The Worst Seasons By A Quarterback Over The Past Ten Years

Nic Antaya. Getty Images.

Geno Smith is currently leading the NFL in QB rating. He was absolutely last by the same measure in the NFL in 2013 when he threw 12 TD's and 21 INT's. He was so terrible, I was curious if it was the worst year by a quarterback over the last ten years. When I was putting the list together, I thought some of the names were surprising.

Here are the ten worst seasons by a quarterback who was eligible to qualify for the leaderboard for QB Rating over the past ten years:

10. Eli Manning, New York Giants (69.4 in 2013)

Eli Manning will make the Hall of Fame one day. I know a lot of people won't be happy when he does and they'll cite his lifetime 117-117 record or how average he could look on a weekly basis. But whether you agree or not, He's going to eventually get in. He won two Super Bowls and is top 10 all-time in Passing Yards and Touchdowns. But even if he is a fringe HOFer, it's very odd that he would have such a terrible year in the middle of his career. He was still only 32 when he led the league in INTs (27) and the Giants went 7-9. He followed this bad year up with two 30 TD seasons but how often does a great player have such a terrible year in the middle of their careers? Tom Seaver did in 1982 but it seems much more rare among QB's.

9. CJ Beathard, San Francisco 49ers (69.2 in 2017)

This was Beathard's rookie season and was rushed into action when Brian Hoyer got off to a 0-6 start. Beathard didn't stay the starter for long as this was the season when they traded for Jimmy Garoppolo who finished the season 5-0. Beathard obviously struggled (or he wouldn't be on this list) throwing 6 INTs and only 4 TDs. His high point that season was leading the 49ers to their first win that season. Beathard became Garoppolo's backup and did fill in when he got hurt in both 2018 and 2020. He's now the backup QB in Jacksonville.

8. Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders (69.1 in 2013)

This was Pryor's only season where he played enough to qualify for this list. He remained the starter until Week 9 when he hurt his MCL and the Raiders made a QB change to Matt McGloin. Three years later, he became a 1000 yard wide receiver for the Browns. That success was short-lived as he hurt his ankle the next year playing for Washington. To be able to be a QB and WR in the NFL is an amazing feat but is being that great of an athlete a good thing? You look at players who play different sports like Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson and Brian Jordan and would those players been better off (and healthier) if they had just stuck with one sport?

7. Nick Foles, St. Louis Rams (69.0 in 2015)

Foles led the league in QB rating in 2013 during his first stint with the Eagles throwing 27 TD's and only 2 INT. Two years later, he was the Opening Day QB for the Rams in their last year in St. Louis. He wound up getting benched for Case Keenum before the season was over and demanded a trade after the Rams took Jared Goff number one overall after the season. Foles is the Clay Buchholz of the NFL. He can look brilliant like when he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl but also hopeless like his season in Jacksonville. But he has been to a Pro Bowl and was a Super Bowl MVP. How many other NFL QB's would love that resume?

6 (tied). Ryan Mallett, Houston Texans/Baltimore Ravens (67.9 in 2015)

For the first half of this season, Mallett and Brian Hoyer (he comes up a lot on this list) split time on a Texans team that would eventually somehow make the playoffs. The Texans would release Mallett before that and he was signed by the Ravens after both Joe Flacco and Matt Schaub got hurt. Like Terrelle Pryor, this is the only season Mallett played enough to qualify for this list and would be out of football by 2017. He is currently coaching high school football.

Michael Conroy. Shutterstock Images.

6 (tied). Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos (67.9 in 2015)

Manning was so awful in his last season in the NFL. Counting the playoffs, he threw 11 TDs with 18 INTs yet the Broncos somehow went 10-2 in games he started including the Super Bowl. This might be the weirdest Super Bowl winner in history with a washed up Manning and Gary Kubiak who was never anywhere near this successful as a head coach before or since. The Broncos didn't score more than 24 points in any of the playoff games they played that year but they also never scored less than 20 points in any game either. With that great defense, it was enough.

6 (tied). Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (67.9 in 2018)

It's hard to remember Josh Allen being this shitty. This was his rookie season and Allen really struggled at times throwing 10 TD's and 12 INTs. It was a miserable year for Buffalo as Nathan Peterman, Derek Anderson and Matt Barkley also started games but after this year, everything changed for the Bills. They have won 10 or more games every season since and this year Allen leads the league in passing yards and has the Bills at 4-1.

3. Josh Rosen, Arizona Cardinals (66.7 in 2018)

How much better could the Cardinals have been if they had just not drafted Rosen? Minkah Fitzpatrick, Vita Vea and Tremaine Edwards were all drafted after Rosen. It's even more glaring with the Cards drafting Kyler Murray the very next year anyway. They were able to trade Rosen away to the Dolphins for a 2nd and 5th rounders but those picks (including WR Andy Isabella with the 2nd round pick) didn't work out either. 

It's wild to think how close Rosen and Allen played in their rookie seasons. Consider where Allen is now and Rosen just got released from the Browns practice squad this week.

2. Geno Smith, New York Jets (66.5 in 2013)

Mark Sanchez hurting his shoulder in the pre-season opened the door for Geno to get the starting job to begin the season. Unlike most on this list, he played all 16 games and Jets somehow finished at 8-8 despite the poor QB play. Since coming to the Seahawks, Geno Smith has been great. With Seattle, he's thrown 14 TD's and only 3 INT in nine games over the past two seasons. He's 32 but he's somehow become a very accurate QB and even won NFC Offensive Player of the Week last week.

1. Deshone Kizer, Cleveland Browns (60.5 in 2017)

This was for the winless 2017 Cleveland Browns who might be the worst team in NFL history. Kizer threw 11 TD's against 22 INT's and had the worst QB rating of any player in a season since Jimmy Clausen had 58.4 in 2010. This was the final year of the three year tank the Browns did and I don't think you can call the plan a success. They got to the Divisional Round in 2020 but that's been their only playoff appearance since the tanking. They'll obviously be better once they get Deshaun Watson playing but we're five years removed from the Kizer year. I'd think they want a lot more success by now considering they sacrificed three seasons.

All of this seasons on the list are from 2018 or before. No one has finished with a QB rating under 70 in the past few years. The game keeps changing to make passing easier and easier so could we see another Deshone Kizer-type season again? I think we eventually will. Teams across all sports seems more willing to tank than ever before. The better question might be when will see another career like Geno Smith's?