Welcome to the Quarterback Notebook, where I’ll be covering the past week in quarterbacking in the NFL – from the most interesting passers, the most interesting plays and stories to a few other things that caught my eye while watching film this week.
This week, we’ll make an MVP case for Jordan Love, give CJ Stroud his flowers, and take a look at the Eagles’ new starting quarterback.
Let’s talk about the quarterbacks.
The MVP odds, with Love at either ninth or 10th, depending on the sportsbook, might make you think otherwise, but I’m making my call early here. Love doesn’t have the numbers you’d expect from a potential MVP candidate, but he’s had plenty of time to make it up after a slow start, largely due to poor pass defense.
The Packers’ offensive line is still an issue, but Love seems to have learned to tone it down in recent weeks. In Sunday night’s win over the Cowboys, he got a chance to show a national audience how a great quarterback can thrive under crushing pressure. Love did it in many ways.
Like just standing there and running his reads as the pocket collapsed around him:
Or bypassing the rush and creating a throwing window, as he does by watching the linebacker on this bold pass:
Throwing a fadeaway that hits the receiver in stride to maximize YAC will also get the job done:
Hitting a preemptive throw in front of an unblocked runner is another way to beat the pressure:
Shifting the defense to catch the blitz also works, but you may still have to drop him early in case your tight end blows his block:
It’s rare to see a quarterback play his best ball when the conditions around him are at their worst. But that’s what we’re seeing from Love, whose rushing rate (24.5%) and average pressure time (2.35 seconds) are the worst in the NFL.
Even more impressively, all that pressure hasn’t pushed Love into a conservative shell. He’s still as ambitious as ever and was bombing ridiculous passes down the field against Dallas â as he did against Chicago last week. I felt like I needed a cigarette after watching it.
Love’s stat line Sunday night would look even better if his receiver hadn’t forgotten how to catch. You can create a sweet highlight reel just by compiling the deep passes they threw.
Love (with a little help from an overmatched defense) is keeping the Packers in the NFC North race, and he’s getting some help. Beyond the downs, the team has the worst pass defense in the league and a running game that ranks last in the NFL by a wide margin, averaging 59.8 yards per game. The next worst rushing team, Dallas, averages 76 yards per contest.
The fact that this team is 4-2 and in fifth place in the conference is a minor miracle. Replace Love with another quarterback not named Patrick, Josh or Lamar, and they’re headed for a top-10 pick.
Whether Houston will give Stroud the big-money extension he’s asking for is no longer in question. Now it’s just a matter of how much the Texans will have to go through to get him to sign.
Before the two sides pushed contract talks until after the season, Houston was reportedly willing to pay Stroud in the $50 million range, putting him somewhere in the top-12 highest-paid quarterbacks, but the 25-year-old decided he’d rather play out through 2026 and see where the market was next season.
With quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, Drake Maye and Caleb Williams expected to be extended, and the cap projected to rise again, $60 million per year will be the starting point for quarterbacks looking for a new deal.
I do not want to exaggerate Stroud’s improvement. I thought he was significantly better than public perception. He did a lot of heavy lifting for a Houston offense with no semblance of a running game, an injury-plagued receiving corps and a first-year offensive coordinator who was still searching for his game identity. After returning from a concussion in Week 13, Stroud put up solid numbers and even better tape. A terrible performance in the playoff loss to New England overshadowed how well Stroud had played.
As of Week 13 of last season, Stroud has Pro Football Focus’ sixth-highest passer grade (right ahead of Maye), he ranks 11th in expected points added per game (right ahead of Joe Burrow), eighth in yards per attempt (just ahead of Patrick Mahomes) and fifth in PFF’s “big time throws, Brocotta, Brockdyn” with PFF. and Justin Herbert). According to PFF, only four quarterbacks have fewer “valued snaps per turnover.”
Stroud has been playing good football for a while but this season he has stepped up in some key areas. Playing outside the box is key. Stroud will never be a creative force like a Mahomes or Allen, but he looks more comfortable throwing in motion now. His 13.8% completion percentage on scrimmage practice throws is a career high, according to Next Generation Stats. He’s already generated 7.8 EPA in scrimmages, putting him on pace to break his career high (11.8), and Stroud hasn’t thrown an interception under pressure this season. Stroud has always been a solid performer in structure; now he’s becoming a go-to when things break down.
Sunday’s win over Jacksonville offered a glimpse of the progress Stroud has made in that area. The Texans scored 34 points against a stout Jaguars defense, thanks in large part to Stroud’s pressure play. The Jags defense generated five unblocked pressures. Stroud didn’t get a single sack and went 5-of-5 for 69 yards. He also made one of the shots of the season with a defender right on the grill.
Stroud has also performed better against the blitz, which is not surprising. The Texans brought in offensive coordinator Nick Caley last season to put more on Stroud’s plate before the game. It was the first time he controlled the defense and could change games at the line of scrimmage. There were some growing pains early last season, but the plan is starting to pay off.
Now Stroud can put out fires before they erupt after the kick, which was the goal when the coaching staff handed him the keys to the offense last offseason.
“I’ve never played quarterback,” Caley told me last August. “I’ve coached the offense for over a decade, but you learn things and you see things from a quarterback’s perspective. We (as coaches) can prepare all we want, but pictures can change … When you have a quarterback who understands the purpose of what you’re doing, he can solve your problems for you. He can get you out of bad situations and put you in good situations.”
Stroud is now fully capable of solving problems for Houston’s offense – at least the ones he can control.
This idea that Stroud hasn’t improved since his rookie season is mostly nonsense. While he took a step back in his sophomore season, his numbers have improved since then.
Based on advanced metrics (which are generally more informative than traditional stats), Stroud’s third season was even better than his rookie campaign. In 2026, he is on pace for his best season yet, and that will make him a lot of money.
It doesn’t matter who starts at quarterback; the Eagles offense stinks. With Jalen Hurts out Sunday against the Panthers, Philadelphia turned to their prized backup, Tanner McKee, and the results were the same: a lethargic performance in a low-scoring loss.
It wasn’t fair to blame Hurts for all of the offensive woes, and the same goes for McKee, who made his first meaningful start on Sunday. The 2023 sixth-round pick didn’t have much of a chance. A foul play and a disappointing number of penalties kept him behind the chains throughout the game. The pass defense remains subpar, and offensive coordinator Sean Mannion doesn’t know how to fix it.
Even with that in mind, McKee’s weaknesses were obvious. He doesn’t have a strong arm â it looked like he was throwing a weighted ball â and he’s a bit of a statue in the pocket. This combination of factors makes performing under pressure a difficult task for McKee. Carolina recognized this and increased their strike rate.
But there were also positives. While McKee lacks the mobility and wing talent of Hurts, he doesn’t shy away from targeting the middle of the field, and he gets off the ball quickly.
McKee’s 2.42-second average time to throw was the second-lowest of the season for Philadelphia, which contributed to the Eagles posting the second-lowest pass rate.
If this was a high-functioning offense, those aspects of McKee’s game might have helped. But this unit isn’t in shape to support a quarterback like McKee, who needs a solid game and an effective play-action offense to do his best work. He’s a good fit for what Philadelphia wants its offense to be, but he can’t provide what it needs right now. He needs a center back who is comfortable playing out of formation and creating when plays break down.
They are hard to find on the trade market and you certainly won’t find one in the free agent pool available. If I’m Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, I’m calling Indianapolis to see how much it would cost to get Anthony Richardson, the former first-round pick who lost his job to Daniel Jones last offseason. Richardson may not be familiar with Mannion’s system, but he should be familiar with Nick Sirianni, having played for Shane Steichen, who worked under the Eagles’ coach before taking the Colts job.
Either way, I still don’t count Philadelphia out of the NFC East race. The division-leading Giants are on their third quarterback, the second-place Cowboys might have the league’s worst defense, and the Commanders are headed in the wrong direction.
Justice for the former backup passer! Fitzpatrick wasn’t wrong to unload on Bo Nix on Thursday night, though some Broncos fans, including Aqib Talibgot exception.
“Bo Nix is âânot playing competitively,” he said. “It’s almost disrespectful to the position of the quarterback the way he’s playing football now.”
To be fair to Nix, the Seahawks’ defense didn’t give him many opportunities down the field, but his aversion to throwing fits the broader pattern of the season. And with Nix refusing to scramble, he isn’t bringing anything to the Broncos’ offense. As Fitzpatrick says, the third-year quarterback needs to be more competitive and get more chances.
Could Fitzpatrick have been nicer about it? Of course, but his analysis was correct.
The best shots I saw this week
Justin Herbert had another tough outing on Sunday, but this bomb to Quentin Johnston reminded everyone just how talented he is. And if you’re wondering: no, the Chargers didn’t score a touchdown on that drive.
Worst shot I saw this week
Just take the sack, Justin.
