PFF ranks Dak's accuracy

[percyhoward]

According to Pro Football Focus in their QB Annual, Dak ranked 21st out of 35 QB in 2018 with 48.6% of his aimed attempts that were considered "accurate." It's important to note that PFF doesn't consider all catchable passes "accurate," but only those on which the receiver didn't have to extend his arms outside what they call the "frame" (the zone of his head and torso) to catch. If the receiver bent down, reached above the top of the helmet, or to either side out away from his body, they called that an "inaccurate catchable" pass. Any catchable pass that isn't caught is considered a drop by PFF, so there is a weird grey area there that includes so-called "inaccurate" passes that should be caught.

That distinction between "accurate" and "catchable" means a lot, because PFF ranked Prescott 9th out of 35 with 68.0% of his aimed attempts that were considered "catchable." So I guess you could either say Dak ranks in the bottom 15 (out of 35) or in the top 10, depending on what you think accuracy means. PFF's George Chahrouri, who put the QB annual together, says "It's nice to throw accurate passes, but it's terrible to throw uncatchable passes."

Whatever you think about PFF's terminology, they did watch every pass of all 35 QB, so this is probably as thorough an analysis and as objective a ranking as you're going to get without watching every pass of every QB yourself.

 

[ChuckA1]

To me, catchable means a lot more than accurate.

 

[pansophy]

According to Pro Football Focus in their QB Annual, Dak ranked 21st out of 35 QB in 2018 with 48.6% of his aimed attempts that were considered "accurate." It's important to note that PFF doesn't consider all catchable passes "accurate," but only those on which the receiver didn't have to extend his arms outside what they call the "frame" (the zone of his head and torso) to catch. If the receiver bent down, reached above the top of the helmet, or to either side out away from his body, they called that an "inaccurate catchable" pass. Any catchable pass that isn't caught is considered a drop by PFF, so there is a weird grey area there that includes so-called "inaccurate" passes that should be caught.

That distinction between "accurate" and "catchable" means a lot, because PFF ranked Prescott 9th out of 35 with 68.0% of his aimed attempts that were considered "catchable." So I guess you could either say Dak ranks in the bottom 15 (out of 35) or in the top 10, depending on what you think accuracy means. PFF's George Chahrouri, who put the QB annual together, says "It's nice to throw accurate passes, but it's terrible to throw uncatchable passes."

Whatever you think about PFF's terminology, they did watch every pass of all 35 QB, so this is probably as thorough an analysis and as objective a ranking as you're going to get without watching every pass of every QB yourself.

Trying to decide what this really means. Would think these numbers would be highly correlated but apparently not.

Would guess then that we should see Prescott in the lower half of the league in YAC, or median YAC at least. If not then it's hard to figure what the meaningful difference between accurate and catchable would be.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Hmmm....seems like everything with Dak have two different angles. Just enough to feed BOTH sides.....lol

 

[Corso]

According to Pro Football Focus in their QB Annual, Dak ranked 21st out of 35 QB in 2018 with 48.6% of his aimed attempts that were considered "accurate." It's important to note that PFF doesn't consider all catchable passes "accurate," but only those on which the receiver didn't have to extend his arms outside what they call the "frame" (the zone of his head and torso) to catch. If the receiver bent down, reached above the top of the helmet, or to either side out away from his body, they called that an "inaccurate catchable" pass. Any catchable pass that isn't caught is considered a drop by PFF, so there is a weird grey area there that includes so-called "inaccurate" passes that should be caught.

That distinction between "accurate" and "catchable" means a lot, because PFF ranked Prescott 9th out of 35 with 68.0% of his aimed attempts that were considered "catchable." So I guess you could either say Dak ranks in the bottom 15 (out of 35) or in the top 10, depending on what you think accuracy means. PFF's George Chahrouri, who put the QB annual together, says "It's nice to throw accurate passes, but it's terrible to throw uncatchable passes."

Whatever you think about PFF's terminology, they did watch every pass of all 35 QB, so this is probably as thorough an analysis and as objective a ranking as you're going to get without watching every pass of every QB yourself.

I think he throws better when he's off-script and using his in-the-moment go for it ability.
When he's trying to play the gameplan, it seems he's trying too hard to follow the gameplan.


When he just goes, results tend to work for him.

 

[Runwildboys]

Interesting that an end zone jump ball would be considered inaccurate, as would probably most balls caught in tight coverage.

 

[CowboyRoy]

According to Pro Football Focus in their QB Annual, Dak ranked 21st out of 35 QB in 2018 with 48.6% of his aimed attempts that were considered "accurate." It's important to note that PFF doesn't consider all catchable passes "accurate," but only those on which the receiver didn't have to extend his arms outside what they call the "frame" (the zone of his head and torso) to catch. If the receiver bent down, reached above the top of the helmet, or to either side out away from his body, they called that an "inaccurate catchable" pass. Any catchable pass that isn't caught is considered a drop by PFF, so there is a weird grey area there that includes so-called "inaccurate" passes that should be caught.

That distinction between "accurate" and "catchable" means a lot, because PFF ranked Prescott 9th out of 35 with 68.0% of his aimed attempts that were considered "catchable." So I guess you could either say Dak ranks in the bottom 15 (out of 35) or in the top 10, depending on what you think accuracy means. PFF's George Chahrouri, who put the QB annual together, says "It's nice to throw accurate passes, but it's terrible to throw uncatchable passes."

Whatever you think about PFF's terminology, they did watch every pass of all 35 QB, so this is probably as thorough an analysis and as objective a ranking as you're going to get without watching every pass of every QB yourself.

So when Dak is about to get killed because the line crumbles on one of their league leading sacks and he has to rush the throw because of pressure and its off target is that considered an "inaccurate pass"?

If Gallup hesitates on his route because he is a rookie and thats what rookies do and the ball is overthrown because of that, is that also considered an "inaccurate pass"?

Also for a comparison, what was he ranked in accuracy in 2016 when he had a good Oline in front of him and better pass catchers?

What was his accuracy ranking the last 8 games of 2018 as compared to the first 8?

And how about giving us the entire list so we can judge for ourselves?

 

[CowboyRoy]

I think he throws better when he's off-script and using his in-the-moment go for it ability.
When he's trying to play the gameplan, it seems he's trying too hard to follow the gameplan.


When he just goes, results tend to work for him.

When he is in a scheme he is comfortable with receivers that he is used to and get open with time to throw the results work for him. As it does with any QB.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Interesting that an end zone jump ball would be considered inaccurate, as would probably most balls caught in tight coverage.

But then again he’s being rated against other QBs who all make those passes too.

 

[Runwildboys]

But then again he’s being rated against other QBs who all make those passes too.

I know. I wasn't saying anything about Dak, just about how they define accurate.

 

[Corso]

But then again he’s being rated against other QBs who all make those passes too.

On jump balls into the end zone?
Sweet!

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

According to Pro Football Focus in their QB Annual, Dak ranked 21st out of 35 QB in 2018 with 48.6% of his aimed attempts that were considered "accurate." It's important to note that PFF doesn't consider all catchable passes "accurate," but only those on which the receiver didn't have to extend his arms outside what they call the "frame" (the zone of his head and torso) to catch. If the receiver bent down, reached above the top of the helmet, or to either side out away from his body, they called that an "inaccurate catchable" pass. Any catchable pass that isn't caught is considered a drop by PFF, so there is a weird grey area there that includes so-called "inaccurate" passes that should be caught.

That distinction between "accurate" and "catchable" means a lot, because PFF ranked Prescott 9th out of 35 with 68.0% of his aimed attempts that were considered "catchable." So I guess you could either say Dak ranks in the bottom 15 (out of 35) or in the top 10, depending on what you think accuracy means. PFF's George Chahrouri, who put the QB annual together, says "It's nice to throw accurate passes, but it's terrible to throw uncatchable passes."

Whatever you think about PFF's terminology, they did watch every pass of all 35 QB, so this is probably as thorough an analysis and as objective a ranking as you're going to get without watching every pass of every QB yourself.

Thanks for sharing, Percy. Cooper is actually a guy that prefers to catch the ball above his head and outside of his frame. His drop issues in the past have largely involved balls inside the frame.

So at least in Cooper’s case there may be reason to place more importance on Dak’s ability to throw catchable passes than on his accuracy.

 

[acr731]

Top 25? Hell Yeah!! Super bowl time...........

{ end sarcasm }

 

[acr731]

When he's trying to play the gameplan, it seems he's trying too hard to follow the gameplan.
.

Garrett"s game plans suck, so there you go.

 

[percyhoward]

Interesting that an end zone jump ball would be considered inaccurate, as would probably most balls caught in tight coverage.

And then there are passes that can only be completed if the receiver goes to the ground to get it. I assume those are considered inaccurate completions too.

Doing the math, there were 14.3% of Dak's aimed attempts that weren't accounted for as either catchable or uncatchable, and I'm guessing those were defended successfully. Which I guess makes them inaccurate too.

 

[Corso]

Garrett"s game plans suck, so there you go.

Yeah... but don't you just not like Dak? Pretty cool you agreeing with me.
I knew I always liked you...

 

[Corso]

And then there are passes that can only be completed if the receiver goes to the ground to get it. I assume those are considered inaccurate completions too.

Doing the math, there were 14.3% of Dak's aimed attempts that weren't accounted for as either catchable or uncatchable, and I'm guessing those were defended successfully. Which I guess makes them inaccurate too.

So.
Here's the Question I give to you- as I value your opinion over most:

What is your personal opinion of Dak Prescott, as a QB?

 

[percyhoward]

But then again he’s being rated against other QBs who all make those passes too.

True. Whatever their methods are, they're the same for every QB.

 

[HungryLion]

Thank you for all your hard work @percyhoward

I would be interested in seeing the numbers for The rest of the QB’s in the NFL. As in what is the % difference between Dak and the top tier guys and also him and the bottom tier guys.

Based on what you’re saying though with the discrepancy between the two numbers, it seems like Dak is around NFL average accuracy wise.

Which I think is a pretty fair assessment. As I have repeatedly said in the past that he does miss throws due to his inconsistent footwork.

The reason I would like to see his numbers compared to the best in the leagues, would be to see how much ground would Dak need to cover to be in the top 10 accuracy wise? Are we talking about hitting another 5% more accurately or another 15%?

 

[percyhoward]

So.
Here's the Question I give to you- as I value your opinion over most:

What is your personal opinion of Dak Prescott, as a QB?

He's no phenom like Mahomes, but he's a good young QB who excels late in close games.

And this team could do much, much worse. As we've all seen.