Mike Glennon 2013 Statistics Roundup: What Do the Numbers Say About the Buccaneers Rookie Quarterback?
By Leo Howell
Nov 24, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions strong safety Glover Quin (27) sacks Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon (8) during the second quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Deep Statistics and Charting Information
One of the major criticisms of the 2013 Buccaneers was the inability of the receivers to catch the football. Vincent Jackson and others notably dropped the football on a weekly basis, and it left fans frustrated, and gave them an outlet to blame the poor performance of the offense other than the quarterback.
According to Pro Football Focus, Mike Glennon wasn’t a victim of drops at all.
PFF’s charters noted 21 drops on passes thrown by Glennon, which amounts to five percent of his throws. A 5.0% drop rate ranks 20th out of the 26 quarterbacks who took more than half of their teams snaps at quarterback.
In other words, Glennon had above average consistency from his receivers in 2013, rather than suffering from stone hands from his targets.
So why did Glennon struggle to produce on a per-play basis? He wasn’t very accurate.
Using the same PFF statistics, we learn that Glennon had the 21st best accuracy percentage in 2013 among the same group of quarterbacks. So what is accuracy percentage?
It’s completions and drops divided by attempts, but without throw aways, spikes, batted passes and “hit as thrown” plays. In other words, when Glennon gets off a clean throw, how often is it catchable?
According to these statistics, not very often.
But the story changes when you consider his accuracy on deep passes.
Glennon was fourth in the NFL in deep passing accuracy, according to PFF. This is any pass to a receiver 20 or more yards downfield.
So despite his shaky accuracy on deep sideline passes, his efficiency at throwing over the middle of the field led to a productive season as a deep passer, connecting on a high rate of deep throws.
In fact, PFF has Glennon’s QB rating on passes between the numbers and over 20 yards downfield as 141.4, although it’s admittedly a small sample size (14 attempts). Glennon had a poor passer rating on any throw over 10 yards to his left, and also struggled on shorter throws over the middle. But deep down the middle and deep to the right were his sweet spot for the season.