BYU's Jake Retzlaff was the Highest-Graded Quarterback in the Big 12 in Week 3 Per PFF

Casey Lundquist | Sep 15, 2024

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff against Wyoming / BYU Photo

Against Wyoming, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff tallied 353 yards of total offense, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Retzlaff's performance impressed the evaluators at Pro Football Focus. Retzlaff led the country with eight big-time throws. That was three more than the next closest quarterback. A big-time throw is defined as "a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window."

It's also worth noting that Retzlaff now leads the country in big-time throws after three weeks with 11. Colorado's Shedeur Sanders ranks second with 10 big-time throws. Cam Ward (Miami), Billy Edwards Jr. (Maryland), and Emmett Brown (San Jose State) are tied for third with nine big-time throws apiece.

Retzlaff finished with a grade of 91.8. That was the best mark in the Big 12 and the fifth best in the nation (minimum 10 dropbacks).

Big 12 Quarterback Grades - Week Three

15 out of 16 Big 12 teams were in action in week three. Retzlaff was the highest-graded quarterback out of the group.

1. Jake Retzlaff - 91.8
2. Sawyer Robertson - 90.1
3. Behren Morton - 90.0
4. Shedeur Sanders - 88.7
5. Alan Bowman - 87.6
6. KJ Jefferson - 83.5
7. Josh Hoover - 79.7
8. Noah Fifita - 78.9
9. Avery Johnson - 77.9
10. Sam Leavitt - 76.0
11. Isaac Wilson - 73.5
12. Brendan Sorsby - 70.9
13. Garrett Greene - 57.3
14. Donovan Smith - 55.7
15. Jalon Daniels - 44.6

Jake Retzlaff got off to a bit of a slow start against Wyoming. The first drive of the game for the BYU offense ended in a Jake Retzlaff interception. After the first few drives, Retzlaff started to settle in. By the end of the game, in the opinion of this author, he was displaying the best pocket presence he's shown since he arrived at BYU.

This is one of the best plays I’ve seen from Jake Retzlaff. He evaded the rush without losing control, stepped up into the pocket and delivered a strike.

Potential is there. There’s a lot of room for improvement, yes, but he put up 353 yards of offense.
pic.twitter.com/mwu1EFxAEm

— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) September 15, 2024

He was pressured nine times but he was never sacked. Like we mentioned before, his pocket presence was the best it's been in his career. He converted 16 first downs with his arm.

His performance against Wyoming was a step in the right direction, even though he still has a few areas where he can get better.