By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
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.
Rankings
| Rank (Last Week) | Player | Team | JTR Score (Change) |
| 1 (2) | TJ Cunnington | Kentucky | 97.925 (+12.347) |
| 2 (1) | Gunner Rice | West Virginia | 97.686 (-1.517) |
| 3 (3) | Kevin Price | North Carolina | 96.180 (+13.599) |
| 4 (7) | Luke Cannon | Clemson | 82.150 (+13.376) |
| 5 (4) | Saint Major | Cincinnati | 81.735 (+5.901) |
| 6 (5) | Zeus Claydon | Florida State | 81.510 (+5.986) |
| 7 (12) | Beau Dale | LSU | 79.985 (+16.760) |
| 8 (6) | Leisa Pink | Miami | 79.755 (+4.796) |
| 9 (14) | Cole Mantell | Michigan State | 77.680 (+17.543) |
| 10 (13) | Greg Cooksey | Michigan | 77.272 (+16.107) |
| 11 (21) | Andrei Belov | Notre Dame | 74.213 (+19.039) |
| 12 (8) | Jamesyn Golde | USC | 72.272 (+6.278) |
| 13 (10) | Johnny Ray Davis | Alabama | 71.934 (+6.366) |
| 14 (15) | Windham Carter | Baylor | 71.611 (+11.679) |
| 15 (22) | Jay Duke | Auburn | 71.126 (+19.613) |
| 16 (9) | Jack Schmidt | Florida | 69.273 (+3.459) |
| 17 (16) | Jaylen Tyree | Ohio State | 68.671 (+9.637) |
| 18 (17) | Sky Sanders | Colorado | 68.622 (+9.889) |
| 19 (23) | Brandon Petty | Georgia | 68.310 (+17.642) |
| 20 (11) | Sean Keohane | Penn State | 65.195 (+0.434) |
| 21 (20) | JK Matthews | Syracuse | 64.819 (+8.676) |
| 22 (19) | Sterling Verdugo | Tennessee | 63.972 (+7.567) |
| 23 (18) | Kolten Powell | Texas | 61.224 (+4.095) |
| 24 (25) | Noir Royal | Illinois | 57.708 (+17.718) |
| 25 (26) | Claude DuBois | Oregon | 56.853 (+27.409) |
| 26 (24) | Owen Dart | Texas A&M | 56.096 (+15.365) |
Findings
As you can see from the JTR Rankings, scores shot up across the board. This is normal in Week 2. As I stated last week, the base score given to each player is ten points lower in the first week. This is to keep all scores below 100 points. They increase by 10 in the second week as the stats become closer. This is something we have done every year with the JTR.
This means that a score increase of less than 10 points is actually a score decrease. This is the only week that the base score will change.
This week Kentucky’s Freshman QB TJ Cunnington stole the top spot away from West Virginia’s Gunner Rice. This is Cunnington’s first time being on top of the JTR leaderboard.
The largest increase in score (and therefore earning the featured photo) is Oregon’s Claude DuBois. After a rough start in the first week, DuBois charged back heavily against Michigan State. While his numbers from that game are not jaw-dropping, they did dig himself out of a big hole in almost every key stat. DuBois added nearly 30 points this week. Other big movers include Auburn’s Jay Duke (+19.613) and Notre Dame’s Andrei Belov (+19.039).
While DuBois earned the largest increase in score, he didn’t earn the title of this week’s biggest mover up the leaderboard. That honor was earned by Notre Dame’s Andrei Belov. Belov jumped 10 spots up the JTR Rankings, which is one of the largest jumps this leaderboard has ever seen. Other big movers include Duke (up 7 spots), LSU’s Beau Dale (up 5 spots), and Michigan State’s Cole Mantell (up 5 spots).
If you are happy with your score, keep up the great work. If you are not, don’t fret. The season is still young and there is plenty of time for this leaderboard to change drastically.
