2021 Rookie QB Rankings: Down the stretch they come

It’s Week 14 of the NFL season, and rookie quarterbacks have been front and center, with some living up to the hype and others not as much. With that, let’s look at how the 2021 rookie class fared in Week 14.

Trey Lance hasn’t thrown a pass since Week 5 back in October and possibly won’t throw another one in a game for the 49ers this year. His special RPO (run-pass-option) package plays have even been scrapped from the playbook it seems. Kyle Shanahan is locked in with Jimmy Garoppolo, and as long as they are in playoff contention, that isn’t likely to change.

Luckily for Trevor Lawrence, his head coach’s repeated indiscretions have seemingly overshadowed his rookie season. It hasn’t been a good one for Lawrence, and that’s a nice way of saying it. Week 14 was no different as Lawrence played catch with the Titans defense, throwing 4 INTs. He managed a pitiful QBR of 18.9 and passer rating of 35.5 against Tennessee. Oh yeah, and the Jaguars got shut out.

The Jets lost again on Sunday, but Zach Wilson is cutting down on the mistakes by not throwing many interceptions since he returned from an injury in Week 12. Since Wilson’s return, he’s thrown just two with two passing TDs and two rushing TDs in three games. Any improvement is a good thing when you’re the Jets.

Mills had another 300 yards (331) passing game and now has three on the season, which is more than any other rookie in the league. But he’s still looking for the first win of his career as he fell to 0-7 on the year, and Houston lost to Seattle 33-13. If the Texans can put more talent around Mills in the offseason, he could be their QB for the next couple of years at the least.

This week, Fields returned for the Bears and had a decent game against the Green Bay Packers. Two TDs, 224 yards passing, and 74 rushing yards. If not for his two INTs, the Bears may have kept this one closer than it ended up becoming. Chicago got a strong showing out of Fields but fell to Green Bay, 45-30.

The Patriots had a bye in Week 14, but Mac Jones is having the most successful rookie year of all the QBs in his class. There really is no reason to remove him from the No. 1 spot even when his team doesn’t play. Jones’ play has been steady enough to help New England to a 9-4 record and first place and a two-game lead over Buffalo in the AFC East. The rest of the AFC may have messed up and let Bill Belichick get his groove back along with finding his franchise QB.