The first month of the NFL season is almost in the books, and the quarterback picture is starting to settle in. Not everything is dramatic yet, but the separation is becoming easier to spot.
Some teams have found enough stability under center to keep moving. Others are still stuck searching.
That’s the reality behind any quarterback ranking: if the play isn’t good enough, the rest of the operation starts to wobble. A few teams can survive uneven quarterback work for a while. Plenty can’t.
With Week 3 nearly wrapped up, here’s where things stand at the bottom of the board for now. Jalen Hurts and Tyson Bagent are set to play on Monday Night Football, so their spots will be updated after that game.
- Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears
It has been a strange week for the Bears’ quarterback situation. Tyson Bagent is lined up to start because Caleb Williams is hurt, but Bagent also had to get through concussion protocol, so even his path to the lineup was a little messy.
Bagent is a solid backup option, but the résumé is still thin. He has thrown only three touchdown passes in his career and has six interceptions.
He is 2-2 as a starter, and Chicago would almost certainly prefer not to lean on him for long. Losing Williams for any extended stretch is the kind of problem the Bears can’t really absorb.
Because this would be Bagent’s first start of the year and he remains such an unknown, he lands at No. 32 in the rankings.
- Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
The Titans and Cam Ward have not looked like a functioning offense through three weeks. Or, really, like an NFL team that has its footing yet.
Tennessee scored only seven points against New York in Week 3 and dropped to 0-3. Ward did throw it 23 times for 36 completions, which is not nothing, but it only added up to 181 yards. The offense actually finished with more total yards, more passing yards, and more yards per play than the Giants, but that edge never turned into enough points.
There was reason to believe Ward might be able to build on the way he finished last season, when he started to play better down the stretch in his rookie year. So far, that growth has not shown up again. I was high on Ward heading into the season, but I might have missed on that one completely.
In Other News...
Cam Ward Just Gave Titans Fans A Brutal Reason To Worry
Cam Wards first rough afternoon as the Titans starting quarterback turned into a bigger conversation after Tennessees Week 3 loss to the Giants. The stat line was only part of the problem. Wards decision-making came under heavy criticism, and the late interception became the kind of mistake that tends to linger long after the final whistle in a market already looking for signs of progress.
The Titans are still sticking with Ward for now, but the performance added another layer of pressure to his early stretch as the starter. For a team trying to establish some stability at quarterback, every turnover and every shaky sequence matters, and this one left plenty of questions about where the job stands moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Get An Unexpected Spot In A Halloween NFL Crossover
The Titans have found their way into an unexpected Halloween crossover, thanks to a new SNICKERS and adidas collaboration built around candy, cleats and a little seasonal flair. The limited-edition launch includes SNICKERS x adidas candy bars and the ADIZERO ELECTRIC + II, a football cleat with a Halloween theme and performance technology, giving the partnership a lane that reaches beyond the usual offseason promo and into the kind of crossover marketing that tends to grab attention.
Carnell Tate played a part in bringing the collaboration to life, giving Tennessee a direct link to a campaign that starts rolling out in phases. The candy bars arrive on Sept. 29, the cleats follow on Oct. 10, and SNICKERS will run a giveaway on Instagram from Oct. 12-16, so anyone following the release still has a few moving pieces to track as the Halloween push builds. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Already Have An Uncomfortable Cam Ward Question
Cam Wards first stretch as the Titans franchise quarterback has not given the team much comfort. Since going first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, he has battled through a rough opening run that has left him near the bottom of several passing categories, and the backdrop around him has not made the job easier. Tennessee has been working with an inexperienced receiving group, while the coaching situation has not offered much stability for a young passer trying to find his footing.
Still, the longer this goes on, the harder it becomes to separate Wards development from the organizations future planning. Sports Illustrateds Albert Breer raised the possibility that if the losses keep piling up, Tennessee could eventually be looking at quarterback again in the 2027 NFL Draft, which is the kind of conversation no team wants to be having this early with a player taken first overall. Any move in that direction would say as much about how the Titans have handled the position around Ward as it would about Ward himself. [Read more 🡒]