Tracking the Rookie Quarterbacks: Week 13

Written by Thomas Threlkeld on Friday, 07 December 2012 10:35. Posted in Washington Redskins

Below is our week 13 evaluation of all the rookie quarterbacks starting in the NFL this season. Below that is how we have evaluated all the rookie quarterbacks over the course of the 2012 season.

Week 12

PLAYER	COMP %	YARDS	TD/ INT	AVG PER PASS	RUSH YARDS	TD	PASS RTG	W/L
Nick Foles	64.7	251	1/0	7.4	0	0	96.6	L. 38-33
Robert Griffin	61.9	163	1/0	7.8	72	0	101.9	W, 17-16
Ryan Lindley	32.1	72	0/1	2.3	0	0	28.0	L, 7-6
Andrew Luck	44.0	391	4/3	7.2	33	0	70.8	W, 35-33
Ryan Tannehill	44.8	186	0/0	6.4	19	0	66.2	L, 23-16
Brandon Weeden	69.4	364	1/2	10.1	11	0	88.2	W, 20-17
Russell Wilson	62.2	293	2/0	7.9	71	0	95.2	W, 23-17

Nick Foles -- He continues to show the Eagles were correct to draft him, though he's not necessarily the QB of the future for the franchise. He's not mobile and he doesn't make enough big plays, but he's still learning. His arm is good -- he's just got to trust it a bit more. He helped keep the Eagles in the game with the Cowboys pretty much until the end. He has problems in the red zone, but there were no killing mistakes.

Robert Griffin III -- Shined again on the biggest stage he's been on so far -- Monday Night Football against the reigning Super Bowl champs. He led his team on two big fourth quarter drives -- the first one ended in the TD pass that gave us our final score and the second one ran out the clock to preserve the 1-point win. Poised and clutch in the second half, RG3 didn't have his best game statistically, but he beat a great quarterback and still had the highest passer rating of any rookie QB last week. He also set the rookie rushing record for a quarterback -- with four games left to play! RG3 just keeps getting better and better.

Ryan Lindley -- He's terrible, but it isn't his fault. Lindley is a 6th round pick who has no business playing in NFL games any time soon and shame on head coach Ken Whisenhunt for putting his young QB in such an awful position. John Skelton gets the starting job back on Sunday so the ill-fated Ryan Lindley experiment ends. He shouldn't play again until he's made a lot of progress.

Andrew Luck -- He got tons of kudos from the national press for leading a furious comeback against a Lions team that has now lost three straight games by blowing leads in the last two minutes of regulation -- something that had not happened in 12 years. While Luck's comeback was very impressive, he was the main reason the Colts had to come back in the first place. Luck was horrid in the first three quarters of that game and I'm still trying to figure out how a pro quarterback completes only 44% of his passes against the Detroit Lions defense.

Ryan Tannehill -- Certainly not his best game, but he did what he could to keep the Dolphins close to the Patriots and the end result was a perfectly respectable loss to a vastly superior opponent. Accuracy took a step back last Sunday, but overall the needle is pointing up.

Brandon Weeden -- He continues to make progress, like his team, though playing the Raiders helps anyone look better. His accuracy is improving and so is his decision-making. There are still too many turnovers, but bigger plays are slowly coming.

Russell Wilson -- A huge week for Wilson and the Seahawks, who have been accused by many, including me, of being incapable of winning outside Seattle. They went into Soldier Field and Wilson led game-saving drives in the fourth quarter to pull out a tough road win against a quality component. Wilson was terrific with his arms and legs and showed great poise down the stretch. Sorry, Jay Cutler: the rookie Seahawks signal-caller was the best quarterback on the field last Sunday.

Weekly Winner: Russell Wilson. This was a close one and I nearly gave it to RG3 again, but Wilson proved the doubters wrong by leading his team to a road victory and Wilson himself continues to play at a very high level, whether at home or on the road. For all the media chatter about Andrew Luck, it is Wilson who has played at a level high enough for him to be truly considered the real Rookie of the Year alternative to Robert Griffin III.

(Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki, US Presswire)

2012 Season To Date

PLAYER	COMP %	YARDS	TD/ INT	AVG PER PASS	RUSH YARDS	TD	PASS RATING	W/L
Nick Foles	60.9	793	2/3	6.9	0	0	73.3	0-3
Robert Griffin	67.1	2660	17/4	8.2	714	6	104.4	6-6
Ryan Lindley	48.5	448	0/5	4.3	1	0	40.4	0-2
Andrew Luck	55.5	3596	17/16	7.1	216	5	76.1	8-4
Ryan Tannehill	57.9	2559	7/12	7.0	82	2	72.3	5-7
Brandon Weeden	57.0	2820	13/15	6.5	83	0	72.3	4-8
Russell Wilson	63.4	2344	19/8	7.4	298	0	95.2	7-5