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Eric Gay/Associated Press

In an NFL where franchises do whatever they possibly can to define success around their quarterbacks, the biggest stories in Week 6 were the quarterbacks who were replaced in-game—leading, of course, with Aaron Rodgers' injury. When Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr deposited Rodgers on the field in a way that caused Rodgers' broken collarbone, the pecking order in the NFC North—and throughout the NFL—changed immediately. Backup Brett Hundley has a mammoth job ahead of him if that's to be reversed.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost Jameis Winston early in their eventual 38-33 loss to the Arizona Cardinals to a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. Though backup Ryan Fitzpatrick played well enough to keep his team competitive for the most part, leading the Bucs to a bunch of second-half points, the Cardinals pulled out the win.

Finally, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brian Hoyer left his team's game against the Washington Redskins, though that was not because of injury. Rookie C.J. Beathard came in and moved the offense in ways Hoyer simply couldn't, and he'll be the starter going forward—at least, in the near term.

The top of this week's quarterback rankings haven't changed too much, except for the obvious absence of Rodgers—he's on our "Notable Omissions" page—and the continued ascent of Houston Texans rookie Deshaun Watson—a young man who's giving his team the ability to dream that its long quarterback drought is finally over.

Our weekly quarterback rankings are decided and written by NFL1000 lead scout Doug Farrar and quarterbacks scout Mark Schofield. Doug evaluates all NFC quarterbacks, and Mark does the same with the AFC quarterbacks.

Doug and Mark combine tape analysis and advanced metrics to give you a sense of which quarterbacks are trending up, which are trending down and which are better or worse than their reputations might imply.

The rankings are based on recent performance, of course, but they're also adjusted for opponent, factoring in the talent around the quarterback and considering the player's history over the last few years.

Good news for some, bad news for others. Here are the NFL1000 quarterback rankings ahead of Week 7.