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Jayden Daniels – The Most Accurate Rookie Quarterback Ever?

Before the week 5 games I found this Jayden Daniels stat/graphic via Statmuse. He is the most accurate rookie quarterback with a minimum of 100 attempts ar 82.1% completion %.  His passer rating of 107.4 was 0.1 higher than Brock Purdy’s 107.3 in 2022.  Jake Browning is 2nd on the list for comp% at 70.4% filling in for Joe Burrow last year for the Bengals.

 

Since the week 5 games were played on Sunday, I ran the same stat query and Daniels is still the best QB with a minimum of 100 attempts but his completion % dropped down to 77.1%(still 1st), and his passer rating dropped a point to 106.3(now second to Purdy).

Minimum 100 Pass Attempts

Highest Rookie Completion %

Highest Rookie Passer Rating

Rookie Quarterback Leaders Based On Pass Attempts

The Limit Of Free Statmuse

So let’s continue down this path and see the milestones or markers he will need to beat to win the most accurate rookie QB award.  The one limitation is Statmuse will only give out the Top 25 for free, so there may be someone with a low attempts who isn’t shown who has an extraordinary passer rating with a low completion%.

To do this, the quarterback would need a very high TD:INT ratio and a lot of yards per attempt.  RG III pulls off a 102.4 rating with 65% compltion thanks to a 20:5 ratio.  Watson a 103 rating on 19:8, Bulger a 101 on 14:6, Stroud 100 with 23:5, and R. Wilson a 100 with 26:10.  In addition if there was someone listed below Top 25, they probably would have had only between 100 – 200 attempts or they would have bubbled up on subsequent Top 25 lists.

One other Statmuse note:  Statmuse seems to use the “Rookie” designation for when a Player first plays or make the active roster, not necessarily his draft year.  For example Browning was drafted in 2019, stashed on practice squads until 2023 when he saw his fiurst action.  Mike White was drafted in 2018 but saw his first action in 2021 for the Jets which is what Statmuse is calling his rookie season.  This really does not affect anyone or anything important, but some guys in the middle of some lists could be argued to be not allowed on the list in the first place.

Next stop 200 pass attempts, and we already know who the leader is for completion % for that milestone.  Browning holds the mark at 70.4%.  Purdy did not get to 200 attempts in his rookie year, so the passing rating leader through 200 attempts is Dak Prescott with a rating of 104.9.

Below you will find charts for 200, 300, 400, 500, & 600 pass attempts as a rookie quarterback.  At the top is a chart summarizing the leaders at each pass attempt level.

Strange Quirks:  C.J. Stroud would be the leader for 500+ Comp% and Passer Rating, if he had 1 more pass attempt(499).  He would replace Mac Jones in Comp% and Justin Herbert in Passer Rating.  Herbert with 5 more attempts(595), would be the leader for 600+ attempts in both Comp% and Passer rating, replacing Wentz in both categories.

There is almost a linear progression between the median Passer Rating and the amount of attempts.  The trend line would look like this if we simply take the value of the median/mid point player in each passer rating list.  So for 100, 200, 300, 400 attempts it will be the player in slot 13.  For 500 attempts it will be the player in slot 8(only 15 Qbs), and for 600 it will be the player in slot 2(only 3 QBs).

100 – #13 Dan Marino 96.0 (nice karma there with the  #)

200 – #13 Marcus Mariota 91.5

300 – #13 Daniel jones 87.5

400 – #13 Jameis Winston 84.2

500 – #8 Derek Carr 76.6

600 – #2 Andrew Luck 76.5

The more a rookie QB is asked to do, the less efficient he will be doing it.

Rookie Quarterback Completion % & Passer Rating Leaders Based On Pass Attempts

Minimum 200 Pass Attempts

Highest Rookie Completion %

Highest Rookie Passer Rating

Minimum 300 Pass Attempts

Highest Rookie Completion %

Highest Rookie Passer Rating

Minimum 400 Pass Attempts

Highest Rookie Completion %

Highest Rookie Passer Rating

Minimum 500 Pass Attempts

Highest Rookie Completion %

Highest Rookie Passer Rating

Minimum 600 Pass Attempts

Highest Rookie Completion %

Highest Rookie Passer Rating