For those of you just starting to read ATVS, we have been keeping track of a statistical index for quarterbacks that we think improves upon the traditional passer rating by a) being more intuitively clear what the numbers mean (it's measured in yards per play) b) weighting touchdowns and interceptions more logically, and c) taking running into account. Here are the numbers so far:
| quarterback | ATVSQBPI (this week) | ATVSQBPI (year to date) |
| Joe Cox | 14 | 8.5 |
| Greg McElroy | 14 | 9.1 |
| Ryan Mallett | 11 | 12 |
| Jevan Snead | 9.5 | 8.3 |
| Stephen Garcia | 9.0 | 6.3 |
| Chris Todd | 8.9 | 9.3 |
| Mike Hartline | 8.1 | 8.0 |
| Jordan Jefferson | 6.1 | 6.4 |
| Tyson Lee | 5.0 | 5.1 |
| Tim Tebow | 4.0 | 8.4 |
| Larry Smith | 2.4 | 4.0 |
| Jonathan Crompton | 1.8 | 3.8 |
First off, Jonathan Crompton needs to be thankful for that game against Western Kentucky, because while 3.8 is a very bad ATVSQBPI, his rating in the last two weeks combined has been 0.6 yards per play. Yikes. Tennessee kept that game reasonably close by holding Tim Tebow to his own personal worst (I assume) rating of 4.0 yards/play.
Through 3 weeks, Ryan Mallett is the clear SEC leader with a rating of 12.0, but he's only played two games. Let's see how that shakes out. For that matter, cumulative stats at this point are only marginally meaningful.
One thing that is clear here is that Jordan Jefferson is, so far, lagging a little behind the leaders. He stands 8th in the conference in ATVSQBPI with a rating of 6.4. The 7th place QB is Mike Hartline with 8.0 even. The 9th place QB is Stephen Garcia with a 6.3, and charging.
Right now there seem to be 4 tiers. Ryan Mallett, Chris Todd, and Greg McElroy are in the top tier. In the middle tier are Joe Cox, Tim Tebow, Jevan Snead, and Mike Hartline. The third tier has Jefferson and Garcia, and you can arguably put Tyson lee in there. The 4th tier is the "clearly not getting it done" tier, with Larry Smith and Jonathan Crompton.
This year so far, the QB play throughout the conference has been much better than last year's. Jordan Jefferson's 6.4 this year would have been comfortably in the top half of the conference last year, and Mike Hartline's 8.0 would have had people talking about All-Conference honors. Only two quarterbacks have TD/Int ratios below 1.0, and most are above 2.0. Neither Ryan Mallett nor Tyson Lee have thrown interceptions yet, though Lee only has 38 attempts and Mallett has played fewer games.
Look at Joe Cox. He's been very productive there for Georgia. He leads the league in touchdown passes, thanks to throwing 5 of them against Arkansas. He is right now getting killed by his negative rushing statistics, but his passing has been very good. He actually leads the league in yards passing.
From an LSU perspective, Jefferson has to improve relative to the rest of the conference if LSU is going to improve relative tot he rest of the conference also. He's just a little off with his throws, like he gets anxious when he sees an open receiver deep. We'll be keeping an eye on this in weeks to come.