SportsCrack Blog

Monday, October 29, 2007

WHAT DO THESE GUYS HAVE IN COMMON?
Question: What do Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Todd Boeckman, Graham Harrell, Brian Brohm, Colt Brennan, Dennis Dixon, Pat White, Blake Joseph, Rudy Carpenter, Paul Smith, Ben Mauk, Cullen Harper, Taylor Tharp, Mike Teel, Chase Daniel, Andre' Woodson, Todd Reesing, Chase Holbrook, Trevor Vittatoe, Kyle Wright, Zac Robinson, Dwight Dasher, Brian Johnson, Bernard Morris, Colt McCoy, Nate Davis, Case Keenum, Alex Brink, Willie Tuitama, Dan LeFevour, Donovan Porterie,Drew Willy Buffalo, Brian Hoyer, T.J. Yates, Curtis Painter, Caleb Hanie, Kellen Lewis, Adam Tafralis, Thaddeus Lewis, Sam Keller, Erik Ainge, Tyler Donovan, Tyler Lorenzen, Patrick Pinkney, and Max Hall all have in common?

Answer: They are the 53 NCAA starting quarterbacks who have a better QB Rating than Matt Ryan this season.


And yet this guy is now being touted as one of the leading contenders for the Heisman Trophy according to SI.com, CBSSportsline, ESPN, USA Today, and Scout.com just to name a few. It would be one thing if Ryan was a dual threat QB who was also beating teams with his runs or another thing if he was beating the top teams in the nation but he has done neither. So then why is Ryan the favorite?

The unfortunate answer is because Boston College is undefeated and they are a, and I say this with extreme ridicule because there hasn't been one in decades, a Northeast power team where most of the big media outlets are located. Don't get me wrong, Ryan is a good quarterback and could be a really good pro. But the Heisman Trophy should go to the best player in the country and clearly Ryan isn't. I've watched him play 5 times this season and he has played good in one game(the Georgia Tech game), average in the Notre Dame game, and terrible in 3 others (NC State, Virginia Tech, and Army).

So when the ESPN "experts" tell you Matt Ryan is now the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy you can laugh it off and wonder if he is indeed the Heisman leader than what does it make the 53 other quarterbacks who are statiscally better than him this season?

I will let you decide.

When contacted about his Heisman chances, Ryan reacted unfavorably on camera...

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

boston blows

Anonymous said...

There may be some good reasons to pick apart Ryan (and a lot of good reasons to support him) but QB rating shouldn't be one of them. it is a ridiculous stat that has no consideration for winning football games, which last time I checked was the way that all quarterback are ultimately judged.

Phil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Phil said...

This is probably blatant homerism, but QB Rating is a stupid stat.

Let me know when you make a post calling the Jets stupid for benching Chad Pennington when he's "statistically better" than Eli Manning, Jason Campbell, Vince Young, Jay Cutler, and Drew Brees, a bunch of quarterbacks who are in no danger of getting benched.

Anonymous said...

I'll give you a full minute to explain the QB rating..............

OK now tell me why this stat matters

Anonymous said...

anytime you hear anyone cite QB rating as a serious factor in evaluating a QB's ability...click off. No time to go into detail but consider just this nugget: Marc Bulger has a better all time QB rating than Marino, Starr, Stabler, Unitas, Aikman, Jim Kelly and Namath. Nuff said.

Eric (Extra P.) said...

Gino Toretta won a Heisman once. Let the kid have it. Nobody gives a shit.

B-C said...

If QB rating is the main criterion for your judgement, I guess whoever starts at Texas Tech and Hawaii will be the odds on favorite every August.

SectionKK said...

I live in Boston, and to say that the reason Ryan is getting this much attention is because he is playing in a big market is ridiculous. BC is currently 4th or 5th on the sports totem poll in town after the Red Sox, Patriots, Red Sox and the Celtics. And the Red Sox. The BC-Virginia Tech game only made the front page of the Globe sports section on Friday because the Globe devoted an entire seperate section to the Red Sox. Also, speaking as a Jets fan (echoing the above comment about Pennington), QB rating is dumb stat. Winning is all that matters.

Anonymous said...

will anyone who craps on qb rating name a better stat to measure matt ryan's performance against these other dudes? because it does take into account things like TDs, INTs, Yards, and completion %. And last I checked, those were important to being a good qb.

and don't say "wins." it's really gay when people do that.

Anonymous said...

Yes, winning is all that matters. That's why Rex Grossman was the NFC's best quarterback last year.

Cecilio's Scribe said...

Agree wholeheartedly in the spirit of the post. QB rating discussion aside, Heisman is supposed to go the best player in college football...not the most valuable...not the one on the team with the best record...the best player. Does it always work that way? Of course not...but if we even attempt to look at it that way, and you've watched Ryan play, you cannot seriously discuss him and "Heisman" in the same sentence. And, no, the fourth quarter of one game in Blacksburg doesn't mean a thing to me.

A Heisman-type player should jump off the screen when you're watching. Ryan hasn't for me...ever. The following guys...albeit flawed...have..at various times: Tebow, Woodson, McFadden, Ray Rice, Dixon, Slaton...they've also looked like garbage at other times. difference is i've yet to see Ryan elicit a similar reaction having watched him.

jmanzo86 said...

to say he played "terribly" against va tech, is mildly retarded, but maybe you changed the channel at around 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter

Matt Fairchild (matt@sportscrack.com) said...

Just for those people who don't know, here is how you calculate QB rating in college football:

{ (yards) + (touchdowns) - (interceptions) + (completions) } / attempts

I agree that a QB's rating shouldn't be the only criteria for determining a player's worth, but I think the stat points out that Ryan could be replaced and Boston College would still be a good team.

Matt Fairchild (matt@sportscrack.com) said...

Jmanzo, I watched the whole game, he was awful till the last two minutes of the game. But I guess if you have two good drives it should totally erase the memory of the rest of the game where you did nothing to help your team win.

We might as well give the MVP to the defense for holding VA Tech to 10 points or the guy who fumbled the onside kick.

Anonymous said...

I understand as well the spirit of the post. For Matt Ryan to be on top Heisman candidate is a bit ridiculous. Hes had a very good year and knows how to win football games but I don't believe it is a Heisman type year.

BUT, there are things to consider:

1. I wouldn't want any other QB starting for my team other than Matt Ryan. He has proven last year and so far this year that he is a winner and can come through in the clutch.

2. Matt Ryan's support around him is not the greatest. If you give him some of Florida's receivers, he may put up a lot better numbers.

3. The Heisman candidates so far this year a few and far between this year. If I was voting for Heisman right now, the top number one person on my list would be Tom Brady. Everyone else (Tebow, McFadden, Ryan) would be tied for second.

But 4. is my biggest point: Who cares who wins the Heisman these days? Its just another award for the Media to get hyped about and talk about for 24 hours a day until December. It even got our fine author friend in a tizzy and a side article on deadspin. Proof that people are getting worked up over nothing (including myself).

As a BC alum, if Ryan wins or loses, I could care less.

KGoon1590 said...

THANK YOU!!! I wrote about this two weeks ago and for some reason ESPN hasn't taken notice(maybe they don't read my blog, but whatevs.

http://kgooncp.blogspot.com/2007/10/matt-ryan-really.html

Feely said...

DING DING DING DING. You're a smart man, Matt. It's a one thing to put up mediocre statistics, it's another to put them up against the mostly shitfest of a schedule that BC's had to date. Even if the way he completed less than 50% of his passes against Virginia Tech showed that valuable senior leadership you always want to see. And to, ahem, "phil", benching Chad Pennington would be pretty stupid if he was on a winning team or was as young as all of the non-Brees guys you mentioned. The Jets aren't losing BECAUSE of Chad Pennington, but since the year is lost, they obviously might as well see what they have in Clemens. I hope for their sake that Clemens winds up being good, or else they might be forced into taking a horribly overrated QB in the first round - someone like, I don't know, Matt Ryan.

Anonymous said...

OMG though, did you see the sick stats ryan put up against umass? I mean he completely pwned them.

Teams that play I-AA games should not have them treated as a win. It's like beating your sister. THat said, half the teams in the ACC could probably lose to a I-AA school.

Anonymous said...

BC gets none of the good recruits that many of these other schools get and their wide receiving core is lousy. If you watched the V Tech game you would have noticed that the offensive line was atrocious in allowing the Tech defense to continually pressure Matty Ice while sending only 3 or 4 rushers. BC has done more with its players this year than any other team in the country and Matt Ryan is a big reason for that. How can you compare him to players at football powerhouses when his team (on paper) has 1/10 of the talent of those schools?

Anonymous said...

haha. my deadspin boys from st. louis really screwed up by puttin this blog on their site. the thing with blogs is that it really brings out the best in the people who have great insight. unfortunately, it exposes those who do not... keep your blogs private.

the guy wins. oh you mean tim tebow has a better qb rating? oh wow...thats sick! he lost 3 games. end of discussion.

we can only hope internet censorship will evolve enough to condemn college football ignorance in the form of personal blogs.

Anonymous said...

Do you mean to imply that what ESPN says is not the word of God? The WWL is the law. With a stable of top minds like Morgan, Kruk, Corso, Herby, Steven A., Woody P., and Dusty Baker how could they lead us astray? I hate Boston sports, but BC has a high graduation rate and lesser facilities than every other top 50 program. They get the most out of every single recruit, and they have the balls to cut anyone that breaks a team rule (Williams, Sean). Hate Boston and hate that the NCAA is just the minor leagues for the NBA and NFL, but everyone should support BC or at least the way they do business and actually educate athletes.

rwmonty said...

The primary knock on Ryan's candidacy is that he doesn't play for a traditional football powerhouse. Usually it goes to the best QB or RB on the #1 team in the country. You'd have to go back to '90 (and'89 for that matter) to find a non-powerhouse player winning the award. Does this mean that Ryan deserves to win the Heisman? Not necessarily, but he deserves to be in the conversation.

Wins > QB rating (just ask Dr. Z).

Anyone who "doesn't care" about the final two minutes of the BC / VT game probably doesn't care about things like "college football", either.

Anonymous said...

Who do you think will be the first qb drafted in the nfl this year? Check out some mock drafts. If he sucks so bad why will he be a top ten pick, and this is information from people who just might know a little more about football than you. His receivers blow, and the talent you can recruit when a school expects you to attend classes and have a major are limited.

Anonymous said...

shutup deadspin idiots.

ryan shouldn't be a heisman candidate. he did nothing to win that game against Vtech. Vtech stopped playing defense/couldn't recover an onside kick to lose that game. If vtech doesnt collapse, BC loses, and ryan is done. I know of a few one loss quarterbacks who are still in heisman contention, and ryan wouldn't be one of them if vtech didn't hand him a game. BC will lose and he will disappear.

so, shut the hell up. you know nothing about this shit. starting putting around 500-1k on games and you'll realize some of the shit idiots on message boards say is ridiculous.

Oh, and stats are important. Saying its all about W/L's is ridiculous. Look at Trent Dilfer. He's a better golfer then he is a football player, and he "led" his team to a super bowl.

You are all homers. Keep being retarded, its good fade material.

Matthew Frost said...

Hey - who likes math? Here's the actual formula for QB rating:

* The component for completion percentage, C, is calculated as: {COMP/ATT} X 100

* The component for yards per attempt, Y, is calculated as: {YDS/ATT) X 8.4

* The component for touchdowns per attempt, T, is calculated as: {TD/ATT) X 330

* The component for interceptions per attempt, I, is calculated as: {INT/ATT} X -200

The four components are then added. Thus, the formula for passer rating can be given as: (C + Y + T + I)

Anonymous said...

"he did nothing to win that game against Vtech"

hmmmm

I really couldn't care less if he wins the Heisman. Who gives a shit. Look at all of the other scrubs who have won the Heisman and went on to awful NFL careers (a certain former Cleveland Brown). The fact that BC is undefeated right now is a testament to the new coaching staff making the most out of their mediocre recruits. Honestly what good football players are going to want to play at a real school when they could go to USC or other powerhouses down south? Matt Hasselbeck is doing pretty good for himself in the NFL right now and he didn't win the Heisman at BC.

Anonymous said...

You know you can hate on BC all you want. Hell people have been doing it for years. Here is the fact in a day and age when all you hear about are negative stories about athletes BC is a great story. They graduate nearly 100% of their players. There is no other school in the top ten that can hold a candle to that. BC is in the business of creating leaders both on and off the field. Why do people have such a hard time excepting them as a National Sports power house. I dare you to take a look at their winning percentage over the past 5 years and compare it to any other school currently in the top 25. You will be presently surprised.
Now to Matt Ryan. I think he disserves all this Heisman talk. All he had done is won games. The SEC and Pac-10 can screw off. I can't wait until Matt Ryan has a chance to torch Oregon's painfully awful D, or to see BC's D stomp on LSU's grossly overrated Offense.
This blog can lick my Boston Loving Beans!

Anonymous said...

we can talk all we want about whether or not matt should be in the heisman. im a supporter of matt and think at the very least he should have a ticket to NYC. the funny thing is that of all of you who are bashing matt...the chances are pretty good that none of you have ever really accomplished anything in your lives. while its entertaining to project whatever problems you are having in your life onto a blog posting, its kind of...sad.

Matt's the man, BC is legit. Pro-BCers, keep on keepin on.

And everyone please excuse the anonymous dude who began his posting with "shutup deadspin idiots."....he found out he was a mistake yesterday.

Matt Fairchild (matt@sportscrack.com) said...

Wins aside BC fans, can you honestly tell me Matt Ryan is the best player in the country? I haven't had one person argue his case over Tim Tebow, Brian Brohm, Dennis Dixon, or Andre Woodson because they don't have a case.

Please stop with the crap "well he just wins games" argument. So did David Greene and Ken Dorsey. But they weren't the best player in the country and either is Ryan.

He's a good player, but not a great player.

And congratulations to all BC fans, you graduate your players and this should be commended. I wish more programs would follow their lead, but that aside it has nothing to do with the discussion on whether or not Ryan deserves the Heisman.

America said...

Matt,

Instead of writing about BC go back to praising the crap School you went too.
You BC haters are just pissed you couldn't get into a good school like ours. All you had was sports. Now that we are taking that from you too, you can't deal. So just sit back watch ESPN and believe what the ND, SEC, and, PAC-10 loveing pundits have to say. To bad you won't be in NYC to see Matt Ryan walk off stage holding the Heisman. Also I will wave at you from the field of the Superdome while BC is winning the National Championship game. SORRY!!!

Anonymous said...

The annoying deadspin folks from Boston are just awful; such a nauseating combination.

First, to the guy who said something about "stop projecting your problems on Matt Ryan"; you are weird, and I hope you aren't allowed around children. Anyone who says something so ridiculous obviously has some issues if we're getting gayish and psychological here.

I bet BC in that game, and somehow won. I was a fan of BC (for obvious reasons) and can honestly say Matt Ryan was terrible. I was shocked when the ESPN folks were saying he raised his Heisman chances. Were they watching a different game?

As I said, Ryan did nothing to win that game, other than take advantage of a defensive secondary that seemingly acquired a mild form of retardation during the last parts of the 4th quarter.

Oh, and my mom loves me Skip Bayliss; you homer. I'd pay you to pick games each wknd just for fading purposes.

Anonymous said...

"The annoying deadspin folks from Boston are just awful; such a nauseating combination.

First, to the guy who said something about "stop projecting your problems on Matt Ryan"; you are weird, and I hope you aren't allowed around children. Anyone who says something so ridiculous obviously has some issues if we're getting gayish and psychological here.

I bet BC in that game, and somehow won. I was a fan of BC (for obvious reasons) and can honestly say Matt Ryan was terrible. I was shocked when the ESPN folks were saying he raised his Heisman chances. Were they watching a different game?

As I said, Ryan did nothing to win that game, other than take advantage of a defensive secondary that seemingly acquired a mild form of retardation during the last parts of the 4th quarter.

Oh, and my mom loves me Skip Bayliss; you homer. I'd pay you to pick games each wknd just for fading purposes."



The guy who wrote this is clearly a 35 year old virgin who live with his mom.

Getting Healthy said...

If winning is all that matters than why isn't Arizona State's Rudy Carpenter, Kansas's Todd Reesing, or Ohio State's Todd Bouckman ahead of Ryan since there teams are undefeated and they have better numbers. Plus all of them have played super soft schedules.
I do not like Ryan because he throws too many interceptions which can kill your team. Dennis Dixon should be the runaway winner right now with 16 tds to only 3 ints and a ton of rushing yards, but he is hardly getting any press.

Anonymous said...

to the anonymous bitter dude,
yea its me, the guy putting you in your place. i apologize if my psychological mumbo jumbo is over your head. i guess that comes with the territory of being a BC alum.

"The guy who wrote this is clearly a 35 year old virgin who live with his mom."... hey give the guy a break. hes just saving himself for the right woman.

and for some actual football analysis... for the homeless loser who had the balls to spark this debate. Elvis Grbac, Chris Chandler, Steve Buerlelin, Jeff George, Jeff Hostetler, Aaron Brooker, Brian Griese, Neil O'Donnell. What do all of these shmucks have in common? There all have better CAREER QB ratings than Johnny Unitas. I dunno who wrote this blog but I'm sleeping all over it.

Anonymous said...

typo..brooks.

Anonymous said...

Although QB rating isn't the most reliable statistic, there are 53 quarterbacks that have a higher rating than ryan. you guys are saying "well hes winning games." Yes and if his QB rating is 54th in college football, there are obviously a good group of teammates helping him win them. He is not the best player in college football.

Do you guys think he is the best player in college football? I would like to see how you could back it up.

Matt Fairchild (matt@sportscrack.com) said...

Actually guys I'm 34 and a half and live with my grandparents, my mom kicked me out of the house because I masturbated too frequently on the living room couch.

I'm still waiting for one of the BC nut jobs to tell me why Ryan is the best QB in the nation.

Oh and Vincent, I used to love the frequent visits from the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus but then realized it was as real as streets made of candy kane smiles and retarded BC homers.

Anonymous said...

You know what else these quarterbacks have in common...thEy are not as good as Matt Ryan!

2008: He finished the season with 3,440 passing yds, 17 touchdowns (one rushing), and 11 interceptions. He and fellow rookie Joe Flacco were the first rookie quarterbacks to lead their teams to the playoffs after starting all 16 games of the season. He is also one of the two rookie quarterbacks to throw for over 3,000 yards in their rookie season (the other being Peyton Manning). On December 31, Ryan was named the AP NFL Rookie of the Year.[40][41]

JACKASSES.