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Washington Football Team: Here’s one way to evaluate the quarterbacks

By Jonathan Eig

May 25, 2021; Ashburn, Virginia, USA; Washington Football Team quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) attempts a pass during an OTA at Inova Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports
May 25, 2021; Ashburn, Virginia, USA; Washington Football Team quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) attempts a pass during an OTA at Inova Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin /

Evaluating quarterbacks

List 1:

  1. Aaron Rodgers
  2. Deshaun Watson
  3. Patrick Mahomes
  4. Josh Allen
  5. Ryan Tannehill
  6. Drew Brees
  7. Russell Wilson
  8. Kirk Cousins
  9. Tom Brady
  10. Derek Carr

List 2:

  1. Aaron Rodgers
  2. Patrick Mahomes
  3. Josh Allen
  4. Ryan Tannehill
  5. Ryan Fitzpatrick
  6. Drew Brees
  7. Lamar Jackson
  8. Russell Wilson
  9. Tom Brady
  10. Baker Mayfield

More from Riggo's Rag

List 3:

  1. Aaron Rodgers
  2. Patrick Mahomes
  3. Tom Brady
  4. Josh Allen
  5. Russell Wilson (tied with Allen)
  6. Deshaun Watson
  7. Ryan Tannehill (tied with Watson)
  8. Ben Roethlisberger
  9. Kirk Cousins
  10. Justin Herbert

I’ll give you a minute to consider your preferences…

Have you chosen your favorite?

The first method is the traditional Passer Rating. This formula was discovered etched into the walls of a cave in Altamira and has been relied upon by football geeks since the dawn of man. It uses five basic statistics that constitute a large part of a quarterback’s performance.

The second method is QBR. About 10 years ago, ESPN, being ESPN, decided that the formula for evaluating a quarterback should be approximately a million times more complicated. Thus QBR considered the defenses that were faced, the game conditions, and countless other things that only a privileged few understand.

The third method is my own creation. It relies on my ability to add and subtract and do nothing else. I take the total touchdowns a quarterback throws and I subtract the interceptions. That’s the entire thing. I think it should replace the other two methods in the near future.

Here’s why I like my way. Generating touchdowns is the single most important thing a quarterback can do.

I understand the value of game management – of converting 3rd downs, not taking sacks, scrambling for positive yards. And I realize that my method undervalues running quarterbacks, like Lamar Jackson. However, Jackson would still fall just out of the top 10 by this method.

What I would really like to do is make the positive impact of the touchdown slightly more important than the negative impact of the interception. Interceptions can be devastating, but they do not have to be.

Football teams have defenses whose primary function is to prevent the opponent from scoring. An offense’s primary function is to score touchdowns. I would guess that for every positive point you get for a touchdown, you should get about a half a negative point for throwing an interception.

But that requires fractions and multiplication, and we have already established I prefer adding and subtracting.

My method is also volume-based and it really should be calculated on a “per-game” basis. Sorry – I’m not doing that. But I will admit I eyeballed it a little bit, and it wouldn’t change things all that much.

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