:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/991317/Overall.png)
Some quarterback statistical crunching was done over at SBN's Cal blog, looking at a new quarterback efficiency formula that appears to put a bunch of emphasis on turnovers and yards gained. The results were that:
a) The rating really does churn out the top five quarterbacks, and Chandler Harnish is one of them.
b) The plotted chart looks like a tornado.
Many of the QBs ranked in the top 50 (out of about 175 passers) — eight to be exact. And if this doesn't make you salivate, nothing will except perhaps chorizo: of those, only two are leaving as seniors, Harnish and Chester Stewart. Which means that Temple's Chris Coyer (3rd), Toledo's Terrance Owens (7th) and Austin Dantin (30th), OHIO's Tyler Tettleton (31st), WMU's Alex Carder (39th) and Miami's Zac Dysert (43rd) bring in yet one more year of experience to their arsenal.
And not to gloat, but I had pegged this for a better year than 2010 for QBs, especially since only one was lost to seniordom, OHIO's Boo Jackson. Two transfers ended up earning starting jobs (Chazz Anderson at Buffalo and Clayton Moore at Akron) and did better than their teammates would have, I'd imagine, but everyone improved. Matt Schilz and Ryan Radcliff improved even if their teams weren't up to par yet. Keith Wenning and Alex Gillett certainly had better years as marked by 6-6 seasons. Even Spencer Keith for Kent State started to show some *cough* flashes in the second half of the season.
The QB situations at NIU (who here thinks Jordan Lynch will have be a top-five QB in the MAC next year?) and Buffalo (time to try Alex Zordich again?) might be a little painful, and who knows what UMass will bring to the galleon, but those returning 10 should only see improvement.
And if California Golden Blogs does this efficiency breakdown next year (this is their second year compilin' the numbers), then we ought to expect the same top-heavy dominance yet again. Although ... if the defenses get better, maybe the numbers won't be too wacky.