Stacking up the division’s signal-callers
We’ve hit the summer where there’s some downtime between now and training camp for the Las Vegas Raiders, which means it’s rankings season. As it’s become an annual tradition this time of year at Silver and Black Pride, it’s time to rank the AFC West quarterbacks to see where Raiders’ starter Geno Smith lands among the competition.
This year’s rankings are a lot more interesting for Las Vegas. Unlike previous years, when the team had significant question marks at the most important position on the field, trading for Smith gives the Silver and Black a much better chance at competing with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Bo Nix.
So, let’s see how they rank against each other heading into the fall.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
2024 Stats: 67.5% completion percentage, 3,928 yards, 26 TDs, 11 INTs
While Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense had a down year, he’s still a top two or three quarterback in the NFL. For example, he still managed to finish the 2024 regular season as Pro Football Focus’ seventh-highest-graded QB (85.8) during the regular season despite throwing a career low 18 ‘big-time throws’ at a 2.9 BTT rate. To Mahomes’ credit, he also posted his lowest ‘turnover-worthy play’ rate at 2.1 percent, tied for eighth in the league. So, the two-time MVP still deserves the top spot in the division.
2. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
2024 Stats: 65.9% completion percentage, 3,870 yards, 23 TDs, 3 INTs
During his first season playing in Jim Harbaugh’s run-heavy, ground-and-pound offense, Herbert didn’t put up eye-popping box score numbers. But his advanced statistics were elite, finishing third in PFF passing grade (90.8), tied for third with 33 BTTs and fourth in BTT rate at 6.1 percent. Those figures were also career highs, and he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way much, posting a 2.1 TWP rate that was tied for eighth in the league. The Oregon product is teetering on the elite tier of NFL QBs and will be firmly cemented in that category if he can find some success in the playoffs.
3. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders
2024 Stats: 70.4% completion percentage, 4,320 yards, 21 TDs, 15 INTs
This will be controversial for some, seeing as Smith is coming off a down season while Nix finished third in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting last fall. But, even in a down year, Smith outperformed Nix in several metrics: completion percentage, yards, PFF grade (82.5 to 76.40), BTTs (28 to 21) and BTT rate (4.5 percent to 3.5 percent). The veteran also ranked sixth and tied for 13th across the league in the latter two categories, respectively. He does need to cut down on the TWPs, though, racking up 18, which were tied with Jameis Winston for the sixth-most in the NFL.
4. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
2024 Stats: 66.3 completion percentage, 3,775 yards, 29 TDs, 12 INTs
Make no mistake about it, Nix was impressive during his initial NFL campaign. In addition to the numbers above, he surprised a lot of people with his deep ball, tying for fifth with 21 BTTs on such attempts last season. Additionally, the 2024 12th overall pick had the eighth-most rushing yards (430) among quarterbacks a year ago. That points to a bright future for the other Oregon product in the division; the AFC West just has a lot of quality signal-callers heading into the fall.