With the Minnesota Vikings concluding the action last Sunday by defeating the Indianapolis Colts, each team in the NFC North has now played at least eight games this season. So, now seems as good a time as any to power rank the quarterbacks in the division, right?
Well, we're going to do it anyway.
Overall, the quarterback situations for each team in the NFC North have been pretty stable this season. Packers signal-caller Jordan Love has dealt with some injuries this year, but he's still managed to start seven of his team's nine games.
So, heading into Week 10 of the 2024 season, how should the four starting quarterbacks in the division be ranked based on their performances so far?
NFC North Power Rankings: Has Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold been the best QB in the division this season?
4. Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears)
Stats:
8 starts (4-4 record)
61.4 completion percentage
1,665 passing yards (208.1 per game)
9 touchdowns - 5 interceptions - 83.0 passer rating
221 rushing yards (5.8 per carry)
Despite the hopes and dreams of Bears fans before the start of the season that Caleb Williams could immediately establish himself as the best quarterback in the NFC North, those thoughts were quickly squashed by the fact that he's been playing like (get this...) the rookie that he is.
Williams has had plenty of moments this year that have provided Bears fans with excitement about the future. But he's also made a number of plays to remind fans that he hasn't even been a member of an NFL team for a full year yet.
3. Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)
Stats:
7 starts (4-3 record)
61.3 completion percentage
1,820 passing yards (260 per game)
15 touchdowns - 10 interceptions - 88.2 passer rating
28 rushing yards (2.2 per carry)
In his second full season as the Packers starting quarterback, Jordan Love has definitely been a bit more reckless with the football than he was last year.
Heading into Week 10, Love's 10 interceptions are tied for the most in the NFL with Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks, and the Green Bay signal-caller has fumbled the ball four times as well.
He also got off to a really hot start this season, with 15 touchdown passes in his first five starts. But in his last two games, he's thrown more touchdowns to the opposing defense (one) than he has to his own teammates (zero).
2. Sam Darnold (Minnesota Vikings)
Stats:
8 starts (6-2 record)
69.5 completion percentage
1,900 passing yards (237.5 per game)
17 touchdowns - 7 interceptions - 107.8 passer rating
120 rushing yards (3.9 per carry)
Sam Darnold is easily in the middle of the best season of his career. No one is arguing against that. But while he has been playing really well for the Vikings so far this year, there have still been times when the old Darnold shows up and makes a head-scratching play.
He got off to a great start in September and even did well enough to earn the NFC's Player of the Month award. Darnold's cooled off a bit in the last few weeks, but he's still on pace to set new single-season career highs for passing yards, completion percentage, touchdown passes, and passer rating.
1. Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
Stats:
8 starts (7-1 record)
74.9 completion percentage
1,840 passing yards (230 per game)
14 touchdowns - 4 interceptions - 115.0 passer rating
16 rushing yards (0.9 per carry)
While it would be great to say that Minnesota has been home to the best quarterback in the NFC North so far this year, that just isn't the case because Jared Goff has been playing out his mind for the Lions this season.
Goff has been surgically accurate with his passes this year, and if the season ended after Detroit's game last week, he would break the NFL's all-time single-season record for completion percentage, which was set back in 2018 by former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees when he completed 74.4 percent of his throws.