The 10 Best Rookie Quarterback Seasons EVER
Jayden Daniels is having an amazing rookie season for the Washington Commanders. The team is currently 4-1, atop the NFC East, and the second overall pick in the draft is setting statistical records. He’s the only player in NFL history to accumulate 1,000 yards passing and 250 yards rushing through the first five games of his career. His 77.1% completion percentage is currently leading the league.
Maintaining his current pace, Daniels would finish the season with 3,859 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also trending towards 1,020 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns on the ground. Assuming he achieves all of these numbers, where would he rank among rookie quarterbacks all time?
10. Baker Mayfield (2018)
The Cleveland Browns selected Baker with the first overall pick, and he started 13 games as a rookie. He went 6-7, but put up some impressive numbers. He had 3,725 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just 14 interceptions. His passer rating as a rookie was 93.7. It was all downhill in Cleveland after that, and Baker would have short stints in Carolina and Los Angeles (Rams) before having a career resurrection in Tampa Bay.
9. Ben Roethlisberger (2004)
The Steelers drafted Big Ben out of Miami University (they don’t like being called Miami of Ohio anymore), and the plan was to sit him behind Tommy Maddux. An injury to Maddux early on paved the way for Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame career to start. He went 13-0 as a starter, taking the team all the way to the AFC championship, where they eventually lost to the New England Patriots. He finished the season completing 66.4% of his passes for 2,621 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. His passer rating was 98.1
8. Cam Newton (2011)
The Carolina Panthers selected the Heisman winner with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He came out of the gates firing, with 422 passing yards in his first game and 432 yards in his second game. Cam finished the season 6-10, throwing for 4,051 yards and 21 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. He added 706 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns as well.
7. Mac Jones (2021)
Replacing Cam Newton for the New England Patriots in 2021 was Mac Jones. He was the 10th pick of the draft, and in his first year, he went 10-7, leading the Patriots to the playoffs. He completed 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. This was good for a 92.5 passer rating. A carousel of offensive coordinators torpedoed to quarterback’s career, and he is now backing up the guy taken 9 picks ahead of him, Trevor Lawrence.
6. Russell Wilson (2012)
Russell Wilson was not expected to play his rookie season, let alone start, but nobody knows what the football gods have in store for young players. The Seahawks took Wilson in the third round of the draft and signed veteran Matt Flynn to a big contract. Despite all that, Wilson won the starting job in camp and led the team to an 11-5 record. He finished the season with 3,118 yards, 26 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a 100.0 passer rating.
5. Andrew Luck (2012)
Indianapolis was all too eager to “Suck for Luck” after franchise legend Peyton Manning had neck surgery. In his first season, Luck led the Colts to an 11-5 record. He completed just 54.1% of his passes for 4,374 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. His passer rating was 76.5, and despite his success in yards and wins, he would not win the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
4. Robert Griffin III (2012)
Taken one pick after Luck in 2012, RGIII would be the player who took home the hardware as the league’s best rookie. He threw for 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions. He added another 815 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. Griffin had a passer rating of 102.4 and led Washington to a 9-6 record as a starter. He would tear his ACL, MCL, and meniscus in a wildcard loss to the Seahawks that year, and his career would never be the same.
3. Justin Herbert (2020)
The Los Angeles Chargers took Herbert out of Oregon with the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He only went 6-9 as a starter his rookie season but lit up the record books. He finished the year with a 66.6% completion percentage, 4,336 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions. He had a 98.3 passer rating on the year as well.
2. CJ Stroud (2023)
Stroud was taken second in the 2023 NFL Draft behind Bryce Young. The Panthers' former GM (and all the other GMs in the league) said he had Stroud rated higher, but the owner forced him to take Young. Everyone is a genius in hindsight. Stroud led the league last year in passing yards per game (273.9). He finished the year completing 63.4% of his passes for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, and only five interceptions. He had a passer rating of 100.8, and the Texans finished 9-6 under his leadership.
Dak Prescott (2016)
Jerry Jones is the best drafting general manager in the entire NFL, and it’s picks like Dak Prescott (135th overall) that prove that point. Dak is on pace for a Hall of Fame career, and it started on the right foot in 2016. After a preseason injury to incumbent starter Tony Romo, Dak got the call. He completed 67.8% of his passes for 3,667 yards, 23 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. He also led the Dallas Cowboys to a 13-3 record. His passer rating of 104.9 is the best ever for a rookie quarterback (Jayden Daniels is currently at 106.2).
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