Though we certainly miss football during the offseason, it’s always a good time to take a step back and analyze our plethora of data.
We’re often so busy grading and collecting data during the season that we’re unable to put a lot of the information to good use. With that said, we’ve decided to declare June as “QB Month” as we break down NFL quarterbacks every which way.
We’re going to examine quarterbacks from a number of situations before looking at each of them individually. The grades and numbers should reveal each quarterback’s strengths and weaknesses from the 2013 season.
As we go through this series, it’s important to understand the relationship between QB Rating (NFL’s version) and PFF Grade.
While QB Rating is obviously supposed to be a QB statistic, it’s actually a better gauge of what the entire offense did in a given situation. This is the type of information that is actually extremely valuable to our NFL team customers as their game planning efforts must go towards stopping an entire passing offense, not just the quarterback.
If the quarterback throws an easy dump off pass to the RB who then weaves through the defense for the touchdown, it’s certainly not a great indicator of quarterbacking skill as it is the running back and defense accounting for the majority of the work on the play. Of course the QB Rating will look quite shiny in that situation.
On the other hand, PFF Grade is a good indicator of how well the quarterback actually performed in a given situation. Whether they throw an accurate pass that was dropped, or perhaps an inaccurate one that should have been intercepted and the defense dropped, the PFF grade will account for those situations with a positive and a negative grade respectively while QB Rating will simply reflect the 0-for-1 passing.
It’s important to distinguish between QB Rating and PFF grade, though there’s a good chance they’ll match up in most situations.
After taking a look at the entire league in various situations, it’s time to break down each quarterback individually.
Nick Foles
All categories with a * are normalized so that the league average is 0.0.
Positives
• Ranked second in the league at +11.2 on passes in the 11-to-20-yard range.
• Among the league’s best on throws of 30+ yards (+3.3) and 40+ yards (+3.0).
• Graded at +10.5 on throws between the numbers and +7.3 outside the numbers on the right.
• Graded at +3.7 with a 131.8 passer rating against the blitz. Those numbers rose to a +7.2 grade and 153.5 rating when the blitz didn’t result in pressure.
• Ranked fourth with a +10.7 grade on drop-backs of 9 or more yards.
• Ranked fourth on passes lasting at least 3.6 seconds at +9.1.
• Best routes were the posts (+4.3) and in routes (+3.1).
Negatives
• Graded at -2.3 on passes in the 21-to-30-yard range.
• Strugged on passes outside the numbers to the left at -3.5.
• Graded at -3.5 against blitz pressure.
• Posted negative grades on passes that lasted up to 2.5 seconds; graded positively on those lasting at least 2.5 seconds.
• Lowest grade by route was a -0.1 on go routes.
Tendencies
• Led the league with 92.5% of his drop-backs coming from the shotgun or pistol.
• 8.0% of his passes came on scrambles outside the pocket, above the league average of 5.6%.
• Threw the highest percentage of passes at 20+ yards (18.9%) and 30+ yard (7.0%).
• Threw 31.6% of his passes outside the numbers to his right, third-highest in the league.
• Overall, 54.6% of his passes went outside the numbers, fifth-highest in the league.
• Dropped back to 9 or more yards on 38.5% of his drop-backs, sixth-highest in the league.
• 26.6% of passes lasted at least 3.6 seconds, fourth-highest in the league.
• Threw the highest percentage of screens in the league at 17.5% of his total drop-backs.
• Threw crossing routes on 16.1% of his drop-backs, highest percentage in the league.
• Threw the lowest percentage of slants in the league at 3.1%
Michael Vick
All categories with a * are normalized so that the league average is 0.0.
Positives
• Graded at +1.6 on passes that came on scrambles outside the pocket.
• Best work came on passes of at least 30 yards at +2.8.
• Worked well on play action (+2.4).
• Graded at +2.2 against a traditional rush.
Negatives
• Graded at -6.6 on passes in the 11-to-20-yard range.
• When kept in the pocket, graded at -2.6.
• Graded at -2.7 on passes outside the numbers to the right.
• Struggled to a -3.0 grade against the blitz including -3.5 on third down.
• Graded at -5.3 when throwing to the slot including -3.3 on passes to tight ends in the slot.
• Graded poorly on out routes (-2.3) and hitches (-2.4).
Tendencies
• 96.5% of drop-backs came out of the shotgun or pistol.
• Threw 33.6% of passes to 11-to-20-yard range, well above the league average of 21.9%.
• Tied with Foles with 7.0% of passes traveling at least 30 yards in the air.
• Faced pressure on 44.4% of drop-backs, would rank third-highest if qualified.
• 18.0% of aimed passes were crossing routes.
• Used play action on 26.9% of drop-backs, well above the league average of 21.0%.
For the entire set of “Quarterbacks in Focus” posts, click here.
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