Factoid
Jake Delhomme did not play well last year. He was poor in the red zone. He completed only 59 percent of his passes. And he had the historic meltdown in the playoff loss to Arizona, throwing 5 interceptions. Had Delhomme been sharp on that night, Carolina likely would have made it to the Super Bowl (they would have hosted Philadelphia in the NFC Championship).
At the same time, however, it's worth mention that Delhomme plays with a different style that most quarterbacks. He throws a lot more to his wide receivers. (Carolina’s wide receivers accounted for 81 percent of the team’s receiving yards, No. 2 in the league). And he also throws downfield – Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad averaged 16.4 yards per catch combined, the highest of any pair of starting receivers in the league.
If Delhomme was throwing downfield more often than other quarterbacks, then it’s reasonable that his completion percentage was down at 59 percent – it’s easier to throw short dumpoffs to backs and tight ends.
Shown below is the yards per completion of each quarterback. It shows that Delhomme, relative to the other 35 quarterbacks who attempted at least 200 passes, averaged more yards on his completions than any other quarterback.
I’m not really trying to defend the guy – I think he’s got some problems – but I do think it’s an important idea to consider. When it comes to completion percentage, degree of difficulty on the throws plays a role.
Quarterbacks averaging the most yards per completion, 2008
Per Comp
13.4 Jake Delhomme, Car.
13.1 J.T. O'Sullivan, S.F.
13.0 Matt Ryan, Atl.
12.8 Philip Rivers, S.D.
12.5 Tony Romo, Dall.
12.3 Drew Brees, N.O.
12.2 JaMarcus Russell, Oak.
12.1 Matt Schaub, Hou.
12.1 Gus Frerotte, Minn.
11.8 Aaron Rodgers, G.B.
11.8 Jay Cutler, Den.
11.7 Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt.
11.6 Joe Flacco, Balt.
11.4 Kurt Warner, Ariz.
11.4 Chad Pennington, Mia.
11.4 Derek Anderson, Clev.
11.4 Donovan McNabb, Phil.
11.3 Tyler Thigpen, K.C.
11.3 Shaun Hill, S.F.
11.3 Dan Orlovsky, Det.
11.3 Matt Cassel, N.E.
11.2 Eli Manning, NYG
11.2 Matt Hasselbeck, Sea.
11.1 Jeff Garcia, T.B.
11.1 Kerry Collins, Tenn.
11.0 Trent Edwards, Buff.
10.9 Kyle Orton, Chi.
10.9 Seneca Wallace, Sea.
10.8 Marc Bulger, St.L.
10.8 David Garrard, Jac.
10.8 Peyton Manning, Ind.
10.3 Jason Campbell, Wash.
10.1 Brett Favre, NYJ
8.6 Ryan Fitzpatrick, Cin.
—Ian Allan
- Comments [0]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
