PFF: Big Ten quarterbacks after Week 6
Big Ten QB Rankings:
1. Hornibrook 92
2. McSorley 90.8
3. Haskins 83.9
4. Patterson 83.5
Others:
6. Clayton Thorson 71.8
8. Brian Lewerke 69.5
I always thought of hornibrook as a game manager type, so this was quite surprising.
Hornibrook: "Alex Hornibrook leads all Big Ten quarterbacks in overall season grade as he has been the example of quarterback play seemingly game in and game out. Despite the lone blemish on his record against BYU, Hornibrook has put together three game grades over 90.0 and even in the loss to the Cougars, was subjected to four dropped passes by his receivers, nearly half of his season total (9) to date.
He takes what the defense gives him and throws to the spot where only his receivers can bring in the ball repeatedly. In fact, 54.6% of his passes are targeted past the line to gain, the second-highest figure in the Big Ten and only 35.3% of his passing yards have come after the catch, which is the second-lowest percentage.
Hornibrook may not ‘wow’ you at quarterback, but he also won’t put the ball in harm’s way very often either. He has just three turnover-worthy plays all season long and still averages a depth of target of 10.9 yards past the line of scrimmage, good enough for third-highest in the conference."
Patterson: "Adjusted completion percentage tracks the number of passes that were only deemed catchable upon release from the quarterback. It takes away passes that are dropped, passes batted at the line of scrimmage, those in which the QB was hit as he threw, spiked balls and throwaways to showcase just how many passes were put in a catchable place for their respective receivers. Michigan QB Shea Patterson has found his stride as of late and leads the conference with his 60.0% adjusted completion percentage on deep passes.
As we’ve hit Big Ten conference play, Patterson has actually improved his game grade each of the past four weeks (three against conference foes) and is currently the fourth-highest graded Big Ten quarterback. He’s utilized a play-action pass on 40.1% of his throws this season, the highest in the conference, yet despite the volume of play-action passes, still has a 134.4 passer rating, good enough for second.
Patterson hitting his stride is setting the nation up for easily one of the most anticipated contests of the season when Michigan and Ohio State collide at the end of the year. He’ll have to continue his upward trend and limit the negatively-graded plays as he has started to do."
Bunch of other great stats in the article...https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/college-breaking-down-the-big-ten-quarterbacks-after-week-6
October 9th, 2018 at 11:08 PM ^
Want to point out average depth per target in the conference.
Haskins is 2nd to last, only outpacing Ramsey. A full yard and a half behind Shea.
Screens, crossers, and slants with the less frequent deep posts or fades.
October 9th, 2018 at 11:11 PM ^
Absolutely agreed. But just FYI, some troll poster named B1Gfootball is about to go dynamite on your correct conclusions. Or he'll login on another username to argue with you.
Been saying this: Shea has made more difficult throws , part of the prostyle harbaugh runs. Not some dinky screen pass.
October 10th, 2018 at 12:02 AM ^
(OSU Fan here)
Um... I guess the only game you've watched is Penn State OSU game to determine how good Haskins is. Haskins is a really accuratae QB who wasn't ready to face a tough road environment like Penn State and can't run for shit, the OC decided to run screen plays because PSU decided there were going to blitz every play and the offense was having trouble communicating. Haskins is a better passer than Shea Patterson (who I think is good, but still wish he was play spread offense than Harbaugh's pro style). Also PFF is garbage when it comes to college football. How in the world does Hornibrook have the best grade?
October 10th, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^
Sure PFF is garbage and you are correct.
Look I'll make this simple. Haskins is good. But OSU fans such as yourself annointing him as THE shit need to pump the break. Haskins is NOT a better passer than Shea at the next level. Right now, may be but your scheme emphsizes short passes while M runs complex prostyle something the league does. This is the reason OSU has qbs turning into WR in the league. That is what PFF is proving.
I'm done arguing this point. Believe what you wanna believe.
October 10th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
Yeah we anoint him, because all we've had are running QBs.. so this like heaven to us. Watch Dwayne Haskins deep ball and out-route passes and tell me how he is not accurate. I'll take back he belief that he is more accurate than Shea, because I really only watch the ND and Western Micigan game, so I don't really know how accurate he is.
October 10th, 2018 at 12:29 AM ^
typical mind of an O$U fan
October 10th, 2018 at 7:55 AM ^
Please stop with the O$U.
That is the type of stuff we expect from them.
October 10th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
TCU had a lot of screens and crossers as well. They took that big shot early but after that basically stuck with curls, ins, outs (all around 7-10 yards) and a couple of deeper crossers that fell incomplete.
The big break late came on a screen as well that went for like 60 yards.
October 10th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^
Yeah, I watched the PSU game and the BTN highlights gushing over haskins rolling up big numbers on inferior competition.
To me, here is the money stats about Haskins (From the PFF article).....
He sees a significant drop in passer rating from that 147.2 mark all the way down to 46.9 when pressured, seeing the biggest dropoff in passer rating from a clean pocket to under pressure.
Now since OSU managed to get through PSU with a win, good for them. He looks great when he able to stand in the pocket, have a sandwhich, and throw to anyone (usually a crossing route / slant/ out route). The highlights will show is 1 or 2 deeps throws cause they are flashy TV snippets. But as PFF has recorded, the majority of his throws are short and your receivers gain large chunks of YAC.
Now when pressured (just like every other QB in the history of football), he panics and chucks it. Now if only there was another defense on his schedule that plays pressure D with great pass coverage........
October 10th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
Sounds like they'll get us on a some slants and dink and dunk shit, but end up behind the sticks a lot too. Just like Don Brown likes it :)
October 9th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
Dline needs to get to Hornibrook early and often. I just don’t see Wisconsin methodically winning most of the battles for 4 quarters on the road at night against this team
October 10th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
If we try and play power football it will come down to very end
October 9th, 2018 at 11:26 PM ^
I always struggle to know what to make of PFF rankings. Consider this:
Hornibrook: highest game ranking is vs. New Mexico. Lowest is vs. BYU.
Haskins: highest game ranking is vs. Tulane. Lowest is vs. PSU.
McSorley: highest game ranking is vs. Kent State. Lowest is vs. Pittsburgh.
Patterson: highest game ranking is vs. Western Michigan. Lowest is vs. Notre Dame.
There's a pattern there. To those who know - does PFF do any opponent adjustments?
October 10th, 2018 at 12:28 AM ^
PFF is not quality of competition adjusted.
October 10th, 2018 at 6:44 AM ^
Pure technical performance is more helpful. It allows you to see just how much your qb is being affected by competition level. Why would you want artificially inflated numbers against better competition? Are any pro defender going to be weaker than even the best D they see now?
October 10th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
Definitely a good point.
October 9th, 2018 at 11:35 PM ^
Horninbrook is super accurate. He has a noodle arm but he's accurate. If Michigan can stuff the run on first down, they can put Hornibrook in uncomfortable situations and hopefully force some turnovers.
October 10th, 2018 at 12:24 AM ^
"Alex Hornibrook sucks and Wisconsin sucks" - Mike Valenti today
October 10th, 2018 at 12:33 AM ^
This feels to me like it's actually a really good year for B1G QBs relative to where the conference has been for the last decade. Haskins appears to be an instant upgrade on JT Barrett, McSorley is in his third year of performing really well, guys like Stanley and Hornibrook are quite good, there's a young talent in Adrian Martinez at Nebraska, and of course we have Shea.
In other years average guys like Lewerke and Thorson would be among the best of the bunch. Not this season.
There's a lot of football left to play, but QB play looks as good as it has been in the B1G in years.
October 10th, 2018 at 12:48 AM ^
I hate it but Hornibrook is good. To many here it's like they've blacked out the game against them last year. I know they weren't gaudy stats but the kid made throws. It's not like he can't and won't do it again. With Taylor/their Oline and our weakened D line already a huge issue, them mixing it up with Hornibrook's accuracy equates to this being a tight one (unless we somehow runaway offensively, but I doubt that happens). Reading all these doubts and underestimations about Hornibrook is like reading everyone, yearly, doubting Michigan State even though it always becomes a close game.
October 10th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
our weakened D line already a huge issue
What are you talking about?? Yeah we're banged up but I haven't heard anything definitive on who's out this week. Last I heard, Solomon, Gary and Dwumfour could all play this week. Am I missing something here?
October 10th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
Agree here. Those two *huge* 3rd down throws he made last year in Madison against us felt like absolute daggers. My recollection is it was a third and long for 20+ yards and a TD pass. Sure Peters went down and it was the collective last 20 mins of game fatigue we saw throughout 2017 but those were throws I still think about considering it felt like we could have won that game. We win this game on scoring points early (history says that won't happen), Dline containing Taylor and pass rush (not sure we can count on these latter two right now either). Shutting down a Maryland multifaceted attack was good but Murrland still put up points. Crowd needs to dial it up like Kinnick (maybe pump some MC5, Stooges, Public Enemy, heck even a Rage track if you must) and Shea needs to go shoelace at night in the 1st quarter. Since none of the above might happen I look forward to an evening biting my hat and texting my gastrointerologist.......again. Go Blue. Fan 4evah. Rambling nonsense done.
October 10th, 2018 at 2:44 AM ^
Surprised Haskins or Trace aren’t number 1.
Is this just for last last week or for the season so far?
October 10th, 2018 at 7:20 AM ^
Entire season
October 10th, 2018 at 5:45 AM ^
This is suprising, I hear that Wisconsin fans have turned on Hornibrook. I have heard a few calling in to national radio show bitching about him, so to see him #1 on this list was a suprise.
October 10th, 2018 at 8:11 AM ^
Why the hell would Wisconsin fans be bitching about a multi-year starter that has led them to many top 10 rankings and B1G Championship games? Not to mention an S&P+ #8 offense (so far) this year! BYU wasn't his fault - the entire team failed to show up. No, he's not the most dynamic player around, but he's a winner. And that is why he's dangerous, because he knows how to win. Night Kinnick two weeks ago makes my point.
That said, I don't think UW's offense will be consistent enough against Michigan's defense to win the game Saturday. UM's offense is much better than last years version, and should have much better success against a depleted UW defense that isn't holding up like it did last year. If they (UW) get behind by two scores, it's over. (Ty Johnson-like returns notwithstanding...)
October 10th, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
Yeah, Hornibrook is pretty damn good. My (less than educated) observations agree with PFF; he is very accurate in getting balls to where only his receives can get them. Even going back to his freshman year he had times where he fit throws into really tight windows in critical situations. He's gotten more consistent over the last two years. There may be some arm strength issues, but for 98% of the throws he makes, he has enough. He had INT issues last year and the year before, but has seeming cut back this year so far. I've been really impressed that he has been able to keep it up while still hitting downfield throws; he doesn't just take simple checkdowns.
This will be a big test. I haven't look in depth at the stats, but Wisc right now is the #8 offense in the nation according to S&P. That's above Penn State and Clemson (OSU is #3). They put up over 400 yards on the road at night against Iowa which has the #8 defense on S&P. Iowa is interesting because while they have amazing overall defense stats, they are like 101 in the nation in TFLs. This game will be very tough. I'm hoping UM can get penetration with the DL and put pressure on Hornibrook. If he gets time, he will pick the secondary apart. Losing Duamfor really hurts this week; need that interior pass rush up the middle.
October 10th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
Who cares what PFF claims Hornibrook is garbage because one of the Dr Knowitall said so on this message board. Just ignore all those games he has won over the last several seasons.