By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
This might have been the best week of CFSL action I have ever witnessed. There were so many big upsets, close games, and QBs making the difference. The scores show how a few QBs made a difference on the field and in the JTR rankings.
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 | 88.851 (-5.801) |
| 2 (4) | Saint Major | Cincinnati | 86.482 (+2.027) |
| 3 (3) | Luke Cannon | Clemson | 85.475 (-0.140) |
| 4 (2) | Gunner Rice | West Virginia | 85.440 (-1.268) |
| 5 (5) | Kevin Price | North Carolina | 83.459 (-0.374) |
| 6 (6) | Leisa Pink | Miami | 81.820 (+2.190) |
| 7 (11) | Jamesyn Golde | USC | 80.050 (+3.727) |
| 8 (13) | Jay Duke | Auburn | 79.055 (+4.046) |
| 9 (15) | JK Matthews | Syracuse | 78.815 (+5.623) |
| 10 (7) | Andrei Belov | Notre Dame | 77.359 (-2.246) |
| 11 (10) | Brandon Petty | Georgia | 75.604 (-0.995) |
| 12 (8) | Greg Cooksey | Michigan | 75.497 (-2.073) |
| 13 (17) | Kolten Powell | Texas | 75.381 (+3.571) |
| 14 (12) | Johnny Ray Davis | Alabama | 73.682 (-2.010) |
| 15 (14) | Beau Dale | LSU | 73.338 (-0.604) |
| 16 (9) | Sky Sanders | Colorado | 72.878 (-4.388) |
| 17 (19) | Zeus Claydon | Florida State | 72.610 (+2.589) |
| 18 (16) | Sterling Verdugo | Tennessee | 71.560 (-0.537) |
| 19 (21) | Claude DuBois | Oregon | 68.215 (+1.096) |
| 20 (18) | Sean Keohane | Penn State | 67.563 (-3.538) |
| 21 (24) | Jaylen Tyree | Ohio State | 66.907 (+5.561) |
| 22 (20) | Windham Carter | Baylor | 63.422 (-3.967) |
| 23 (22) | Jack Schmidt | Florida | 63.398 (-2.465) |
| 24 (23) | Cole Mantell | Michigan State | 62.374 (+0.857) |
| 25 (25) | Noir Royal | Illinois | 56.171 (+0.270) |
| 26 (26) | Owen Dart | Texas A&M | 55.908 (+2.486) |
For the fifth straight week, Kentucky’s TJ Cunnington holds the top spot on the leaderboard. That extends his record for the most consecutive weeks ranked #1. There are only two weeks left in the season for someone else to catch him.
As you can tell by the featured image, Syracuse’s JK Matthews was this week’s best score improver. Despite losing the game to Miami, Matthews was brilliant. He threw for 465 yards and four touchdowns while maintaining an 81% completion percentage. The other best score improvers are Ohio State’s Jaylen Tyree, Auburn’s Jay Duke, and USC’s Jamesyn Golde.
It is normal for the player who improved their score the most to not also be the player who improved their rank the most. However, this wasn’t a normal week. Matthews jumped up 6 spots this week, to land in the top 10. This is the first time Matthews has broken into the top ten since Week 1 of last season. Others that improved their rank were Auburn’s Jay Duke (+5 spots), USC’s Jamesyn Golde (+4 spots), and Texas’ Kolten Powell (+4 spots).
There are just two weeks left in the season. For those new to the JTR, it does not extend into the postseason. So if you want to improve your score the time to act is right now. Good luck to all 26 gunslingers.
