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5 Worst Starting Quarterbacks of the 2013 NFL Season


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Which 5 Quarterbacks Will Have the Worst 2013 Season?

NFL
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The 2013 NFL season is underway and we got our first glimpse at the 32 primary starting quarterbacks. You would expect every QB that started on Sunday to play all 16 games this year unless they get injured or if they made this list.

One game is definitely too early to tell whether or not a quarterback is going to have a horrible season, but you can get a pretty good idea of how hard they will have to work to get their team victories.

Take for instance Eli Manning. Manning threw two interceptions before the New York Giants even got on the board with a 20-yard field goal, and went on to finish the game with four touchdown passes and three interceptions. While the Giants didn’t win, Manning had to overcome six total turnovers to even give them a chance.

Then you have guys like Eli’s brother, Peyton Manning, who make quarterbacking look so easy a caveman could do it. Peyton threw seven touchdowns on the defending Super Bowl champions. After one week, it looks like Eli will have to will the Giants to victory, while Peyton just gets to play pass-and-catch.

There also happens to be a lot of young starting quarterbacks in the NFL this year, with 17 starters with five or less years in the NFL, so it can be rather easy to separate the bottom-tier quarterbacks from the top-tier guys.

After one week, I was able to decide which five quarterbacks would likely end up on the bottom tier at the end of the season, and the last one may surprise some people.

Mathew Muncy is an Indiana Pacers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MMuncy, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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5. Blaine Gabbert

Gabbert
Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Blaine Gabbert is not really a surprise here. So far in his short career, he has not been able to live up to the hype of being a Top-10 draft pick, but I think most fans figured he wouldn’t amount to much with the Jacksonville Jaguars anyhow. In his first two seasons, Gabbert threw 21 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. His 2013 season started poorly as he threw for 121 yards, two interceptions and zero touchdowns. Sorry Jaguars fans, but Gabbert will be bottom of the barrel again this year.

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4. Brandon Weeden

Weeden
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s a player who has a chance to fail in more than one professional sport. After being drafted by the New York Yankees in 2002, Brandon Weeden was out of baseball altogether by 2006. He went back to college and began his football career at Oklahoma State. He looked like a solid, albeit old quarterback who had a great wide receiver corps the entire time. Fast forward to his NFL career and he is still old, but has no wide receiver corps with the Cleveland Browns. Given Weeden’s age of 29, it’s not likely that he will have a long NFL career. He could become a decent starter, just not in 2013.

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3. Christian Ponder

ponder
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Christian Ponder came from a solid college team to a mediocre NFL squad. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him in 2011 and has since traded away his go-to wide receiver, Percy Harvin. Now Ponder has to begin building chemistry with his wide receiver unit all over again and hope that Adrian Peterson can replicate his 2012 performance. Ponder has a shot at becoming a solid starter for years to come, but 2013 will be one of his worst.

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2. Jake Locker

Locker
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I’m starting to feel like I’m picking on the quarterback class of 2011, or maybe they are just that bad. Jake Locker was the eighth overall pick that year by the Tennessee Titans and has since played in 16 games, thrown 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He has the pieces around him in Tennessee to do a better job, but he just fails to do it. His Week 1 performance was pretty bland – 125 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions – however, unlike the other four quarterbacks on this list, Locker actually came away with a victory. But the credit for that victory belongs to the Titans kicker Rob Bironas. Locker was a projected No. 1 overall pick after his junior year, and maybe he can gain the experience and confidence in the NFL to return to that level. However, 2013 is going to be more learning than proving.

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1. Joe Flacco

Flacco
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

I could have taken the easy way out and picked someone like E.J. Manuel, Geno Smith, or Terrelle Pryor for this last spot, but in all honesty, I think Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is going to be one of the worst quarterbacks in 2013. An unpopular choice, I’m sure, and I know he helped the Ravens win the Super Bowl last season; but he lost his best wide receiver, his best tight end, and the Ravens' defense is a fraction of what is used to be. Week 1 was a dead giveaway to the kind of season Ravens fans are in for. Flacco had to throw 62 times and walked away with only 362 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He may finish the year with a lot of yards thanks to a ton of attempts, but him being “elite” will not help the Ravens prevail this year.


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