The young quarterbacks finally took flight in Week 3. Bo Nix led a stunning throttling of the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay, Caleb Williams and the Bears lost to the Colts, but he went for over 350 yards through the air, and Jayden Daniels capped the action with a magnificent showing against the Bengals on “Monday Night Football.”
After a dismal start for the rookies, they rebounded in a big way in Week 3.
A grand total of seven quarterbacks selected in the past two NFL Draft classes saw considerable playing time during an upset-filled Week 3.
Let’s dive deep into the individual efforts of each quarterback and assign a grade on a per-snap basis, taking every individual aspect of their performance into account. At least 10 attempts were needed to qualify for this piece, which will come out weekly on Tuesdays.
Week 3 stats
- 25 of 36 for 215 yards, 0 TDs and 0 INTs, 1 rushing TD
High-caliber throws/plays
- Nix’s first throw of the game was a well-placed back-shoulder to Courtland Sutton for 22 yards.
- There was a fantastic touch throw on the run to Troy Franklin near the sideline that was ruled incomplete when the rookie receiver’s foot was out of bounds.
- Nix later threw to the outside shoulder to Sutton on a deep comeback that went for 17 yards against air-tight coverage from Jamel Dean.
- In the second half, on a bootleg, Nix decided against taking a deep shot, instead tucking and running for 22 yards.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- Midway through the second quarter, Nix missed on low on an in-breaking route off play-action.
- In the third, Nix attempted a to throw to an out-breaking route that was nearly picked by a sinking zone defender near the sideline.
Summary: Unequivocally a step in the right direction for Nix after a ghastly starting. Operating within Sean Payton’s scheme as well as he did, against a previously 2-0 team on the road was impressive. Did he make a litany of high-caliber throws or plays in the resounding win? Not really.
Grade: B-
Season Grade: C-
Week 3 stats
- 10 of 20 for 167 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs
High-caliber throws/plays
- Not insanely difficult, but Richardson threw with nice touch on a long ball to Alec Pierce early in the second quarter down the left sideline.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- Richardson sailed a deep comeback to Pierce midway through the first.
- As he was being sacked in the first quarter, while still up, Richardson tried to throw the ball and was fortunate the ball was ruled incomplete.
- Late in the first half, Richardson skied an easy throw into the flat.
- On the first play of the third quarter, while moving up into the pocket, Richardson threw high on a corner route to Michael Pittman that was intercepted. He didn’t set his feet.
- His final throw of the game came midway through the fourth quarter, and he floated — and underthrew — a wide open Adonai Mitchell down the field.
Summary: The Bears defense is no joke, but Richardson was shaky throughout in this contest. His accuracy was as bad as I’ve seen it, and he seemed to rush far too make of his 22 pass attempts in this one. His longest run was an 8-yard scramble, so the supreme physical/athletic side of his game didn’t move the needle in Week 3.
Grade: F
Season Grade: C-
Week 3 stats
- 20 of 31 for 215 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs
High-caliber throws/plays
- On a fourth-and-3 in the first quarter, Stroud threw with perfect accuracy on a bad angle pass near the sideline to get the first down.
- Midway through the third, there was an awesome strike through layers of coverage over the middle.
- A few plays later, Stroud placed a gorgeously lofted ball into Nico Collins’ hands down the left sideline. The play went for 34 yards.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- In the third, he didn’t throw a dump-off attempt to Cam Akers with enough loft and it was nearly intercepted by the oncoming outside rusher.
- Stroud threw behind Collins on a fourth-quarter dig route that was intercepted.
- After eluding a rusher twice, Stroud was later sacked for a 15-yard loss. He needs to throw that ball away.
Summary: The vaunted Brian Flores scheme strikes again. It kept the lid on Stroud and the Texans offense throughout this smooth-sailing victory for the Vikings at home. Plenty of checkdowns from Stroud, and he took many sacks in this contest. It wasn’t a catastrophic performance from the second-year quarterback; he simply couldn’t get going at any point in Minnesota.
Grade: C-
Season Grade: C
Week 3 stats
- 26 of 34 for 260 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Levis ripped a fastball into Tyler Boyd through a tight window for 20 yards in the first quarter.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- He threw behind a jerk route early in the game over the middle.
- Levis was late on his first-quarter interception caught by Jaire Alexander. Late toward the boundary.
- He took a bad sack when he didn’t move off his spot in the pocket with plenty of room to his right in the third quarter.
- The fourth-quarter interception was a bad one. Way too much air under the deep ball down the left sideline.
Summary: Levis had flashed some impressive tosses on challenging asks through two weeks. This game didn’t feature those throughout. The Titans offensive front had significant problems against the Packers deep pass rush, and Levis mostly settled for underneath throws when he wasn’t getting hit. The interceptions also very much sink this grade.
Grade: D+
Season Grade: C-
Week 2 stats
- 33 of 52 for 363 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Early in the second quarter, Williams dropped a dime over the shoulder to Rome Odunze for a 47-yard gain down the left sideline against tight coverage.
- Near the start of the third quarter, Williams spun away from his pressure, moved left then ripped a fastball to Cole Kmet against his momentum for 15 yards.
- With under five minutes in the fourth, Williams zinged an in-breaker to Kmet through a closing window for 19 yards.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- The second-quarter interception was a long throw toward the sideline that was late. It came while he was getting hit, and it was an easy pick.
- He overthrew a flag route to DeAndre Carter into double coverage. Very dangerous throw.
- Midway through the third, Odunze had a step out outside the numbers on a vertical route, but Williams overthrew him by a wide margin.
Summary: The Bears asked Williams to drop back 56 times in a low-scoring but wild affair against the Colts in Week 3. While the sacks are still too prevalent, and the No. 1 overall pick hasn’t settled enough to make pinpoint throws deep on a regular basis like he did in college, there were more examples of anticipation and a few impressive throws with either major velocity or ideal touch deep. Williams’ offensive front is doing him minimal favors, although some of the pressure is on him.
Grade: C-
Season Grade: D+
Week 2 stats
- 21 of 23 for 254 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- In the first quarter, on fourth-and-2, Daniels ripped a rocket to Luke McCaffrey for 20 yards with some anticipation.
- Late in the second, he placed it gorgeously over the shoulder of Terry McLaurin past two defenders for a 55 yards.
- While rolling right in the third, Daniels found Noah Brown near the goal line against a closing window.
- There was a nasty crossover on a scramble that shook a defender and led to a 5-yard gain on a third-and-1.
- The game-sealing touchdown to McLaurin was a masterful lofted strike as he took a hit on a corner blitz.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- He well overthrew McLaurin early in the game on a deep shot.
Summary: Sensational performance for Daniels, against one of the game’s finest defensive coordinators on the road. He took what the defense gave him, threw with pinpoint accuracy, flashed some athleticism, and threatened Cincinnati’s defense at all three levels.
Grade: A+
Season Grade: B-
Week 3 stats
- 9 of 12 for 82 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- After the two-minute warning, O’Connell threw with ideal placement and anticipation on a comeback run by Jakobi Meyers. There was pressure in the quarterback’s face too.
- His touchdown came on a second-reaction throw-and-run to Tre Tucker as two defenders were a split second away from sacking him.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- With about three minutes to go in the fourth, O’Connell skipped a deep comeback to Meyers.
- A few plays later, he misfired on an open target to Michael Mayer over the middle.
Summary: This mop-up duty from O’Connell appeared very similar to the O’Connell we saw a season ago. Assertive, pocket passer with minimal movement skills and an average-at-best arm. Some quality throws and a few instances in which his athletic and arm limitations pop.
Grade: C
Season Grade: C
