Considering Jaxson Dart threw three touchdowns and led the New York Giants to a stunning Week 1 upset of the rival Dallas Cowboys, you’d think the national media would spend this week apologizing for their offseason hot takes.
Pro Football Focus either failed to receive the memo or the service’s immensely-criticized grading system didn’t approve. How else could PFF justify grading Dart as the league's eighth-worst quarterback entering Week 2? Did we watch the same game last Sunday night?
You’ll have to ask Gordon McGuinness, who ranked Dart at No. 25 below the likes of Sam Darnold and Kyler Murray, who combined for seven passes before respectively leaving with hip and head injuries.
“He did produce a pair of turnover-worthy plays but also ranked in the top three in both completion percentage over expectation and accuracy over expectation,” McGuinness wrote of Dart.
Pro Football Focus’ latest Jaxson Dart criticism reached a new level of absurdity
When I was growing up in New York, one of my stepmother’s relatives told us during Christmas dinner that “nine out of ten people don’t use logic.” We’ll see whether PFF hires Uncle Garrett as a consultant capable of introducing the outlet to common sense.
Darnold had a 13-yard completion, an incomplete pass, and took a sack before heading to the locker room. Murray went 3-of-5 with an interception, yet the two respectively ranked No. 14 and No. 21.
In slight fairness to McGuinness, he used the preseason rankings built by colleagues Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman as a starting point. That’s no excuse, though, for immediately arguing that there likely won’t be much movement because of a “small sample size.” If that’s the case, then why publish the list? And wouldn’t it have made more sense for Drew Lock and Carson Wentz to earn spots instead of Darnold and Murray? We cannot emphasize enough that Darnold threw two passes and could miss multiple weeks.
PFF has received significant pushback in recent days after giving Bears quarterback Caleb Williams a 64.0 grade despite him totaling 334 yards (269 passing, 65 rushing) and four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) without a turnover against the Panthers. Things got so bad that the service published a follow-up article explaining its process.
“What the grade measures is the part of the play the quarterback actually controls — the read, the decision, the throw,” PFF’s Mark Chichester wrote. “Not the result that lands in the box score.”
Chichester added that Williams, who went 21-of-29 and led the Bears to 59 points, finished 6.8 percentage points “below expectation in accuracy.” Alright then.
Pro Football Focus’ latest quarterbacks ranking cannot be taken seriously
Let’s get back to McGuinness’ list, because his rationale about how small sample sizes shouldn’t overly change the rankings is objectively among the worst NFL takes we’ve seen throughout all of 2026. If you thought Darnold and Murray staying among the 32 quarterbacks was bad, listen to his analysis on the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, who placed No. 5.
“Among quarterbacks with at least 20 dropbacks, only two earned a lower PFF grade than Stafford’s 41.5,” McGuinness wrote. “He didn’t record a big-time throw and produced three turnover-worthy plays.”
As for the Patriots’ Drake Maye, who ranked No. 9?
“Outside of three bad interceptions in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Maye had a pretty efficient night.”
Honestly, not even Uncle Garrett might be enough to save these rankings at this point. For as frustrating and inaccurate as their analysis was over the summer, this is a new level of absurdity.
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