RSS FeedMarcus Marietta and Jameis Winston Top List of QBs Improving from Weeks 1-5 to Weeks 6-10
By Chris Malumphy
The Titans' Marcus Mariota and the Buccaneer's Jameis Winston were the most improved quarterbacks from Weeks 1-5 to Weeks 6-10 in the 2016 NFL Season. Mariota topped a QB Rating of 130 in three of his last five games and raised his QB Rating 37.6 points from 81.6 in Weeks 1-5 to 119.2 in Weeks 6-10 and is now at 99.6 overall. As I've mentioned in other articles, quarterbacks with game ratings of 100+ tend to win much more often than not.
Winston's improvement has been much less noticed. In recent weeks he has been playing in the shadow of fellow 2015 first round pick Mariota. Winston's QB Rating over the first five games was 75.9. Since then it's been 105.7. He is now 87.5 overall, which is very mediocre, and somewhat disappointing for a number one pick in a draft. But if Weeks 6-10 are any indication of how he is going to play from here on, the future looks bright in Tampa Bay.
Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins has also markedly improved, much to the thanks of running back Jay Ajayi. Tannehill improved from 83.7 to 102.4 and is 91.4, still mediocre but the type of rating that can get a team into the playoffs if everything else goes well. Tannehill is throwing less, being sacked less and is being intercepted less thanks to a much improved Miami running game.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Chargers' Philip Rivers has fallen off the edge of the cliff. He was the Chargers bright spot during Weeks 1-5 with a QB Rating of 108.5. Since then his QB Rating has been 30.8 points lower at 77.7. He is now 92.1 overall.
The Eagles' Carson Wentz has also come back to earth. Wentz was 103.5 earlier in the season but just 75.3 more recently, a 28.2 point change. He is now 87.6 overall and Jared Goff will now get the chance to show that he deserved to be the number one choice over Wentz.
| Changes in QB Ratings from Weeks 1-5 to Weeks 6-10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Team | QB Rating | Weeks 1 to 5 | Weeks 6 to 10 | Difference |
| Marcus Mariota | Titans | 99.6 | 81.6 | 119.2 | 37.6 |
| Jameis Winston | Buccaneers | 87.5 | 75.9 | 105.7 | 29.8 |
| Ryan Tannehill | Dolphins | 91.4 | 83.7 | 102.4 | 18.7 |
| Drew Brees | Saints | 107.0 | 98.9 | 114.2 | 15.3 |
| Cody Kessler | Browns | 95.7 | 87.9 | 102.3 | 14.4 |
| Dak Prescott | Cowboys | 106.2 | 101.5 | 112.1 | 10.6 |
| Aaron Rodgers | Packers | 93.9 | 87.7 | 97.6 | 9.9 |
| Kirk Cousins | Redskins | 94.8 | 90.5 | 99.9 | 9.4 |
| Brock Osweiler | Texans | 74.1 | 70.6 | 78.8 | 8.2 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | Jets | 67.6 | 64.7 | 72.8 | 8.1 |
| Carson Palmer | Cardinals | 86.0 | 82.0 | 89.5 | 7.5 |
| Alex Smith | Chiefs | 90.3 | 87.7 | 94.4 | 6.7 |
| Matthew Stafford | Lions | 101.6 | 99.6 | 104.1 | 4.5 |
| Cam Newton | Panthers | 82.0 | 80.2 | 83.7 | 3.5 |
| Eli Manning | Giants | 87.6 | 86.0 | 89.4 | 3.4 |
| Case Keenum | Rams | 76.8 | 75.4 | 78.0 | 2.6 |
| Jay Cutler | Bears | 77.1 | 75.7 | 78.2 | 2.5 |
| Blake Bortles | Jaguars | 80.6 | 79.4 | 81.5 | 2.1 |
| Russell Wilson | Seahawks | 99.4 | 99.3 | 99.5 | 0.2 |
| Andy Dalton | Bengals | 95.8 | 96.2 | 95.4 | -0.8 |
| Tyrod Taylor | Bills | 87.7 | 88.9 | 86.4 | -2.5 |
| Tom Brady | Patriots | 125.5 | 127.7 | 124.7 | -3.0 |
| Andrew Luck | Colts | 93.9 | 95.4 | 91.8 | -3.6 |
| Joe Flacco | Ravens | 78.3 | 80.1 | 76.0 | -4.1 |
| Derek Carr | Raiders | 99.1 | 102.3 | 95.3 | -7.0 |
| Matt Ryan | Falcons | 115.1 | 121.6 | 109.0 | -12.6 |
| Sam Bradford | Vikings | 99.9 | 109.8 | 92.1 | -17.7 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | Steelers | 98.8 | 106.6 | 86.8 | -19.8 |
| Trevor Siemian | Broncos | 85.0 | 99.6 | 77.2 | -22.4 |
| Josh McCown | Browns | 63.5 | 80.4 | 54.5 | -25.9 |
| Carson Wentz | Eagles | 87.6 | 103.5 | 75.3 | -28.2 |
| Philip Rivers | Chargers | 92.1 | 108.5 | 77.7 | -30.8 |
| Brian Hoyer | Bears | 98.0 | 108.5 | 73.7 | -34.8 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | Patriots | 115.3 | 115.3 | ||
| Blaine Gabbert | 49ers | 69.6 | 69.6 | ||
| Jacoby Brissett | Patriots | 83.9 | 83.9 | ||
| Derek Anderson | Panthers | 76.8 | 76.8 | ||
| Paxton Lynch | Broncos | 86.3 | 86.3 | ||
| Colin Kaepernick | 49ers | 82.2 | 82.2 | ||
| Nick Foles | Chiefs | 105.9 | 105.9 | ||
