QB Starts

Matt Ryan has most wins through five years, ranks 7th in Winning Percentage

by Chase Stuart on July 28, 2013

An interesting tweet from Adam Schefter today: Matt Ryan has 56 regular season wins in his first five seasons, the most in NFL history. Ryan has started 78 games, one of only three quarterbacks (Peyton Manning, Joe Flacco) to start at least 75 games in their first five seasons.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at not just quarterback wins, but quarterback winning percentage (minimum: 15 wins) and wins minus losses (as a compromise between winning percentage and wins). As it turns out, Ryan ranks 1st in wins, 7th in winning percentage, and 1st in wins over losses (or wins over .500) among all quarterbacks to enter the league since 1960.

Quarterback	1st Yr	Win	Loss	Tie	Starts	Win %	W-L	Win Rk	Win % Rk	W-L Rk
Daryle Lamonica	1963	17	1	0	18	0.944	16	119	1	16
Roger Staubach	1969	23	5	0	28	0.821	18	71	2	11
Ken Stabler	1971	20	5	1	26	0.788	15	95	3	19
Tom Brady	2001	48	14	0	62	0.774	34	4	4	1
Jim McMahon	1982	34	12	0	46	0.739	22	24	5	7
Ben Roethlisberger	2004	51	20	0	71	0.718	31	3	6	3
Matt Ryan	2008	56	22	0	78	0.718	34	1	7	1
Kurt Warner	1999	35	14	0	49	0.714	21	20	8	10
Dan Marino	1983	48	21	0	69	0.696	27	4	9	5
Pat Haden	1976	30	13	1	44	0.693	17	42	10	13
Tony Romo	2006	27	12	0	39	0.692	15	56	11	19
Mike Tomczak	1986	20	9	0	29	0.69	11	95	12	32
Stan Humphries	1990	31	14	0	45	0.689	17	35	13	13
Philip Rivers	2006	33	15	0	48	0.688	18	28	14	11
Jay Fiedler	1999	22	10	0	32	0.688	12	82	14	29
Jack Kemp	1960	29	13	1	43	0.686	16	48	16	16
John Elway	1983	46	21	1	68	0.684	25	6	17	6
Mark Rypien	1988	42	20	0	62	0.677	22	8	18	7
Joe Flacco	2008	54	26	0	80	0.675	28	2	19	4
Donovan McNabb	1999	43	21	0	64	0.672	22	7	20	7
Doug Flutie	1986	16	8	0	24	0.667	8	126	21	43
Dave Krieg	1981	19	10	0	29	0.655	9	103	22	35
Brad Johnson	1996	15	8	0	23	0.652	7	131	23	50
David Woodley	1980	30	16	1	47	0.649	14	42	24	22
Jay Schroeder	1985	31	17	0	48	0.646	14	35	25	22
Elvis Grbac	1995	16	9	0	25	0.64	7	126	26	50
Vince Ferragamo	1979	16	9	0	25	0.64	7	126	26	50
Neil O'Donnell	1991	39	22	0	61	0.639	17	14	28	13
Vince Young	2006	30	17	0	47	0.638	13	42	29	25
Rex Grossman	2003	19	11	0	30	0.633	8	103	30	43
Terry Bradshaw	1970	32	19	0	51	0.627	13	32	31	25
Bernie Kosar	1985	39	23	1	63	0.627	16	14	32	16
Jim Harbaugh	1988	23	14	0	37	0.622	9	71	33	35
Michael Vick	2001	31	19	1	51	0.618	12	35	34	29
Steve Grogan	1975	41	26	0	67	0.612	15	12	35	19
Joe Namath	1965	37	23	4	64	0.609	14	17	36	22
Brett Favre	1992	37	24	0	61	0.607	13	17	37	25
Greg Landry	1968	25	16	2	43	0.605	9	63	38	35
Marc Bulger	2002	36	24	0	60	0.6	12	19	39	29
Bert Jones	1973	33	22	0	55	0.6	11	28	39	32
Ken Anderson	1971	34	23	0	57	0.596	11	24	41	32
Jake Delhomme	1999	29	20	0	49	0.592	9	48	42	35
Steve McNair	1995	29	20	0	49	0.592	9	48	42	35
Eli Manning	2004	42	29	0	71	0.592	13	8	44	25
Tony Eason	1983	26	18	0	44	0.591	8	59	45	43
Chad Pennington	2002	20	14	0	34	0.588	6	95	46	54
Mark Brunell	1995	31	22	0	53	0.585	9	35	47	35
Andy Dalton	2011	18	13	0	31	0.581	5	113	48	57
Eric Hipple	1981	18	13	0	31	0.581	5	113	48	57
Bobby Hebert	1985	29	21	0	50	0.58	8	48	50	43
Randall Cunningham	1985	30	22	1	53	0.575	8	42	51	43
Joe Montana	1979	28	21	0	49	0.571	7	53	52	50
Jim Hart	1967	24	18	3	45	0.567	6	66	53	54
Boomer Esiason	1984	35	27	0	62	0.565	8	20	54	43
Jim Kelly	1986	40	31	0	71	0.563	9	13	55	35
Charley Johnson	1962	26	20	3	49	0.561	6	59	56	54
Drew Bledsoe	1993	42	33	0	75	0.56	9	8	57	35
Troy Aikman	1989	38	30	0	68	0.559	8	16	58	43
John Hadl	1962	23	18	4	45	0.556	5	71	59	57
Virgil Carter	1968	16	13	0	29	0.552	3	126	60	64
Steve Beuerlein	1988	18	15	0	33	0.545	3	113	61	64
Gary Danielson	1977	18	15	0	33	0.545	3	113	61	64
Steve Walsh	1989	19	16	0	35	0.543	3	103	63	64
Kordell Stewart	1997	23	20	0	43	0.535	3	71	64	64
Ken O'Brien	1984	31	27	1	59	0.534	4	35	65	60
Mark Sanchez	2009	33	29	0	62	0.532	4	28	66	60
Jim Everett	1986	34	30	0	64	0.531	4	24	67	60
Joe Kapp	1967	24	21	3	48	0.531	3	66	67	64
Aaron Rodgers	2008	17	15	0	32	0.531	2	119	67	72
Scott Mitchell	1993	17	15	0	32	0.531	2	119	67	72
Brian Griese	1999	27	24	0	51	0.529	3	56	71	64
Quincy Carter	2001	18	16	0	34	0.529	2	113	71	72
Scott Hunter	1971	17	15	3	35	0.529	2	119	73	72
Roman Gabriel	1962	19	17	1	37	0.527	2	103	74	72
Matt Hasselbeck	2001	20	18	0	38	0.526	2	95	75	72
Mike Phipps	1970	19	17	2	38	0.526	2	103	75	72
Peyton Manning	1998	42	38	0	80	0.525	4	8	77	60
Kyle Orton	2005	32	29	0	61	0.525	3	32	78	64
Byron Leftwich	2003	24	22	0	46	0.522	2	66	79	72
Drew Brees	2002	30	28	0	58	0.517	2	42	80	72
Bob Griese	1967	29	27	3	59	0.517	2	48	81	72
Ron Jaworski	1975	17	16	0	33	0.515	1	119	82	82
Aaron Brooks	2000	35	34	0	69	0.507	1	20	83	82
Jay Cutler	2006	34	34	0	68	0.5	0	24	84	84
Doug Williams	1978	33	33	1	67	0.5	0	28	84	84
Neil Lomax	1981	30	30	1	61	0.5	0	42	84	84
Jon Kitna	1997	24	24	0	48	0.5	0	66	84	84
Bill Kenney	1980	23	23	0	46	0.5	0	71	84	84
Brian Sipe	1974	22	22	0	44	0.5	0	82	84	84
Jeff Garcia	1999	35	36	0	71	0.493	-1	20	90	90
Carson Palmer	2004	32	33	0	65	0.492	-1	32	91	90
Joe Ferguson	1973	31	32	0	63	0.492	-1	35	92	90
Daunte Culpepper	2000	28	29	0	57	0.491	-1	53	93	90
Bob Avellini	1975	23	24	0	47	0.489	-1	71	94	90
Tommy Kramer	1977	22	24	0	46	0.478	-2	82	95	95
Kyle Boller	2003	20	22	0	42	0.476	-2	95	96	95
Trent Dilfer	1994	31	35	0	66	0.47	-4	35	97	99
Don Majkowski	1987	21	24	1	46	0.467	-3	89	98	97
Bubby Brister	1986	21	24	0	45	0.467	-3	89	99	97
Kerry Collins	1995	26	30	0	56	0.464	-4	59	100	99
Phil Simms	1979	23	27	0	50	0.46	-4	71	101	99
Tom Flores	1960	23	28	2	53	0.453	-5	71	102	103
Rodney Peete	1989	21	26	0	47	0.447	-5	89	103	103
David Whitehurst	1977	16	20	1	37	0.446	-4	126	104	99
Steve Bartkowski	1975	22	28	0	50	0.44	-6	82	105	106
Trent Green	1998	22	29	0	51	0.431	-7	82	106	107
Josh Freeman	2009	24	32	0	56	0.429	-8	66	107	111
Steve Fuller	1979	15	20	0	35	0.429	-5	131	107	103
Dave M. Brown	1994	20	27	0	47	0.426	-7	95	109	107
Gus Frerotte	1994	19	26	1	46	0.424	-7	103	110	107
Jason Campbell	2006	27	37	0	64	0.422	-10	56	111	113
Derek Anderson	2006	18	25	0	43	0.419	-7	113	112	107
Charlie Batch	1998	19	27	0	46	0.413	-8	103	113	111
Tony Banks	1996	25	36	0	61	0.41	-11	63	114	115
Jeff Blake	1994	21	31	0	52	0.404	-10	89	115	113
Jim Zorn	1976	28	44	0	72	0.389	-16	53	116	124
Dan Pastorini	1971	21	33	0	54	0.389	-12	89	116	118
Warren Moon	1984	26	42	0	68	0.382	-16	59	118	124
Alex Smith	2005	19	31	0	50	0.38	-12	103	119	118
Jake Plummer	1997	25	41	0	66	0.379	-16	63	120	124
Matthew Stafford	2009	17	28	0	45	0.378	-11	119	121	115
Jim Plunkett	1971	23	38	0	61	0.377	-15	71	122	121
Fran Tarkenton	1961	23	39	3	65	0.377	-16	71	123	124
Tim Couch	1999	22	37	0	59	0.373	-15	82	124	121
Rick Mirer	1993	20	34	0	54	0.37	-14	95	125	120
Sam Bradford	2010	15	26	1	42	0.369	-11	131	126	115
Richard Todd	1976	19	34	0	53	0.358	-15	103	127	121
Chris Miller	1987	20	36	0	56	0.357	-16	95	128	124
Joey Harrington	2002	23	43	0	66	0.348	-20	71	129	130
Mike Pagel	1982	15	31	1	47	0.33	-16	131	130	124
Vinny Testaverde	1987	19	39	0	58	0.328	-20	103	131	130
Jeff George	1990	21	44	0	65	0.323	-23	89	132	132
Norm Snead	1961	17	41	3	61	0.303	-24	119	133	133
David Carr	2002	22	53	0	75	0.293	-31	82	134	135
Archie Manning	1971	15	43	3	61	0.27	-28	131	135	134

Of course, having a good (or bad) winning percentage early in a quarterback’s career doesn’t tell us how much of a “winner” that quarterback will be in the future.

Tagged as: Matt Ryan, QB Starts, wins

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Consecutive Week 1 Starting Quarterbacks

by Chase Stuart on July 28, 2013

in History, Quarterbacks, Trivia

The one constant in the Cardinals passing game.

When Tom Brady takes the field as the Patriots starting quarterback in week 1, it will be his 12th consecutive appearance as New England’s opening-week starter. That’s the longest streak in the league, with Eli Manning (9 in 2013), Drew Brees (8), Philip Rivers (8), Tony Romo (7), and Matt Schaub (7) being the only other quarterbacks to start for the same team in each week one since 2007.

On the other hand, the Cardinals will be trotting out their fifth different week 1 starter in as many seasons. Arizona fans hope Carson Palmer will be the right man to finally replace Kurt Warner, after Derek Anderson (2010), Kevin Kolb (2011), and John Skelton (2012) failed. If Chad Henne starts the opener for Jacksonville, that will make it four different quarterbacks in four straight years for the Jaguars (following Blaine Gabbert, Luke McCown, and David Garrard). Palmer’s old team, the Raiders, is the only other team with three different starters the last three years (Matt Flynn, Palmer, and Jason Campbell).

The longest streak of consecutive week one starters is a tie between a pair of Class of ’83 teammates. John Elway started in week 1 every season of his sixteen year career, while Dan Marino started every week 1 from 1984 until 1999. Our games started data only goes back to 1960, but I doubt we would find a sorrier pre-1960 streak than the Chicago Bears from 1998 to 2006. Over a nine-year period, Chicago never had the same quarterback start in week 1 in consecutive years. The full list, beginning in ’98: Erik Kramer, Shane Matthews, Cade McNown, Matthews again, Jim Miller, Kordell Stewart, Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, and Grossman again. The Ravens, from ’97 to ’03, had seven different week-one starters: Vinny Testaverde, Jim Harbaugh, Scott Mitchell, Tony Banks, Elvis Grbac, Chris Redman, and Kyle Boller, and that doesn’t include Trent Dilfer.

Brandon Weeden is bringing some stability to the Browns quarterback position: if by some chance Jason Campbell steals the job in preseason, he would be Cleveland’s seventh week one starting quarterback in seven years (Charlie Frye in 2007, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Jake Delhomme, Colt McCoy, Weeden, and Campbell). The table below shows each team’s week 1 starters in each of the last ten seasons, along with the projected starter in 2013 according to Footballguys.com (with EJ Manuel (Buffalo), Chad Henne (Jacksonville), Nick Foles (Philadelphia) and Mark Sanchez (New York, for the fifth straight year) projected to win the four open camp jobs.)
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Tagged as: QB Starts

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Quarterbacks Were Healthier Than Ever in 2012

by Chase Stuart on May 15, 2013

in Quarterbacks, Statistics, Trivia

Twenty quarterbacks started all sixteen games last season:

Mark Sanchez started 15 games for the Jets, but was benched for the week 16 game against the Chargers. Carson Palmer (ribs/chest) and Brandon Weeden (shoulder) were each injured in week 16, causing them to sit out week 17 (although Weeden probably could have played if the game meant anything.) In addition, Jay Cutler (concussion) and Robert Griffin III (knee) each missed one — but only one — game due to injury. ^[1]Griffin was on the injury report twice for head injuries but did not miss a start due to concussions. As for the other seven teams:
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References[+]

References
↑1	Griffin was on the injury report twice for head injuries but did not miss a start due to concussions.

Tagged as: Concussions, Health, QB Starts

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