DW4 came in a notch above the tier 3 guys.
2018 NFL QB Tiers: 50 execs rank the starting quarterbacks (Insider)
http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/sto...gs-best-worst-quarterbacks-voted-league-execs
2018 tier average: 2.60
The voting results easily could be interpreted in a manner that would have pushed Garoppolo and Watson into the third tier. They had lower averages than Cousins and Smith, after all. Either way, the excitement over these potentially dynamic young players is real. With Watson, the torn ACL he suffered last season complicates an already tricky evaluation.
"To me, he is like the guy from Philly [Wentz]," an evaluator said. "Let's just see if he can get through the year healthy. He played like a 1 when he played. These teams are doing a great job doing what guys can do, playing to their strengths. The league has gotten better at that. Whether guys can stay healthy playing that way, that would be my question."
Watson suffered his injury during practice, without contact, so it's tough to blame his playing style.
"I give him an optimistic 3," an offensive coordinator said. "There were a lot of good things, but also a lot of bad things that got glossed over. It was a little bit of his legend. Even the games where they scored a lot of points, he made some horrendous throws that he got away with. Do I think he is talented? Yes. Do I like him? Yes. I just think he is a 3 that could become a 2."
Watson, paired with a Houston defense that ranked 30th for the season in ESPN's efficiency metric, went 3-3 in his six starts. He had 19 touchdowns, eight interceptions, a 103.0 passer rating and 81.3 Total QBR overall.
"He is a player, man," a quarterbacks coach said. "S---, talk about what a team was, night and day with and without him, not just once but twice, before he played and then after he played. And then if you go back to his true freshman year at Clemson, he tore his ACL halfway through that season and that was a totally different team before and after him. Big-time guy."
TIER 1
A Tier 1 quarterback can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure passing situations.
Rodgers 1.00
Brady 1.00
Brees 1.12
Roethlisberger 1.40
TIER 2
A Tier 2 quarterback can carry his team sometimes, but not as consistently. He can handle pure passing situations in doses and/or possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above Tier 3. He has a hole or two in his game.
Matt Ryan 1.62
Russell Wilson 1.72
Stafford 1.74
Rivers 1.80
Wentz 1.84
Luck 1.94
Newton 2.30
Carr 2.42
Garoppolo 2.58
Watson 2.60
TIER 3
A Tier 3 quarterback is a legitimate starter, but needs a heavier running game and/or defense to win. A lower-volume passing offense makes his job easier.
Cousins 2.52
Alex Smith 2.52
Eli Manning 2.78
Prescott 2.78
Goff 2.80
Winston 2.86
Mariota 2.94
Dalton 2.96
Flacco 3.06
Keenum 3.06
Tyrod Taylor 3.20
Bortles 3.30
Tannenhill 3.36
Sam Bradford 3.38
TIER 4
A Tier 4 quarterback could be an unproven player with some upside, or a veteran who is ultimately best suited as a backup.
Trubisky 3.54
McCown 3.78
Mahomes 3.80
AJ McCarron 4.10