(The Rock Report) – So, I’ve read some “writers” and listened to some “look at me” talking heads opining about how Jimmy Clausen has been a disappointment so far. I can’t imagine what their benchmark is other than their own fantasies.
At the same stage in his career, the NFL’s number one draft pick, Matthew Stafford, had a 128.9 rating, threw for 2,523 yards, 19 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and for a 55.7% completion percentage. And that was on a Georgia team that averaged 4.6 yards per carry versus Notre Dame’s putrid 3.4 yards per carry last season.
Clausen, behind a much less balanced offense and on a far less successful team, was ahead of Stafford in almost every statistical category at the same point.
What about Sanchez, the second quarterback taken in the NFL draft who came in with similar hype as Clausen? His stats were far worse than Clausen’s after Sanchez’s Junior year (a year ahead of Clausen) and Sanchez’s sophomore stats (the same as Clausen’s last year) were atrocious.
Two quarterbacks a year ahead of Clausen, McCoy and Bradford, stand out as far above the norm and better than Clausen at the same points in their careers, but both also played with veteran offenses. McCoy was only slightly better as a sophomore. Bradford was off the charts.
But by any other standard Clausen has performed well, he’s just not been a savior. But outside of Tebow, McCoy and Bradford, there aren’t many quarterbacks who’ve been better to this point, including Brady Quinn . If you truly want to mark Clausen’s progress vis a vis his classmates, check out ESPN’s top 15 below from Clausen’s peer class. It’s not much of a comparison. Jarret Lee has the closest statistical numbers and he’s still far behind Clausen across the board.
Should have been Heisman trophy winner Vince Young completed 58% of his passes and threw for 6 touchdown passes against 7 interceptions his sophomore year. He didn’t play at all as a true freshmen.
Heisman trophy winner Carson Palmer completed 55 % of his passes for 2,941 yards and 16 TDs with 18 interceptions as a sophomore.
Heisman trophy winner Matt Leinart didn’t take meaningful snaps until his Junior year, his third in the program.
Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith didn’t play as a freshmen, but completed 55% of his passes for 8 TDs and 3 Ints as a sophomore.
Brady Quinn completed 54% of his passes for 2,586 yards, 17 TDs and 10 Ints as a Sophomore.
In sum, by any reasonable non-emoting measure, Clausen, to this point, is far ahead of his peers and almost all of those who’ve preceded him. I’ve heard some continue to complain about Clausen’s announcement speech and how he should be held to a higher standard because of that. And if we were a bunch of grudge holding high school girls outside a locker, I could see how you might hold that position, but otherwise that’s just emota-whining and inane.
I would hope Irish fans have a little more maturity in them.
Clausen, to this point, has been, by far, the best quarterback of his top 15 peers in his class. The only quarterback of the same year who has better stats that I’ve seen? Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick. They had the exact same quarterback rating last year. **Note: It was pointed out to me that Kaepernick redshirted and is a year ahead of Clausen.