quote:
Age is irrelevant to a comparison of the impact of a qb in a game or in a season:

1. A passer rating of 108 is the same for a freshman and a jr.
2. 4500 yards has a bigger impact than 2500 yards no matter the age.
3. 50 tds > 25 Tds no matter the age.

Talk about the stats.

While statistics help paint a picture, they aren't the picture by themselves. For instance, did you consider the offensive schemes of the teams that used those other QBs? Did you consider the play calling that they used with those QBs? Did you consider the support cast on both the offensives and defensive sides of the ball that helped each QB succeed? While stars do emerge, football is still a team game.

Passer rating doesn't consider context or blame. It just uses raw numbers. Neither of those INTs against Bama could be pinned on Fromm playing/throwing poorly. Take those away and his rating jumps to 121. Not spectacular by any measure but Hurts rating in the championship game the year before was 88 and he still almost beat Clemson who needed a (literally) last second TD to come from behind and win.

The number of passing yards isn't a good metric because, again, that is based on how the QB is used. A pass-first offense or an up-tempo offense will generally net a QB more passing yards (if he and his receiver's good) than a run-first offense. More attempts generally gets you more yards.

Same for TDs. When you have a more balanced offense and rely on your RBs to punch the ball in most of the time you are in the red zone, the QB isn't generally going to get as many passing TDs as a team with a bad running game or a pass-first offense.

Why don't we talk about yards per attempt or completion percentage which are averages and can be compared between all types of QBs?

And yes, comparing juniors to a true freshman is silly because juniors are expected to have had either more experience or more time in the program to learn the ropes and learn from those above them in the pecking order. They've had more time to mature and learn the offense. They've potentially had more time to work with various receivers on their team to get chemistry. It matters.

Why do you think Fromm was getting so much national praise last year even though he wasn't putting up gaudy passing numbers (like the yards and TDs that you mentioned)? Because he was a true freshman and true freshman aren't usually able to command an offense like he did and help lead the team to a national championship game.