By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
Man, this season flew by! Those who have been around the league know I don’t continue the JTR Rankings into the playoffs, so this will be the last time you see them until Season 19. However, since it is the last of the season, I did include some extra content in this article. Good luck to all the QBs in the playoffs.
How JTR Works
JTR ranks players by comparison to the league average using unbiased stats. By unbiased stats, we mean stats that don’t show a preference for one style of play over another. For example, we expect a quarterback in an air raid system to throw the ball more often than a quarterback in a multiple set. So comparing the two based on completions wouldn’t be fair. Once we determine stats that we believe to be unbiased, we create a league average. Outperforming the league average earns a player positive points. Stats that fall below the league average will earn a player negative points. Points for each stat are calculated and combined with a base rating given to each player. The combination results in a player’s JTR metric score. 0 is the worst possible score and 100 is the best possible score.
For QBs, the stats we chose to use are completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown percentage, interception percentage, passing yards per game, and unique rushing index. The rushing index excludes sacks from a quarterback’s rush totals to get a more accurate sense of them as a runner. Also, QBs cannot take negative points from the rushing index (outside of fumbles). This is because a running ability for a quarterback is a plus, but not a requirement.
JTR is not a predictive metric. It cannot tell the future. It can only measure what a player has done up to that point.
JTR Rankings
| Rank (Last Week) | Player | Team | JTR Score (Change |
| 1 (1) | Loki Gunderson | Clemson | 92.230 (+0.904) |
| 2 (2) | Zeus Claydon | Florida State | 86.472 (+0.318) |
| 3 (10) | Avery Ware | Texas | 83.931 (+7.116) |
| 4 (4) | Beau Dale | Florida | 83.636 (+2.788) |
| 5 (3) | Del Toro | Notre Dame | 83.379 (+0.941) |
| 6 (9) | Dylan Shumate | Illinois | 81.272 (+3.996) |
| 7 (6) | Derrick Power | Oklahoma | 81.137 (+2.270) |
| 8 (8) | Ryan Moreland | Oklahoma State | 80.132 (+2.856) |
| 9 (7) | Charlie Sammons | Kentucky | 79.672 (+1.095) |
| 10 (5) | Ludwig Friedman | Georgia | 75.867 (-4.778) |
| 11 (11) | Topher Foreman | Michigan | 73.794 (-2.897) |
| 12 (12) | Baker Thomas | Auburn | 72.467 (-0.142) |
| 13 (14) | Cece Range | Alabama | 72.313 (+2.308) |
| 14 (21) | Shaker Mayflower | Pittsburgh | 69.332 (+4.034) |
| 15 (17) | Tony Ellis | West Virginia | 67.740 (-1.842) |
| 16 (15) | Sean Keohane | Kent State | 67.573 (-2.009) |
| 17 (16) | McKade Alber | Boise State | 66.641 (-2.846) |
| 18 (19) | Greg Cooksey | Eastern Michigan | 66.466 (-1.312) |
| 19 (13) | Ayden Martinez | North Carolina | 65.592 (-4.466) |
| 20 (18) | Mateo Walker | Miami | 64.750 (-3.096) |
| 21 (20) | Brantley Gauci | Oregon | 63.980 (-2.389) |
| 22 (24) | Sam Dobbins | Toledo | 61.474 (+1.524) |
| 23 (23) | Terry Olliff | Northern Illinois | 59.022 (-2.876) |
| 24 (25) | Owen Dart | Ohio | 58.695 (+3.003) |
| 25 (22) | Andrei Belov | Ohio State | 58.157 (-4.945) |
| 26 (26) | Kyson Carey | Bowling Green | 57.487 (+3.836) |
Findings
Texas QB Avery Ware is this week’s biggest improver with a 7.116-point boost. This moved him up seven spots (from ten to three). This tied him with the largest jump up the rankings with Kent State’s Sean Keohane.
Since this is the last JTR rankings of the season, here are the best scorers in different stat categories.
Best Running QBs
Note: Keep in mind this isn’t based on one single stat, but many. There are some with more rushing yards, but they were hurt by fumbles, having fewer touchdowns, etc.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Sam Dobbins | Toledo |
| 2 | Baker Thomas | Auburn |
| 3 | Loki Gunderson | Clemson |
| 4 | Greg Cooksey | Eastern Michigan |
| 5 | Brantley Gauci | Oregon |
Sam Dobbins was also the highest-scoring QB in the rushing metric last season. He is the only player to make the top five in both seasons.
Best Pure Passers
This is the QBs with the highest JTR score without counting rushing stats.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Loki Gunderson | Clemson |
| 2 | Zeus Claydon | Florida State |
| 3 | Beau Dale | Florida |
| 4 | Del Toro | Notre Dame |
| 5 | Dylan Shumate | Illinois |
Loki Gunderson was third last season on this list. He is the only player to make this list twice in a row.
Most Efficient Passers
This is the QBs that had the best touchdown percentage vs interception percentage ratio.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Zeus Claydon | Florida State |
| 2 | Dylan Shumate | Illinois |
| 3 | Derrick Power | Oklahoma |
| 4 | Del Toro | Notre Dame |
| 5 | Beau Dale | Florida |
Del Toro was fifth on this list last season. He is the only player that made the list both seasons.
Best of luck to all of these QBs in the playoffs and we will see you back here next season!
