Where does Derek Carr rank?

The NFC South isn’t a division known for its quarterback play, at least not in recent years. This is crazy too when you consider that Drew Brees resided in the division for over a decade and Tom Brady just retired from the division (and the NFL) a little over a year ago.

These days, NFC South teams are mostly relying on castoffs from other teams hoping that a change of scenery will help those signal-callers get to the top of the mountain. The Saints fall into the category of teams hoping their quarterback needed a change of scenery, having signed Derek Carr a little over a year ago after the Raiders gave up on him.

The Falcons and Buccaneers also fall into this category with the Falcons pulling out all the stops to bring in Kirk Cousins this offseason and the Bucs taking a chance on Baker Mayfield last year. The Panthers are the only team in the division who drafted their starting quarterback. They traded up to the number one spot in the 2023 draft to take Alabama’s Bryce Young and the jury is still out on if that was a smart move or not.

With the preseason kicking off this weekend, why not go through all of the quarterbacks in the NFC South and rank them from worst to first?

4. Bryce Young

The Panthers moved up to the number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Bryce Young, who was coming off of a sensational career at Alabama. He was the easy pick for the number one selection (even if people are trying to reverse course on that now) but so far, it hasn’t gone well for Carolina.

Young struggled as a rookie, throwing for just 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 10 picks in 16 starts. It wasn’t all on Young though, as the Panthers didn’t exactly surround him with talent. He was sacked 62 times and Frank Reich didn’t end up making it through the season, making things even more difficult for the young quarterback.

The Panthers hired Dave Canales this offseason to try and help Young progress but after what we saw from him in 2023, he belongs in the last place spot in these rankings.

3. Derek Carr

The Saints signed Derek Carr last offseason after his time with the Raiders came to a close. It was a bit of a surprising move considering fans were expecting the team to enter rebuild mode but lo and behold, they brought Carr in hoping to compete in a weak division.

Carr’s numbers from 2023 look fine (3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns, 8 interceptions) but those who watched the games were uninspired by his play. He did seem to turn a corner late in the season and only threw eight interceptions but for the most part, Carr played like an average or slightly below average quarterback.

In Carr’s defense, the offensive line was bad and it’s going to be hard for any quarterback to ball out when the protection upfront is lacking. Let’s hope Carr can find a way to improve in his second season with the Saints.

2. Kirk Cousins

The newest member of the NFC South quarterbacks club is Kirk Cousins, who the Falcons were aggressive in signing over the offseason (even going as far as tampering to ensure he’d call Atlanta home for the next several years). Cousins spent the first six years of his career in Washington and then the next six years with the Vikings but had little success beyond the regular season.

Cousins has a reputation of being a decent quarterback but struggling in primetime games and also having a lack of success beyond the regular season. He’s won just one playoff game in his career (and of course it came against the Saints) and seems to wait to have his bad games during primetime match-ups.

That being said, Cousins is absolutely an upgrade over what the Falcons have been working with at quarterback in recent years. The team also surrounded him with talent in the form of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, so he won’t be hurting in the weapons department. The big worry with Cousins is that he’s coming off a season-ending Achilles injury and is going to be 36 years old when the season starts and that’s why I slotted him at number two.

1. Baker Mayfield

It’s wild that Baker Mayfield is the best quarterback in any division but look at what we’re working with in the NFC South. Mayfield was the first overall pick in 2018 but the Browns moved on from him after trading for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield had done well in Cleveland but he struggled to make a name for himself in Carolina and then was a brief starter in Los Angeles for the Rams.

The Buccaneers brought him in last offseason hoping that he could fill Tom Brady’s shoes and while Mayfield is no Tom Brady, he did what was asked of him. He limited the mistakes and helped lead the Bucs to a third straight division title and a playoff victory over the Eagles.

Some might have argued that Mayfield was deserving of the Comeback Player of the Year award after the Browns and Panthers gave up on him and it’d have made sense. He finished the year with a career-high in passing yards (4,044) and touchdowns (28) and did enough to get the Bucs into the playoffs.

It might not take much for someone else to knock Mayfield out of this top spot but it feels like he makes the most sense here for now.