By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
The regular season has come to a close and that means that this will be the last JTR rankings for a while. Don’t fret though, because this will be the longest JTR article of the year. Along with updating the leaderboard and looking at the findings, we will also take a look at the best players in different categories. Let’s get started.
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.
| Rank (Previous Rank) | Player | Team | JTR Score (Change) |
| 1 (1) | Charlie Sammons | LSU | 87.658 (-1.896) |
| 2 (2) | Noir Royal | Illinois | 84.083 (-0.431) |
| 3 (3) | Sam Dobbins | Miami | 83.393 (-0.284) |
| 4 (5) | Brandon Petty | Georgia | 80.431 (+0.928) |
| 5 (12) | Mateo Walker | Kentucky | 79.301 (+3.435) |
| 6 (7) | Beau Dale | Florida | 79.164 (+1.224) |
| 7 (8) | McKade Alber | Boise State | 78.328 (+0.419) |
| 8 (4) | Zeus Claydon | Florida State | 78.225 (-2.205) |
| 9 (13*) | Avery Ware | Alabama | 78.145 (+2.745) |
| 10 (10) | Sean Keohane | Penn State | 77.508 (+0.785) |
| 11 (6) | Gunner Rice | West Virginia | 77.333 (-1.761) |
| 12 (9) | Baker Thomas | Auburn | 75.379 (-1.375) |
| 13 (16) | Jay Duke | Texas | 75.038 (+2.097) |
| 14 (11) | Greg Cooksey | Michigan | 74.377 (-2.144) |
| 15 (19) | Kolten Powell | USC | 74.149 (+4.539) |
| 16 (13*) | Del Toro | Notre Dame | 73.188 (-2.212) |
| 17 (15) | Andrei Belov | Pittsburgh | 73.121 (-0.109) |
| 18 (17) | Ludwig Friedman | Cincinnati | 71.718 (+0.357) |
| 19 (18) | Claude DuBois | Oregon | 70.647 (+0.852) |
| 20 (20) | JK Matthews | Syracuse | 70.329 (+3.210) |
| 21 (22) | Windham Carter | Baylor | 67.366 (+0.964) |
| 22 (24) | Brantley Gauci | Ohio State | 63.885 (+0.084) |
| 23 (27) | Kevin Price | North Carolina | 63.474 (+2.237) |
| 24 (23) | Sky Sanders | Colorado | 63.154 (-2.509) |
| 25 (25) | Owen Dart | Washington | 62.336 (-0.424) |
| 26 (21) | Terry Olliff | Oklahoma State | 60.155 (-6.604) |
| 27 (26) | Kyson Carey | Tennessee | 59.718 (-1.632) |
| 28 (28) | Luke Cannon | Clemson | 57.054 (+0.332) |
Findings
The top three once again stay the same and that means that LSU’s Charlie Sammons will be this season’s JTR top QB. Congrats to him on a phenomenal season.
The best improvement in points this week comes from USC’s Kolten Powell. Powell led the Trojans to a near upset over Notre Dame this week. In that game, he threw for 595 yards and six touchdowns. Others who improved their score significantly were Kentucky’s Mateo Walker and Syracuse’s JK Matthews.
The best mover up the board this week was Kentucky’s Mateo Walker. Walker jumped from the 12th spot last week to join the Top Five this week. Other big movers include Alabama’s Avery Ware, USC’s Kolten Powell, and North Carolina’s Kevin Price.
Now let’s see who had the best season in different categories.
Best Rushing QBs
These are the QBs that scored the best in the JTRs Rushing Index.
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 | Kevin Price | North Carolina |
| 2 | Baker Thomas | Auburn |
| 3 | Charlie Sammons | LSU |
| 4 | McKade Alber | Boise State |
| 5 | Andrei Belov | Pittsburgh |
Best Pure Passers
These are the QBs with the highest JTR score without counting rushing stats.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Charlie Sammons | LSU |
| 2 | Sam Dobbins | Miami |
| 3 | Noir Royal | Illinois |
| 4 | Beau Dale | Florida |
| 5 | Zeus Claydon | Florida State |
Most Efficient Passers
These are the QBs with the best touchdown percentage to interception percentage ratio.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Sam Dobbins | Miami |
| 2 | Zeus Claydon | Florida State |
| 3 | Noir Royal | Illinois |
| 4 | Beau Dale | Florida |
| 5 | McKade Alber | Boise State |
Comeback QBs
This is the largest jump in score from their final score last season to their final score this season.
| Rank | Player | Team | Score Improvement |
| 1 | Sam Dobbins | Miami | 21.919 |
| 2 | Andrei Belov | Pittsburgh | 15.561 |
| 3 | Mateo Walker | Kentucky | 14.551 |
| 4 | McKade Alber | Boise State | 11.584 |
| 5 | Sean Keohane | Penn State | 9.935 |
