NFL Rookie Quarterback Power Rankings (Who Is Best Bet for Offensive Rookie of the Year)

Over the years we’ve seen many teams employ different strategies when it comes to the development of a rookie quarterback, particularly a first-round pick. We saw Patrick Mahomes sit and wait a year and Justin Herbert didn’t see the field until a team doctor sabotaged (accidentally) Tyrod Tayor’s season. 

Now, it seems that teams are ready to just throw their rookies right into the deep end. With CJ Stroud named as the Week 1 starter in Houston that makes three first-round rookie quarterbacks starting the year as their team’s starting quarterback.

It’s not often that we don’t have to wait to see a single first-round quarterback, so the race for offensive rookie of the year will come down to who plays the best, not just who plays the most. 

Here I’ll rank the rookie quarterbacks and tell you who my best bet is for Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

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NFL Rookie Quarterback Power Rankings

1. Anthony Richardson - Indianapolis Colts

Richardson was the third quarterback selected in the first round when the Colts snagged him with the fourth overall pick. Now, Richardson is the Day 1 starter in Indy under first-year head coach Shane Steichen and it’s a match made in heaven. Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles offense exploded under Steichen when he was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles. 

Steichen has a unique ability to simplify the passing game for a young quarterback while still making it difficult to defend. Hurts wasn’t asked to make every single read or every single throw that a player like Patrick Mahomes makes, but Steichen disguised the looks so well and let Hurts play to his strengths. 

One of the strengths that Hurts and Richardson share are their running ability. This will be what wins Richardson the rookie of the year award. He’s an athletic freak who can easily run for 1,000 yards and a couple of touchdowns this season and that will make his rookie year memorable even if he struggles developing as a passer. 

2. CJ Stroud - Houston Texans

Honestly, Stroud isn’t too far behind Richardson for me. He showed his athleticism in the College Football Playoff and that was enough for me to start to flip on him as a prospect.

I didn’t like his rigidity in the pocket which especially was on display against Michigan, and there is still a part of me that believes a lot of his success was tied to the unbelievable depth of wide receiver talent at Ohio State. However, he showed an ability to create off-script that I hadn’t seen from him before and I think that will translate very well into the NFL. 

Stroud will still be the third best rookie in terms of off-script playmaking, but he’ll be the best passer when he’s on script. Stroud is an accurate passer who will be able to run a functional offense in Houston right away. My biggest worry is the lack of elite pass-catchers around him. He’s downgrading in a very real way from the wide receivers he had at Ohio State. 

Stroud struggled a lot in his preseason debut, but improved in a short time and is clearly the best option for the Texans. 

3. Bryce Young - Carolina Panthers

If I was the Panthers I wouldn’t have taken Bryce Young first overall. I love what he can do off-script, like I was saying about Stroud. Young is a playmaker, but he’s such a remarkable size outlier and it looked like it was a problem in the preseason. Young was reluctant to throw over the middle of the field and was at his best when he was scrambling outside of the pocket. 

Maybe he’ll be able to survive like Russell Wilson was early in his career when he would essentially disregard the play call and just make something happen. That aspect of his game is special enough to carry him to a really good career, but Wilson did that with Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett for years. Carolina doesn’t have a single receiver even close to that level right now. 

In the preseason finale, Young went 7-for-12 for 73 yards and touchdown and completed four of those passes to Adam Thielen who could be the No. 1 receiver for the Panthers. A few years ago that would’ve been viable, but not anymore. Carolina will struggle to score points and win games even in a bad division. 

4. Clayton Tune - Arizona Cardinals

Tune was a 5th round pick out of Houston, so he barley deserves mention, but with the Cardinals cutting Colt McCoy right before Week 1, there is a chance that he's the starter for this team until Kyler Murray gets healthy.

He's No. 4 on this list by default because he's the only other rookie QB with a chance to play much at all this year. Even Will Levis is the third-stringer in Tennessee behind Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis.

There is a gap the size of Arizona between the top 3 and Clayton Tune.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change