A total of seven first- or second-year quarterbacks qualified for this series in Week 16.
Let’s take a deep dive into each quarterback’s individual effort and assign them a rating on a snap-by-snap basis, taking into account every individual aspect of their performance. It took more than 10 tries to get into the production, which takes place every Tuesday.
Great pitch/play:
- Purdy’s first throw of the second half went through multiple layers of coverage up the middle to George Kittle.
- Early in the fourth quarter, Purdy made a spectacular over-the-shoulder throw to Brandon Aiyuk.
- He directed Aiyuk back to the grain in the end zone and found six receivers in the fourth quarter.
Low caliber throw/play:
- Purdy fell behind with a deep outbreaker early in the second quarter, but was bounced away.
- In the fourth inning, he threw it diagonally backwards.
summary: It wasn’t an overly dominant performance from Purdy, but importantly, it wasn’t a disastrous effort early on. There were some impressive plays late in the game as San Francisco extended its lead on the road.
Grade: B-
Season grade: B-
Great pitch/play:
- In the second quarter, Stroud uncorked a rocket to Nico Collins on a deep sideline route.
- Late in the second there was an even deeper outbreak route thrown in for 10 cents to Collins.
- Early in the third, there was another unexpected rope to the sideline on a deep route. This time Robert Woods ran.
Low caliber throw/play:
- Early in the fourth, he had an open receiver on a play-action bootleg, but threw it low and wide, and the pass was incomplete.
summary: Stroud, returning from injury, frequently worked on the sideline to stifle the Titans’ offense. His ball speed has been impressive throughout every game since he was a rookie.
Grade: B-
Season grade: B-
Great pitch/play:
- In the fourth quarter, he threw with plus velocity and timing on a deep comeback, scoring fourth-and-long.
- The next pitch was a 30-yard deep strike over the middle.
- Then, against tight coverage, a bucket was thrown down the right sideline.
Low caliber throw/play:
- In the 4th inning, he held the ball from a right rotation and got a sack.
- His interception was on a chip, but it was an inaccurate throw to an open receiver off structure.
summary: Throughout the game, and especially early on, Young took a variety of hits. Most of them were hits on the offensive line, some on receivers for not getting open, and some on Young for not eliminating the football. When the game got out of hand late in the second half, Young made some quality pitches, but overall the Panthers’ offense was awful.
Grade: D+
Season grade: C-
Great pitch/play:
- On his second third-and-short, Howell made a perfect throw over the corner and receiver’s shoulder for a 42-yard gain.
- His back-shoulder fastball was sent to Terry McLaurin for a touchdown in the perfect spot.
- Howell made a spectacular throw 25 yards to Curtis Samuel.
Low caliber throw/play:
- Howell beat a short outbreak route into the end zone.
- The interception in the fourth quarter was a bad decision under pressure and went just wide of the mark.
- It’s much the same situation with his second fourth-quarter pick. Couldn’t get enough speed behind the pass late on downs.
summary: Howell’s impressive bounce-back game against an elite-level defense that features a ferocious pass rush. Sure, there were some reckless throws by the second-year quarterback, but there were also some great passes that connected.
Grade: C+
Season grade: C+
Great pitch/play:
- Early in the second, Zappe hit a pass to Devante Parker on a deep over against airtight coverage for 15 yards.
- Late in the first half, Zappe showed off his good speed on an 18-yard scramble to move the chains.
- Midway through the third, he avoided pressure in the pocket and slid to his left to find Mike Gesicki for a 14-yard gain.
- Early in the fourth quarter, he made a great bucket throw deep down the left sideline for a 39-yard gain.
Low caliber throw/play:
- On his second interception, he didn’t read a cornerback break from an angle. Bad decision.
summary: On the road, in a game where the offensive line didn’t offer much protection, Zappe held on with courage on downfield throws after a disastrous start in the first quarter. That said, he clearly had only one turnover in the opening frame.
Grade: B
Season grade: C
Great pitch/play:
- On a third-and-8 in the first quarter, O’Connell threw a well-placed anticipated throw to Davante Adams on a deep corner route through a shrinking window.
- In the fourth, he caught a fastball on an outbreak route and hit Jacobi Meyers for a first down.
Low caliber throw/play:
- He missed a throw into the flat early in the game.
- In the fourth, O’Connell threw a low diagonal to Adams that should have been an easy one, but fell incomplete.
- With 2 under left in the match, a throw behind Tre Tucker fell incomplete.
summary: Against the Colts, O’Connell ran the offense pretty well. He wasn’t bad, he wasn’t great either. The Raiders needed one or two more pitches from him to get the win on the road.
Grade: D+
Season grade: C+
Great pitch/play:
- There was a quality throw in the first half with a dig to Jordan Addison.
Low caliber throw/play:
- In the first quarter, he underthrew a long ball attempt to Justin Jefferson.
- At the two-minute warning, Hall brought down a deep inbreaker.
summary: Hall had just 14 dropbacks in the game, and although he made a few on designed bootlegs, he only had one big-bore throw and was overwhelmed by the Packers’ pressure.
Grade: D
Season grade: D