Austin Tatious
Starter
Honest question: isn't YPA a function of what the coaches ask you to do, scheme, playcalling, etc.?
For example, if one quarterback plays for an offense that has a poor running game and expects the quarterback to develop a short passing game to establish ball control, that quarterback would likely end up with a low ypa. On the other hand, a quarterback with a strong running game that is able to control the ball that way, and then unleashes a smaller volume of passes far downfield in an Al Davis style would have a high ypa. Both quarterbacks would be products of their offensive systems. Ypa would also be affected by YAC and hence receivers' ability to break tackles, juke defenders and get yardage downfield.
So, ypa would be a statistic that measures the style of offense, and the entire offense's production.
You see skewed results like Steve Young having an outlier YPA because he played in a great offense with Jerry Rice and John Taylor and other weapons like Ricky Watters, Tom Rathman, and Brent Jones.
I'm not saying ypa is total garbage, just that it's only one metric out of many to look at. Young was a great quarterback through many measures, ypa being only one such metric.
For example, if one quarterback plays for an offense that has a poor running game and expects the quarterback to develop a short passing game to establish ball control, that quarterback would likely end up with a low ypa. On the other hand, a quarterback with a strong running game that is able to control the ball that way, and then unleashes a smaller volume of passes far downfield in an Al Davis style would have a high ypa. Both quarterbacks would be products of their offensive systems. Ypa would also be affected by YAC and hence receivers' ability to break tackles, juke defenders and get yardage downfield.
So, ypa would be a statistic that measures the style of offense, and the entire offense's production.
You see skewed results like Steve Young having an outlier YPA because he played in a great offense with Jerry Rice and John Taylor and other weapons like Ricky Watters, Tom Rathman, and Brent Jones.
I'm not saying ypa is total garbage, just that it's only one metric out of many to look at. Young was a great quarterback through many measures, ypa being only one such metric.