Ranking Worst 2024 NFL QB Situations: Steelers, Raiders, and Giants Have Concerns Entering Week 1

While every NFL team would love to have a Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Lamar Jackson under center, that’s not the reality for most clubs heading into the 2024 season.

Which teams have the worst quarterback depth charts entering Week 1? Let’s run through the bottom eight QB rooms in the league, beginning with a unique situation in the NFC North.

Which NFL Teams Have the Worst QB Situations in 2024?

8) Minnesota Vikings

• QB1: Sam Darnold
• QB2: Nick Mullens
• QB3: Brett Rypien
• IR: J.J. McCarthy

Set up in the best offensive environment of his NFL career, Darnold could finally deliver on the promise that made him the No. 3 overall pick in 2018. Still, it’s disappointing that McCarthy won’t have a chance to suit up in his rookie campaign after tearing his meniscus during the preseason.

While McCarthy can take mental reps, he’ll miss out on valuable practice time and, potentially, in-game action. Darnold could’ve theoretically held onto the Vikings’ starting job for all of 2024, but it’s hard to imagine that McCarthy wouldn’t have seen time late in the year.

Instead, Minnesota doesn’t have many suitable alternatives if Darnold looks like the same quarterback he’s always been. Mullens is one of the NFL’s most high-variance backups. Rypien started one game for the Rams in 2023; his performance was so poor that L.A. cut him four days later.

7) Cleveland Browns

• QB1: Deshaun Watson
• QB2: Jameis Winston
• QB3: Dorian Thompson-Robinson

The Browns restructured Watson’s fully guaranteed contract on Wednesday, converting his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus while pushing money into the future. Today’s decision almost surely ties Watson to Cleveland’s roster for the duration of his contract.

General manager Andrew Berry might’ve been willing to eat some money to cut ties with Watson heading into 2026. However, the Browns now cannot release Watson — even as a post-June 1 cut — without taking on $72+ million in dead money that offseason.

Cleveland has one of the NFL’s best rosters; to make this work, they really only need league-average quarterback play from Watson. But he’s been injured and/or ineffective over the last two seasons, struggling through 12 starts while looking nothing like the QB who dominated for the Houston Texans.

6) Tennessee Titans

• QB1: Will Levis
• QB2: Mason Rudolph

The Titans are doing everything they can to get an answer to one question: Is Levis a franchise quarterback?

Tennessee signed wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd, along with RB Tony Pollard, while adding left tackle JC Latham and center Lloyd Cushenberry to what had been the NFL’s worst offensive line. If Levis doesn’t show something in his second NFL season, new Titans head coach Brian Callahan might want to draft his own quarterback in 2025.

Levis didn’t have much to work with when he stepped in for injured Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill in Week 8. Still, his performance left much to be desired.

Levis finished dead last in Pro Football Reference’s on-target rate (67.1%) and ranked third-worst in passing success rate (37.1%), ahead of only Bryce Young and Zach Wilson.

5) New Orleans Saints

• QB1: Derek Carr
• QB2: Jake Haener
• QB3: Spencer Rattler

Carr battled through multiple injuries last season to deliver a middle-of-the-pack QB performance. That’s essentially where he’s always been on the NFL’s signal-caller hierarchy. Carr’s floor is high, but his ceiling is virtually non-existent.

Could that change in 2024? Maybe. Carr has an intriguing set of weapons in Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Alvin Kamara, but New Orleans’ offensive line is full of holes. Carr might have to rely on first-year offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s scheme to protect him.

The Saints restructured Carr’s contract this offseason, making it more difficult for him to be released in the future. However, New Orleans could consider a post-June 1 cut next spring. The club would save $30 million in 2025 cap space while spreading Carr’s dead money over the ensuing two seasons.

New Orleans used a fourth-round pick on Haener in 2023 and a fifth-rounder on Rattler this past April. While the Saints haven’t officially named their QB2, Rattler was more impressive during the preseason and might have more upside than Haener.

4) Carolina Panthers

• QB1: Bryce Young
• QB2: Andy Dalton

The Panthers spent most of this offseason doing everything they could to get Young off the potential “bust” path.

First, Carolina hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC Dave Canales as head coach, hoping he can revitalize Young’s career, just as he did with Baker Mayfield and Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith.

Then, the Panthers bolstered the interior of Young’s offensive line — a critical area for a 5″10 quarterback — with free agent guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis before adding weapons like WRs Diontae Johnson, Xavier Legette, and RB Jonathon Brooks.

It’s all on Young’s shoulders now, and it’s fair to ask whether the 2021 Heisman winner can succeed in the NFL.

Last season, Young’s 33.4 QBR was second worst in the league, ahead of only Wilson. He ranked dead last with 3.68 adjusted net yards (ANY/A) per attempt. Since 2000, only three first-round quarterbacks have posted worse Year 1 ANY/A marks. One was Matthew Stafford (2009), but the other two were Josh Rosen (2018) and David Carr (2002).

3) New York Giants

• QB1: Daniel Jones
• QB2: Drew Lock
• QB3: Tommy DeVito

The Giants tried their hardest to replace Jones with a rookie quarterback this season but couldn’t find a trade to move up into range for North Carolina’s Drake Maye, who eventually went to the New England Patriots at No. 3.

Jones can be an effective dual-threat quarterback in the right system, but he struggled in 2023 before suffering a torn ACL. Even in 2022, the campaign that led New York to sign Jones to a four-year deal worth $160 million, he only threw for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns.

The former No. 6 overall pick has never shown an ability to be a high-level NFL passer. Big Blue improved their offensive line with free agent additions and gave Jones a tantalizing weapon in rookie WR Malik Nabers, but it’s still unclear if he’ll be able to get it done in 2024.

Jones’ contract includes $23 million in 2025 injury guarantees that the Giants will want to avoid, which could lead New York to bench him once it’s eliminated from playoff contention.

2) Pittsburgh Steelers

• QB1: Russell Wilson
• QB2: Justin Fields

While we argued for the Steelers to choose the 25-year-old Fields over the 35-year-old Wilson, neither Pittsburgh option was exactly inspiring.

Even if you believe Fields offers more upside thanks to his age and rushing ability, he’s been abysmal as a pure passer. Over the last three years, Fields ranks 28th in passer rating and 29th in adjusted net yards per attempt.

Wilson is the safer choice for conservative Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Fields shined during training camp practices but repeatedly made mistakes in Pittsburgh’s preseason games. He fumbled two snaps and took two sacks in Week 1, then lost another snap and absorbed two more sacks in Week 3.

Neither passer is a perfect fit for new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme, which emphasizes play action and throws over the middle.

Betting on Wilson or Fields to improve in 2024 is probably a fool’s errand. The only good wager on Pittsbugh’s QB room? That Wilson and Fields will both make starts this season.

1) Las Vegas Raiders

• QB1: Gardner Minshew II
• QB2: Aidan O’Connell

Minshew seemed to win the Raiders’ starting quarterback gig over O’Connell by default. Las Vegas gave Minshew a two-year, $25 million deal with $15 million guaranteed this offseason, giving him a leg up on the 2023 fourth-round rookie from the jump.

After taking over for the injured Anthony Richardson, Minshew nearly guided the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs last season. He went 7-6 in his starts, tossed 15 touchdowns against nine interceptions, ranked 13th in QBR (59.6), and made the Pro Bowl.

However, Minshew benefitted from working under Colts head coach/offensive play-caller Shane Steichen, who helped Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts thrive before coming to Indy in 2023. In Vegas, Minshew’s OC is Luke Getsy, who struggled to devise a suitable plan for Fields and the Chicago Bears over the past two seasons.

O’Connell improved over Jimmy Garoppolo and showed impressive traits, including movement within the pocket and a willingness to push the ball vertically. Still, O’Connell’s long-term ceiling is probably as a QB2, not a starting-level passer.

The Raiders have the NFL’s worst quarterback situation. When a team is in this position, it typically cycles through multiple options. Minshew and O’Connell will likely both see time in 2024, but neither should be expected to be Las Vegas’ starter in 2025.