Grading NFL’s next generation of QBs, Week 6: Brock Purdy falls short, Malik Willis gets ‘C-‘ in limited work

It was only his seventh career start, but Commanders quarterback Sam Howell played like a wily veteran in the road victory against the Falcons in Week 6. While it wasn’t a dazzling effort, not every contest in the NFL is going to be super flashy. Howell completed 14 of 23 passes for 151 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. His arrow is pointing up. 

There was a grand total of six quarterbacks selected in the past two NFL Draft classes who saw considerable playing time in Week 6.

Let’s dive deep into the individual efforts of each quarterback and assign a grade on a per-snap basis, taking every individual aspect of their performance into account. More than 10 attempts were needed to qualify for this piece, which publishes weekly on Tuesdays.

High-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• While being hit, Young fit one into Adam Thielen down the middle for 27 yards. Throw was made with anticipation too. 
• His first touchdown of the day was a glorious strike through multiple layers of coverage to Thielen. 
• From a clean pocket, he squeezed a fastball into Hayden Hurst against air-tight coverage in the fourth. 

Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:

• In the second, he had Jonathan Mingo open on an intermediate in-breaking route but threw behind him. 
• While not horribly overthrown, on the next play, he missed long to D.J. Chark, who was open, down the left sideline. 
• Early the fourth, Young looked lost in the pocket, trying to escape and took a bad 11-yard sack. 

Summary: The game is starting to slow down a bit for Young, and Thielen’s route-running savvy is giving Young some open looks. Based on how disastrous the season began for the No. 1 overall pick, this game was encouraging albeit far from spectacular. 

Grade: C-
Season Grade: D+

High-Caliber Throws/Plays:

• Midway through the first quarter, Ridder’s touchdown to Kyle Pitts was perfectly placed in the back of the end zone. 
• While a hit from the safety knocked the ball away, Ridder ripped a high and outside fastball — where it needed to be — to Drake London near the sideline between two defend. 
• In the third he shrugged off a defender and showed off his athleticism escaping for a 5-yard gain. 
• The 32-yarder down the right sideline in the fourth was a better catch by Drake London than anything else, but the ball was well-placed up and over the tight cornerback. 
• He somehow fit an 11-yard completion into London with two defenders around the football late in the game. 

Low-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• His first pass of the game came on a flea-flicker, and he missed the wideout near the sideline down the field. 
• After the two-minute warning in the second quarter, Ridder had a bad intentional grounding while rolling right. 
• Ridder seemingly tried to throw a pick on a slant late in the first half. The corner was in front of the route, challenging it, and he threw the ball right to the defender. 
• In the third, he took a bad sack trying to roll right with a defender in his face for a way. He clearly should’ve thrown away the football. 
• Later that quarter, there was a blatant miss on a shallow cross to the towering Mack Hollins. 
• In a very careless throw, fading away unnecessarily in the red zone on third down in the fourth quarter, Ridder woefully underthrew London and was intercepted. 
• His last throw of the game, an interception, Ridder again forced a slant that was not there and paid for it. 

Summary: I liked for the second straight week, Ridder threw confidently with plenty of velocity on his throws. I did not like how careless he was with the football, and some of his misses were ugly. The past two weeks have been much better than what he had shown previously as a professional, but this was a step back against the Commanders.  

Grade: C-
Season Grade: C-

High-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• Early in the game, he ripped a long ball to Dyami Brown that landed perfectly in stride down the left sideline but wasn’t completed. 
• While being hit as he threw the ball, Howell ripped a fastball to Terry McLaurin who was open on the left side of the field. The ball needed to have plenty of heat behind it because of the deep safety converging on the throw. 

Low-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• In the second quarter, Howell was late on a sideline throw and targeted a well-covered McLaurin. 
• He took a bad sack in the third, holding on to the ball far too long and sliding directly into a defender. 
• In the fourth, Howell threw behind a double-covered McLaurin on a deep over. 

Summary: Different game from Howell than what he’s shown entering Week 6. A lot more taking what the defense gave him, and he didn’t connect on quite as many ridiculous throws down the field as normal. Altogether, though, not a bad performance for the young passer.  

Grade: C
Season Grade: B-

High-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• Purdy was pressured late in the first from his left and somehow escaped to his right for a creative 5-yard gain. 
• While taking a big hit in the pocket, Purdy lofted a perfectly thrown ball deep down the middle to Brandon Aiyuk, but the pass fell incomplete when the wideout was contacted by a Browns defender. 

Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:

• In the first, he threw at the feet of his intended receiver on a slant. 
• In the second, Purdy threw well short of George Kittle on a deep flag route. 
• Early in the third, Purdy attempted a seam shot that was almost intercepted by an underneath defender. 
• The next throw was intercepted, by Martin Emerson, when Purdy threw behind Aiyuk on an in-breaker. 
• In the fourth, he missed an open Aiyuk on another deep outbreaking route. 

Summary: While Purdy did get the 49ers in field goal range to win the game in Cleveland, this was his worst outing of the season. The rain needs to be considered here, as does the quality of the Browns defensive unit. But this was the first instance of San Francisco’s offensive line not protecting outstandingly, and even on some clean-pocket throws, Purdy was off. 

Grade: C-
Season Grade: B-

High-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• Stroud threw with perfect placement on a deep over to Nico Collins in the second quarter.  

Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:

• Stroud missed an open Dalton Schultz on a routine out-breaker in the first quarter. 
• He completely did not see a Saints defender in front of an in-breaker on a throw that was intercepted. 
• Later, he overthrew a checkdown attempt. 
• With under three to play, Stroud threw into double coverage on a slant and made an inaccurate toss. 

Summary: Stroud struggled but wasn’t completely overwhelmed against the Saints. The wow throws that’ve popped on occasion through the first five games of his NFL career were mostly not there, and he made some bad reads with wayward tosses against one of the better defenses in the NFC. 

Grade: D+
Season Grade: C+

High-Caliber Throws/Plays: 

• On third-and-long late in the fourth, Willis demonstrated his suddenness and acceleration on an 11-yard scramble. 

Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:

• In the tight red zone late, Willis missed Tyjae Spears crossing in front of the linebacker in the end zone and took a bad sack. 

Summary: Willis was called into a difficult relief appearance after Ryan Tannehill’s injury against Baltimore’s stingy defense. He was a little tentative throwing the football, but Titans receivers were covered tightly by the Ravens on many of those plays. There were some glimpses of his running capabilities. Hard to take a ton from what we saw late in the fourth quarter when Willis was on the field in London. 

Grade: C-
Season Grade: C-