Sam Bradford, and Ranking Quarterbacks by Yards per Completion

by Chase Stuart on September 29, 2013

Bradford looks to check down.

As a rookie, Sam Bradford ranked last in the league in yards per completion. That year, he averaged 9.92 YPC, 1.61 yards per completion lower than the league average of 11.53. In his second and third years — 2011 and 2012 — Bradford was a little better in that metric, but he still finished 0.65 and 0.34 yards per completion below league average in those seasons. So far in 2013, Bradford has earned his reputation as a checkdown artist: with a 10.21 YPC average, he’s averaged 1.43 fewer yards per completion than the average quarterback.

If you take a weighted average (based on his number of completions in each season), Bradford has been 0.98 yards per completion below league average over the course of his 980 career completed passes. In August, I noted that the Rams have experienced constant turnover at offensive coordinator and wide receiver since Bradford entered the league. This year, with Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, and developing talents like Chris Givens, expectations were high for Bradford. So far, we’ve seen more of the same from Bradford, which means lots of checkdowns and few big plays.

For his career, Bradford has averaged just 10.68 yards per completion. The table below shows the 164 quarterbacks since 1950 to complete at least 850 passes. The far right column represents the difference between each quarterback’s career yards per completion average minus the league average (calculated on a weighted-average basis for each quarterback based on his number of completions in each season) rate. As it turns out, Bradford ranks in the “top five” when it comes to the worst era-adjusted yards per completion averages.

Rk	Quarterback	First Yr	Last Yr	Cmp	Yards	Y/C	LgAvg	Under
1	Bill Munson	1964	1979	1070	12896	12.05	13.38	-1.33
2	Kyle Boller	2003	2011	861	8931	10.37	11.49	-1.12
3	Joey Harrington	2002	2007	1424	14693	10.32	11.42	-1.1
4	John Brodie	1957	1973	2469	31548	12.78	13.86	-1.08
5	Sam Bradford	2010	2013	980	10471	10.68	11.66	-0.98
6	Roman Gabriel	1962	1977	2366	29444	12.44	13.4	-0.95
7	Y.A. Tittle	1950	1964	2118	28339	13.38	14.33	-0.95
8	Ryan Fitzpatrick	2005	2012	1338	14336	10.71	11.63	-0.92
9	Mike Phipps	1970	1981	886	10506	11.86	12.73	-0.87
10	Milt Plum	1957	1969	1306	17536	13.43	14.29	-0.86
11	Dan Pastorini	1971	1983	1556	18515	11.9	12.74	-0.84
12	Billy Wade	1954	1966	1370	18530	13.53	14.36	-0.84
13	Archie Manning	1971	1984	2011	23911	11.89	12.71	-0.82
14	David Carr	2002	2012	1353	14452	10.68	11.46	-0.77
15	Bernie Kosar	1985	1996	1994	23301	11.69	12.42	-0.74
16	Jack Trudeau	1986	1995	873	10243	11.73	12.41	-0.67
17	Brad Johnson	1994	2008	2668	29054	10.89	11.56	-0.67
18	Ken O'Brien	1984	1993	2110	25094	11.89	12.55	-0.66
19	Tim Couch	1999	2003	1025	11131	10.86	11.5	-0.64
20	Fran Tarkenton	1961	1978	3686	47003	12.75	13.38	-0.63
21	Joe Montana	1979	1994	3409	40551	11.9	12.52	-0.63
22	Steve DeBerg	1978	1998	2874	34241	11.91	12.53	-0.61
23	Steve Bono	1985	1999	934	10439	11.18	11.79	-0.61
24	Sonny Jurgensen	1957	1974	2433	32224	13.24	13.85	-0.61
25	Rick Mirer	1993	2003	1088	11969	11	11.61	-0.61
26	Alex Smith	2005	2013	1354	14949	11.04	11.58	-0.54
27	Troy Aikman	1989	2000	2898	32942	11.37	11.89	-0.53
28	Charlie Conerly	1950	1961	1104	15175	13.75	14.27	-0.52
29	Jim Harbaugh	1987	2000	2305	26288	11.4	11.92	-0.52
30	Chad Pennington	2000	2010	1632	17823	10.92	11.42	-0.49
31	Kordell Stewart	1995	2003	1316	14746	11.21	11.7	-0.49
32	Bart Starr	1956	1971	1808	24718	13.67	14.13	-0.46
33	Tony Eason	1983	1990	911	11142	12.23	12.69	-0.46
34	Brian Sipe	1974	1983	1944	23713	12.2	12.65	-0.45
35	Brian Griese	1998	2008	1752	19440	11.1	11.51	-0.42
36	Don Majkowski	1987	1996	1056	12700	12.03	12.44	-0.41
37	Jason Campbell	2006	2013	1329	14688	11.05	11.45	-0.4
38	Mike Livingston	1969	1979	912	11295	12.38	12.77	-0.39
39	Bobby Hebert	1985	1996	1839	21683	11.79	12.18	-0.39
40	Rich Gannon	1987	2004	2533	28743	11.35	11.72	-0.37
41	Jon Kitna	1997	2011	2677	29745	11.11	11.48	-0.37
42	Tommy Kramer	1977	1990	2012	24777	12.31	12.68	-0.36
43	Ken Stabler	1970	1984	2270	27938	12.31	12.64	-0.33
44	Joe Theismann	1974	1985	2044	25206	12.33	12.66	-0.33
45	Matt Cassel	2005	2012	1203	13495	11.22	11.55	-0.33
46	Ken Anderson	1971	1986	2654	32838	12.37	12.69	-0.31
47	Greg Landry	1968	1984	1276	16052	12.58	12.89	-0.31
48	Len Dawson	1957	1975	2136	28711	13.44	13.7	-0.26
49	Bubby Brister	1986	2000	1207	14445	11.97	12.23	-0.26
50	Jim McMahon	1982	1996	1492	18148	12.16	12.42	-0.26
51	Chad Henne	2008	2013	858	9710	11.32	11.57	-0.25
52	Billy Kilmer	1961	1978	1585	20495	12.93	13.14	-0.21
53	Kyle Orton	2005	2012	1293	14621	11.31	11.51	-0.2
54	Erik Kramer	1987	1999	1317	15337	11.65	11.84	-0.19
55	Danny White	1976	1988	1761	21959	12.47	12.66	-0.19
56	Dave M. Brown	1992	2000	892	10248	11.49	11.68	-0.19
57	Jeff Garcia	1999	2008	2264	25537	11.28	11.47	-0.19
58	Brett Favre	1991	2010	6300	71838	11.4	11.58	-0.18
59	Byron Leftwich	2003	2012	930	10532	11.32	11.5	-0.18
60	Norm Snead	1961	1976	2276	30797	13.53	13.71	-0.18
61	Steve Bartkowski	1975	1986	1932	24124	12.49	12.66	-0.17
62	Gary Danielson	1977	1988	1105	13764	12.46	12.63	-0.17
63	Matt Ryan	2008	2013	1735	19866	11.45	11.62	-0.17
64	Neil Lomax	1981	1988	1817	22771	12.53	12.69	-0.16
65	Neil O'Donnell	1991	2003	1865	21690	11.63	11.78	-0.15
66	George Blanda	1950	1975	1902	26723	14.05	14.18	-0.13
67	Steve McNair	1995	2007	2733	31304	11.45	11.57	-0.12
68	Matthew Stafford	2009	2013	1191	13827	11.61	11.72	-0.11
69	Tobin Rote	1950	1966	1329	18850	14.18	14.29	-0.11
70	Drew Brees	2001	2013	4116	46940	11.4	11.51	-0.1
71	Elvis Grbac	1994	2001	1446	16774	11.6	11.7	-0.1
72	Matt Hasselbeck	1999	2012	3029	34517	11.4	11.49	-0.1
73	Joe Ferguson	1973	1990	2369	29817	12.59	12.64	-0.06
74	Carson Palmer	2004	2013	2634	30227	11.48	11.53	-0.05
75	Dave Krieg	1980	1998	3105	38147	12.29	12.33	-0.04
76	David Garrard	2002	2010	1406	16003	11.38	11.42	-0.04
77	Billy Joe Tolliver	1989	1999	891	10760	12.08	12.11	-0.04
78	Vince Ferragamo	1977	1986	902	11336	12.57	12.6	-0.03
79	Mark Brunell	1994	2011	2761	32072	11.62	11.63	-0.01
80	Jim Zorn	1976	1987	1669	21115	12.65	12.66	-0.01
81	Drew Bledsoe	1993	2006	3839	44611	11.62	11.62	0
82	Trent Dilfer	1994	2007	1759	20518	11.66	11.66	0
83	Bob Griese	1967	1980	1926	25092	13.03	13.01	0.02
84	Chris Miller	1987	1999	1580	19320	12.23	12.21	0.02
85	Joe Flacco	2008	2013	1579	18377	11.64	11.61	0.03
86	Bert Jones	1973	1982	1430	18190	12.72	12.64	0.08
87	Wade Wilson	1981	1998	1391	17283	12.42	12.34	0.08
88	Randall Cunningham	1985	2001	2429	29979	12.34	12.26	0.09
89	Mark Sanchez	2009	2012	1028	12092	11.76	11.67	0.09
90	Dan Marino	1983	1999	4967	61361	12.35	12.26	0.1
91	Jim Everett	1986	1997	2841	34837	12.26	12.12	0.14
92	Johnny Unitas	1956	1973	2830	40239	14.22	14.08	0.14
93	Josh Freeman	2009	2013	1144	13534	11.83	11.69	0.14
94	Jake Plummer	1997	2006	2484	29253	11.78	11.62	0.15
95	Marc Bulger	2002	2009	1969	22814	11.59	11.43	0.15
96	Richard Todd	1976	1985	1610	20610	12.8	12.65	0.16
97	Kerry Collins	1995	2011	3487	40922	11.74	11.56	0.17
98	Jeff George	1990	2001	2298	27602	12.01	11.83	0.18
99	Jim Kelly	1986	1996	2874	35467	12.34	12.15	0.19
100	Peyton Manning	1998	2013	5171	60630	11.73	11.53	0.2
101	Warren Moon	1984	2000	3988	49325	12.37	12.17	0.2
102	Ron Jaworski	1974	1989	2187	28190	12.89	12.67	0.22
103	Tony Banks	1996	2005	1278	15315	11.98	11.75	0.23
104	Tom Brady	2000	2013	3871	45504	11.76	11.51	0.25
105	Stan Humphries	1989	1997	1431	17191	12.01	11.76	0.25
106	Rex Grossman	2003	2011	863	10232	11.86	11.6	0.26
107	Jay Fiedler	1998	2005	1008	11844	11.75	11.49	0.26
108	Jeff Blake	1992	2005	1827	21711	11.88	11.62	0.26
109	Donovan McNabb	1999	2011	3170	37276	11.76	11.48	0.28
110	John Elway	1983	1998	4123	51475	12.48	12.2	0.28
111	Bill Kenney	1980	1988	1330	17277	12.99	12.68	0.31
112	Jay Cutler	2006	2013	1864	22009	11.81	11.5	0.31
113	Rodney Peete	1989	2004	1344	16338	12.16	11.84	0.31
114	Vinny Testaverde	1987	2007	3787	46233	12.21	11.89	0.31
115	Jeff Hostetler	1988	1997	1357	16430	12.11	11.77	0.34
116	Scott Mitchell	1992	2001	1301	15692	12.06	11.7	0.36
117	Dan Fouts	1973	1987	3297	43040	13.05	12.66	0.4
118	Charley Johnson	1961	1975	1737	24410	14.05	13.65	0.4
119	Babe Parilli	1952	1969	1552	22681	14.61	14.2	0.42
120	Chris Chandler	1988	2004	2328	28484	12.24	11.8	0.43
121	Mark Rypien	1988	2001	1466	18473	12.6	12.16	0.44
122	Matt Schaub	2004	2013	1901	22782	11.98	11.53	0.45
123	Phil Simms	1979	1993	2576	33462	12.99	12.54	0.45
124	Steve Young	1985	1999	2667	33124	12.42	11.95	0.47
125	Jim Hart	1966	1984	2593	34665	13.37	12.89	0.48
126	Daunte Culpepper	2000	2009	2016	24153	11.98	11.47	0.51
127	Charlie Batch	1998	2012	908	11085	12.21	11.7	0.51
128	Don Meredith	1960	1968	1170	17199	14.7	14.18	0.52
129	Frank Ryan	1958	1970	1090	16042	14.72	14.19	0.53
130	Boomer Esiason	1984	1997	2969	37920	12.77	12.23	0.55
131	Marc Wilson	1980	1990	1085	14391	13.26	12.71	0.55
132	Jake Delhomme	1999	2011	1741	20975	12.05	11.49	0.56
133	Eli Manning	2004	2013	2679	32458	12.12	11.53	0.58
134	Eddie LeBaron	1952	1963	898	13399	14.92	14.31	0.62
135	Tony Romo	2006	2013	2180	26508	12.16	11.54	0.62
136	Jim Plunkett	1971	1986	1943	25882	13.32	12.7	0.62
137	Kurt Warner	1998	2009	2666	32344	12.13	11.49	0.64
138	Aaron Brooks	2000	2006	1673	20261	12.11	11.47	0.64
139	Doug Flutie	1986	2005	1177	14715	12.5	11.85	0.65
140	Jack Kemp	1957	1969	1436	21218	14.78	14.12	0.66
141	Craig Morton	1965	1982	2053	27908	13.59	12.91	0.68
142	John Hadl	1962	1977	2363	33503	14.18	13.48	0.69
143	Lynn Dickey	1971	1985	1747	23322	13.35	12.65	0.7
144	Philip Rivers	2004	2013	2338	28689	12.27	11.54	0.73
145	Bobby Layne	1950	1962	1643	24740	15.06	14.3	0.75
146	Roger Staubach	1969	1979	1685	22700	13.47	12.71	0.76
147	Mike Tomczak	1985	1999	1248	16079	12.88	12.12	0.76
148	Aaron Rodgers	2005	2013	1833	22718	12.39	11.59	0.8
149	Norm Van Brocklin	1950	1960	1521	23010	15.13	14.28	0.85
150	Steve Beuerlein	1988	2003	1894	24046	12.7	11.84	0.85
151	Gus Frerotte	1994	2008	1699	21291	12.53	11.58	0.95
152	Michael Vick	2001	2013	1677	21106	12.59	11.57	1.01
153	Ben Roethlisberger	2004	2013	2441	30692	12.57	11.55	1.02
154	Trent Green	1997	2008	2266	28475	12.57	11.54	1.03
155	Doug Williams	1978	1989	1240	16998	13.71	12.66	1.05
156	Terry Bradshaw	1970	1983	2025	27989	13.82	12.76	1.06
157	Earl Morrall	1956	1976	1379	20809	15.09	14.03	1.06
158	Bill Nelsen	1963	1972	963	14165	14.71	13.64	1.07
159	Otto Graham	1950	1955	872	13499	15.48	14.23	1.25
160	Joe Namath	1965	1977	1886	27663	14.67	13.38	1.28
161	Daryle Lamonica	1963	1974	1288	19154	14.87	13.57	1.3
162	Steve Grogan	1975	1990	1879	26886	14.31	12.68	1.63
163	Jay Schroeder	1985	1994	1426	20063	14.07	12.36	1.71
164	Ed Brown	1954	1965	949	15600	16.44	14.33	2.1

Ed Brown, who played first with Harlon Hill and later Buddy Dial, comes in as the biggest deep thrower of the last 64 years. A pair of AFL greats, Daryle Lamonica and Joe Namath, also make the top five in terms of yards per completion over average. Among active quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger (1.02), Michael Vick (1.01), Aaron Rodgers (0.80), Philip Rivers (0.73), and Tony Romo (0.62) are the top five active quarterbacks in YPC over average, while Bradford, Alex Smith (-0.54), Jason Campbell (-0.4), Chad Henne (-0.25), and Matt Ryan (-0.17) come in the bottom five.

Yards per completion is not the best way to grade a quarterback, or even a good one. Great quarterbacks like Joe Montana and Fran Tarkenton have low yards per completion averages, and the presence of Y.A. Tittle on the list makes sense in light of this post. But the issue with Bradford is his low YPC is paired with an unimpressive 58.3$ completion rate, and he’s been below league-average in completion percentage every year of his career. I agree with Jason Lisk — it may be time to give up on Sam Bradford, pending his performance over the final twelve games of the year.

Tagged as: Rams, Sam Bradford, Yards per Completion

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