Do more QBs need a change of scenery?

When the L.A. Rams host the Indianapolis Colts this weekend, it will feature a quarterback who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory and Matthew Stafford will be there too. We often compare quarterback reclamation projects to previous quarterback reclamation projects (“he’s the new Geno Smith”; “he’s the new Sam Darnold”) but Jones’s situation is a little more unique because some are calling him the new Saquon Barkley.

Memo to Malik Nabers: ♫In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are stepped on, don’t lose your touch like Beckham ♫

Jones enters Week 4 ranked first in Net Yards per Pass (8.84), first adjusted NY/A (9.51), second in Y/A (9.3), fourth in completion rate (71.6), first in success rate (61.6%), third in passer rating (111.7), and seventh in QBR (80.8). Most importantly for Jones, he has no interceptions, no turnovers, and he’s only been sacked twice. That’s a sack rate of 2.22%, lowest in the NFL.

During his last three seasons with the Giants, Jones had a sack rate of 8.53%, 15.79%, and 7.84%. With good protection, Jones is thriving like the quarterback who New York thought he would be when they picked him sixth overall in the 2019 draft. How many “QB Busts” are players who are having their careers ruined by a busted franchise? It’s something that Stafford can also relate to, albeit on a slightly different scale.

Rams-Colts will both feature quarterbacks who were high draft picks of other teams and didn’t find the type of success that they were seeking until they were finally able to leave for greener pastures.

Stafford was a star quarterback on the Lions, but suffered through a 74-90-1 career record, 0-3 playoff record, and only one Pro Bowl nod in 12 years largely because he was playing in Detroit. The Lions have managed to clean up their reputation since trading Stafford, but we’ll never know how his career may have changed for the better if he stuck around for Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes to find out.

Instead he went to the Rams, an organization with a lot of historical success and a recent Super Bowl appearance under Sean McVay, and Stafford immediately went 4-0 in the playoffs.

His change of scenery didn’t make him a better passer, but it did make him a more successful player.

But Jones falls into the more obvious category of a “change of scenery” QB because his career was all but over with the New York Giants. It was over.

With Brian Daboll as the head coach in 2022, Jones led the NFL in interception rate (1.1%) and went 9-6-1 as a starter, reaching the playoffs and even winning a playoff game. Afraid of losing him as a free agent because they had not picked up his fifth-year option, the Giants overpaid him and eventually this decision caused Barkley to leave because New York didn’t prioritize his extension instead.

That 2023 season was the year that Jones was sacked on an absurd 15.8% of his dropbacks...