outside of that realm…Goff showed that a little bit last year, there were glimpses of that, where I didn’t see any glimpses of that in 2017…I don’t know if he can make as many game-changing plays with his physical talent as some of the quarterbacks we’ll see here that are in front of him.”
No. 18: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders
Simms: “A really fine football player. Back in 2016, this is a guy who was in the conversation for MVP…The last two years there have been less moments of Derek Carr taking over the game…He tried to be a little too perfect for the last two years where he lost some of his aggressiveness and playmaking ability…He can be a riser in a hurry. He has the talent to be in that top-ten conversation.”
No. 17: Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns
Simms: “I’ve seen enough from Baker Mayfield to say that he is better than Derek Carr or Jared Goff going into the 2019 season…I don’t really look at Baker Mayfield and look at many weaknesses in his game other than being inexperienced and not having played a full season…His physical ability is off the charts, his arm is big-time, his ability to improvise and make those plays is big-time. He has this crazy sixth sense, eyes-behind-his-head…Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen I think are the ultimate guys where I can look at and go, ‘They’re top-ten talents. They have the ability to be that guy,’ but I have to see just a little bit more.”
No. 16: Nick Foles, Jacksonville Jaguars
Simms: “From what I saw the last two years combined, I’m going to put Nick Foles right in the middle of the pack of the NFL right now…He is so big and so unaffected by Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mack being around him that he can throw with people around him as good as anybody in football and the game is about throwing under pressure…The clutchness, the ability to be accurate down the field throwing the football to make those few throws a game…it’s phenomenal in that way…We really haven’t seen it sustained through a season here the last two years, so that makes me knock him down a few spots…I think Jacksonville has a very similar mold to the Philadelphia Eagles. I like the fit.”
No. 15: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Simms: “Kirk Cousins is going to beat you within the pocket with aggressive decision making…He’s definitely smart, he’s a big-time thrower of the football…He can put the ball wherever he wants it and he can do it from different delivery points as well…A lot of the stats and yards that were accumulated in the pass game by the Minnesota Vikings (last year) were done by the pure physical ability of Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs just getting it done.”
To listen to the full player breakdowns on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, click here.
-NBC SPORTS-
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