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The football analysis site, Pro Football Focus is at it again, crunching the kind of numbers that don't show up in a stat line. This time they have collected data and handed out grades for each quarterback with regard to throwing to the left, right, and middle of the field. And there were some pretty interesting results.
The left and right sides of the field would be outside the numbers with the middle being inside the numbers.
These results are for 2013 only so don't speak highly of Matt Schaub, as one might expect after the abysmal season he had. They show you just how bad it was for this once top ten mainstay quarterback.
But as bad as Schaub was last season, the Raiders' quarterback situation wasn't much better. But make no mistake, it was better.
When looking at the data PFF collected, Schaub was among the worst in the NFL at throwing to all three areas - left, right, and middle. Matt McGloin and Terrelle Pryor were among the worst in passing to the left and middle.
The only good news - and it may be surprising to some - is McGloin was among the better quarterbacks in the NFL in passes to the right side of the field. He was ranked 14 among starting quarterbacks last season according to PFF's grading system with a positive grade of 5.4. Where he did the best was yards per attempt which was an impressive 9.7. That was best in the entire NFL to the right side of the field. Impressive for anyone, let alone an undrafted rookie. But that was the only real good news.
For a comparison, Matt Schaub and Terrelle Pryor were both at the bottom of the NFL in throws to the right side. Among some 40 starters listed, Schaub was in the bottom six and Terrelle Pryor was second from the worst.
The left and middle of the field offered no good news for any of those three. Schaub, Pryor, and McGloin were in the bottom ten in throws to the middle of the field. And the three were in the bottom 12 in throws to the left. Just Pryor managed to stay out of the bottom ten thanks to a completion percentage of 65.3% to the left and an accuracy percentage of 73.5%.
The worst numbers from the three were Schaub's TD percentage to the left of 0.0%. As in he didn't throw a single touchdown to the left side of the field. The only other QB to do that was the Vikings' Christian Ponder. By comparison, McGloin had a 2.4% and Pryor a 2.0%. Still pretty bad but it at least happened.
The middle of the field was by far the worst for McGloin when compared to other starters He ranked second worst in the NFL ahead of only Jets rookie, Geno Smith.
McGloin's worst stat was his yards per attempt to the middle of the field of 6.7 and his success percentage of 38.5. Both figures were bottom five in the NFL. The only quarterbacks who had numbers that bad in both categories were Bills QB Thaddeus Lewis (6.3 ypa, 37.2% success) and Redskins QB Kirk Cousins (6.3 ypa, 37.2% success) - neither of whom are starters (but also not rookies).
Schaub's best number was his 70.4% completions to the right. That was good for fifth in the NFL throwing to the right.
Also, while Schaub didn't have a good interception percentage to any side of the field, it wasn't quite as terrible as one might think considering the press he got for his interceptions last season. It hovered between 4-5% in each area with several others having much worse percentages in each area. That includes Terrelle Pryor who had a worse int percentage to across the board -- 5.3% to the right, 4.8% to the middle, and 5.3% to the right.
As far as who had their best and worst QB ratings to the different parts of the field it looked like this:
Matt Schaub - Best middle 86.2, worst left 53.6, (right 85.8)
Matt McGloin - Best left 87.9, worst middle 78.3, (right 82.5)
Terrelle Pryor - Best middle 84.6, worst right 54.4, (left 84.3)
As you can see, the best QB rating of all of them was Matt McGloin throwing to the left (87.9). The worst of all was Schaub going to the left (53.6). Pryor's numbers only matter for a basis of comparison at this point as he is no longer with the Raiders but going to the right was his worst which is a bit odd considering that was the side he seemed to favor.
When looking at the overall numbers, McGloin had a better season overall of the three. His QB rating never dipped below 78.3 and his completion percentage never dipped below 50%. Though Schaub's completion percentage was the best of the three and pretty good across the board at 64% and even his worst percentage of 55.6% to the left was still not all that bad.
Just some interesting info for those of us actually interested in these little details.
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