Who Threw Five Touchdowns in 2023?
A rookie, a former number one overall pick, and the MVP favourite, that’s who
Towards the end of last year I saw a tweet listing the NFL quarterbacks who had thrown five or more touchdowns this season. The list had two names:
C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans)
Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
I think this stat generated a lot of interest because of the names on the list.
Stroud is a rookie (the Texans selected with the second overall pick of the 2023 draft) who came into the league with doubts as to whether he could excel outside of collegiate schemes and systems. He has set several records in his debut season despite these doubts.
Goff, an eight-season veteran of the league, has had an up-and-down career after being selected as the #1 overall pick by the then St. Lois Rams. He was sent to Detroit as part of the Matthew Stafford trade after the 2020 season and was a key contributor to the Lions winning their first NFC North title.
Since this tweet was posted only one name has been added to the list: Lamar Jackson.
Jackson went 18/21 for 321 yards in Week 17 when the Ravens trounced the Dolphins 56-19. He is currently the wild favourite to be named MVP.
But how does this list of two QBs compare to other years?
While this season’s three is a step up from last season’s two (Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 and Tua Tagovailoa in Week 2), it’s a far cry from the 11 occurrences in 2004 (Daunte Culpepper [x3], Donovan McNabb, Drew Brees, Kelly Holcomb, Kerry Collins, and Peyton Manning [x4]) and 2015 (Aaron Rodgers, Blake Bortles, Cam Newton [x3], Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Jameis Winston, Matthew Stafford, and Russell Wilson [x2]).
The timeframe of this stat is limited based on what data are freely/easily available and/or accessible. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you spot any errors in what I have presented. As always, apologies to anyone who has already looked at this stat.