Quarterback is the most talked about position in all of sports. There are more numbers for quarterbacks than any other position in football. One of things we’ve tried to do is level the playing field by giving you more numbers for all the other positions in football. However, with that we’ve also been able to measure even more about quarterback play than was already out there. Don’t believe me? In this week’s 32 Observations I find one interesting piece of information about each of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the league (based on which quarterback has taken the most snaps for each team this season).
AFC East
Buffalo Bills: Ryan Fitzpatrick has an Accuracy Percentage of 72.0% when he holds onto the ball for 2.5 seconds or less. When he holds it for 2.6 seconds or more, it drops to 56.7%. The 15.3% difference is the third highest in the league.
Miami Dolphins: Only five quarterbacks have a higher Accuracy Percentage when under pressure compared to not. Ryan Tannehill has an Accuracy Percentage of 68.1% when not under pressure, and 84.6% when under pressure. His Accuracy Percentage without pressure is the fourth worst in the league, but under pressure he is the best in the league.
New England Patriots: Tom Brady has thrown the most receiver screens with 22. His top targets have been Wes Welker with seven catches for 44 yards, and Brandon Lloyd with six catches for 35 yards.
New York Jets: Even when he is not under pressure, Mark Sanchez has an Accuracy Percentage of 62.7%, which is the lowest in the league.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens: Joe Flacco has thrown the ball 27 times to receivers running go routes, but he has completed only eight of them.
Cincinnati Bengals: Andy Dalton takes an average of 2.3 seconds between his snap and his pass release, which is the lowest in the league.
Cleveland Browns: More than 700 of Brandon Weeden’s 1288 yards have come from receivers running with the ball after the catch. That is 56.0%, which is the fourth highest in the league.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Rothlisberger has been very consistent regardless of if he is under pressure or not. His PFF pass rating is +6.1 when not under pressure, and +6.2 when under it.
AFC South
Houston Texans: The average quarterback has thrown 24 hitch routes this year, but Matt Schaub has attempted only 11. Of those, he has completed five which is the fewest in the league, for 69 yards.
Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck has an Accuracy Percentage of just 66.7% when he throws the ball in 2.5 seconds or less, which is the second lowest in the league.
Jacksonville Jaguars: When Blaine Gabbert is not under pressure, his average depth of target is 8.5 yards. When he is under pressure that decreases to 4.7 yards. That change is the third highest in the league.
Tennessee Titans: Jake Locker is averaging 10.4 yards per attempt when he is throwing to the left side of the field. On the other hand, he’s averaging 6.6 yards per attempt when throwing to the middle or right.
AFC West
Denver Broncos: Peyton Manning has thrown 28 passes to receivers running in-routes, completing 19 of them for 190 yards. The next highest attempts is 19 by Andrew Luck.
Kansas City Chiefs: Quarterback Matt Cassel’s 58.5% completion percentage ranks 22nd among starting quarterbacks, but his Accuracy Percentage of 73.0% is good for 17th.
Oakland Raiders: Carson Palmer has thrown the ball 14 times where it was in the air 21 or more yards. On those throws, he has completed just one pass.
San Diego Chargers: Philip Rivers has thrown 37 passes to receivers who were behind the line of scrimmage, which is the most in the league.
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo averages 7.6 yards per attempt regardless of if he is under pressure or not. Romo is the only quarterback to see his average unchanged.
New York Giants: Eli Manning is averaging 11 yards per attempt when throwing to the right side of the field, and 7.1 yards per attempt when throwing to the left or middle.
Philadelphia Eagles: Michael Vick takes an average of 3 seconds between his snap and his pass release, which is the highest in the league.
Washington Redskins: Most quarterbacks see their yards per attempt go down when they are under pressure. Robert Griffin III is a rare case where that goes up, and does so by a significant amount. Without pressure he is at 7.5, and with he is at 10.6.
NFC North
Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler has an average depth of target of 10.1 yards, which is the second highest in the league.
Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford has 8.7 yards per attempt when throwing to the middle of the field, compared to 4.9 when throwing to the left or right.
Green Bay Packers: There have been 100 throws by Aaron Rodgers this year where the ball was in the air for 5 yards or less (including behind the line of scrimmage). He has an Accuracy Percentage of 95.7% on those throws, which is the best in the league.
Minnesota Vikings: Christian Ponder has an average depth of target of 5.9 yards, which is nearly a yard less than any other starting quarterback.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons: Blitzing Matt Ryan hasn’t been a good option. When he has been blitzed, Ryan has a QB Rating of 123.9, and has been sacked only once.
Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton has been the most accurate passer on deep throws with at least 15 deep attempts, with an Accuracy Percentage of 57.9%. He has completed 11 of 19 passes for 353 yards.
New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees has seen his NFL QB Rating go up each week this season. It has gone from 70.9 to 72.2 to 92.4 to 109.0 to 110.4.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Josh Freeman is averaging 9.2 yards per attempt when throwing to the outside, but only 5.2 when throwing to the middle of the field.
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals: Kevin Kolb has been under pressure for 40.6% of his drop-backs, which is third highest in the league.
St. Louis Rams: On passes that are in the air for 5 yards or less, including passes behind the line of scrimmage, Sam Bradford has an Accuracy Percentage of just 76.7%, which is nearly 10% lower than the league average.
San Francisco 49ers: When Alex Smith is not under pressure, he averages 8.7 yards per attempt. When he is under pressure that is down to 3.8. That 4.9 yards difference is the second highest in the league.
Seattle Seahawks: There have been 11 times where Russell Wilson has held the ball for five seconds or more, and then thrown the ball. Six have been thrown away, four have been complete, and just one has fallen in the field of play and incomplete. That puts his Accuracy Percentage at 80.0% on those throws.
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