Matt Ryan: Hall of Famer?

I like total yardage for today's game.

The stat I would love to see, but I just cannot find it, is how many first downs were earned by a player's run or reception. If Julio has 100 catches, did 30 of those move chains? 40? 20? Does it vary by player?

No matter if you are running the ball 40 times a game or throwing it 60, a first down is always a first down.

 

No, it shows how one reporter views Prescott. Clearly, quarterbacks are valued far more heavily than that. Check out the way they are overdrafted every year.

I'm not talking about scarcity. I'm talking about contribution. Some positions get more Hall of Famers than others because the position is more valuable. Quarterback value has increased because more of the game hinges on their play.

 

Elias Sports Bureau used to track stuff like that. I remember one year that Steve Largent had caught 14 third down passes one year and 13 went for first downs. The one fail was by one yard.

 

Was it Jones who had a really poor catch/TD numbers last year?

 

TD catches are sort of luck of the draw.

Look at Brown, who had his worst season in a half decade last year, but had a ton of TD catches.

It’s sort of a fluky stat sometimes.

 

No, it shows, in part, how one reporter's views on the position have changed to even view a guy who had a QB rating in the 90s as replaceable. It is not his opinion of

Individual player value lies in scarcity. It is easier to put up better stats because the game has changed, not because the individual QBs are that much better than their predecessors.

The drafting thing is meaningless. If the average QB contributes (made up numbers ahead) to 50% of a team's win, and even a great running back contributes 25%, you take the guy who projects to be an average QB. He isn't above average simply because the position is more important. How teams value positions in the draft has nothing to do with the player's talent compared to others at their position, which is what distinguishes players from being all-time great, great, good, etc. You should want the all-timers to be in the hall of fame.