JTA Career Scoring System
Using the JTA to calculate the best quarterbacks every year, which is based on their total Rank Sum of all the categories. We need to figure out what is a fair scoring system when comparing the best quarterbacks. While the yearly list of best quarterbacks works for all QBs. This scoring system is only for scoring careers of all time great quarterbacks, it is not meant for comparing short, backup, or any low end starter careers. Therefore, points will only be given to QBs who are at least in the top half of the league for the year. There are 4 main tiers when scoring the best players every year: All Pro, Elite, Great, and Good.
All Pro. A quarterback had an AllPro caliber season if he is an equivalent of a top 2 player for the season. These are legendary years and are reserved for MVP candidates. To make this tier, the quarterback would have to have a Rank Sum of 14 or less. This level is worth 9 Career Points.
Elite. A QB puts forth an elite season if he is equivalent to a top 5 player for the season. While this is extremely difficult to do, you would normally not be a final candidate for MVP. To make this tier, you need to have a Rank Sum of 26 or less. This level is worth 6 Career Points.
Great. A great season is accomplished if the quarterback is equivalent to a top 10 player for the season. This level is filled with the best quarterbacks in the NFL, who didn’t have insane years. To make this level you need to have a rank sum of 44 or less. This tier is worth 3 Career Points.
Good. A good season happens when a quarterback is not top 10 but is still in the top 16. This level is mainly filled with quarterbacks who were still really productive but not consistently being a star. To make this tier you need to have a rank sum of 64 or less. This tier is worth 1.5 Career Points.
Adequate. A season that is a little below average, not in the top half of the league’s starters but not necessarily bad (Usually around the 17th – 22nd best QB). To make this tier you need a rank sum of 85 or less. This tier is worth 0 Career Points.
Bad/Injured. In this tier a QB either played bad, was hurt during the year, or came off the bench. Two of these years in a row and the team will probably look to replace the QB. This tier is worth 0 Career Points.
This scoring system puts a lot of emphasis on peak productivity, while also not totally eliminating longevity. The benefits of top tier peak QB play is obvious, because moving from an Elite to All Pro year is equivalent to adding a Great Season. But it also doesn’t make an All Pro year completely overpowered because it only takes one or maybe two prime years to counteract the legendary All Pro year.
Also, this scoring system does put a heavy emphasis on longevity, while limiting some of the absurdities of it. If you just look at the career top 10s in yards or touchdowns, if they have a bunch of adequate or bad seasons it still counts towards their career totals. This way, you will only get Career Points if you are still actively a good quarterback. It also makes sense to only award points for seasons where QBs are at least in the “Good” tier because no one is making the argument that Ryan Fitzpatrick is a better quarterback than Steve Young because he played longer and has more career passing yards.
MVP Bonus
You can make a really good argument that, because quarterbacks get points based on how they compare to each other, that the quarterback who is literally better than everyone else, should get a bonus. In other words, the MVP should not get the same amount as another All Pro quarterback. And as we are always giving 9 Career Points to, on average, 2 players a year; it slightly diminishes the value of a spectacular MVP season. The problem is that if you make another tier, of a singular MVP every year, we might still run into the problem of having 2 “MVPs” in a single year. Which defeats the purpose of actually being the best for the year. To counteract this, the algorithm adds a small MVP bonus of +1 Career Point every year to the best quarterback, assuming they had an AllPro level season.
Playoff Scoring System
All time great NFL quarterbacks are not only judged on how well they succeed in the regular season, but also the playoffs. There is a reason why Tom Brady is unanimously considered the GOAT, and even though he’s fantastic in the regular season, it’s because of his insane playoff resume. There are 3 ways you can get Career Points in the playoffs, and they all depend on how long your playoff run is. Because the longer it is, the more impressive it is.
Winning the Super Bowl. It is an incredible accomplishment to win even a single Super Bowl. A NFL season is considered to have two halves, the regular season and postseason. The absolute best thing you can do in the regular season is MVP, while the best thing you can do in the playoffs is win the Super Bowl. This is akin to having a legendary regular season and is worth 10 Career Points.
Losing the Super Bowl. Going to a Super Bowl, even if you lose, is still a very impressive accomplishment. It is still one of the hardest things to do in the sport, and is always listed in their career accolades. Continuing off the mirror pattern of regular season to postseason, going to the superbowl and losing is worth 6 Career Points.
Losing Championship Game. Getting all the way to an AFC or NFC championship game, is still a playoff run worth mentioning. These are more than just a memorable game, and even though it didn’t end in the Superbowl, it still got the team to the doorstep of one. While these playoff runs are not common, it is far easier to accomplish than going to the Superbowl. Losing a championship game is worth 3 Career Points.
Also, noticeably, getting to the divisional round does not mean anything in terms of Career Points. This is for two reasons, the first is that it is not a very noticeable or uncommon achievement. Even a studied NFL scholar would struggle naming all the times Peyton Manning and Joe Montana lost in the divisional round off the top of their head. And if someone who studies the NFL, can struggle with that for some of the biggest names ever, it probably shouldn’t be a potentially deciding factor between two players. The second is that because there are first round byes, a few teams automatically advance to the divisional round. And if you get points for losing in the divisional round, then it is basically an extension of regular season points. Stated another way, if you do good enough in the regular season and get a high enough seed, you would automatically get career playoff points. And while that might sound fine enough, we have already accounted for wins in regular season Career Points. The algorithm even includes a wins bonus if their regular season is really that special. To get playoff points you need to at least make the championship game, that guarantees that you win at least one game.
The interesting thing about the playoffs is that people don’t care too much about how the quarterbacks play on a game to game basis, only how far they went. For example, Aaron Rodgers threw for more than 400 yards and had 5 touchdowns in a wild card game loss to the Cardinals in the 2009 season. But it is not as memorable as a deep playoff run, and no one is going to use a single good playoff game as a reason why he is better than another quarterback.
Recap
MVP Bonus- +1 Career Point
All Pro Season- +9 Career Points
Elite Season- +6 Career Points
Great Season- +3 Career Points
Good Season- +1.5 Career Points
Winning the Super Bowl- +10 Career Points
Losing the Super Bowl- +6 Career Points
Losing Championship Game- +3 Career Points