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CLEVELAND, Ohio — There are a number of ways to do quarterback rankings. Usually, it’s based off the eye test, or how many team wins their play led to. This time around, we’ll do things a little different. More Cleveland Browns coverage What do the Browns need to fix during the bye?: Tuesday’s Sports 4 CLE Why Myles Garrett has every right to speak out about Browns’ struggles: 10 Tuesday takes Why the Browns won’t rush Shedeur Sanders into their offensive disaster We are going to rank the top 32 NFL starting quarterbacks based off how many sacks they’ve allowed. Not taken, but allowed. There’s a difference. Numerous websites track the sacks each quarterback has taken. Pro Football Focus tracks how many sacks are caused by the quarterback. We’ll rank quarterbacks using PFF data, which differentiates between sacks the quarterback caused and those the offensive line caused. To qualify, a quarterback must have started at least half of his team’s games. Lamar Jackson, for example, qualifies despite missing time since Week 4 due to injury, as he started Baltimore’s first four games. QB rankings by sacks allowed Jaxson Dart The rookie quarterback has shown promise on a struggling New York Giants squad, but he’s also experienced a rude awakening with 17 sacks. Thirteen of them were on him, which is the most in the NFL, per PFF. This implies a lack of getting rid of the ball quicker. His 2.92 seconds in the pocket backs that up, tying for 31st in this category among qualifying quarterbacks, per Next Gen Stats. Geno Smith Of the top 10 quarterbacks listed above, Smith has taken the most sacks (19), but only two of them are on him, per PFF. Las Vegas’ offensive line, which ranks 21st in pass-block grading (60.7), doesn’t help matters. But while Smith does a decent job of getting rid of the ball, what hurts him is his tendency for giveaways; tying for the most interceptions thrown (10). Joe Flacco The second oldest active starting quarterback in the NFL has experienced a case of highs and lows in the first half of this season. Flacco started for the Browns during the entire month of September, only to be benched ahead of their Week 5 game in London. He was traded a couple days later to Cincinnati, where he has started the previous three games. There is one feat, however, that Flacco has accomplished so far. That is to not set himself up to be sacked. Flacco has taken 13 total sacks, but is to blame for only one sack. His game is likened to a gunslinger with one of the fastest releases in the league. But what makes this impressive is having played for two of the worst pass-blocking units in the league. Cincinnati’s unit ranks 29th in pass-block grading (48.7), while Cleveland is dead last (34.4), per PFF. Michael Penix Jr. Atlanta’s second-year quarterback is the best quarterback in the NFL ... by this particular ranking, of course. Nine times has Penix been sacked, but none of those sacks have been on him, per PFF. And honestly, it makes sense. Penix can use his legs, but he doesn’t rely on them. Penix tends to get rid of the ball at a quicker rate, and his 2.7 seconds in the pocket backs up that claim; tying for the seventh-fastest, per Next Gen Stats. It also helps with a Falcons offensive line that usually keeps Penix from being touched, and ranks seventh in pass-block grading (67.1), per PFF. But Penix takes advantage of it, and it has led to the top spot in this rankings list.
