There was a period of time when the quarterback class of 2018 did not look particularly promising. There was Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, and a whole lot of disappointment.

But things look much different for the top two quarterbacks taken that year, proving that sometimes the right situation is at least as important as ability in order to ensure success.

Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, making a surprising pre-draft run up the board before landing in Cleveland. He enjoyed a solid rookie season, passing for more than 3,700 yards with 27 touchdowns while going 6-7 as the Browns starter. Two years later, he led the Browns to the playoffs and posted a win in Pittsburgh in the wild card round and his future looked bright.

But injuries and ineffectiveness eventually derailed his Browns career and Mayfield bounced from Carolina to the Rams during a tumultuous 2022 season. He wound up signing with Tampa Bay, where he succeeded Tom Brady as the Bucs quarterback in 2023. He led Tampa to the playoffs last season, beating the Eagles in the wild card round before dropping a hard-fought 31-23 decision to the Lions in Detroit.

Now he has the Bucs poised for another NFC South title and is playing at a high level once again. He's topped the 4,000-yard mark in each of his seasons with the Bucs and has 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions heading into the finale. His 107.6 passer rating is the highest of his career and ranks second in the league behind only Joe Burrow.

The second quarterback chosen in 2018, just two picks later, struggled even more than Mayfield early in his career. Sam Darnold went to the Jets, where he infamously claimed to see ghosts while misreading coverages during a nationally televised loss to the Patriots in 2019. After compiling a 13-25 record in his three seasons as the Jets starter, he had stops in Carolina and San Francisco before landing in Minnesota this year.

Darnold always flashed ability but never established any level of consistency. He credited his time spent with Kyle Shanahan as the backup in San Francisco for allowing him to better understand offensive concepts and systems, and that has manifested itself in Minnesota.

Darnold is third in passer rating with a 106.4 mark with career bests in yards (4,153) and touchdowns (35). The Vikings are 14-2 and playing for the No. 1 seed in the NFC Sunday night in Detroit, and Darnold is a major reason for that.

Add Allen and Jackson to that pair and that's a pretty strong first-round class of quarterbacks. Only Josh Rosen, chosen 10th overall by the Cardinals, failed to make a mark in the NFL.

Unfair labels

The cases of Mayfield and Darnold should be cautionary tales for teams across the league. Clearly both had the requisite talent to succeed in the NFL but without the proper structure in terms of coaching, system and talent, even gifted quarterbacks can fail.

That's not to suggest that Mayfield and Darnold are products of the systems they play in, which in Darnold's case has been a common refrain. Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell is considered one of the brightest young offensive minds in the game, and his imprint on Darnold is impossible to ignore.

But Darnold has also played at an extremely high level, and not just because his coach's schemes are elite. Darnold has shown toughness and has always been more athletic than given credit for with the mobility to perform off platform on display many times this season. So, yes, Darnold benefits from throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson among others. But he's also lifted the Vikings offense to places it rarely went when Kirk Cousins was the quarterback.

O'Connell does a great job preparing his offense and has a feel for play-calling, which he put on display to close out Sunday's win over the Packers with bold choices to throw the ball to pick up a pair of key first downs to run out the clock. The same could be said of Shanahan in San Francisco, whose quarterback, Brock Purdy, also doesn't get much credit for his success.

But when Shanahan had C.J. Beathard, Nick Mullens, Trey Lance and Brandon Allen running the show, the offense didn't look like it does with Purdy. So, maybe the quarterback does make a difference and deserves some credit for the offense's success, even in systems like the Vikings and Niners.

More clock problems

Time management seems to impact at least a game or two every week, and there were a couple of glaring examples in Week 17. Cincinnati nearly knocked itself out of the playoffs when Zac Taylor foolishly tried to score a touchdown to break a tie with Denver in the final minutes.

The Bengals picked up a first down at the Broncos 6 with 1:39 left, forcing Sean Payton to burn his second timeout. Taylor should have instructed Joe Burrow to take a knee three times, knowing Payton could only stop the clock once. That would have left roughly 15-20 seconds on the clock with a chip shot field goal chewing up another couple of ticks. Instead, Taylor ran Chase Brown up the middle to the 1, and then had Burrow sneak his way in for the touchdown. That left 1:29 on the clock and Denver predictably drove the length of the field for the tying touchdown.

Perhaps Taylor was hesitant to leave the game up to kicker Cade York, who replaced the injured Evan McPherson. York eventually missed a 33-yarder in overtime, but to that point there were no indications that York couldn't make the kick. Only Burrow's brilliance allowed Taylor to get away with his gaffe and keep the Bengals playoff hopes alive.

The Falcons were also guilty of mismanagement in the Sunday night game. Atlanta had the ball and two timeouts with 1:19 to go when rookie Michael Penix hit Darnell Mooney for a 25-yard pickup to the Falcons 44. Instead of using a timeout, coach Raheem Morris allowed 23 seconds to tick away before the next snap.

A pair of penalties on Washington allowed Atlanta to move to the Commanders 38, but just two seconds remained at that point, so the timeout Morris still had was useless. Riley Patterson then came up short of a 56-yard field goal that would have won the game.

Had the Falcons stopped the clock after Mooney's catch, Atlanta would have had more time to move closer for the potential game-winner. Morris also held onto timeouts at the end of the first half and settled for a field goal rather than pushing for a touchdown.

Washington won the game in overtime, and the Falcons now need the Bucs to lose at home to the Saints to win the division.

Power 5

1. Kansas City (15-1) – Chiefs back on top after winning three in 11 days.

2. Detroit (14-2) – Lions and Vikings poised for showdown for top seed.

3. Buffalo (13-3) – Josh Allen continues to light up the scoreboard.

4. Philadelphia (13-3) – After one subpar week, Eagles defense is back.

5. Minnesota (14-2) – The Vikings and Sam Darnold just keep winning.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer