A little credit is due to Matt McGloin. It’s hard to make an NFL roster as an undrafted quarterback. He did that. Then he got on the field and actually did some things well.
Most notably, it’s nice when a quarterback can get the ball out of his hands. Avoid sacks. Per NFL rules, you can throw it away when you’re outside the pocket, so do so. Do not take sacks.
In this area, McGloin was outstanding. He attempted 211 passes and was sacked only 6 times. That was the 2nd-fewest in the league, and he did it behind the same offensive line that was a sieve for Oakland’s other quarterbacks (31 sacks in 308 attempts, which was last in the league).
With McGloin, the Raiders allowed a sack every 36 pass plays. In the other 10 games, they gave up a sack every 11 pass plays.
| LEAST SACKED QUARTERBACKS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Player | Att | Sack | Pct |
| 1. | Peyton Manning, Den. | 659 | 18 | 2.7% |
| 2. | Matt McGloin, Oak. | 211 | 6 | 2.8% |
| 3. | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 634 | 23 | 3.6% |
| 4. | Josh McCown, Chi. | 224 | 11 | 4.9% |
| 5. | Andy Dalton, Cin. | 586 | 29 | 4.9% |
| 6. | Jason Campbell, Clev. | 317 | 16 | 5.0% |
| 7. | Jay Cutler, Chi. | 355 | 19 | 5.4% |
| 8. | Philip Rivers, S.D. | 544 | 30 | 5.5% |
| 9. | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 570 | 32 | 5.6% |
| 10. | Drew Brees, N.O. | 650 | 37 | 5.7% |
| 11. | Sam Bradford, St.L. | 262 | 15 | 5.7% |
| 12. | Matt Schaub, Hou. | 358 | 21 | 5.9% |
| 13. | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tenn. | 350 | 21 | 6.0% |
| 14. | Matt Cassel, Minn. | 254 | 16 | 6.3% |
He showed some ability to connect on deep balls. Working with a lesser cast around him, he averaged 13.1 yards per completion. That was the 4th-highest in the league, behind only Nick Foles, Colin Kaepernick and Aaron Rodgers.
Part of this stat, of course, is simply a reflection of play choice. If you focus mainly on trying to gun it deep, you’ll grade out higher, even if you’re not particularly good. Note that the top 12 here incudes Case Keenum, Geno Smith, Brandon Weeden and Eli Manning. But McGloin made some throws.
| QUARTERBACKS AVERAGING 12 YARDS PER COMPLETION | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Player | Average |
| 1. | Nick Foles, Phil. | 14.24 |
| 2. | Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 13.16 |
| 3. | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 13.14 |
| 4. | Matt McGloin, Oak. | 13.11 |
| 5. | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 13.06 |
| 6. | Case Keenum, Hou. | 12.85 |
| 7. | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 12.53 |
| 8. | Geno Smith, NYJ | 12.33 |
| 9. | Brandon Weeden, Clev. | 12.28 |
| 10. | Josh McCown, Chi. | 12.28 |
| 11. | Peyton Manning, Den. | 12.17 |
| 12. | Eli Manning, NYG | 12.04 |
I’m not a big Matt Schaub fan. I think he’ll struggle in Oakland. McGloin to me looks pretty good. I think he’ll replace Schaub at some point, and he’ll probably be a more effective quarterback when he’s in there.
—Ian Allan