Post by Funkytown on Jul 31, 2017 10:31:30 GMT -6
From that link, for those who might not look otherwise:
Newton has always had the reputation of an inaccurate passer. His arm strength is such that his passes travel through the air faster than anyone else’s, meaning when he misses even slightly it looks more like a wild miss. Newton has also spent most of his career playing with limited receivers who create tightened windows while playing behind leaky offensive lines. Those are all issues but the primary reason for Newton’s reputation is our bias towards completion percentage.
Completion percentage rewards quarterbacks who throw the ball short all the time.
Take Sam Bradford for example. Bradford is actually an extremely accurate passer regardless of his completion percentage, but a big reason he set the record for completion percentage in a season last year was because of where he threw the ball. 62.13 percent of Bradford’s passes travelled fewer than five yards downfield. No other quarterback threw the ball that short that often. The second-ranked quarterback, Joe Flacco, wasn’t even close as he threw 56.87 percent of his passes to that level.
If you compare Bradford’s 71.6 completion percentage to Newton’s 52.9 it would be like comparing Jordan’s 71.4 to Curry’s 46.8. Nobody threw the ball further than five yards downfield more often than Newton did last year. An incredibly 67.57 percent of his passes travelled further than five yards. Only Jameis Winston was anywhere near him.
That means that Newton threw 32.43 percent of his passes fewer than five yards downfield. Half the rate of Bradford.
Bradford is an exceptional deep passer also so it’s unfair to paint him as someone who only relies on short throws but in general it is a problem that we call players who can throw short but not deep accurate and players who can throw deep but not short inaccurate. If you look at Newton’s numbers to different levels of the field, there is no question that he is a very accurate passer.
Newton was the fourth most accurate passer in the league on passes that travelled further than five yards downfield. His 68.46 percent mark was only beaten out by Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. Newton was second only to Tom Brady in the 11-20 yard range, he was accurate on 70.54 percent of those throws. On 21+ yard throws, Newton ranked eighth with a 49.18 percent accuracy number.
Completion percentage rewards quarterbacks who throw the ball short all the time.
Take Sam Bradford for example. Bradford is actually an extremely accurate passer regardless of his completion percentage, but a big reason he set the record for completion percentage in a season last year was because of where he threw the ball. 62.13 percent of Bradford’s passes travelled fewer than five yards downfield. No other quarterback threw the ball that short that often. The second-ranked quarterback, Joe Flacco, wasn’t even close as he threw 56.87 percent of his passes to that level.
If you compare Bradford’s 71.6 completion percentage to Newton’s 52.9 it would be like comparing Jordan’s 71.4 to Curry’s 46.8. Nobody threw the ball further than five yards downfield more often than Newton did last year. An incredibly 67.57 percent of his passes travelled further than five yards. Only Jameis Winston was anywhere near him.
That means that Newton threw 32.43 percent of his passes fewer than five yards downfield. Half the rate of Bradford.
Bradford is an exceptional deep passer also so it’s unfair to paint him as someone who only relies on short throws but in general it is a problem that we call players who can throw short but not deep accurate and players who can throw deep but not short inaccurate. If you look at Newton’s numbers to different levels of the field, there is no question that he is a very accurate passer.
Newton was the fourth most accurate passer in the league on passes that travelled further than five yards downfield. His 68.46 percent mark was only beaten out by Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. Newton was second only to Tom Brady in the 11-20 yard range, he was accurate on 70.54 percent of those throws. On 21+ yard throws, Newton ranked eighth with a 49.18 percent accuracy number.
a sack could be many things, like a fumble giving the ball to the team right there! an extra 15 yards to punt the ball shifting the field position advantage, or even an injury. Sacks are game changers, having to punt on 4th down isn't..
... and neither is this Chris guy.