An NFL starting quarterback might have the toughest job in all of team sports.
They’re the primary piece offensively, often a de facto leader and, deservedly or not, the most scrutinized player on any team. When things are going well, the starting quarterback tends to receive a heavy percentage of the credit. When things go sideways, they’re often the first to get the blame.
This season, seven new QBs are getting their first real shot at starting in the NFL. Three of them are top-four picks from this year’s draft and the other four got a taste of game action last season but are moving into their first full year as starter. All seven are 24 or younger and each faces extreme pressure to be the answer their respective teams are looking for under centre.
With a new season just around the corner, here is a look at every first-time starting QB and the impact they could have in 2023.
C.J. Stroud – Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have used five different quarterbacks since Deshaun Watson last appeared in a game for them in 2020. And considering that they’ve ranked 31st in quarterback rating (33.3) in each of the past two seasons with a combined record of 7-26-1, they haven’t found much of an answer.
Enter C.J. Stroud.
Selected No. 2 overall this spring out of Ohio State, the Texans are looking at Stroud to lead the turnaround for a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2019 and has never advanced past the divisional round since debuting in 2002.
Stroud was a Heisman Trophy finalist in each of his previous two seasons at OSU and was back-to-back Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. The 21-year-old holds the school record for passing yards in a game (573) and combined for 85 touchdowns compared to just 12 interceptions over the past two seasons.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans announced Stroud as Week 1 starter this past week. Not that there was much doubt considering the investment the franchise made in him, but Stroud was still thankful for the opportunity.
“I’m blessed enough to be able to be a starter, so young in this league, which isn’t the easiest thing to do. But I know my coaches have trust and faith in me, so I’ll go out there and do my best,” he said.
Anthony Richardson – Indianapolis Colts
Like the Texans with Watson, the Indianapolis Colts have struggled to replace what once appeared to be an elite long-term answer at the quarterback position after Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement in 2019.
And also like the Texans, they’re giving a high pick from this year’s draft the keys to the franchise.
However, unlike Stroud, No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson arrives in Indy with questions about his accuracy and not much of a collegiate sample to work with.
The 20-year-old Richardson started just 13 games with the Florida Gators and didn’t exactly light the SEC on fire through the air, throwing for 212.4 yards per game with a completion rate at just under 54 per cent. Instead, it’s Richardson’s athleticism and ability to make plays on the ground that made him an elite prospect. He was measured as one of the most athletic QBs in league history at the pre-draft combine and rushed for 654 yards with nine TDs on the ground last season in 12 games.
The tools are definitely there, and it’s up to first-time head coach Shane Steichen to develop them. Steichen spent the past two seasons as Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator and is credited with helping develop Jalen Hurts from an under-the-radar second-round pick to one of the NFL’s elite stars.
Richardson went a combined 13-of-29 for 145 yards through the air during his two preseason games and didn’t do much to quiet questions about his accuracy. Time will tell if he can put those doubts to rest during the regular season, but that doesn’t seem like it will bother the Florida product.
"I feel like I've been dealing with pressure my whole life, so pressure isn't anything new for me," Richardson said in April via ESPN. "And playing at the University of Florida, I feel like it was a lot of pressure in that as well. So, pressure doesn't do anything but create legends. Pressure is only hard if you're not prepared. So I'm going to make sure I'm prepared to the best of my ability."
Jordan Love – Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers shocked everybody three years ago when they selected quarterback Jordan Love No. 26 overall. Not only did it seem like they’d found their successor to Aaron Rodgers, but they traded up to do it. Rodgers later admitted he wasn’t the biggest fan of the move.
But Rodgers actually played some of his best football in the two seasons after Green Bay drafted Love. He led the Packers to back-to-back 13-win seasons while claiming MVP in each of them. When Rodgers re-signed for the 2022 season, Love said he began to question what he was even doing in Green Bay.
But everything comes to an end, and a tumultuous 2022 season – followed by an even more tumultuous off-season – brought Rodgers’ time in Green Bay to a hostile close. Three-and-a-half years after being drafted, it’s finally Love’s time to shine.
He looked sharp in the preseason, starting all three games and going 21-of-33 for 193 yards and three touchdowns.
Limited action is really all we have to evaluate the Utah State product on. His final year of college came before the COVID-19 pandemic, and while he does have 10 NFL appearances, he’s started just one of those games and thrown more than 10 passes in only two of them.
His lone start came on Nov. 7, 2021, when he filled in against the Kansas City Chiefs for a COVID-positive Rodgers. Love went 19-of-34 for 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 13-7 loss.
There was a lot more sitting than playing for Love over the past three years, but he told NFL.com in May that backing up one of the best ever was still a valuable learning experience.
"Just being able to sit back as a quarterback and observe him, observe his footwork, how the ball comes out of his hands, just how he practice every day and takes that into the game. There's just very valuable stuff. I was able to sit for three years and kind of just pick his brain and watch him work,” Love said.
Desmond Ridder – Atlanta Falcons
Desmond Ridder got his first taste of action down the stretch of last season, starting the final four games in place of Marcus Mariota. The Falcons were due for a change.
In probably the weakest division in football, Atlanta sat at 5-8 after Week 13 with Mariota struggling, finishing 45th in passing accuracy out of 47 qualified starters in 2022.
As viewers of Netflix’s Quarterback know, Atlanta used their bye week to evaluate the position and ended up turning to Ridder for their return in Week 15.
A third-round pick out of Cincinnati, Ridder led a Bearcats program that has excelled in recent years and twice won the AAC Offensive Player of the Year award. Ridder threw 30 touchdowns compared to just eight interceptions and led the team to a 13-1 record in his senior season in 2021.
Ridder and the Falcons finished 2-2 last season, with the rookie completing 63.5 per cent of his passes and throwing no interceptions. However, he did throw just two TDs and failed to reach 200 yards in two of his four outings. Still, it was enough to convince head coach Arthur Smith to give him a shot in 2023.
Atlanta ran the ball well last year and added Bijan Robinson with the No. 8 overall pick, widely considered the top running back prospect in the draft. Ridder said this past week he’s excited to work with the weapons the Falcons have given him on offence.
"It's the explosiveness that we know this team can have," Ridder told the team’s website. "It would be exciting to go out there and see big plays happening left and right. And honestly, for me, it's about just keeping the ball moving forward."
Bryce Young – Carolina Panthers
The top pick in the NFL Draft was a quarterback every year from 2018 to 2021. The Jacksonville Jaguars bucked that trend when they selected pass rusher Travon Walker No. 1 in 2022, but the Carolina Panthers went back to the quarterback position with their choice this spring.
Carolina was widely expected to take a quarterback when they acquired the top spot from the Chicago Bears and few were surprised they settled on Alabama’s Bryce Young.
After winning the Heisman in his first year as a starter in 2021, Young wasn’t quite as good last year, but still threw for more than 277 yards per game with 32 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions.
The 22-year-old didn’t see much action in the early part of the preseason but finished strong in a game last week against the Detroit Lions, completing 7-of-12 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown while rushing three times for 21 yards.
Young’s TD pass went to veteran wideout Adam Thielen, who praised his new quarterback’s accuracy after the win.
“He pretty much caught the football for me," Thielen said. "So when you have that kind of mix of touch and precision and timing, it's tough to stop. That's why he's here. That's why he was the No. 1 pick.”
The Panthers have had a different leading passer in each of their previous five seasons and haven’t had any continuity at the position since the Cam Newton – who they took the last time they had the top pick in 2011. From then until 2019, Newton made three Pro Bowls, won an MVP award and led the Panthers to a Super Bowl appearance.
Carolina is no doubt expecting similar things from Young.
Sam Howell – Washington Commanders
It doesn’t feel like many people are talking about Sam Howell or the Commanders heading into the 2023 season. And based on how things have gone in Washington in recent years, that shouldn’t be surprising.
The Commanders haven’t won a playoff game since 2005 – two team names ago – and have failed to finish above .500 in every season since 2016. According to ESPN, they’ve started 34 different QBs and only two of them have started more than 40 games. Going into year four under Ron Rivera, Washington’s outlook doesn’t seem all that much different than in year’s past. Except for one thing.
That’s the addition of Eric Bieniemy.
The new offensive coordinator joins the Commanders after spending the previous five seasons as OC for the Kansas City Chiefs, winning two Super Bowls and designing one of the most creative offences in football history alongside future Hall of Famer Patrick Mahomes.
Howell obviously isn’t Mahomes, but might Bieniemy be able to help the fifth-round pick out of North Carolina transform into a quality starter?
Howell started one game for Washington last season, leading the team to a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17. He’s also looked good in the preseason, completing more than 75 per cent of his passes with three touchdowns in two games.
“We know how important the quarterback position is in the league and how important it is in this area,” Rivera said last week. “We’ve been looking for one, and I think we have an opportunity to have a guy that has a chance to be a really good football player for us."
For Rivera’s sake, he better hope so. The veteran head coach is heading into year four of a five-year deal and doesn’t yet have much to show in the way of success to justify an extension.
Brock Purdy—San Francisco 49ers
Brock Purdy began last season as the 49ers’ third-string quarterback behind Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. As a rookie taken with the last pick of the 2022 draft, there was a decent chance he wouldn’t appear in a single game at the NFL level. But injuries forced the Niners to turn to Purdy in Week 13 and he played as well as any quarterback in the league from then on.
Purdy helped lead San Francisco past the Miami Dolphins in relief of an injured Garoppolo – who had been starting since Week 2 in place of an injured Lance – and completed 25-of-37 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown in a double-digit win. As it turned out, it was only a sign of things to come.
Over the next five weeks, Purdy led the Niners to a 5-0 record and finished the season with 13 touchdowns and 1,374 yards passing in only five starts. Purdy and the 49ers crushed the Seattle Seahawks on wild-card weekend and grinded out a win over the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round, setting up a date with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship.
And then disaster struck.
Purdy suffered a torn UCL on the Niners’ sixth offensive snap, ending his season and playing a large part in Philly’s 31-7 rout that sent them to the Super Bowl.
Thankfully, the Iowa State product made a full recovery over the off-season and heads into 2023 as the clear starter in Kyle Shanahan’s scheme. San Fran felt so confident in Purdy’s status as QB1 that they traded Lance – who they used three first-round picks to trade up to select in 2021 – to the Cowboys for a fourth-rounder.
Purdy said the deal reminded him how quickly things can change.
“It just sort of goes to show you, you're in the NFL, the positions and how everything looks, the depth chart, it all can change overnight, just obviously depending on what happens and situations and stuff," Purdy said last week.
"But for me, it's like how can I be present? How can I be where I'm at? Not trying to get wrapped up in, 'Oh, he's first, second, third [on the depth chart], whatever.' The more you think about that kind of stuff, the more it can consume you and affect how you play."
