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It's hard to compare quarterbacks of different eraa on a statistical basis. With the evolution of the passing game through the years from Erickson to Price to Leach, yards and completion percentage can't give you the whole picture as far as one to one comparisons. With quarterbacks are being asked to do completely different things, you can't be blinded by the raw numbers.
The best stat that I have found to compare the greats of Quarterback U is adjusted yards per attempt. Adjusted yards per attempt measures the average yards gained on each passing attempt while taking into account touchdown passes, sacks and interceptions as well. The latter part of the statistic makes it fairer for Air Raid quarterbacks who throw lots of short passes which are like running plays.
Here are the top adjusted yards per attempt full seasons of the best WSU quarterbacks:
1. Ryan Leaf 10.1!
2. Timm Rosenbach 9.1
3. Jason Gesser 8.4
4. Luke Falk 8.2
5. Alex Brink 7.8
6. Connor Halliday 7.6
7. Jack Thompson 7.1
8. Mark Rypien 7.0
9. Drew Bledsoe 6.9
Random Observations: Yes, Ryan Leaf's 1997 season was as good as you remembered it...All of the seasons ahead of Falk resulted in Top 10 Heisman voting finishes....Alex Brink had a really good sophomore year!...Falk is the youngest quarterback at over 8 yards per attempt...Surprised to see Bledsoe at the bottom of the list...Gesser's senior year was better than I remember and his career average of 7.6 per attempt is outstanding considering he started 3 1/2 seasons...Thanks to sports-reference.com for providing easily accessible stats...Also shout out to Britton Ransford whose excellent article on Falk inspired this piece...Luke Falk is really good!
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