|
Articles
|
"Two-armed" Jake If you're not into stats, take a pass, pun intended Richard Linde, 12 February 2008
In fact, I called him "Two-armed" Jake in this article because of his twelve individual PE's from last season. On the one arm -- I mean hand -- his efficiency (PE) was 134.36 in six of his twelve games. And on the other hand, for the other six games, his efficiency rating was 82.55. Which arm -- or throwing hand -- will step to the fore next season? Based on twelve games last season, he posted a final passing efficiency rating of 105, which ranked him eighth in the conference. Dennis Dixon of Oregon led the Pac-10 with a passing efficiency of 162, which was third best in the nation. Locker’s number didn’t rank him among the nation’s 100 top passers. In the past, a high release point and improper footwork, among other reasons, have been cited for his poor completion percentage (47.3% last season). But...embedded in the stats is the notion that his mediocre numbers are not altogether his fault. From a statistical standpoint, his poor passing efficiency can be explained by strength of schedule, while an injury he suffered in the Oregon State game likely affected his sour stats in the WSU game. Considering Locker was a redshirt freshman, his passing efficiency can be viewed as acceptable in 6 games, while being below average in 6 others. He played six games with a P. E. of 82.55, which ranged from a low of 52.46 to a high of 86.05. -- Three of the six teams – Ohio State, USC, and ASU -- had an average national ranking of 8.3 in pass-efficiency defense. Stats aside, a running quarterback who refuses to slide, has to pick up some bumps and bruises that negatively affect his passing, especially against a hard-hitting team like USC -- a horse-collaring of Locker looking particularly debilitating in the game last year. As for the other three games: -- Locker's PE (83.39) against Stanford was affected by the Huskies' dominating running game. (See the Table below). Simply put, the young quarterback’s arm was not needed against the Tree -- so why take any risks with your arm.? -- He left the Oregon State game after taking an ugly helmet-to-helmet collision, posting his worst PE of the season, 52.46. -- Locker also underachieved in the WSU game, carding an 86.05. Uncertainty may have been a factor against the Cougars, as he'd just returned from injury, having missed the Cal game. In the Table below, Locker's PE is 82.55 for all six games; for those games, he completed 46% of his passes.
Locker played six games with a PE of 134.38, which would have ranked him fifth in the Pac-10 and thirty-ninth nationally if that had been his final number. In this six-game, non-contiguous segment, he completed 52% of his passes. PED (Pass efficiency defense) is shown for each team below.
* The Boise State and Hawaii PEDs should be taken with a grain of salt. This season, back-up QB Carl Bonnell finished with a PE of 118.5. RB Louis Rankin, out-ranked all the passers with an efficiency of 197.6, and has a career number of 158.1. Locker rushed for 986 yards, averaging 82.2 yards per game. To improve on his passing proficiency next season, Jake by the Lake will need to get by the likes of Oklahoma, USC and Notre Dame; otherwise, if last season’s numbers are any indication, his PE will be sputtering near 105 again -- throttled down like my high-torque golf cart and bocce ball game. His pass receivers will need to get open in those games and, to help him complete some throws, the offensive line will need to buy him some time. Since they call Don Heinrich the "Arm" in Husky lore, will they call Locker "Two-armed" Jake, one on and one off, like in Wild-brats on and Toe-jams off, for which arm will it be in 2K8? Of course, Jake needs to work hard on his throwing motion in preparation for 2008. However, statistics and happenstance indicate that his disappointing throwing in 2007 was not all his fault. In the table below, Locker's passing efficiency is shown game by game, along with his cumulative statistics as the season progressed. Nomenclature: C=completions; A=attempts; Y=yards, T=touchdowns, I=interceptions, and PE=passing efficiency.
Career stats for Washington's last few
quarterbacks.
Malamute can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Although Jake Locker’s passing has been criticized,
his numbers from last season offer a glimmer of hope for next season.
Obviously, Locker needs to continue to work on his passing proficiency
over the next six months. He’ll only get better. Yet, young Locker is
not as poor a passer as his