The best second-year seasons by NFL QBs

The Bears went 3-14, and Fields submitted a few woeful games. The Ohio State alum has a ways to go as a passer, and it is debatable how high his ceiling is because of it. That said, Fields' rushing display cannot be ignored. The Bears, after a square-peg/round-hold Fields routine in 2021, did not turn their weapon loose until an October Monday night. After that upset blowout of the Patriots, Fields zoomed toward Lamar Jackson's QB rushing record. He put together three 130-yard rushing days, carrying a tanking team bereft of receiving talent, and finished with 1,143. Had the Bears not been playing for the No. 1 pick, Fields likely breaks Jackson's record.

Although he did not end up having the kind of career 1983 first-round QB classmates John Elway, Dan Marino, or Jim Kelly did, Eason was ready when called upon in 1984. The Patriots benched Steve Grogan in the second quarter after the Seahawks mounted a 23-point lead. Eason helped the Pats score 38 points in a 38-23 win and started the season's final 13 games. He finished as the NFL's third-rated passer, with a 23-8 TD-INT ratio, doing so despite taking a league-high 59 sacks. Eason was the starter during the Patriots' 1985 playoff run -- which ended in Super Bowl XX -- as well.

Plummer's best work came in Denver, but he delivered one historic season in the desert. The Cardinals hadn't won a playoff game since 1947, when they were the Chicago Cardinals (two moves ago). They ended that drought under Plummer. The Arizona State product did not exactly shine statistically (17 TDs, 20 INTs, 20th in 1998 passer rating) but led seven game-winning drives -- including in a do-or-die Week 17 walk-off win over the Chargers -- and outdueled Troy Aikman by throwing two TD passes in a 20-7 wild card win. This 9-7 season did not spark a Cards run, however. They didn't make the playoffs again until 2008. 

The Patriots embarked on a nice three-season run in the late 1970s. A 1975 fifth-round pick who played 17 Patriots seasons, Grogan led New England to an 11-3 record in '76 (after a 3-11 '75) by accounting for 30 touchdowns. Twelve of those came on the ground, setting a then-QB record that still sits No. 2 all time (Cam Newton rushed for 14 TDs in 2011). Grogan completed just 48% of his passes (in a tough era for aerial proficiency) but piloted the Pats to a blowout win over the Raiders. They had Oakland on the cusp of elimination in a playoff rematch before a shaky roughing-the-passer call helped save the eventual champion.

The essential figure in putting a downtrodden Packers franchise back on the map, Favre showed what was ahead in his first Green Bay season. Acquired from the Falcons for a first-round pick in 1992, the '91 second-rounder thrived in Mike Holmgren's head-coaching debut. Favre's Packer tenure began due to a Don Majkowski injury in Week 3; the future three-time MVP led the team to an 8-5 mark henceforth. Favre threw 18 touchdown passes en route to the first of his 11 Pro Bowls. The Packers just missed the 1992 NFC bracket but made the playoffs in 10 of the next 11 seasons. 

Eighteen years after Grogan's surprise playoff charge, Bledsoe began a resurrection of what had become one of the NFL's worst franchises. The Patriots went 19-61 from 1989-93, but Bledsoe steered them to a 10-6 record and their first playoff berth in eight years. The 1993 No. 1 overall pick led the NFL in passing (4,555 yards) in his second season. He needed a staggering 691 attempts to get there (25 TDs, 27 INTs), but this marked the first of four Bledsoe-guided playoff journeys over the next five seasons. 

Around the midseason point, alarm bells sounded about the 2021 top pick. But the super-prospect, sentenced to a year of Urban Meyer to stunt his development, showed franchise-changing capabilities down the stretch. Lawrence led the Jaguars to comeback wins over the Raiders, Ravens and Cowboys to reach the playoffs, and after a four-INT first half against the Chargers, dissected a quality defense to finish off a 27-point rally -- NFL's the third-greatest playoff comeback. Lawrence finished with 25 TD passes -- after an astounding 2021 span that saw him toss just one between Halloween and Christmas -- in his second season and is on track to finally give the Jags a franchise QB.

Sean McVay transformed the Rams from one of this century's worst offenses (last by more than 40 yards in 2016) into the top 2017 scoring attack. Goff did not receive as much credit, but he was at the controls of this innovative attack. A maligned No. 1 overall pick after a rocky rookie year, Goff threw 28 TD passes -- compared to just seven INTs -- and jumped his yards-per-attempt figure from 5.3 to 8.0 (second-best in 2017) in a Pro Bowl season. Goff built on this in a superior 2018 slate, piloting the Rams to Super Bowl LIII.

While his reputation has taken hits, Murray displayed historic dual-threat ability in his second NFL season. The 2018 Heisman winner finished 29 passing yards from 4,000 while totaling 819 on the ground. For reference, Cam Newton's MVP 2015 season was 3,837-636. The Cardinals went just 8-8, with a late-season Murray injury -- a recurring trend -- slowing them down. But their quarterback earned his Pro Bowl nod (as no alternates were elected in the COVID-19-induced Pro Bowl-less season). The former MLB top-10 pick dotted the "i" with his "Hail Murray" heave to DeAndre Hopkins to beat the Bills.

The only full Luck season that did not include 4,000 passing yards, 2013 still saw the prized prospect lead a flawed Colts roster to the playoffs. Saddled with Trent Richardson as his primary running back and a 20th-ranked defense, Luck threw 23 TD passes and a career-low nine INTs. While Peyton Manning out-produced him during his record-setting 2013, Luck was efficient in a Colts shootout win over the Broncos. Luck is primarily here, however, for the Colts' 28-point comeback over the Chiefs in the wild-card round. His 443-yard, five-TD showing remains a postseason masterpiece.

Esiason emerged to throw the league's second-most touchdown passes (27) and post the second-best passer rating (93.2) in 1985. The '84 second-round pick compiled six three-TD-pass games and led the Bengals to 95 points in back-to-back wins over the Cowboys and Oilers. Cincinnati turned to Esiason two games in (Ken Anderson's final two starts) and beat three playoff teams en route to a 7-7 record behind its new signal-caller. Esiason made three Pro Bowls with the Bengals and was the NFL MVP in their 1988 AFC title season.

Perhaps the weirdest entry on this list, Foles had Chip Kelly getting the kind of buzz Sean McVay later received. Michael Vick's midseason replacement started just 10 games but threw 27 touchdown passes (and just two interceptions). During a season that saw Peyton Manning shatter NFL records, Foles led the league with a 119.2 passer rating. Two months after Manning's record-tying seven-TD-pass performance, Foles equaled it while piloting Philadelphia to an NFC East crown. This didn't last, with the future Super Bowl MVP traded in 2015 and Kelly fired later that year, but it was an interesting NFL stretch.

Andy Reid's first draftee as a head coach, McNabb broke out in a Pro Bowl 2000 slate to begin a successful partnership. Booed after being chosen No. 2 overall in 1999, the ex-Syracuse option quarterback led the Eagles back to the playoffs in his first year as a regular starter. McNabb threw for 3,365 yards (and 21 TDs) and ran for a career-high 629 (and four scores). He accounted for each of the Eagles' three TDs in a 21-3 wild-card win over the Buccaneers. This season did not include an NFC title game appearance, but the six-time Pro Bowler led the Eagles to five conference championship games in his 10-year run as Philly's starter.

Steve Young's career-ending concussion threatened to sink the 49ers. Garcia helped the franchise with a quick efficiency display. In his first full season as a starter, the CFL import was a top-tier passer. Earning Pro Bowl acclaim, Garcia threw for 4,278 yards (still the most in 49ers history) and 31 touchdowns. He ran for 414 yards and four more scores. Garcia's 2000 season retroactively grades as the No. 2 QB defense-adjusted value over replacement mark. Garcia helped Terrell Owens amass a then-record 20 receptions in a Week 16 home win. This is the list's highest-ranked non-playoff season.

Watson suffered a torn ACL that ended a surefire Offensive Rookie of the Year season in 2017. He took 62 sacks -- the most an NFL QB has absorbed in a regular season since 2006 -- behind a porous O-line in 2018. But the ex-Clemson phenom dragged Houston to the AFC South title and an 11-5 record, making the Texans the fifth team to go from 0-3 to the playoffs in a non-strike season since the merger. Watson's combined 4,165 passing yards with 551 on the ground, accounting 31 touchdowns in 2018. This season appeared to end Houston's search for a franchise QB, but Watson's actions during his time in Houston led to this partnership crumbling not long after.

Thrust into the spotlight because of a scary Drew Bledsoe injury, the 2000 sixth-round pick began his legendary run by leading the Patriots to their first Super Bowl championship. A dominant defense buoyed Brady in his first year as a starter, allowing him to serve as a game manager for the '01 Pats. Amassing 2,843 passing yards at 6.9 per attempt with 18 TDs, Brady finished 12th in quarterback DVOA in 2001. Given a mulligan via the Tuck Rule in Round 2, Brady made the Raiders pay during a 300-plus-yard night. He only posted 145 yards in Super Bowl XXXVI but highlighted an all-time NFL upset with a game-winning drive. This season ... not a fluke.

Cleveland's championship window opened wide in 1986. Crafty maneuvering to land the top pick in the 1985 supplemental draft resulted in the Browns being within one memorable drive from Super Bowl XXI. A Youngstown, Ohio, native, Kosar threw for a career-high 3,854 yards, led six game-winning drives and inspired this commemorating the journey. The top-seeded Browns nearly lost their playoff opener, trailing the Jets 20-10 with 4:07 left. But Kosar engineered two scoring marches to force overtime, and the Miami national champion finished that 23-20 win with 489 yards. Kosar led Cleveland to two more AFC title games in the '80s.

Kaepernick received only seven regular-season starts but made his debut memorable in the playoffs. He turned the 49ers into an offensive machine that was one goal-line stand (or one bad no-call?) from a Super Bowl title. Jim Harbaugh unleashed the 2011 second-round pick midseason, despite Alex Smith's hot start, and saw him average 8.3 yards per attempt while rushing for 415 yards and five TDs. Kaepernick shredded the Packers for a QB-record 181 rushing yards (during a dominant 444-total-yard, four-TD night), led the 49ers past the No. 1-seeded Falcons and threw for 302 yards in the Super Bowl loss. 

A 1999 first-rounder, Culpepper waited behind Jeff George as a rookie before taking the Minnesota reins in 2000 and guiding the Vikings to the NFC championship game. Culpepper threw 33 TD passes and rushed for 470 yards and seven more scores. His 8.3 yards per attempt led all non-Rams passers that year. The supersized QB threw tossed TDs, two to Randy Moss, to turn a divisional-round Saints matchup into a blowout. A knee injury ended Culpepper's Minnesota run five years later, but he delivered a memorable stretch to start his career.

Herbert displayed his well-rounded repertoire during his rookie season -- an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign -- and took another step in Year 2. The Chargers' budding superstar threw 38 touchdown passes and became the AFC's Pro Bowl starter. Yes, the Bolts' 9-8 record meant Herbert became the first AFC Pro Bowl QB1 to miss the playoffs since Boomer Esiason in 1989, but few argued the former No. 6 overall pick's credentials. Herbert flashed brightly in the Chargers' season-ending loss to the Raiders, peppering Las Vegas' defense with lasers to force overtime. The Bolts look to have made a Packers-like baton pass from Philip Rivers to Herbert.

Manning's case in the QB GOAT argument hinges partially on how long he was a top-tier quarterback. While Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger gradually emerged as such, Manning was ready by Year 2. After setting a rookie INT record (28), he helped the Colts morph from 3-13 to 13-3 and began his run of prodigious seasons. He threw for 4,135 yards (7.8 per attempt), 26 TDs and made the first of his 14 Pro Bowls. While many of Manning's future playoff shortcomings can be attributed to defensive deficiencies, he struggled in his first outing -- a loss to the Titans -- to keep him out of this top five.

The most electric athlete ever to play this position, Vick was a highlight machine in his first full season as the Falcons' starter. Completion percentage was never his thing; he made up for a 54.9 accuracy figure in 2002 with historic elusiveness. Vick rushed for 777 yards and eight TDs, none more memorable than an overtime game-winner to cap a 173-yard rushing outing against the Vikings. The Pro Bowler passed for nearly 3,000 yards and 16 touchdowns before leading the Falcons to the playoffs and handing the Packers their first postseason defeat (handily) at Lambeau Field. 

On his way to an MVP season prior to tearing multiple knee ligaments, Wentz delivered a historic breakthrough year. In 2016, he rose from Division I-FCS product to No. 2 overall pick. The North Dakota State alum rewarded the Eagles' trade-up decision by taking a massive leap from his first season. Wentz's 33 touchdown passes were second-most in the NFL, despite his three missed games. Wentz finished his Eagles career in a stadium with a statue of his backup, because of what happened after his injury, and saw his NFL standing deteriorate in the years that followed. But he deserved MVP acclaim in 2017, even as it looks like an outlier year.

Despite submitting a poor Super Bowl-winning stat line, Roethlisberger played well in three Steelers upsets to help them become the first road wild-card team to win a championship. He threw seven touchdown passes and just one interception in Pittsburgh's three AFC playoff conquests, the second two coming over 14- and 13-win teams, before helping the franchise to its fifth Lombardi trophy. Big Ben played just 12 games and threw 17 touchdown passes but led the NFL with a career-best 8.9 yards per attempt and went 9-3 as a starter. Better stats followed, but Roethlisberger delivered underrated efficiency in 2005.

Sporting a historically stout defensive nucleus that stayed healthy in 2013, the Seahawks would have seen their formula fall apart without Wilson. He is now one of the best draft picks in NFL history. The third-round choice led the Seahawks to a 13-3 record and made his first Pro Bowl after a 26-touchdown pass, nine-INT campaign (with 539 rushing yards). The short QB hobnobbed with the elites in efficiency numbers across the board and, teaming with Marshawn Lynch in a lethal read-option setup, did his part in trophy-securing wins over the 49ers and Broncos. 

Showing how losing at the right time can pay off, Burrow revived a moribund franchise upon returning from a rookie-year ACL tear. Leading the NFL in both yards per attempt (9.0) and completion percentage (70.4), the former Heisman winner drove the Bengals to their first Super Bowl in 33 years despite a historic sack count piling up. A woeful Bengals O-line becoming turnstiles (70 sacks allowed in 21 games) in the playoffs did not matter until the very end, when Aaron Donald put a stop to Cincinnati's improbable surge. Burrow led upsets over the Titans and Chiefs, teaming with ex-LSU teammate Ja'Marr Chase to elevate a team that had won six games from 2019-20.

Jackson delivered an otherworldly 2019 that decided numerous fantasy leagues and led to the best record in Ravens history (14-2). The fifth of the five first-round QBs chosen in 2018, Jackson lapped his classmates with this stunning masterpiece -- which earned him unanimous MVP honors. The ex-Heisman winner smashed Vick's single-season QB rushing record by gliding for 1,206 yards and powering the Ravens to break a 41-year-old NFL team single-season rushing record. Jackson still led the NFL in TD passes (36), despite mediocre weaponry. It has not quite been this good since, but Jackson remains a unique talent.

Now a two-time MVP, Mahomes signaled one of the NFL's most remarkable ascents was on tap in 2018. The 2017 first-round pick took the Chiefs from reliably good to Super Bowl-ready in his first year as a starter, becoming the third quarterback to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season. The runaway MVP added 5,097 passing yards and guided a defensively deficient Chiefs team to the AFC's top seed. The Patriots subdued Mahomes in the first half of the AFC title game, but he scorched Bill Belichick's defense in the second half of a loss that showed a New England-to-Kansas City baton pass was coming. A year later, Mahomes finished that mission.

Warner going from Northern Iowa to Hy-Vee to the Arena League to preseason backup to Super Bowl XXXIV MVP represents one of the greatest rises in NFL history. They finally got around to making a movie about it. Stepping into Trent Green's would-be role, Warner captivated the football world in 1999 by throwing 41 touchdown passes and leading/creating Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" offense. He won the first of his two MVPs and showed the Rams -- 4-12 in 1998 -- were the class of the NFL in 1999. Warner threw five TDs in a Round 2 rout of the Vikings, and after edging the Bucs, the Rams saw their unlikely superstar bombard the Titans with a then-Super Bowl-record 414 yards. 

This remains the NFL passing zenith, despite the records having fallen. Marino's 48 touchdown passes broke a 21-year-old record by 12. Only three other teams scored  that many touchdowns in 1984. Marino added 5,084 passing yards, which stood as the record for 20 years, and captured MVP acclaim. The Dolphins went 14-2 without a reliable running game. Marino rendered that irrelevant until the very end, adding seven TD passes in Miami's two playoff wins. Don Shula's prized pupil did not win it all like Warner, but he had to face an all-time Super Bowl opponent in the '84 49ers. Marino grabbed the throne as the quarterback of the moment, being named a first-team All-Pro in 1985 and '86 as well.