JTR QB Rankings: Season 23, Week 8

By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)

The final week of the regular season has come to a close, and that means that it is time to wrap up the final JTR rankings of the season.

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 result in a player earning 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. Additionally, quarterbacks cannot deduct points from the rushing index (except for fumbles). A quarterback’s running ability 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

Findings

Florida’s Jack Schmidt has had a meteoric rise up the leaderboard over the last few weeks, and it will end with his first career week on top of the leaderboard. He will end the season as the Season 23 JTR Champion.

Schmidt had a great rise in score this week, but he wasn’t the top riser. That honor belongs to Iowa’s Declan Murphy. His over three-and-a-half point improvement is a substantial jump this late in the season. Other big jumpers include Schmidt, LSU’s Tavon Moss, and Auburn’s Zacchaeus Mosley.

Three players tied for the biggest jump in rank this week. Schmidt, LSU’s Tavon Moss and Auburn’s Zacchaeus Mosley all jumped up two spots on the leaderboard.

Now, it’s time, as we always do in the final week of the JTR, to look at the best QBs in a few different categories.

Best Rushing QB

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 fumbles, fewer touchdowns, and other factors hindered them.

Best Pure Passers

These are the QBs with the best JTR Score without including rushing stats.

Most Efficient Passers

These are the QBs with the best passing touchdown percentage to interception percentage ratio.

Comeback QBs

These are the QBs with the best improvement from their Season 20 final JTR score to their Season 21 final JTR score.