Who You Calling Sloppy?

Complain all you want about unprepared players and ugly football tarnishing this season, but don’t blame the quarterbacks. Today’s QBs are better than ever.

- Bill Barnwell

NFL ratings are down in 2016, and everybody is looking for an explanation. Plenty of theories have been cited: an exhausting election is drawing viewers; off-field incidents and the NFL’s treatment of head injuries have sullied the league’s rep; and Thursday night games give us ill-prepared teams, adding to the idea that the NFL TV schedule in general is spread too thin.

The other theory bandied about: ugly football. The quality of the game being played in the NFL right now simply isn’t very good, the argument goes, and that starts with disappointing performances at quarterback. Is QB play in decline? Is the league getting sloppier because young guys like Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz, Jameis Winston and others are asked to play right away? I’m skeptical. In fact, the evidence says quarterbacks are actually as good as they’ve ever been. Really. And contrary to popular narrative, the position hasn’t gotten easier to play.

Quarterbacks are being asked to do more than ever before. Many are sent to the line with two plays and then “kill” one based on their pre-snap read. Others wait until after the snap to pick their play with a run-pass option. They also navigate far more complex defenses after the snap, with defensive backs disguising their coverages and pattern-matching instead of dropping into simple zones or man coverage. They’re facing more complex blitzes too, from defenders who are bigger, faster and stronger than ever.

On this alone, you would expect a decline in quarterback numbers, but the opposite is true. QBs—and offenses as a whole—are more productive and efficient than ever before.