FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 30th, 2019

CHRIS SIMMS RANKS HIS TOP 40 NFL QUARTERBACKS ON “CHRIS SIMMS UNBUTTONED” AND “PRO FOOTBALL TALK LIVE”

Eli Manning, Robert Griffin III, and Rookies Drew Lock & Dwayne Haskins Among Those Ranked #33-40 in the Simms Top 40 QB Countdown, Which Kicked Off This Week

Two QBs Revealed Per Day on PFT Live; In-Depth Breakdowns for Each Ranking Weekly on Chris Simms Unbuttoned Podcast

Top Two QBs Revealed on Thursday, June 27

 

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 30, 2019 – Over the course of the next month, NBC Sports’ Chris Simms will unveil his list of the top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL on the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast and on “PFT Live.”

Beginning earlier this week and culminating Thursday, June 27 with his top two quarterbacks in the league, Simms will release two selections per day on “PFT Live.”

Simms, a third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2003 NFL Draft who played eight NFL seasons, will also offer in-depth player breakdowns and rankings explanations throughout each week on “Chris Simms Unbuttoned.”

“Ranking quarterbacks is not easy and especially right now with some of the young guys we have in the league,” Simms said. “Balancing out guys that are proven veterans to guys who have young star potential like a Baker Mayfield. Where do you throw him? It hasn’t been a full season yet, where do you put him in the list even though we saw special things?”

This week, Simms unveiled his selections for the quarterbacks ranked 33-40 in the NFL:

33. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee
34. Eli Manning, New York Giants
35. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami
36. Robert Griffin III, Baltimore
37. Drew Lock, Denver
38. Dwayne Haskins, Washington
39. Colt McCoy, Washington
40. Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers

 

The rankings will continue next week as picks 23-32 will be unveiled beginning Monday, June 3 with numbers 31 and 32 on PFT Live.

The following are highlights from this week’s editions of Chris Simms Unbuttoned:

No. 40: Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers

Simms: “I think Tyrod Taylor, the reason he’s at number 40, he is a game-manager. That’s a good thing and a bad thing, but I think it’s a really good thing when you’re a backup quarterback. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a good thing when you’re a starting quarterback.”

No. 39: Colt McCoy, Washington Redskins

Simms: “I think highly of Colt McCoy…Stats and numbers and everything like that aren’t going to say the whole story about Colt McCoy…he’s a smart kid, he works hard, he understands the system…He’s one of those guys I think if he got a chance to prove himself without getting hurt a few times, he would’ve gotten a chance to maybe go to a lower-level team.”

No. 38: Dwayne Haskins, Washington Redskins

Simms: “He really has superstar potential. You’ve heard me compare him to guys like Ben Roethlisberger, it’s a very similar style of play…I’ve got an asterisk next to him… if I had to re-rank halfway through the year and he’s the starting quarterback and blowing me away, he can be in the top 20 because he has that type of talent.”

No. 37: Drew Lock, Denver Broncos

Simms: “I see big time talent in Drew Lock, and I know there were a lot of teams in football who had Drew Lock as their number one quarterback on the board. I mean we heard that John Elway had Drew Lock at least ahead of Daniel Jones on the board, I think he had Drew Lock as the number one quarterback on their board…He kind of has that John Elway, Aaron Rodgers-type vibe, Patrick Mahomes as far as when it comes to backyard school type football, he can do that.”

No. 36: Robert Griffin III, Baltimore Ravens

Simms: “He has big-time ability. He doesn’t just have big-time backup ability. He has big-time NFL starting caliber traits about his game. His arm is a special arm. It’s a conversation for one of the ten-best arms in the NFL right now…I look at him as one of the better backups in all of football because of that talent level… Lamar Jackson better watch out.”

No. 35: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami Dolphins

Simms: “Of course he’s still one of the better backups in all of football…You can count on him to come in and play football, he’s the perfect backup.”

No. 34: Eli Manning, New York Giants

Simms: “Can he still lead a team to be successful and win football games? Certainly, he can…He can still make some big-time throws. I wish he was more aggressive in his mindset in making those big-time throws. I wish he would stand in the pocket and take the hit sometimes…I think there are some higher-level backups that are more talented than him.”

No. 33: Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans

Simms: “He’s a fringe top-32 quarterback in football…You don’t lose games because of Ryan Tannehill…Are you going to win every game because of Ryan Tannehill? No, but he’s going to put you in a position more times than not that he doesn’t screw it up and he’s capable of making some big plays down the stretch to win football games.”

To listen to the full player breakdowns on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, click here.

-NBC SPORTS-