Bo Nix is completing under 62% of his passes in a Sean Payton quick-throw heavy offense, but the Broncos are winning football games. The Colts have an identical 4-3 record to that of the Broncos, but their young passer, Anthony Richardson, is having even more problems placing the football accuracy to all levels of the field.
On the flip side, in Week 7, C.J. Stroud looked to have one of his worst performances to date in the NFL. But despite not throwing for 100 yards in the close loss to the Packers, individually, the second-year passer was very sharp and combating a relentless Green Bay pass rush reasonably well.
There were seven quarterbacks selected in the past two NFL Draft classes who saw considerable playing time during a tightly contested Week 7. Let's dive deep into the individual efforts of each quarterback and assign a grade on a per-snap basis, taking every individual aspect of their performance into account.
(At least 10 attempts were needed to qualify for this piece, which comes out weekly on Tuesdays.)
Week 7 stats
- 16 of 26 for 164 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- None.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- In the first, while stepping into the pocket, Nix overthrew a wide open target on a deep over.
- After scanning the field for a while, he found a dump off option to his right and threw it short. Incomplete.
- Nix threw behind an in-breaker in the final two minutes of the second quarter.
- A few plays later, he was forced to his left, then lofted a pass over the head of his intended target, directly into the hands of a Saints defender that was dropped.
Summary: The Broncos absolutely trounced the Saints in New Orleans, but this was not a stellar game from Nix by any stretch of the imagination. He is eluding pressure reasonably well, but the accuracy and decision-making are still not to requisite levels. Sean Payton is doing a lot of heavy lifting to keep this offense afloat.
Grade: D
Season Grade: C-
Week 7 stats
- 26 of 37 for 276 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- He scooted by a defender in the pocket and showcased his athleticism on a 15-yard run up the middle.
- Maye ripped a fastball to Hunter Henry through a tight window for 13 yards to move the chains.
- In the fourth, Maye dropped one in the bucket down the left sideline for 33 yards.
- His 22-yard touchdown in the fourth was thrown through layers of coverage into the end zone down the middle of the field.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- He overthrew a comeback route late in the first quarter.
- In the third quarter, Maye was late on a shallow cross that was undercut
Summary: While there were more impressive throws than negative ones, this wasn't a spectacular performance from the rookie in London. He did a fine job executing the easy plays, and there were a few glimpses of his premier talent.
Grade: C-
Season Grade: C-
Week 7 stats
- 10 of 21 for 82 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Stroud found Tank Dell on a scramble drill in the red zone with a defender nearby but the ball was dropped.
- The short touchdown to Tank Dell was pinpoint accurate.
- His final throw of the game converted a third-down on an in-breaker against air-tight coverage.
- Stroud displayed awesome accuracy and anticipation on a deep in-breaker run by Stefon Diggs for 17 yards in the third.
- On a 2nd and 9 in the fourth, Stroud run past a second-level defender then slipped between two Packers defenders to pick up a first down. Awesome display of his deceptive athleticism.
- Late in the game, to convert a 3rd and 10, while fading away toward the sideline in a scrambling situation, Stroud somehow fit a pass into a diving Xavier Hutchinson against air-tight coverage for 11 yards.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- Early in the second, he skipped an in-breaking throw toward Dell.
- Midway through the third, he threw behind an out-breaking route on a 3rd and 5 that was knocked down.
Summary: This is one of those games when the isolated quarterback performance was clearly better than the statistics. Stroud was under duress all game, as the Packers were super-aggressive dialing up blitz after blitz and usually getting home. But the Texans quarterback performed at a reasonably high level for most of his narrow defeat.
Grade: B+
Season Grade: B-
Week 7 stats
- 10 of 24 for 129 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Near the end of the first quarter, Richardson shrugged off a defender in the pocket and demonstrated his burst and ability to sustain speed on a 22-yard scramble.
- With under 30 seconds to go in the second quarter, he fired a rocket over the middle -- just out of reach of an underneath linebacker -- which hit Michael Pittman in stride for a 33-yard gain.
- From a crumbling pocket, Richardson demonstrated his arm strength and threw with anticipation on a deep comeback run by Mitchell.
- His second to last throw had just enough air under it to make its way over a sinking underneath defender and into the arms of Pittman for 21 yards.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- His first pass of the game featured a misfire on an underneath target for rookie Adonai Mitchell.
- His second throw was behind an in-breaking route run by a tight end that was nearly intercepted.
- While Richardson made a nice play by evading an oncoming edge blitzer, he was able to reset his feet yet threw a pass across the field to an open receiver in the dirt.
- In the third, he missed high on a dig route toward Pittman.
Summary: Richardson had severe accuracy problems in this game. The misses were well off target. And the connections were few and far between. But he mostly kept the ball out of harm's way. But the ball-placement struggles are the main reason Richardson gets a low grade for this performance.
Grade: D+
Season Grade: C-
Week 7 stats
- 6 of 10 for 52 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- O'Connell quickly got from the left sideline to the middle of the field to find tight end Brock Bowers on his first throw of the game.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- His second throw of the game was over the head of his intended target on a deep over.
- O'Connell threw low and outside on a comeback to Tre Tucker.
Summary: Only 10 attempts for O'Connell in this one before his injury flared. Not much impressive from the outing, and he missed on two throws.
Grade: C-
Season Grade: C
Week 7 stats
- 25 of 35 for 172 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Late in the second quarter, Rattler made an aggressive climb in the pocket, shredded a tackle and scampered 28 yards.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- His second throw of the night was underthrown deep downfield and should've been picked.
- In the third, he was late and wide after stepping up and throwing to a deep over.
- Rattler took a brutal 14-yard sack and fumbled in the fourth quarter.
Summary: This game got out of hand in a hurry for Rattler and the Saints. And the second throw that was nearly picked foreshadowed a very challenging game, at home, for the rookie. His offensive line did him no favors, neither did a rag-tag group of receivers that had problems separating all evening.
Grade: D
Season Grade: D+
Week 6 stats
- 11 of 24 for 82 yards, 0 TD, 2 INTs
High-caliber throws/plays
- None.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- Early in his relief appearance, Thompson-Robinson threw late and slightly behind on a deep over that was nearly intercepted on a diving attempt.
- While there was a defender in his face after the play-action fake, DTR threw the ball far too low on a toss into the flat that fell incomplete in the third quarter.
- In the waning seconds of that same quarter, DTR missed a wide-open Pierre Strong underneath.
- His final throw of the game was sailed deep over the middle and intercepted.
Summary: The fact that Thompson-Robinson was thrown into the middle of this game is the only thing keeping this grade from sinking into the "F" range. He had problems with easy layups underneath, took hits in the pocket, and was inaccurate down the field in the few instances he attempted to stretch the defense vertically.
Grade: D
Season Grade: D
Who's the favorite to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after seven weeks? It seems to be a two-man race between Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. Check out the latest odds over at FanDuel sportsbook.