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What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:25 pm
by sheajets
I think back to Drew Brees breaking the all time passing record last season and how I almost surprised myself with how little I cared about the spectacle the league tried to create. Every passing record under the sun has been under assault because of the way the NFL has manipulated the game to make it more video game-ish. And here's David Baker with white gloves for some reason (bit much) celebrating passing record #4,324 to fall. Most yards. Who cares. Walter Payton breaking the rushing record was a big deal, Brees breaking the yards thrown record...blip on the radar

For all the monster numbers and records that have fallen (and will yet fall) what passing statistics do you still revere? It could be a yearly thing (leading the NFL in X) or historical records that have been surpassed but you still consider important

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 5:42 pm
by RyanChristiansen
For me, it's completion percentage. That's been going up, too, but I think it's a better measurement than a lot of other statistics.

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 8:13 pm
by Rupert Patrick
Of the mbasic statistics, I would take yards per attempt. I think yards per completion is a very good stat also; I wish they would use it more often.

As passing stats change so much over the years, putting them in the context of the era in which they were achieved, such as measuring passers in stats like completion percentage or touchdown percentage by subtracting the league average in that category (with the player in question's stats removed) to make it a relative category. In the case of interception percentage, you would reverse it, subtract the player's percentage from the league percentage. This way, above average is good and below average is bad, and you could easily compare passers from other seasons.

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:48 am
by RyanChristiansen
In the modern era, there are some pretty good advanced statistics available, such as air yards and air yards per completion (eliminating yards after catch).

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 11:40 am
by sheajets
RyanChristiansen wrote:For me, it's completion percentage. That's been going up, too, but I think it's a better measurement than a lot of other statistics.
Yea I still put value with that, though not quite as much as I used to with so much dumping off/screen game stuff going on (as well as bigtime garbage compiling) but generally the guys at the top are going to be accurate throwers, and the guys at the bottom are not going to be

One thing I'd like to see brought to the forefront more is QB stats while under duress.

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:10 pm
by RyanChristiansen
sheajets wrote:One thing I'd like to see brought to the forefront more is QB stats while under duress.
Even for older players when we don’t know about duress, the rushing attempts and yardages are good indicators of the QB’s ability to make decisions, but you have to weigh that against other statistics to know if he’s simply giving up too quickly. Hard to tell.

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:41 pm
by Reaser
In the context of their place in history, none. I couldn't be less impressed with any 'numbers' in this era. Even Rodgers only throwing 2 ints last year, if you watch(ed) the games he was almost playing to not throw ints -- e.g. throw it away instead of trying to get 1st down on 3rd down, even if the score/situation called for now of never to try and win the game. Chose to instead play for a low interception total.

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 5:21 pm
by JohnH19
Yards per completion is about it for me. Guys who complete almost 70% of their passes for minimal yardage don’t impress me in the least. I like guys who aren’t afraid to take some risks and throw it down the field.

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:21 pm
by Jeremy Crowhurst
Agree with Reaser. It's all so context dependent that the numbers themselves really don't mean anything.

When I look at a guy's PFR page and see a ton of black ink, combined with multiple *'s and a few +'s, that does impress me. But still...

Re: What passing stats still matter to you?

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:15 pm
by sheajets
JohnH19 wrote:Yards per completion is about it for me. Guys who complete almost 70% of their passes for minimal yardage don’t impress me in the least. I like guys who aren’t afraid to take some risks and throw it down the field.
And a lot of the younger fans really hold it against some of the passers of yesteryear for what they perceive as insane interception totals. Back then you could play defense. Back then if it was 3rd and 17 you were throwing the ball 17 yards or more.