The NFL’s worst quarterbacks against every type of coverage

Complexity of coverage has expanded exponentially throughout the NFL’s history, and specifically in the NFL’s recent history. The days of the Tom Landry “umbrella” base defense are long-gone, though those concepts led the way in pro football for decades. The implementation of the zone defense in the 1960s and 1970s, the acceptance of the slot defender as starter in the early days of the new millennium, spin-offs and iterations of single-high ahd two-deep concepts in recent years, and the addition of match coverage as s staple from the 1990s to now have all expanded the picture regarding what defenses can throw at quarterbacks and their targets.

Just as offenses have never been more diverse and efficiently explosive than they are now, there have never been more different ways to deal with a passing game from a coverage perspective than their are now.

In line with that, we have studied the NFL’s best quarterbacks against every type of coverage…

…and you know how this goes. If there’s a best, there’s got to be a worst. So, here are Touchdown Wire’s worst quarterbacks against every type of pass coverage.

(All metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).

Cover-0: Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

(AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Cover-0 — man coverage across the board with no deep safeties — can bedevil most quarterbacks. Last season, Justin Fields was perhaps most bedeviled. The Bears’ rookie quarterback had all sorts of things stacked against him, and it showed against this particular coverage. Against Cover-0, Fields completed three of six passes for 23 yards, 12 air yards, no touchdowns, one interception, an ANY/A of 7.7, and a passer rating of 20.1.

In Week 2 against the Bengals, Fields tried to hit Marquise Goodwin on a mesh concept, but he didn’t see linebacker Logan Wilson dropping from the line of scrimmage into coverage, and Wilson had an easy pick. Assessing where defenders are on the field — especially in disguised looks — is something Fields will have to work on under a new offensive staff.

Cover-1: Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns

(AP Photo/David Richard)

Moving to man coverage with one deep safety, and Baker Mayfield had all kinds of issues there. In 2021, against Cover-1, Mayfield completed 56 of 107 passes for 634 yards, 433 air yards, three touchdowns, six interceptions, an ANY/A of 2.7, and a passer rating of 56.4/.

The four interceptions Mayfield threw in Week 16 against the Packers was the most he’s ever thrown in a single game in his NFL career, and two of them came against Cover-1. Both were attempts to receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, and in both cases, Peoples-Jones didn’t press the end of the route to prevent trouble for his quarterback. It’s also true that Mayfield didn’t adjust to his circumstances. He had receiver Rashard Higgins breaking open to the other side, and didn’t take advantage.

Mayfield will obviously be somewhere else but Cleveland in 2022 and beyond; chemistry with his receivers will be important in his new home.

Cover-2: Davis Mills, Houston Texans

(Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)

Mills did a lot more for the Texans in his rookie season than most expected; it’s why he showed up as our most underrated NFL quarterback. And he certainly wasn’t the only quarterback to struggle against zone coverage with two deep safeties last season. But Mills was the most impacted, completing 34 of 51 passes for 385 yards, 239 air yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, an ANY/A of 3.8, and a passer rating of 64.6. The nadir of Mills’ time against Cover-2 came against the Colts in Week 6, when he completed 29 of 43 passes for 243 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions, Both picks happened against Cover-2, which Indianapolis played very well in 2021.

The first interception happened with 12:44 left in the third quarter. Mills thought he had receiver Nico Collins over the middle, but linebacker Darius Leonard baited him with a late break to take the ball away.

Mills threw two touchdowns to eight interceptions against all manner of two-deep coverage, and seven touchdowns to two interceptions versus single-high stuff. Something for him to watch in his second season.

2-Man: Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders

(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

A handful of quarterbacks had occasion to rip 2-Man coverage (man across with two deep safeties) to bits last season. Derek Carr was not one of those quarterbacks. When he faced 2-Man, Carr completed 23 of 43 passes for 310 yards, 183 air yards, an ANY/A of 3.5, and a passer rating of 55.4.

On this attempt to Zay Jones against the Bears in Week 5, Carr found pressure, lobbed a ball to Jones on a deep over, and the ball didn’t hit the target as the result of that pressure. Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson was right on the spot for the pick.

2-Man was a tough coverage last season for quarterbacks to make consistent efficient plays against in 2021. Tom Brady and Josh Allen tied for the league lead with four touchdown passes against the coverage. Davante Adams, perhaps the NFL’s best receiver and Carr’s new primary target, had just three receptions on four targets against 2-Man for 88 yards, 78 yards, and no touchdowns. So, perhaps an uphill struggle here.

Cover-3: Zach Wilson, New York Jets

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

In his rookie NFL season, Wilson brought all the YOLO from his BYU days, without the consistent efficiency he showed in college. This had him all over our list of the worst quarterbacks for every type of throw, and here’s his appearance here — against one of the NFL’s more ubiquitous types of coverage. Against Cover-3 (zone defense with a single-high safety), Wilson completed 56 of 112 passes for 732 yards, 482 air yards, four touchdowns, six interceptions, an ANY/A of 4.1, and a passer rating of 60.6.

This interception against the Patriots in Week 2 was a mess from the beginning. New England’s defense rolled with Wilson’s boot right, and coverage was all over the place, Wilson overthrew receiver Corey Davis, and safety Adrian Phillips was one of many who could have come up with that one.

“I feel like my understanding of what I’m supposed to be doing within the offense, within the timing,” Wilson said last week at minicamp, when asked how he’s developed as a quarterback in the offseason. “Of course, there’s still improvement and there’s going to be looks where things can always be different, but I feel like just the base of understanding of what the coaches are asking me to do is getting there and improving. I’m going to keep working it until we get back here for training camp.”

Good news for a quarterback who needs to get a lot done in his second professional season.

Cover-4: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Wilson has been one of the more dangerous and explosive quarterbacks in the NFL for a while now, even in Seahawks offenses that weren’t exactly attuned to greatness at his position. One example in 2021 was Wilson’s efficiency against Cover-4, which allows defensive backs to use man and match concepts while giving bracket help up top. Last season against Cover-4 (also called “Quarters”), Wilson completed 38 of 67 passes for 415 yards, 284 air yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, an ANY/A of 2.9, and a passer rating of 62.7. Wilson is a great explosive-play quarterback, but there are times when brackets and late-breaking safeties get him in trouble.

On this pick against the Rams in Week 15, Wilson tried to get too fine with a deep pass to D.K. Metcalf. Perhaps Wilson thought that Wilson would body cornerback Darious WIlliams and safety Taylor Rapp out of the play, but that’s not how it happened. Rapp cut across to take the ball, and Metcalf looked lost in the supermarket (as The Clash might say). Had Wilson thrown the ball a hair earlier as he moved up in the pocket, it might have been a different story.

Cover-6: Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders

(Syndication: The Enquirer)

Last season, Carr was one of the most vulnerable quarterbacks against any kind of two-deep coverage. Combining his work against Cover-2, 2-Man, Cover-4, and Cover-6, Carr completed 171 of 237 passes for 1,808 yards, 920 air yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, an ANY/A of 5.8, and a passer rating of 84.2. We’ve already detailed Carr’s specific travails against 2-Man, and his efficiency against Cover-6 was even worse. Against that strain of coverage, Carr completed eight of 11 passes for 63 yards, 12 air yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, an ANY/A of -2.5, and a passer rating of 47.0.

This was an odd interception against the Bengals/ Cover-6 in Week 15. Carr was reading the right side of Cincinnati’s defense as tight end Darren Waller ran an intermediate out, and somehow, Carr completely missed cornerback Eli Apple dropping back to take the ball away, instead of sticking with Zay Jones underneath.

Goal Line: Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers

(AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

We have no idea what Jimmy Garoppolo’s NFL future is. We do know, per OverTheCap.com, that the 49ers are holding a $26.95 million cap hit if he’s on the roster in the last year of his current contract, and there’s just $1.4 million in dead cap if they let him go. The same numbers apply if head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch are able to find a trade partner — that cap hit is going to get in the way when other teams are looking to balance Garoppolo’s good moments with his profoundly average ones. It’s possible that the future is now for Trey Lance. If so, some other team will have to navigate Garoppolo’s limitations.

One of those limitations in 2021 was Garoppolo’s performance in the red zone — specifically against red zone coverage. There, he completed two of 10 passes for three yards, three air yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, an ANY/A of  4.3, and a passer rating of 79.2. Those touchdown/interception numbers seem pretty good, but when you look at all the incompletions close to the goal line, a clearer picture emerges.

Like a lot of purgatory quarterbacks, Garoppolo can alternate between being too aggressive, and too late to the draw. This red zone incompletion to Deebo Samuel against the Bears in Week 8 was an example of the latter. Garoppolo had a wide-open shot to Samuel earlier in the play, missed the opportunity, and went wide with the throw later in the crossing route.

Red-2: Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

(Eileen T. Meslar-USA TODAY Sports)

Tagovailoa’s issues with Red-2 are interesting, since he found his way onto our list of the best quarterbacks against every type of coverage when he faced red zone defenses. Perhaps there was something about the deeper safeties that threw him off, and the quick-game and RPO concepts just didn’t work as well. The tape shows there that Tagovailoa had a tendency to be erratic with his reads, and clunky with his mechanics. Against Red-2 in 2021, Tagovailoa completed seven of 12 passes for three yards, three air yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, an ANY/A of 5.6, and a passer rating of 69.1.

There are times with Tagovailoa (as with most young quarterbacks) where you wonder what the thought process is. On this red zone incompletion against the Jets in Week 15. Tagovailoa is trying to hit tight end Mike Gesicki, but New York’s defense is all over it pre-snap, and Gesicki has green all around him. Had Tagovailoa looked for tight end Durham Smythe underneath all that, he probably would have had an easy touchdown.

1

1