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.
JTR Leaderboard
| Rank (Last Week) | Player | Team | JTR Score (Change) |
| 1 (1) | TJ Cunnington | Kentucky | 93.534 (+1.118) |
| 2 (3) | Gunner Rice | West Virginia | 86.708 (-3.338) |
| 3 (6) | Luke Cannon | Clemson | 85.615 (+1.195) |
| 4 (5) | Saint Major | Cincinnati | 84.455 (-1.169) |
| 5 (2) | Kevin Price | North Carolina | 83.934 (-7.195) |
| 6 (4) | Leisa Pink | Miami | 79.630 (-6.107) |
| 7 (11) | Andrei Belov | Notre Dame | 79.604 (+3.596) |
| 8 (9) | Greg Cooksey | Michigan | 77.569 (+0.066) |
| 9 (7) | Sky Sanders | Colorado | 77.266 (-4.611) |
| 10 (12) | Brandon Petty | Georgia | 76.598 (+0.777) |
| 11 (8) | Jamesyn Golde | USC | 76.324 (-1.332) |
| 12 (13) | Johnny Ray Davis | Alabama | 75.692 (+0.710) |
| 13 (16) | Jay Duke | Auburn | 75.010 (+2.999) |
| 14 (10) | Beau Dale | LSU | 73.941 (-2.624) |
| 15 (19) | JK Matthews | Syracuse | 73.191 (+3.867) |
| 16 (17) | Sterling Verdugo | Tennessee | 72.096 (+1.816) |
| 17 (14) | Kolten Powell | Texas | 74.602 (-2.792) |
| 18 (15) | Sean Keohane | Penn State | 71.102 (-0.915) |
| 19 (21) | Zeus Claydon | Florida State | 70.102 (+6.411) |
| 20 (18) | Windham Carter | Baylor | 67.389 (-2.005) |
| 21 (24) | Claude DuBois | Oregon | 67.119 (+5.931) |
| 22 (22) | Jack Schmidt | Florida | 65.862 (+2.005) |
| 23 (20) | Cole Mantell | Michigan State | 61.517 (-3.745) |
| 24 (23) | Jaylen Tyree | Ohio State | 61.346 (-1.932) |
| 25 (25) | Noir Royal | Illinois | 58.289 (-2.388) |
| 26 (26) | Owen Dart | Texas A&M | 53.422 (-1.199) |
Findings
Kentucky’s gunslinger TJ Cunnington holds on to the #1 ranking on this list for the fourth straight week. This sets a new record for the most consecutive weeks a QB has held the top spot since the JTR was created (Season 16).
The featured image this week belongs to Florida State’s Zeus Claydon. This is because Claydon improved his score more than anyone else this week. He shot up by nearly six and a half points thanks to his brilliant performance against Clemson. He threw for 460 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. Other big score improvers include Oregon’s Claude DuBois, Syracuse’s JK Matthews, and Notre Dame’s Andrei Belov.
There was a tie this week for the best improvement of rank. Notre Dame’s Andrei Belov and Syracuse’s JK Matthews jumped up four spots this week. For Belov, this put him into the top ten for the first time since Week 1 of last season. This week, other big improvers in their rank are Auburn’s Jay Duke, Florida State’s Zeus Claydon, and Oregon’s Claude DuBois, who all moved up three spots.
There is still plenty of time for QBs to jump up the leaderboard, but the closer we get to the end of the season, the more impressive the single-game performance will need to be to improve your score. Good luck to all 26 signal callers in Week 6.
