Charting Every Pass Thrown By The Best QBs From The 2022 NFL Draft
I did not chart every pass myself. If I did with google sheets and a lack of computer skills, this project would take me at least a year if I put in 15 minutes each day. I obviously couldn’t do that, but a massive thanks to the Ringer and Ben Solak as they did the QB charting, and I will simply be reacting to each player’s chart.
The charts will include advanced stats, heat maps, what happens when a QB is pressured, and who takes what reads.
It’s not quite what we would call a complicated system, but it does take a quick once over to understand all of the stats that are being presented because with all of the stats, percentages, and graphs, it can get confusing quickly.
If you want to learn everything about the stats besides the explanation I give, click on the link here and find the Our Method button to learn more.
This is not in order of best to worst Quarterback
Malik Willis
Willis was selected in the third round at #86 overall by the Titans after taking an absolute free fall in the draft after he was mocked to go top-10. Willis was my personal QB1, and while he is one of the riskiest QBs in the class, I believe that he is going to be the best one.
Advanced Stats
- 52.8 Pinpoint %
- 12.29 Air Yards per Attempt
- 6.2 Drop %
- 5.6 Interceptable %
- 40.6 YAC %
Next, we’re on to his pressure response. This pressure response is a little bit comical, almost as funny as if Tua was put through this exercise. He escapes the pressure more often than not, but he still takes a lot of sacks and weirdly refuses to throw the ball away. He scrambles less than one may think for such an athletic QB, but he runs more designed runs in the first place. He tries to escape rather than deliver more which I thought was really interesting.
If we look down at other prospects, Willis generally just throws the football less accurately than his counterparts. His progressions are balanced, which is good in most cases, and so is his dual-threat ability, which he uses to deliver passes outside of the pocket. He was rarely good when pressured, which is a red flag in the NFL because pressure is constant with the superstar EDGE rushers that we have in today’s NFL. Finally, he throws into a semi-balanced window duo as some do happen to be tight, but mainly he takes the more accessible pass.
Finally, we get to his heat map, which boasts his pinpoint accuracy numbers, the most crucial thing of this exercise. Like he is a player, Willis may have accuracy a little rough around the edges, but the tools are there. His deep ball is special, and his arm has the juice to get the ball downfield. He’s actually better across his body rather than outside, and his short accuracy simply needs work. Lucky for him, he’s sitting behind an efficient short passer, and he has time to hone in his skills.
Desmond Ridder
Ridder was the second QB off of the board as he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with their 74th overall selection. Ridder has been seen as the most mature and likely the most intelligent QB in the class as the Bearcats QB is a proven winner at the college level, getting Cincy to the College Football Playoff for the first time in their history in this past season.
Advanced Stats
- 65.6% Pinpoint
- 11.11 Air Yards Per Attempt
- 6.5% Drop
- 3.8% Interceptable
- 36.5% YAC
Desmond Ridder’s pressure response is what makes him such an enticing prospect. It also makes him erratic, especially in the NFL. He stands and delivers more than almost anybody, and while that could generally be a good thing, it also causes problems. Taking a hit makes his career potentially shorter, and his refusal to scramble is worrying. He also throws picks easily under pressure, so the fact that he hangs in the pocket is detrimental to NFL teams.
Ridder’s tendencies are actually excellent from my standpoint. I do see the worry at his selection process when throwing, and his reads aren’t top tier, but because he’ll be on the bench, the fact that he has experience throwing into these windows is actually beneficial in my eyes. He throws the ball a lot, and the fact that the percentages are so high is a good thing because he has that experience, and he can hone in his reads.
His heat map may be his selling point. It is so damn consistent. His arm does have NFL-worthy juice, but just barely. He won’t be considered a strong-armed quarterback when he gets his chance to shine. Everywhere on the field is solid, though, he can throw anywhere and everywhere accurately, and that’s really excellent in modern NFL schemes with receivers running everywhere. His YAC percentage may be lower than some may like, but this map shows how damn accurate he is.
Kenny Pickett
Pickett, a player that was far from my QB1 coming into the draft, was selected as the first Quarterback off of the board. By 54 spots. I’m afraid I have to disagree with the selection, but after Mac Jones last year, I do understand looking at pro-ready QBs. I also think the story of keeping him in Pitt is cool.
Advanced Stats
- 62.6 Pinpoint %
- 10.08 Air Yards per Attempt
- 6.3 Drop %
- 2.8 Interceptable %
- 42.1 YAC %
Pickett’s Pressure Response may not be ideal for many teams, but it’s not like it’s that of Big Ben. Pickett actually does use the little juice and speed he has and scrambles away, and he does escape pressure pretty solidly too. This tells me that Pickett may be a little too paranoid as a QB and that he collapses the pocket too early because he scrambles, throws it away, or escapes more than he delivers. His throwaway rate is too high for me.
Pickett’s tendencies show a true lack of competition, and it shows that he may lack the experience to go big time in the NFL right off of the bat. He likely doesn’t have the luxury of sitting and learning like most of these QBs, and that actually scares me. He doesn’t throw out of the pocket very often, and he is almost never pressured when throwing the football, and when he is, it’s not great. He isn’t good at throwing into tight windows, either.
No arm strength. Period. Down the field, Pickett was basically horrendous, and I’m afraid that he lacks the true arm talent to be able to juice the ball down the field with ease. He is good from 0–9 yards, but everything else is actually kind of ugly, which isn’t good considering his main calling card is accuracy. Sure, check-downs are fun, but once you get into the league, uh-oh.
Matt Corral
For a good while there, Matt Corral was my QB1 in the NFL Draft. Then Malik Willis slowly took over, but I am still high on Matt as my QB1. He has the ability to do a lot, and he is becoming the face of a whole new offense that’s transferring over from college to the NFL. The reason I like him so much is that if you were to run that offense, there would likely be nobody better at it than him.
Advanced Stats
- 57.4 Pinpoint %
- 9.93 Air Yards per Attempt
- 5.7 Drop %
- 3.2 Interceptable %
- 55.4 YAC %
Matt’s pressure response is kind of impressive. It’s pretty balanced, and he doesn’t collapse the pocket nor not move. He escapes, takes the sack when he has to and is able to scramble and throw away with good numbers. Everything is low and balanced enough for it to be really impressive, so hats of to Corral with his pressure response; it’s the best I’ve seen yet,
His pinpoint % is alright situationally, but it’s nothing to celebrate. He’s no good at throwing into tight windows, and he’s not good when pressured. His progressions are pretty standard considering that in the heavy RPO offense he was in (64% of his passes this past year had a run option), and so if the first read wasn’t open, it’s unlikely that anybody was. He can zip it in there, but because of how short his offense ran, he didn’t need to make the tough throws that often. That is a red flag for Corral, but his appeal of him is his ability to run a certain scheme to perfection.
Look at that 100% up the middle below 0 yards. Beautiful. Anyway, Corral doesn't shine deep down the field, which is a red flag for him. His arm is strong, but he needs to work on his skills of pumping the ball downfield with accuracy. He’s solid with the heat map, but it obviously isn’t out of the park or anything.
Sam Howell
The last Quarterback that we’re charting today, Howell, was in the conversation for the first overall pick of the draft at the beginning of the year. He also was not supposed to fall as far as he did, as many people (including myself) mocked him as a second or third-round prospect. That was not the case as he fell to the Commanders at 144.
Advanced Stats
- 66.4 Pinpoint %
- 12.11 Air Yards per Attempt
- 7.8 Drop %
- 3.3 Interceptable %
- 47.8 YAC %
Sam Howell may lack a little bit of paranoia. His stand and deliver number is good for his athleticism. His scramble number is fine, and his throwaway number is also totally fine. He takes sacks 27% of the time. That’s the issue. That shows that he lacks the sense of pressure, which is an issue, but it’s historically much easier to fix than the opposite problem. He simply needs to escape more. Pretty simple.
Yeah, when everything is going well for Howell, he is nearly perfect. He’s that guy that’s awesome around people he knows, but once he gets into awkward situations, he just crumbles. He’s not great at throwing into tight windows, he’s not great under pressure, he’s not great beyond his first read, and he’s pretty horrible outside of the pocket. When everything is going well for Howell, he’s excellent. If you give this man the right situation, he could be scary.
Well, pick 144 is looking even more like a steal. Howell’s heat map is the best and most consistent of anybody. His arm doesn’t lack the juice to go deep; he’s excellent from 10–19 and basically out of this world from 0–9. His pinpoint % is on point (see what I did there), and his heat map is better than everybody else's in this class. He can throw anywhere and everywhere is basically better than everybody—hats off, Sam.
Thanks for tuning in today!
ShreyKanji, 11x11 Sports Media
