FanPost

Was McNabb really the best QB on the roster in 2011?

I was reading an ESPN Insider article tonight about why the Cleveland Browns should consider bringing in Donovan McNabb. It's a great read, and if you have access to it, you can read it here. But one paragraph jumped out at me.

Yes, McNabb's last two seasons have been perfect ammunition for the "He's done" assessments. But context matters. After a career in one system, he played behind a total wreck of an offensive line in Washington in 2010 and again without elite targets. Last year, he was quietly not that bad in Minnesota, but the Vikings rightly went into transition mode after a series of baffling early-season meltdowns (with play-calling a major question).

If you click on the "not that bad" link it takes you to the pro-football-reference website with a chart of the Minnesota Quarterback stats, side-by-side. And the numbers are pretty striking. I've created a table here with most of the stats, and because of size limitations, I went with the ones I thought were most relevant (click the link above to see them all):

Cmp

Att

Cmp%

Yds

TD

TD %

INT

INT%

Lng

Y/A

Y/C

Rate

Ponder

158

291

54.3

1853

13

4.5

13

4.5

72

6.4

11.7

70.1

McNabb

94

156

60.3

1026

4

2.6

2

1.3

60

6.6

10.9

82.9

Webb

34

63

54.0

376

3

4.8

2

3.2

36

6.0

11.1

74.6

McNabb had the best of the following stats: completion percentage, interception percentage, yards per attempt, QB rating, yards per game (not included here), and the best adjusted net yards per pass attempt (not included here). Interestingly Joe Webb had the best TD%, lowest sack rate (not included here), and the best net yards gained per pass attempt (not included here). Ponder had the longest completion, best yards per completion and then found himself 2nd best or tied on most of the rest of the statistics shown here.

What these stats tell me is that McNabb was actually pretty efficient with the ball and avoided turnovers, but failed to get the ball into the endzone, and also had a high sack rate. Because of his efficiency, his overall yards per attempt were good, but he couldn't get the ball down the field as his yards per completion were the lowest of the three. When you consider our terrible offensive line, and piss-poor receiving corp, can you hardly blame McNabb for what went down last year? When you look at his stats side-by-side compared to Ponder and Webb, he actually comes out looking like the best QB on the roster in most of the stats that matter IMO. What do you think?

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.