I have a "Franchise Mode" game going in Madden 20 this year where I have overtaken control of the New York Jets, {I have a habit of trying to turn around struggling teams} In playing actual games of football during this exercise
, I found myself struggling to move the football on occasion,(whether that's my fault or Sam Darnold's is still to be determined) However, one thing that usually never fails me, is recognizing a blitz and being able to audible into an angle route over the middle to my running back. Usually the result is the same, said running back ends up in wide open space, most times running for an over 50 yard touchdown. I then had the thought, with all the talk in fantasy about things like "air yards" as well as the recent debate between Evan Silva and Troy Aikman about YPA vs YPC, "Why aren't there stats to determine how many yards a QB actually throws?" That is when I came up with this concept for you to enjoy here.
As you can see by the chart we have broken down by QB's and in some cases multiple QB's I have broken down the total team passing yards first, I then followed that by determining the total number of yards collected after catches YAC if you will. By subtracting the total YAC from the total passing yards we then have a number that I like to call "Actual Passing Yards" these are the truly the purest form of passing yards we can gather about quarterbacks, they are essentially a QBs version of "Air Yards"
The next number present and determined is what I like to call "Assisted Yards" this number represents the difference between "Total Passing Yards" and "Actual Passing Yards" by subtracting the latter from the former we get the number that determines these "Assisted Yards" Assisted Yards can be attributed directly to the skill players on the team who are catching passes.
Finally, we will determine in this chart the "Actual Yards Above Assist" we gather this number by subtracting "Assisted Yards" away from "Actual Passing Yards" This number should indicate the overall effectiveness of the the teams quarterback play versus the effectiveness of the skill position players and should further indicate which quarterbacks are most influential to the teams success as opposed to the skill position players.
Conclusions- The Falcons play sticks out above everyone, of course the sample is perhaps diluted by the game started by Matt Schaub, but the evidence is clear that The Falcons are just throwing more than anyone else in the league with 955 "Yards Above Assist" of course the overall total of yards is necessary to the data, it is still clear. Matthew Stafford is second on the list throwing all the passes for The Lions this year and ranks in at 713 "Yards Above Assist" On the other end of the spectrum we have teams like Pittsburgh and Minnesota, Kirk Cousins ranks in at negative 51 "Yards Above Assist" meaning that the skill position players on the Vikings have acquired 51 more yards than Cousin's QB version of air yards "Actual Passing Yards" Below them even worse would be The Steelers who have skill position players outgaining their QBs by 374 yards which gives Pittsburgh the only other negative number and the worst "Yards Above Assist" of any team in the NFL. (Note that the data does not represent Pittsburghs Week 8 MNF matchup as data was corralled before game conclusion, as well as the fact that the Steelers are the only team other than the Jets to start three QBs or more this season.
The Full Chart Available Here