Five quarterbacks were chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft 2018, a class that altered the course of several franchises – two of which ended drought victories in the playoffs that lasted more than a quarter of a century. The Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills are becoming constant playoff contenders with the franchise quarterbacks they selected in the 2018 draft, while the Cleveland Browns ended decades of playoff futility with the franchise quarterback they chose with overall choice # 1.
The New York Jets are still changing from the quarterback they chose in the 2018 draft, while the Arizona Cardinals have already changed their choice of QB – and found a new quarterback in the franchise just a year later. This historic class of NFL quarterbacks offered more hits than mistakes, while upsetting the balance of power in the AFC playoffs in 2020 – and in the years to come.
As three of those defenders won a playoff game and made it to the divisional playoffs, let’s take a look at each of the defenders in the 2018 recruiting class in this week’s “By The Numbers”.
Baker Mayfield (Cleveland Browns) – No. 1 overall
Mayfield, the best choice in this draft class, already has a full resume for his third season in the league – and is the first defender to win a playoff match for the Browns since Vinny Testaverde in 1994. Mayfield was the second No. 1 choice general to win a road game in his first career playoff – the other being Michael Vick. The Browns won a road playoff game for the first time since 1969, when Bill Nelsen was the defender and Cleveland played in the NFL Century Division.
Here’s what Mayfield achieved in his three years with Cleveland:
- He joined Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck as the only players in history to record at least 3,500 passing yards with at least 20 touchdown passes in each of the first three seasons.
- He has the fifth highest number of passing yards (11,115) and conclusions (932) for a No. 1 overall pick in his first three seasons. Its passer rating of 89.1 is also the fifth.
- Most touchdown passes (75) in the first three years with the Browns – passing Otto Graham (70).
- The third biggest touchdown goes through a No. 1 overall pick in its first three years, behind Luck (86) and Manning (85).
Since week 7 of this season, Mayfield has completed 63.71% of his passes for 2,731 yards with 19 touchdowns for just two interceptions. His 103.4 passer rating ranks eighth in the NFL.
The Browns have won 11 games in one season and a playoff game for the first time since 1994. A victory this weekend would guarantee the Browns’ first appearance in the championship since 1989.
Sam Darnold (New York Jets) – No. 3 overall
Darnold’s term with the Jets may be coming to an end after three seasons, as New York has been one of the worst teams in football with him as a defender in the franchise. This is where Darnold ranks among the 42 NFL quarterbacks since the start of the 2018 NFL season with a minimum of 500 passing attempts:
- Completion percentage – 59.8% (40º)
- Overtaking yards – 8,097 (22nd)
- Touchdown passes – 45 (25th)
- Quarterback rating – 78.6 (41st)
- Yards per attempt – 6.64 (37º)
- Percentage of wins and losses – 0.342 (36º)
The jets are 13-25 in Darnold’s 38 matches. Darnold ranks second in franchise history among quarterbacks in passing rank and completion percentage, while ranking fourth in passing yards and touchdowns. If Darnold remains in New York, he will be his third coach in four years.
Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) – No. 7 overall
Despite all the criticism Allen received in his first two seasons, he evolved into an MVP candidate in his third year – leading Bills to their first playoff victory and first division title since 1995. Buffalo’s victory over the Indianapolis Colts last week, Allen became the first player in NFL history to complete 70% of his passes and shoot for more than 300 yards while running for more than 50 yards in a playoff game.
Allen set the Bills franchise records for touchdown passes (37), completions (396), 300 yard games (eight), completion percentage (69.2), passing yards (4,544) and total touchdowns (46) . Here are some other achievements that Allen achieved in 2020:
- The only player in NFL history with more than 400 passing yards, more than 30 passing touchdowns and more than eight touchdowns running in one season.
- The only defender in NFL history with three consecutive seasons of seven consecutive touchdowns.
- The first player in NFL history with two games in a season with over 400 passing yards, touchdowns for more than three passes, zero interceptions and more than 130 qualifying passes.
A second-team All-Pro this season, Allen began his career with 41 passing touchdowns for just zero interceptions in the red zone (the third highest ever before launching an interception). He is the fifth player in NFL history with a pass touchdown, rushed touchdown and a reception touchdown in his postseason career (Freeman McNeil, Kordell Stewart, Julian Edelman, Nick Foles).
Allen is playing the best football of his career, while seeking to take the Bills to their first appearance in the AFC Championship Game since 1993. This is where Allen ranks among the NFL quarterbacks in the last seven games (regular season and postseason):
- Touchdowns – 22 (1st)
- Overtaking yards – 1,997 (2nd)
- Completion percentage – 71.2 (3rd)
- Passer rating – 115.2 (4th)
Josh Rosen (Arizona Cardinals) – No. 10 overall
Rosen only lasted one season in Arizona before the Cardinals dismissed him from the Miami Dolphins. He only lasted one season with the Dolphins before being discharged. He landed on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training team in September, before the San Francisco 49ers released him from the Tampa Bay training team to join their team in December.
Of the 42 quarterbacks with over 500 passing attempts since 2018, this is where Rosen qualifies:
- Completion percentage – 54.78% (42º)
- Touchdown passes – 12 (42nd)
- Passer rating – 63.5 (42º)
- Yards per attempt – 5.67 (42º)
- Percentage of wins and losses – 0.188 (42º)
Rosen was the worst starting defender in football since being drafted, as his teams are only 3-13 in their 16 matches. His future as a starting quarterback looks long, and quite possibly his management as an NFL quarterback.
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) – No. 32 overall
The only MVP in this draft class so far – which is impressive considering he’s only been in the league for three years – Jackson is having a historic start to his career. Here is the long list of everything Jackson has achieved so far, including his 2019 MVP season:
- The fastest quarterback to achieve 30 career wins (37 matches).
- The first quarterback in NFL history to have multiple 1,000-yard running seasons and 1,000-yard running seasons.
- Only the second quarterback with consecutive seasons with more than 25 touchdown passes and more than five running touchdowns (Deshaun Watson)
- The fastest quarterback in league history with 5,000 passing yards and 2,000 running yards (35 games). The first quarterback to have 5,000 passing yards and 2,000 running yards in his first three seasons.
- Only the defender has 3,000 yards and 1,000 yards in one season (2019).
- Third quarterback in NFL history to have more than 35 touchdown passes and more than seven run touchdowns in one season (Steve Young, Cam Newton).
- Most touchdown games of more than two passes and more than 50 rushing yards in a player’s first three seasons (14).
Jackson became the third youngest player to win the NFL MVP and a playoff game at 24 years and 3 days old – only Patrick Mahomes (23 years, 117 days) and Dan Marino (23 years, 106 days) were younger . Jackson joined Colin Kaepernick as the only quarterback in NFL history, with several 100-yard rushing yard games in the postseason, running 136 yards in the AFC wild card victory over the Tennessee Titans (the third largest for a quarterback in the league history).
The Ravens have won six consecutive games, while Jackson completed 67.74% of his passes for 988 yards with 11 touchdowns for four interceptions for a pass rating of 107.9. He also has 72 carries for 566 yards and five touchdowns during the stretch – arguably the best football of his career.
Jackson is the best defender in this draft class at the moment, but he and Allen are going to compete for the one who will be most successful this weekend when they face off. Tighten the NFL fans.