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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now that Washington\u2019s Kirk Cousins and Buffalo\u2019s Tyrod Taylor have been named starters, that makes nine NFL teams that will open the season with a different quarterback atop the depth chart than the one that was considered the No. 1 at the close of the 2014 season. That number does not include either Tom Brady\u2019s life in legal limbo in New England, or Carson Palmer\u2019s return to health in Arizona after his season-ending knee injury last year, since neither situation represents a true change at the position.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But the spinning of the quarterback carousel for these nine teams, none of whom made the playoffs last year, is standard operating procedure. In 2014, all of them featured multiple starters at the game\u2019s most pivotal position, with almost half of the list\u2014four out of nine\u2014slogging their way through the season with three different starting quarterbacks. So Week 1 assignments aside, no promises or projections should be made beyond mid-September.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Taking stock of the nine new No. 1\u2019s, here\u2019s our ranking of them in terms of the potential for their 2015 success\u2014or lack thereof:\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;[Sponsored by FanDuel: Win $100K for 1st place in FanDuel's week 1 fantasy league. Top 46,000 teams get paid. Join now!]&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;1. Sam Bradford, Philadelphia&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So much for the oft-repeated theory that Bradford is at best a curious, and perhaps laughable, fit for Chip Kelly\u2019s furiously-up-tempo offense. This season, Bradford has looked as if he\u2019s been playing for Kelly since his Pop Warner days, with all four of the drives he led in August producing Eagles touchdowns. Bradford\u2019s 10-of-10, 121 yard, three-touchdown showing against Green Bay on Saturday night\u2014preseason or not\u2014was the perfect sedative for all those jittery non-believers out there in Philly Nation. If he stays healthy, and we know that\u2019s the biggest 'if' in the league this year, Bradford is going to roll up some gaudy statistics and be the league\u2019s slam-dunk Comeback Player of the Year in 2015.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;A division title and a legitimate playoff run for the Bradford-led Eagles.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;2. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200BMariota\u2019s impressive preseason showing has quieted a lot of the noise surrounding him as well. The issue of how he\u2019ll transition from Oregon\u2019s spread offense to Ken Whisenhunt\u2019s pro style attack doesn\u2019t seem quite as high a mountain to surmount these days, does it? He has been up to the task in almost every way, sees the field very well, and has rarely looked like a rookie quarterback with the weight of a struggling franchise placed on his shoulders. This kid is the real deal, and he\u2019ll quickly become one of the stories of the young season when he and the Titans (spoiler alert!) go into Tampa Bay in Week 1 and out-play and out-point Jameis Winston and the Bucs. You heard it here first. I\u2019m not predicting a Titans playoff run or anything crazy like that, but Mariota is my pick for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;With a strong first year from Mariota, the Titans find their franchise quarterback and everybody knows it.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;3. Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With his zero career starts and just 35 pass attempts in four NFL seasons (all spent behind Joe Flacco in Baltimore), Taylor is easily the riskiest pick among the nine new starting quarterbacks. But the Bills went with him over the more experienced Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel because they\u2019re focused on the potential reward. They see in Taylor a gifted athlete who can make creative plays outside the pocket and challenge a defense with his legs in ways Cassel and Manuel can\u2019t. But if the Bills think they have the next Russell Wilson on their hands, they\u2019re probably setting themselves up for a letdown. The defense and running game components in Buffalo might match Seattle\u2019s blueprint, but we have no way of knowing yet if Taylor can take care of the football and make the necessary critical third down conversions when they arise.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;Some thrills and highlight reel plays from Taylor, but some killer mistakes, too. Buffalo will keep Cassel loose in the bullpen at all times.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;4. Nick Foles, St. Louis&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I had to choose between his mind-boggling success of that breakthrough 2013 season in Philadelphia (27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions) and the underwhelming and injury-shortened follow-up act with last year\u2019s Eagles, I\u2019d confidently predict the Rams are in line for more of the latter than the former. But Philadelphia did average almost 30 points per game last season and the Eagles were 6\u20132 in Foles\u2019 eight starts, and those numbers would get a statue built in your honor in offensively-challenged St. Louis. Foles alone isn\u2019t going turn the Rams into a juggernaut, but he\u2019s a tough-minded player who will keep coming at you, and he\u2019ll fare well enough to pass as a first-year success in the rugged NFC West. If the running game and defense provide what Jeff Fisher thinks they will provide, Foles will only have to do his part to keep the chains moving.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Rams will flirt with .500 all season as Foles gives them their steadiest, most reliable starter since the end of the Marc Bulger era.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;5. Brian Hoyer, Houston&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I\u2019m in the minority on this one, but I see Hoyer as an underrated talent who has better play-making, mobility and leadership skills than is widely recognized. I know the bottom dropped out on him in Cleveland last year in late November, but the Browns started 7\u20134 with him in the lineup and I\u2019m not sneezing at any quarterback who can help deliver seven wins for the NFL\u2019s most snake-bitten franchise. Like dog years, seven wins in Cleveland is worth 11 or 12 in almost any other league market. I don\u2019t think Hoyer has enough weapons around him this year in Houston to do a lot of damage in the AFC South, especially without Texans running back Arian Foster to start the season, but with that defense as the team\u2019s strength, Hoyer will play smartly enough to keep Bill O\u2019Brien\u2019s team in almost every game.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;Hoyer gives the Texans a chance for competent season-long quarterbacking, but he won\u2019t elevate them to playoff material this year.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;6. Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pun intended, it was a break for the Jets when Geno Smith had his jaw cracked by then-teammate IK Enemkpali early last month. Because Fitzpatrick was going to wind up playing ahead of Smith at some point anyway this season, due to injury or ineffectiveness, so you might as well cut to the chase and see what the veteran can do for Gang Green. In reality though, I feel like we all know by now exactly what Fitzpatrick brings to a team. He\u2019ll be solid. Occasionally superb. Sometimes sloppy. But overall, solid. And with a Jets team that hopes to beat teams up on defense and out-execute them on a Chan Gailey-coordinated offense, that might be just enough to muster something close to a .500 season.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Jets are better off with the journeyman Fitzpatrick than riding the Geno-coaster, but not by that much.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;7. Josh McCown, Cleveland&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Browns are convinced they\u2019re getting more of the McCown circa 2013 in Chicago than 2014 in Tampa Bay, and I don\u2019t disagree. The Bucs were a disaster on offense last year for the most part, but plenty of that was due to losing coordinator Jeff Tedford to a health issue just before the season started, with unproven quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo being asked to take over the play-calling. McCown, at 36, isn\u2019t going to conjure up memories of Randall Cunningham\u2019s late-career renaissance of 1998, but as the Bucs themselves just found out last weekend in Tampa, he can still play very efficiently, as his 17-of-23, 117-yard, two-touchdown performance in a Browns rout proved.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;Much as they were for most of last season with Hoyer at quarterback, the Browns won\u2019t be a pushover with McCown under center. Alas, they won\u2019t be a playoff team either, but reside somewhere in the NFL\u2019s murky in between.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;8. Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Admittedly I might be letting Winston\u2019s uneven preseason color my projection of his rookie season a bit too much. But every time I hear someone rave about how high Winston\u2019s football IQ is, I keep coming back to the question of whether he will learn to take care of the football and make sound decisions, because if there\u2019s anything that can make a young quarterback look dumb, it\u2019s turnovers. Winston adds excitement and electricity to the game, and he\u2019ll sparkle at times this season with his penchant for swinging for the fences. But if he doesn\u2019t have enough early success playing that style of game, that tendency to alternate big plays and big mistakes can really wear poorly on a team, and frustrate his teammates and the fans. The best thing the Bucs could see out of Winston this season is a steady improvement and his learning what not to do to get you beat in the NFL.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;The much more typical ups and downs and growing pains experienced by a rookie quarterback, in comparison to Winston\u2019s quarterback classmate, Tennessee\u2019s Marcus Mariota. Five wins sound about right in Tampa Bay.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;9. Kirk Cousins, Washington&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I\u2019m fairly convinced Washington could be the league\u2019s worst team this season, so I\u2019m not giving Cousins much of a chance to avert the train wreck that appears to be on its way in our nation\u2019s capital. Cousins has some skills, a nice passing touch and a pretty good grasp on Jay Gruden\u2019s offense and where the plays are to be made in it. But his history is to get careless and start turning the ball over at times, and he won\u2019t have this job for long if he throws interceptions as often as he did last year (nine in 204 attempts, for a dismal 4.4 INT rate). Cousins won\u2019t be the biggest reason Washington struggles once again this season, and he is the best of Gruden\u2019s three quarterback options at the moment. But would it surprise anyone if both Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III each get starting shots again this season, as all three quarterbacks did in 2014?\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;What\u2019s on the way?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;It\u2019s football season in D.C., and that means the forecast calls for steady doom and gloom, with intermittent false hope.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/09/01/new-starting-quarterbacks-rankings-tyrod-taylor-kirk-cousins>