Sitting just under 3 total seasons into their young careers, we are starting to get a feel for the top QBs taken in the 2021 draft. Truth of the matter is that none of them have even come close to living up to their projected potential. Trevor Lawrence has shown flashes but continues to hang around mediocrity as far as QB rankings go. Trey Lance barely played for the 49ers before being sent out of town and the snaps he did play were downright abysmal. Zach Wilson was so bad that the Jets sprung for Aaron Rodgers and only went back to Wilson due to that, and I am quoting Danny DeVito from Disney’s Hercules, “FORSLUGGINER HEEL” of Rodgers after about 72 seconds of the 2023 season. Wilson hasn’t looked much better even with a rather solid group of position players. Justin Fields came on strong towards the end of 2022, but whatever was working then hasn’t worked lately. Then there is the rollercoaster that is Mac Jones. Jones started out as the most NFL ready QB in the draft and showed it his rookie year as he made the play-offs, was a Pro Bowler, and was runner up for Rookie of the Year. Oh what 1 and a half season does though as Jones has been benched 3 times this year alone and there are questions if he will even be the starter come week 12 when the Patriots play the Giants at Met Life.
That brings up the question of, is this one of the biggest QB bust draft classes we have seen? The next closest in recent memory is 2019, but the talent really wasn’t there. The biggest names who are starting in the NFL right now are Minshew and Murray. Both of those guys in their first 3 years had better numbers than Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones, the two best QBs from 2021. The next worst year is 2015 where the biggest names were Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. Both of those guys are close to what Mac and Lawrence have produced in their first 3 years. Mariota went to multiple playoffs, and Winston had a reputation as a gun-slinger, consistently throwing for 20+ TDs. Even with Winston’s interception happy self, he was able to post better QBR numbers than Lawrence and Jones, and neither he nor Mariota were seen the way Lawrence was. In 2013 we saw a class that was head-lined by Geno Smith, which until last year we had written him off as a bust. To be fair though this draft class was without a doubt one of the worst at the QB talent position and no one hid it.
Lawrence was touted by some, looking at you Lance Zierlein, as the ultimate prototype QB for todays NFL. The word generational was even thrown around with Lawrence by many big name analysts. The hype was so high for such a performance. All of the 2021 QBs taken had some franchise level praise heaped on them and yet it has resulted in almost nothing. Jones and Lawrence are the only ones to make the playoffs. Lawrence is the only one to win his division which, since it is the AFC South, is like calling yourself a champion after receiving a participation trophy.
Which brings me back full circle to the point of this article. There is no draft class I can think of in recent memory that has underperformed compared to their pre-draft hype so collectively as this group. It is rather amazing to see at how mediocre and lack luster these guys are. As of right now only Lawrence will probably see his 5th year option picked up and even then, his play this season has been almost on par with that of Mac Jones. Jones is playing with significantly less talent than Lawrence and yet their statistics are almost identical. Remember that Jones, as I noted above, has been benched multiple times this season, was benched in a game winning spot last week against the Colts in Germany, and may not start against the Giants in week 12. If that doesn’t tell you just how bad this quarterback class has performed, I don’t know what will.