I am beyond bored in my biological anthropology class right now (whatever that is). So screw it, I'm going to look at football stats. Who is going to stop me?
Week 5 is in the books, and we're starting to see some interesting patterns and tendencies emerge among NFL quarterbacks. All statistics are courtesy of SumerSports. Rankings are among 37 quarterbacks with at least 50 total dropbacks.
Some are more "statistically significant" than others but I had a really fun time diving deep into the stats on these quarterbacks. Anything is more fun than learning about Biological Anthropology and primate locomotion (I have no idea what this teacher is talking about).
A closer look at six NFL quarterbacks through five weeks
Trends that are hard to ignoreÂ
Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals
Jacoby Brissett has actually been one of the better quarterbacks in the league on first down, but the same cannot be said when Brissett and the Cardinals' offense get to second and third down.
On first down (76 dropbacks), Brissett has completed 73.0% of his passes (9th), recorded a 56.0% passing success rate (7th), and averaged +0.24 EPA per pass (8th).
On second down (74 dropbacks), those numbers fall to 64.2% completion (23rd), a 38.9% passing success rate (28th), and -0.10 EPA per pass (26th).
Things get even worse on third down (61 dropbacks), where Brissett has recorded a 37.3% passing success rate (25th) and -0.36 EPA per pass (31st).
On 1st down, Brisett is having a lot of success
On 2nd and 3rd down? Not so much.
Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders
Kirk Cousins has been one of the best play-action passers in the NFL this season.
On play-action dropbacks (46), Cousins has recorded a 68.2% passing success rate (3rd), a +0.60 EPA per pass (1st), and 10.12 yards per attempt (4th). He's also thrown seven touchdowns without an interception.
On pure dropbacks (137), those numbers drop significantly. Cousins has recorded a 42.6% passing success rate (18th), with a +0.01 EPA per pass (18th), and 6.47 yards per attempt (23rd). He's thrown five touchdowns and four interceptions.
Cousins has been relatively ordinary on pure dropbacks but remarkably efficient on play-action passes.
What's especially fascinating is that the Raiders' rushing attack has really struggled, ranking 28th in EPA per rush and dead last in rushing yards per play.
The fact that Cousins and the Raiders have been this effective with play-action despite such an ineffective rushing attack is impressive.
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Hurts has been the worst second-half quarterback in the NFL this season. That's not an opinion, it's simply what the numbers reveal.
In the first half (88 dropbacks), Hurts has recorded a 47.0% passing success rate (14th), with a +0.13 EPA per pass (10th), and 7.22 yards per attempt (14th). He's also thrown six touchdowns and just one interception.
But in the second half (91 dropbacks), those numbers fall off a cliff.
Hurts has recorded a 28.6% passing success rate (37th), with a -0.45 EPA per pass (37th), and just 4.84 yards per attempt (37th). He's also thrown two touchdowns to two interceptions.
Among the 37 qualifying quarterbacks, Hurts ranks dead last in all three second-half efficiency metrics.
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