Of course after the national media collectively fondled Robert Griffin on national television (metaphorically of course) after his week 1 jewel of a game (19/26 320 yards 2 TD 0 INT). I expected, and got, very little of the same after Weeden put up basically the exact same numbers last week.
I was fired when I first saw Weeden’s stats against the Bengals, not that he put up Weeden-esque numbers but that he recovered in such a huge way from week 1. Then I started thinking about how Weeden’s second game performance ranked among rookies in, say, the last 10ish years. Here’s what I found…
Since 2000 there have been 287 games in which a rookie quarterback attempted more than 10 passes in a game (this is among quarterback who qualified for a passer rating, you have to average 14 passes a game for the season to qualify).
Two weeks ago Weeden checked in with the worst passer rating out of all 287 of those games at 5.1. David Carr dropped an 8.2 his rookie year on 6/25 for 87 yards and 2 INT against San Diego. Mark Sanchez had an equally putrid 10/29 for 119 and 5 INT (!) for an 8.3 rating against the Bills his first season. Those are the only three single digit ratings out of all 287 performances.
Against Cincinnati however, Weeden put up the 21st best game by a rookie QB since 2000 with a nice 26/37 for 322 yards and 2 TD line. Good for a 114.9 QB rating.
Only eight rookie quarterbacks since 2000 have topped this mark. Roethlisberger topped it four times his rookie year (including a 14/17 for 221 and 2 TD and a 158 (!) rating against Jacksonville). Cammy Cam did it three times last year. Griffin did it in week one. Matty Ice did it five (!) times his frosh season, Flacco four. Josh Freeman, VY and Byron Leftwich one a piece.
So if you’re scoring at home, these are the rookie QBs since 2000 who have topped the 114.5 QB rating:
Matt Ryan (5)
Ben Roethlisberger (4)
Joe Flacco (4)
Cam Newton (3)
Bob Griffin (1)
Josh Freeman (1)
Byron Leftwich (1)
Vince Young (1)
Brandon Weeden (1)
Other than VY that’s a pretty decent crop of professional passers.
There was a really intriguing article on ESPN last week talking about how when you put up a 5.1 QB rating for a single game, despite the sample size, it’s pretty telling that you’re going to have a crappy career. In other words there haven’t been any great (or even good) QBs who have gone that low.
I wrote at the time that if anyone could reverse that trend, it’s B. Weeds.
Hope he keeps proving me right.
Weeden is a leader, first and foremost. I feel sorry for him landing in one of the worst teams in the league for offense; almost as bad as what happened to Barry with Detroit, but I have faith that he, better than any of the other rookies, may be able to turn the Browns around. BTW, your new tag line, I’ve been told you didn’t build this, the government helped you build this….LOL
Mitt Romney, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfYjCZ1QM1k&feature=related
no, no, it only counts if a lib’ral says it.
Hate to make this about Bob, but did you see his comments about the Rams playing dirty. Completely unable to lose with class. You think he would have learned this after all the beat-downs he got from OSU.
If a low passer rating is indicative of having a crappy career, please tell that to two-time Super Bowl winner Eli Manning. He dropped a 0 passer rating against the Ravens in 2004 (4-18 for 27 yards, 0 td, and 2 int).
Not to say that Weeden is going to have the same team success as Eli, but I think he’ll be fine.
For some reason, there is a bias against Weeden. Despite matching RGIII’s week 1 performance (as you said above), SB Nation’s power rankings called him unimpressive. It disappoints me to see such bad journalism. If he was from the East or West coasts and 24, everyone would be gushing over him right now.
I think the Browns will have to beat the Ravens or Steelers for Weeden to finally get any love. RG3 and Luck get a pass.
I have a bunch of friends that grew up Browns fans. The good news for Weeden is that if he wins 3 of 4 against the Ravens and Steelers, he gets a pass for whatever else he has done. They are desperate to beat those teams. The bad news is that the Steelers and Ravens are pretty good. Easier said than done to beat them.
I find it sad that in an article about Brandon Weeden you can’t even make it past the 10th word before referencing “Robert Griffen”…..get over it, the way you continually rip, put down, and use as a measuring stick gets old. I love Brandon Weeden, but also think RGIII is a great QB (and will be one in the NFL).
Anyway, love the blog, I read it everyday, I just get tired of the “Bob Bashing”
Bob bashing never gets old
+1
Jim Rome did 15 minutes ripping into Bob Griffin today. Kyle started this years ago and it never gets old!👍