Total QBR Through 3 Games

There are so many ways to quantify a quarterback's performance. ESPN uses a Total Quarterback Rating. They're number-crunchers have been crunching quarterback numbers for this rating since 2006. Here's their Total QBR's for the 32 quarterbacks through the first three games of the 2017 season.

RK	PLAYER	PTS ADDED	PASS	RUN	PENALTY	TOTAL EPA	QB PLAYS	RAW QBR	TOTAL QBR
1	Tom Brady, NE	11.0	17.5	-1.1	1.6	21.9	139	75.3	76.5
2	Case Keenum, MIN	5.5	8.1	0.6	0.6	10.5	82	72.1	75.8
3	Matt Ryan, ATL	6.6	10.2	1.9	0.6	16.6	112	69.7	71.2
4	Jared Goff, LAR	5.5	12.6	-0.8	0.5	13.0	100	68.7	68.5
5	Matthew Stafford, DET	7.2	13.1	4.7	-0.1	20.1	130	68.7	64.6
6	Deshaun Watson, HOU	6.0	3.5	6.6	1.3	14.6	114	67.8	64.2
7	Carson Wentz, PHI	4.8	9.5	3.1	1.9	18.5	152	60.9	63.7
8	Drew Brees, NO	4.2	10.8	0.0	-0.0	11.9	118	62.3	60.8
	Dak Prescott, DAL	5.6	8.8	3.2	0.5	13.9	132	64.5	60.8
10	Tyrod Taylor, BUF	3.6	4.5	6.0	0.5	14.4	110	61.4	59.6
RK	PLAYER	PTS ADDED	PASS	RUN	PENALTY	TOTAL EPA	QB PLAYS	RAW QBR	TOTAL QBR
11	Trevor Siemian, DEN	3.1	8.2	2.3	0.2	14.3	129	58.3	58.8
12	Marcus Mariota, TEN	2.3	8.4	2.9	1.4	13.5	125	56.4	56.6
13	Ben Roethlisberger, PIT	3.7	8.1	1.2	3.4	15.7	130	60.0	55.4
14	Josh McCown, NYJ	1.6	4.2	2.8	0.1	10.6	106	55.5	53.2
15	Aaron Rodgers, GB	3.1	6.7	4.1	1.5	17.3	176	56.2	52.7
16	Alex Smith, KC	1.3	5.6	1.4	-0.4	12.6	113	54.2	51.7
17	Jacoby Brissett, IND	3.3	4.6	3.8	0.8	11.1	90	62.7	50.9
18	Carson Palmer, ARI	-1.7	8.2	0.0	0.9	12.9	163	46.4	50.8
19	Philip Rivers, LAC	0.4	8.7	0.0	1.8	12.0	128	51.0	49.5
20	Russell Wilson, SEA	0.3	6.4	4.6	0.3	14.0	146	50.7	49.0
RK	PLAYER	PTS ADDED	PASS	RUN	PENALTY	TOTAL EPA	QB PLAYS	RAW QBR	TOTAL QBR
21	Blake Bortles, JAX	-2.0	2.1	1.8	1.6	6.1	105	43.3	48.1
22	Jameis Winston, TB	-0.6	2.8	-0.8	1.2	4.7	82	47.6	47.3
23	Kirk Cousins, WSH	-0.1	6.7	-0.6	0.8	10.7	119	49.6	47.0
24	Derek Carr, OAK	-2.4	4.8	-1.7	1.2	6.5	107	42.0	43.9
25	Eli Manning, NYG	-4.2	3.5	0.0	0.7	8.0	135	39.3	42.6
26	Jay Cutler, MIA	-2.4	3.3	-0.2	-0.1	4.9	88	40.5	42.0
27	Mike Glennon, CHI	-9.3	-0.9	-0.7	-0.2	2.7	125	26.0	27.8
28	Brian Hoyer, SF	-8.8	-4.4	1.5	0.6	3.2	123	26.7	27.2
29	DeShone Kizer, CLE	-15.4	-6.4	1.2	1.1	-0.3	148	18.6	26.6
30	Cam Newton, CAR	-7.0	-3.4	2.8	-0.3	3.8	111	29.0	25.6
RK	PLAYER	PTS ADDED	PASS	RUN	PENALTY	TOTAL EPA	QB PLAYS	RAW QBR	TOTAL QBR
31	Joe Flacco, BAL	-4.8	-0.4	0.0	0.5	3.0	86	31.3	24.1
32	Andy Dalton, CIN	-13.2	-6.6	-0.6	0.5	-1.4	114	16.2	16.6

Glossary

• * Season Leaders: On pace for 320 action plays.
• * All-time data reflects 2006 onwards.
• PTS ADDED: Number of points contributed by a quarterback over the season, accounting for QBR and how much he plays, above the level of an average quarterback.
• PASS: Clutch-weighted expected points added on plays with pass attempts.
• RUN: Clutch-weighted expected points added through rushes.
• PENALTY: Clutch-weighted expected points added on penalties.
• TOTAL EPA: Total clutch-weighted expected points added.
• QB PLAYS: Plays on which the QB has a non-zero expected points contribution. Includes most plays that are not handoffs.
• RAW QBR: Total Quarterback Rating, which values quarterback on all play types on a 0-to-100 scale.
• TOTAL QBR: Opponent adjusted QBR.

I've given most quarterback ratings little more than a curious glance in recent years. That's mostly do to the simple fact that it's been a while since the Minnesota Vikings have had a quarterback that's held a prominent spot on any quarterback ratings list. That's changed this year. Case Keenum is #2. If Sam Bradford's terrific opening game performance was factored into Keenum's two-game numbers the Vikings, as a team, might hold the top spot on ESPN's Total QBR. It's been a fun start to the 2017 season but it's still just a start. There's a long way to go.