Bad Throws

[QuikSand]

I have been trying to track the progress of a young QB in one of my careers, and have been keeping an eye on one stat that is kept in the box scores, but not in his personal stats -- "bad throws." Intuitively, this seemed like it was worth watching -- it seemed to me like the category that best represented "QB made the mistake himself" and might be a good indicator of my young guy's development.

However, I confess I am troubled by the notion that the phrase "bad throw" is also used in the game logs, when there is a QB hurry. Something like "98 Jones hurried the QB into a bad throw." So now, I'm a bit concerned that the "bad throw" might, in fact, just be a reflection of something that's not under the QB's control -- maybe it's a function of pass protection/pressure instead.

The stat line I'm reading for my QB looks like this:


Passing Attempt Comp BdThrw Dropd Defnsd Blockd Hurried Intrcpt
13 Lyle 38 26 2 1 4 1 3 0


All along, i have assumed that since "hurried" is there as its own category, than the "bad throws" is the indicator of a QB mistake. My guy, in this game, having two bad throws in 38 attempts is pretty good -- erratic or low-skilled QBs will frequently have many more than that in one game. (This stat line, incidentally, is from a well-developed guy in the IHOF, not the young guy I am watching closely in the FOFL)

So... is my initial intuition right about "bad throws" = "QB errors" or is there some other explanation? Has anyone looked at this? Does the "bad throw" connect to some other event from the game logs (which I spend precious little time with, admittedly)?

[Buzzbee]

Seems like it'd be pretty easy to identify. Count how many times the QB is 'hurried into a bad throw.' I'm betting it will be 3.

I always assumed that 'bad throw' was where the QB overthrew or underthrew the target.

Again, simply counting the occurnences in the game log should give you your answer.

[MalcPow]

I think you're right to look at bad throws as a purely QB related incompletion. I've spent some time looking at game logs and the number of bad throws is tied to things like "the pass was overthrown/underthrown" in the pbp. Whenever it says "the quarterback was hurried into a bad throw" the game logs the incompletion as a hurry. Most of the time all incompletions are accounted for as either defensed, blocked, intercepted, or whatever, but occasionally there will simply be an incomplete pass (like one per game, and often none), and I kind of wonder what is going on there.

But the short answer is, yes, bad throws appear to be an everything else independent stat, relating solely to times that your qb just doesn't hit an otherwise open receiver while being adequately protected.

[Cotton]

Having receivers with good adjustment ratings (Adjusts to Ball) will cut down on the number of bad throws. Not that the QB will throw fewer, but not as many will show up in your box score line because they'd be completions.

Something to keep in mind as you gauge.

[MIJB#19]

I always assumed that 'bad throw' was where the QB overthrew or underthrew the target.Bingo.

Edit: This topic makes me think that a test with quarterbacks who are 0/0 in all skills but one could result into figuring out which rating as attached to what. For example, there are claims by some that timing improves the receivers ability to catch the ball, some claim that sense rush cuts on sacks if the quarterback is behind a bad line, some claim that interceptions are fully based on avoid ints, etc.

[QuikSand]

Thanks for the feedback/verification.

[cthomer5000]

Your initial impression had always been my take on it as well.