So far so good for Brian Hoyer in Chicago. He’s been better than Jay Cutler. He’s also been better than the high-priced guy who replaced him in Houston.
Inside the 10, in fact, Hoyer thus far has been the most efficient quarterback in the league. That’s the area of the field where the stakes are raised, and he’s put the ball in the end zone on 4 of his 6 pass plays. Limited body of work, of course, but it’s a start.
Two other quarterbacks have gotten the ball in the end zone on 60 percent of their pass plays in that part of the field, and they’re two of the best – Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson.
This part of the field is extra important, so we carefully track these plays. We like to stick them all in a database and play around with him – see what trends emerge.
Thus far there have been only 5 interceptions inside the 10, and two quarterbacks have each thrown 2 of them – Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kirk Cousins.
Three quarterbacks have successfully gotten the ball in the end zone on under 15 percent of their plays – Dak Prescott, Andy Dalton, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Prescott and Dalton are both sitting at 1 of 8 in that part of the field. That is, they dropped back 8 times, and only once where they able to get it into the end zone.
These are home-cooked stats, and we’ve included 2-point conversions. So for “TD”, those aren’t actually touchdowns – they’re touchdowns and 2-point conversions.
The 25 quarterbacks with at least 5 plays in this part of the field …
| PASSING INSIDE THE 10 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | TD | Int | Sack | EZ Pct |
| Hoyer, Chi. | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 67% |
| Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 7 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 60% |
| Wilson, Sea. | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60% |
| Carr, Oak. | 7 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 58% |
| Bortles, Jac. | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50% |
| Rodgers, G.B. | 6 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 44% |
| Winston, T.B. | 5 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 44% |
| Brees, N.O. | 15 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 41% |
| Palmer, Ariz. | 5 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 38% |
| Luck, Ind. | 10 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 36% |
| Ryan, Atl. | 12 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 33% |
| Stafford, Det. | 5 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33% |
| Smith, K.C. | 5 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30% |
| Siemian, Den. | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27% |
| Mariota, Tenn. | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 25% |
| Flacco, Balt. | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 25% |
| Manning, NYG | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 25% |
| Cousins, Wash. | 4 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 20% |
| Tannehill, Mia. | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20% |
| Wentz, Phil. | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20% |
| Rivers, S.D. | 7 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19% |
| Osweiler, Hou. | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17% |
| Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 4 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14% |
| Dalton, Cin. | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13% |
| Prescott, Dall. | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13% |
And non-qualifiers, if you’re interested.
| FEWER THAN 5 PLAYS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | TD | Int | Sack | EZ Pct |
| Newton, Car. | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 75% |
| Keenum, L.A. | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25% |
| Bradford, Minn. | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50% |
| Brissett, N.E. | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Gabbert, S.F. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25% |
| Kessler, Clev. | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 67% |
| Taylor, Buff. | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50% |
| Lynch, Den. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50% |
| Boykin, Sea. | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Anderson, Car. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Griffin, Clev. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Garoppolo, N.E. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
—Ian Allan