Clay Harbor, a former tight end who played eight years in the NFL, doesn’t think Kirk Cousins will be one of the ten best quarterbacks in the NFC in 2023. Not the NFL. The NFC, where there are only 16 starting quarterbacks.
Harbor’s top ten:
- Jalen Hurts
- Justin Fields
- Daniel Jones
- Brock Purdy
- Matthew Stafford
- Jared Goff
- Dak Prescott
- Geno Smith
- Kyler Murray
- Jordan Love
The list is shocking on a number of levels, including the fact that he has Fields-Jones-Purdy ranked 2-3-4. But Harbor believes Fields will take a big leap in Year 3 and he thinks Jones will develop nicely in his second year under head coach Brian Daboll. Purdy, meanwhile, may not be ready to start the regular season as he rehabs an arm injury.
The best 10 best NFC QB’s in the 2023 season will be:
1. Jalen Hurts
2. Justin Fields
3. Daniel Jones
4. Brock Purdy
5. Matthew Stafford
6. Jared Goff
7. Dak Prescott
8. Geno Smith
9. Kyler Murray
10. Jordan Love#DaBears #FlyEaglesFly #NFLTwitter pic.twitter.com/SJtjoUoeMY— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) April 6, 2023
“You clearly must hate the Vikings, otherwise there is no excuse for this list, as it’s absolutely ridiculous to have Fields and Jones at 2 and 3,” one Twitter user responded to Harbor.
Another questionable prediction is Love at No. 10. Love could very well be a solid quarterback replacing Aaron Rodgers, but to have him ahead of Cousins, who oh by the way will be throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson again, is strange considering Cousins has clearly been a top-10 QB in the NFC since he arrived in Minnesota in 2018.
Even more eyebrow-raising is that Harbor used a lot of Pro Football Focus stats to back up his predictions. Cousins was PFF’s fourth highest-rated passer in 2021 and he ranked seventh in 2022. Among NFC QBs last season, Cousins ranked third. Not good enough to be top-10 in the NFC?
Harbor, if you may recall, was a contestant on ABC’s The Bachelorette in 2018. That was the season in which Minnesota native Rebecca Kufrin was the bachelorette and Harbor lasted just three weeks.