With it being the (almost) quarter point of the 2021 season, I’m going to skip commentary on the week four games and focus on quarterback performance across the first month of the season.

Here are the stats for week four:

#	QB Week 4	DYAR	QBR	zDYAR	zQBR	zAvg
1	Patrick Mahomes	145	90.9	1.41	1.54	1.47
2	Dak Prescott	145	88.2	1.41	1.43	1.42
3	Taylor Heinicke	120	84.4	1.09	1.28	1.19
4	Daniel Jones	155	69.7	1.53	0.68	1.11
5	Kyler Murray	101	80.4	0.86	1.12	0.99
6	Matt Ryan	139	65.4	1.33	0.51	0.92
7	Lamar Jackson	104	74.1	0.89	0.86	0.88
8	Trevor Lawrence	74	82.3	0.52	1.19	0.86
9	Joe Burrow	107	71.4	0.93	0.75	0.84
10	Jameis Winston	99	71.3	0.83	0.75	0.79
11	Justin Herbert	62	74.6	0.37	0.88	0.62
12	Carson Wentz	18	81.4	-0.18	1.16	0.49
13	Matthew Stafford	99	50.3	0.83	-0.11	0.36
14	Josh Allen	56	58.3	0.29	0.22	0.26
15	Tom Brady	61	55.4	0.35	0.10	0.23
16	Justin Fields	-17	74.7	-0.62	0.88	0.13
17	Russell Wilson	8	66.9	-0.31	0.57	0.13
18	Mac Jones	63	46.0	0.38	-0.28	0.05
19	Jalen Hurts	77	39.2	0.56	-0.56	0.00
20	Aaron Rodgers	44	49.1	0.14	-0.16	-0.01
21	Zach Wilson	48	41.8	0.19	-0.45	-0.13
22	Trey Lance	40	39.5	0.09	-0.54	-0.23
23	Sam Darnold	-31	51.3	-0.80	-0.07	-0.43
24	Jacoby Brissett	-12	45.3	-0.56	-0.31	-0.43
25	Jared Goff	10	34.6	-0.28	-0.74	-0.51
26	Ryan Tannehill	-18	42.7	-0.64	-0.42	-0.53
27	Derek Carr	-65	56.8	-1.22	0.16	-0.53
28	Ben Roethlisberger	-66	43.7	-1.24	-0.37	-0.81
29	Jimmy Garoppolo	-21	27.1	-0.67	-1.05	-0.86
30	Kirk Cousins	-29	10.0	-0.77	-1.74	-1.26
31	Teddy Bridgewater	-34	9.7	-0.84	-1.75	-1.29
32	Baker Mayfield	-61	15.6	-1.17	-1.51	-1.34
33	Drew Lock	-110	6.6	-1.79	-1.88	-1.83
34	Davis Mills	-200	0.8	-2.92	-2.12	-2.52

And now the season ranking:

#	QB Season	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Total
1	Patrick Mahomes	1.39	1.27	0.45	1.47	4.59
2	Matthew Stafford	1.33	0.73	1.51	0.36	3.93
3	Kyler Murray	0.93	0.73	0.79	0.99	3.44
4	Tom Brady	0.62	0.92	0.62	0.23	2.38
5	Dak Prescott	0.97	-0.12	-0.06	1.42	2.20
6	Daniel Jones	0.00	0.74	-0.02	1.11	1.82
7	Russell Wilson	1.04	0.37	0.06	0.13	1.61
8	Justin Herbert	0.12	-0.38	1.13	0.62	1.49
9	Kirk Cousins	0.03	1.01	1.64	-1.26	1.42
10	Teddy Bridgewater	1.17	0.86	0.50	-1.29	1.23
11	Derek Carr	0.12	1.39	0.25	-0.53	1.22
12	Jameis Winston	1.42	-1.44	0.27	0.79	1.05
13	Josh Allen	-0.95	0.14	1.55	0.26	1.00
14	Lamar Jackson	-0.25	0.51	-0.14	0.88	1.00
15	Aaron Rodgers	-1.68	1.34	1.18	-0.01	0.82
16	Sam Darnold	-0.12	0.95	0.23	-0.43	0.62
17	Taylor Heinicke	-0.15	-0.10	-0.41	1.19	0.52
18	Jimmy Garoppolo	0.87	0.38	-0.27	-0.86	0.12
19	Joe Burrow	0.22	-1.67	0.58	0.84	-0.03
20	Jalen Hurts	1.02	0.26	-1.43	0.00	-0.15
21	Ryan Tannehill	-1.70	0.69	0.78	-0.53	-0.75
22	Baker Mayfield	0.54	0.27	-0.41	-1.34	-0.95
23	Carson Wentz	-0.62	-0.03	-0.84	0.49	-1.00
24	Mac Jones	0.61	-0.83	-0.91	0.05	-1.08
25	Jacoby Brissett		-1.03	0.03	-0.43	-1.44
26	Jared Goff	-0.96	0.06	-0.17	-0.51	-1.59
27	Matt Ryan	-1.54	-0.87	-0.14	0.92	-1.64
28	Ben Roethlisberger	-0.74	-0.14	-0.96	-0.81	-2.64
29	Trevor Lawrence	-1.55	-1.09	-1.73	0.86	-3.52
30	Justin Fields		-1.75	-2.13	0.13	-3.75
31	Davis Mills		-1.17	-0.09	-2.52	-3.78
32	Zach Wilson	-1.33	-1.99	-1.88	-0.13	-5.33

It’s become chic to name Kyler Murray as the MVP favorite through four weeks, but in reality Patrick Mahomes is far ahead of the field. He’s had three very good or great games and none below average. We might be in Jordan or LeBron territory where it’s too boring for MVP voters to select the same player every year, so they come up with narrative based reasons to vote for someone new. Granted, Mahomes only has one MVP in his trophy case so far, but is anyone really going to outdo him over the next decade?

Stafford and Murray have clearly been the second and third best quarterbacks in 2021 and nobody else is even within shouting distance. This is a huge step up from prior years in these players’ careers, so regression might be on the horizon as the season wears on.

The biggest surprise in 2021 has quietly been Daniel Jones. He’s had two good games and two average games, which is a far cry from his consistently poor play from years past. Jones’ Giants could easily be 3-1 if a couple breaks had flipped their way. If Danny Dimes plays this well the whole season, New York will likely hand him a mega contract like the Bills did with Josh Allen in a similar scenario.

Aaron Rodgers has regressed from his 2020 MVP campaign which was to he expected. If we throw out the week one debacle against New Orleans his season looks a lot better, but it’s fair to wonder if the offseason drama has had an effect on Rodgers’ play and his teammates’ commitment to giving maximum effort.

Baker Mayfield has been low key disappointing so far this year, but the Browns’ team success has obscured just how badly his play has deteriorated compared to 2020. It might just be a temporary blip in an upward trending career, but Mayfield has always been inconsistent so I’m a bit skeptical.

Aside from the well documented struggles of the 2021 rookie crop, Matt Ryan and Ben Roethlisberger have probably been the two worst starters in the league thus far. Both former greats look washed up with little hope of a rebound. With Roethlisberger being 39 and having taken more hits than almost any QB in history, his downfall is not a surprise to anyone. But Ryan washing up at 36 is a surprise, in my opinion. He’s always been a durable player who didn’t rely on athleticism (similar to Philip Rivers), so I figured he’d be able to play until he’s 40 without much issue. But now it’s starting to look like he might retire as soon as the Falcons can escape from his albatross contract.

What stands out to you?