Originally posted by SmokeyJoe:
It's a rate stat, genius. If Brock had no attempts* past the line of scrimmage through mid December of last season, he still would have led the league in YPA. That isn't true of any other QB in the league.
It's not a statement about how often Brock was throwing those passes. It's not a statement about whether he was successful down the field. It's a statement about the quality of his teammates and the scheme. All of those things, in addition to QB play, are what contribute to YPA.
Brock's numbers were great, including stats like YPA and AirYards, because he was ultra efficient in the intermediate range. He wasn't a checkdown artist, and he also wasn't the best deep passer in the league.
But he rarely didn't throw past the line of scrimmage, hence it's inconsequential. It does nothing to diminish his stats because he wasn't throwing balls like that enough for it to matter.
You were responding to SteveWallacesHelmet, who made the accurate point that people only use this garbage against Brock and not against other QBs. This is mostly true. I've heard it used occasionally by fans for other QBs, but only Brock and Jimmy have gotten it to this extent.
Also, nobody ever said "product of a system" (besides me) for an NFL QB (I know because I was always arguing for this on forums for various QBs, such as Kurt Warner) prior to Kyle Shanahan joining the 49ers. That was always a term for college QBs who played in gimmick offenses.
He was the best deep passer in the league. Set a record for completion percentage since PFF started tracking it, and all of his deep throws were perfectly in stride.
Nobody ever tries to diminish Stat Paddy Mahomo's numbers but me. Nobody cares that he had a 1st ballot HOF WR who is also the fastest player in football, and that the Queefs are always among the leaders in RAC yards. Nobody cares about the fact Andy Reid schemes guys open underneath by a 5 yard radius. Nobody cares how wide open Tyreek Hill was in the SB on the biggest play of the game. Nobody cares about all the screens and flip tossues and shovel passes Stat Paddy throws in the red zone to pad his TD throws numbers. You sure as s**t don't care. You think he's among the greatest players of all-time because...wait a minute, didn't you try to use NUMBERS in the postseason to try to make this argument? The hypocrisy...