By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
The regular season has come to an end and this will be the final JTR Rankings of the season. As always, we will show which QBs were the best this season in different categories. Before we jump into the rankings, let’s take a look at how the rankings work.
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 | 88.917 (-0.237) |
| 2 (2) | Kevin Price | North Carolina | 86.914 (+1.839) |
| 3 (4) | Gunner Rice | West Virginia | 85.031 (+0.702) |
| 4 (3) | Leisa Pink | Miami | 84.702 (+0.079) |
| 5 (5) | Jay Duke | Auburn | 82.905 (+1.564) |
| 6 (8) | Kolten Powell | Texas | 82.804 (+2.428) |
| 7 (10) | Jamesyn Golde | USC | 81.356 (+1.676) |
| 8 (6) | JK Matthews | Syracuse | 79.772 (-1.397) |
| 9 (9) | Luke Cannon | Clemson | 78.290 (-1.504) |
| 10 (12) | Brandon Petty | Georgia | 77.690 (+0.871) |
| 11 (7) | Saint Major | Cincinnati | 76.180 (-4.936) |
| 12 (11) | Greg Cooksey | Michigan | 75.820 (-2.611) |
| 13 (16) | Zeus Claydon | Florida State | 75.564 (+3.030) |
| 14 (13) | Andrei Belov | Notre Dame | 74.876 (-1.021) |
| 15 (15) | Sterling Verdugo | Tennessee | 74.050 (+0.064) |
| 16 (14) | Beau Dale | LSU | 73.347 (-1.166) |
| 17 (20) | Claude DuBois | Oregon | 69.249 (+0.292) |
| 18 (17) | Sky Sanders | Colorado | 69.139 (-2.628) |
| 19 (21) | Cole Mantell | Michigan State | 68.715 (+3.226) |
| 20 (19) | Jaylen Tyree | Ohio State | 68.590 (-1.596) |
| 21 (23) | Windham Carter | Baylor | 68.191 (+5.054) |
| 22 (18) | Johnny Ray Davis | Alabama | 66.768 (-3.979) |
| 23 (22) | Sean Keohane | Penn State | 64.761 (-0.245) |
| 24 (25) | Noir Royal | Illinois | 63.528 (+6.401) |
| 25 (24) | Jack Schmidt | Florida | 58.824 (-1.526) |
| 26 (26) | Owen Dart | Texas A&M | 56.568 (-0.095) |
Findings
Kentucky QB TJ Cunnington again stayed on top of the JTR Leaderboard and will be this season’s JTR Champion. He has led the JTR Leaderboard since Week 2 of this season.
This week’s best improver in score was Illinois’ Noir Royal. His six total touchdowns lifted the Illini over Michigan State, but it also bumped his score up by nearly 6.5 points. Other big improvers include Baylor’s Windham Carter, Michigan State’s Cole Mantell, and Florida State’s Zeus Claydon.
Royal was the best improver in score, but he did not end up being the best improver in rank. That honor ended in a three-way tie this week. USC’s Jamesyn Golde, Florida State’s Zeus Claydon, and Oregon’s Claude DuBois all moved up three spots this week.
Now it is time to look at how the best QBs in different categories this week.
Best Rushing QBs
These are QBs that scored the best in the JTR 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 | Gunner Rice | West Virginia |
| 3 | Sean Keohane | Penn State |
| 4 | Cole Mantell | Michigan State |
| 5 | JK Matthews | Syracuse |
Best Pure Passers
These are the QBs with the best JTR Score without including rushing stats.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Jay Duke | Auburn |
| 2 | TJ Cunnington | Kentucky |
| 3 | Kevin Price | North Carolina |
| 4 | Leisa Pink | Miami |
| 5 | Gunner Rice | West Virginia |
Most Efficient Passers
These are the QBs with the best-passing touchdown percentage to interception percentage ratio.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Gunner Rice | West Virginia |
| 2 | Leisa Pink | Miami |
| 3 | Zeus Claydon | Florida State |
| 4 | Jay Duke | Auburn |
| 5 | TJ Cunnington | Kentucky |
Comeback QBs
These are the QBs with the best improvement from their Season 19 final JTR score to their Season 20 final JTR score.
| Rank | Player | Team | Score Difference |
| 1 | Kevin Price | North Carolina | 23.440 |
| 2 | Luke Cannon | Clemson | 21.236 |
| 3 | JK Matthews | Syracuse | 9.443 |
| 4 | Kolten Powell | Texas | 8.655 |
| 5 | Jay Duke | Auburn | 7.867 |
