What are the 10 best seasons by a rookie QB in NFL history?

Ideally, rookie seasons should be promising for both the player and the team. Some do, some don’t. But over the past 15 years, we’ve seen several freshman quarterbacks make seamless transitions from college to the NFL. The latest is Jayden Daniels, who will not only soon be crowned Offensive Rookie of the Year but is the catalyst for the Washington Commanders being in the NFC Championship Game.

But where does Daniels’ campaign stand at all times?

Here are the 10 best debut seasons by a signal caller in NFL history.

Roethlisberger had an excellent rookie season, although he is probably best remembered for what the Steelers did. After being selected 11th overall, Big Ben replaced an injured Tommy Maddox early in the 2004 season and won all 13 of his regular season starts, which included ending the champions’ record 21-game winning streak. Patriots defenders. Since 1970, no rookie quarterback has won more starts than the future Hall of Famer.

Roethlisberger is also one of nine rookie signal-callers to have 2,500 passing yards, 15 touchdown passes and 10 wins. Their charming debut season finally ended in the AFC Championship Game… against the Patriots, who would repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Surprisingly, Prescott fell to the fourth round of the 2016 draft after posting two first-team All-SEC seasons at Mississippi State. It was an even bigger surprise when he was forced into action during his first preseason after Tony Romo was sidelined with a back injury. However, Dak is more than dedicated. Like Roethlisberger, Prescott won 13 starts as a rookie and the Cowboys earned first place in the NFC.

The Cowboys quarterback played virtually error-free football, recording just four interceptions and 23 touchdown passes. He is the only rookie since 1970 to record 2,000 passing yards and throw fewer than five interceptions. He was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, although his campaign might have been somewhat overshadowed by newcomer Ezekiel Elliott, who led the league in carries and earned first-team All-Pro honors.

Dak did his part in his first postseason game, totaling 302 passing yards and three touchdowns with one interception, only to see the Cowboys lose a divisional round to the Packers behind the heroics of Aaron Rodgers.

Wilson is responsible for perhaps the most surprisingly good season for a rookie quarterback. A third-round pick, he wasn’t even expected to be the starter heading into the season, as the Seahawks had just signed Matt Flynn to a lucrative deal. But Wilson surprised everyone in training camp and won the job before Week 1.

Russ rewarded Pete Carroll’s bold move by throwing 26 touchdowns (with 10 interceptions) and rushing for 489 yards with four touchdowns. Seattle won 11 games and rebounded for a dramatic wild-card victory against Washington before falling to the top-seeded Falcons a week later. Wilson is one of five rookie quarterbacks since 1970 to surpass 3,000 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns.

Luck was the most decorated prospect in over a decade and he was better than you remember. His 4,374 passing yards remain a record for a rookie, as do his 627 attempts. The No. 1 overall pick also led seven winning drives while propelling a Colts team that had gone 2-14 on the season before an 11-5 mark and a postseason berth.

Luck threw 23 touchdowns with 18 interceptions (the latter probably cost him Offensive Rookie of the Year), but he added five rushing scores for good measure. Luck’s first season ended in the wild card round in a loss to the Ravens, who won the Super Bowl.

Reminiscent of Daniels’ career in Washington right now, Griffin largely carried his team through a magical first season. The second overall pick in 2012 rushed for a rookie-record 815 yards with seven touchdowns while leading the league with 6.8 yards per attempt. His 1.3 interception percentage was also the best in the NFL. He would total 3,200 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns with just five interceptions and claim Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

More importantly, he led Washington on a seven-game winning streak to close out the regular season and claim the NFC East title. Unfortunately, this marked the highlight of RG3’s career, as he tore his ACL in a wild card loss to the Seahawks.

Recency bias? Certainly not. Stroud became one of five rookie quarterbacks since 1970 to record 4,000 or more passing yards, including a record 470 yards in just his eighth career start. His six games with 300 or more passing yards are the second-most by a rookie QB. Even better, the second overall pick in 2023 protected the ball like no other, posting a 1.0 interception rate, best in the NFL.

Add 23 touchdown passes to just five interceptions, a league-high 273.9 passing yards per game, and an AFC South crown (the Texans finished 10-7 after winning a combined 11 games over the previous three seasons) and you can understand why some consider this. as the best season by a rookie QB in league history. AP voters appropriately rewarded Stroud with Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and an eighth-place finish in MVP voting.

Stroud’s special season extended into January, when he threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in Houston’s wild-card game victory against the Browns. The Texans would fall the following week against the top-seeded Ravens.

After putting together arguably the greatest individual season in NCAA history, Newton incredibly picked up where he left off at the next level. The first overall pick became the first quarterback to throw for 400 yards in his debut. He then broke his own rookie record with 432 yards in Week 2; His 854 yards in the first two weeks of a season were briefly a record for any QB.

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newton, who was quickly nicknamed Superman, would record the first 4,000-yard passing season by a rookie while rushing for a record 706 yards. His 14 rushing touchdowns remain a record for a debut season and were not surpassed until Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts each scored 15 touchdowns last year (in a 17-game season). Newton’s 5.6 yards per carry led the NFL in 2011. He was responsible for at least one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown in eight games that year. No rookie has had more than five such games since at least 1970. Newton totaled 4,051 yards and 21 touchdown passes with 17 interceptions and was a near-unanimous choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The only thing missing from Cam’s unforgettable rookie campaign was team success. The Panthers, who went 2-14 the year before, won just six games in 2011.

3. Dan Marino (1983)

Perhaps no quarterback in history has had his brilliance downplayed more by ring culture than Marino. While his career is no longer adequately valued, his rookie season still stands as one of the best of all time. After being selected 27th overall (he was the sixth quarterback off the board in the famous 1983 draft), Marino didn’t become a full-time starter until Week 6. The rifle-toting rookie didn’t lose the time to prove the error. that is, rallying a struggling Dolphins team into one of the league’s most explosive offenses.

Marino scored 20 touchdowns with just six interceptions and Miami won seven of his nine starts. In a sign of things to come, he led the NFL in catch percentage and adjusted net yards per attempt. Those efforts earned Marino a Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro selection and a third-place finish in MVP voting. Meanwhile, the Finns won the AFC East and were the second seed in the conference, but lost in the divisional round to the Seahawks.

Herbert’s placement might surprise some, but no rookie quarterback has performed better in the regular season. He set a record with 31 touchdown passes, while his 4,336 yards were just 38 yards shy of Andrew Luck’s mark. Herbert did all that in just 15 games, as he was unexpectedly forced into action in Week 2 after Tyrod Taylor was rushed to the hospital during pregame warmups with a punctured lung.

The No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 draft produced a brilliant 1.7 interception rate and also rushed for five touchdowns. All of this made Herbert an easy pick for Offensive Rookie of the Year. But as you probably guessed, the Chargers weren’t winners. Despite boasting a top-10 offense, the Chargers lost seven of Herbert’s first eight starts by a possession en route to a 7-9 season.

We’re taking the entire season into account for this exercise, and the best rookie campaign in league history is still on. Daniels did it all for Washington in the regular season, breaking RG3’s NFL record with 891 rushing yards and becoming the fourth rookie to be responsible for more than 30 touchdowns (25 passing, six rushing). Add to that his 3,568 passing yards, 100.1 passer rating and 1.9 INT percentage, and Daniels could be a unanimous choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Most importantly, he led four winning drives and led the Commanders, who went 4-12 in 2023, to their first 12-win season. since 1991. That was also the last time they were in the NFC Championship Game: Their win over the Lions last weekend ended the longest drought of conference title games in the NFC. (Daniels’ historic rookie season continues Sunday against the Eagles at 3 p.m. ET on FOX and streaming on the FOX Sports app.)

The No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft has only elevated his play in the postseason, recording four touchdowns, 567 passing yards and a 69.7 completion rate without committing a turnover and taking just one sack. In the wild card round against the Buccaneers, Daniels overcame a fourth-quarter deficit before setting up a game-winning field goal at the buzzer. Against the top-seeded Lions, Daniels led six scoring drives and Washington won.

It is the first time in franchise history that the Commanders have won two road games in a single postseason. Look no further than his rookie quarterback for the biggest reason. Daniels is just the sixth rookie starter to reach the conference title round (none have advanced to the Super Bowl), but he is the first to do so without being backed by a top-three scoring defense. Regardless of what happens this weekend in Philadelphia, we have witnessed the best rookie quarterback season in history.

Honorable mentions: bo nix (2024), Kyle Murray (2019), baker mayfield (2018), James Winston (2015), Matt Ryan (2008)

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