There are many, many ways to judge quarterbacks besides the controverial 'quarterback rating' system. To pass a little offseason, NFL Lockout time the good folks over at Pro Football Focus have looked at one area of being a quaterback -- success throwing the deep ball -- and New York Giants' quarterback Eli Manning graded out pretty well here.
The PFF study broke down into three areas, based on 2010 statistics:
- Completion Percentage on Deep Throws -- Eli ranked seventh in the league here with a completion percentage of 41.1 percent.
- Deep Throw Percentage of Attempts -- Eli ranked 18th here, throwing deep 13.54 percent of the time. That tells us that there are many teams in the league using the vertical pass a lot more than the Giants. It might help explain why Eli is sacked so infrequently, and help explain the drafting of speedster Jerrel Jernigan.
- Interceptions on Deep Throws -- Only five of Eli's deep balls (6.85 percent) were intercepted, placing him 17th in the league.
I don't know what this study means overall, especially when it shows Vince Young with the highest completion percentage on deep balls. But, something for you to chat about on a lazy Friday afternoon.