The Hawks Nest: QB Ratings Discussion
| 13
|
From: http://afraidofedhochuli.blogspot.com/
Matt Hasselbeck may be one of the most underrated Quarterbacks in the NFL. That sentence just made a few people stop reading
Hasselbeck has had seven seasons in the NFL where he started. Also his first two seasons he was a back-up in Green Bay where he threw a total of 29 passes. Matt’s on pace this season for 4,199 yards and 26 TDs, which will be his highest yardage amount of his career and tie his career high for touchdowns. His career “Quarterback Rating” is 85.7.
People are reading these numbers right now confused…so let me break this down.
The calculation of “Quarterback Rating” has been confusing to a lot of fans of the NFL. When we watch games we see graphics which show us what a QB’s rating is or we hear how great he is doing and that his rating is excellent, and most of us just gloss over it.
Why? Is it because we have heard for so long that it is a difficult and strange algorithm? Or is it because it just sounds so strange? Maybe it is because we have no idea how it is calculated.
So I did some research. I wanted to show people that the play of Matt Hasselbeck has been good (if not great) this season (and during his career). So I crunched some numbers and came up with some interesting information.
First a brief discussion of the “math” of the “QB Rating” (As simple as possible):
Per Wikipedia : “Passer rating is determined by four statistical components, each of which is computed as a number between zero and 2.375. The benchmarks for these statistics are based on historical averages. If any of the components are less than zero, they are reckoned as zero; if any are over 2.375, they are reckoned as 2.375.
- The component for completion percentage, C, is calculated as:
[(COMP/ATT) X 100-30] / 20
- The component for yards per attempt, Y, is calculated as:
[(YDS/ATT) – 3] X 1/4
- The component for touchdowns per attempt, T, is calculated as:
(TD/ATT) X 20
- The component for interceptions per attempt, I, is calculated as:
2.375 – [(INT/ATT) X 25]
The four components are then added, divided by 6, and multiplied by 100. Thus, the formula for passer rating can be given as:
{[(max(min(C,2.375),0) + max(min(Y, 2.375),0) + max(min(T,2.375),0) + max(min(I,2.375,0)] / 6} X 100
And for whatever reason the cap is at 158.3 for the NFL…so…grasp that for a while.
(Or…go to this site: http://www.primecomputing.com/ and insert the numbers you want.)
Steve Young holds the NFL career record with a 96.8 “Quarterback Rating”. But how do others fare? I will give you the “Big 3”.
Dan Marino:
Marino played 17 years in Miami, notching several records (that wouldn’t be broken until 2007) in Pass Attempts, Completions and Passing TDs. His record of Passing Yards still stands. Marino is seen by many as the greatest QB of all time even without a championship. What was his “Quarterback Rating”? 86.38
Brett Favre:
Favre is now in his 17 th year in the NFL and as mentioned above his is now the holder of the Career records in Pass Attempts, Completions and Passing TDs. He is number 2 in Passing Yards. He has 2 trips to the Bowl and one ring. Even with all of the talk of possible retirement he has come back and led his team to a one loss record in 2007. His rating is: 85.86
John Elway:
“Elway never had any sort of team around him” – A Bronco Fan/Friend of mine.
I would agree…to an extent. In the 16 years that Elway was at the helm, the Broncos had Shannon Sharpe, Steve Atwater, Terrell Davis and Bill Romanowski at one time or another. But, Elway can’t be overlooked as the main reason. With him they made the Bowl five times and walked away the Champs twice. He ranks top 4 in all of the 4 major categories: Pass Attempts, Completions, Passing TDs and Passing Yards. His “Quarterback Rating” is a modest 79.86.
So, back to Hasselbeck.
85.7. This season is 89.6. His lowest season was a 70.9, his first season starting, and his first in Seattle.
Don’t believe that he is a good QB? Do you trust Mike Holmgren? The guy who coached Joe Montana (92.26 Career QB rating), Young and Favre? He traded for Hasselbeck shortly after he came to Seattle. He saw something.
And who has he had?
Yes, Shaun Alexander has been there, but what about Receivers? Darrell Jackson was never very consistent, Koren Robinson was always in trouble and couldn’t hold on to the ball, Bobby Engram was never used effectively, TE Itula Mili only went over 500 yards once in his career, Jerramy Stevens was the TE version of Robinson. The best year was 2005 when he had Joe Jurevicius lining up outside.
Hasselbeck has been a consistent leader on a team that has had problems with receivers. He has led the team on and off the field, always knowing when to joke and when to be serious with the media. Does that make a difference?
Take a look at this season. This may be the first year since he has been here that no one has been arrested, received a DUI, indicted, gone to rehab or mouthed off to the front office. The front office should be given a lot of credit for bringing in guys like Deion Branch, Marcus Pollard and Patrick Kerney, but Matt has shown that he has a firm grasp on the team.
He ranks 10 th this season (8 th for QBs that have started all 11 games) in QB Rating behind the likes of Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Carson Palmer and Favre. He ranks ahead of guys like: Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Derek Anderson.
Matt Hasselbeck is better then you think.
