How BYU QB Jake Retzlaff Compared to Big 12 Peers in Non-Conference Games

Casey Lundquist | Sep 15, 2024

Sep 14, 2024; Laramie, Wyoming, USA; Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) warms up before the game against the Wyoming Cowboys at Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium. / Troy Babbitt-Imagn Images

After a strong showing in week one, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff struggled against SMU. BYU moved the ball at times, but turnovers plagued Retzlaff throughout. Today, we're going to evaluate Retzlaff's play relative to the other quarterbacks in the conference.

Passing Yards

Starting off with the most basic metric: passing yards. Retzlaff has thrown for 841 yards, ranked 7th out of the 16 starting quarterbacks in the league. Here is the top 10:

Big 12 passing leaders through week three / BYU On SI

The six other Big 12 quarterbacks that didn't crack the top 10 were Rocco Becht (539), Donovan Smith (537), Avery Johnson (490), Jalon Daniels (442), Cam Rising (346), and Sawyer Robertson (315).

Yards Per Attempt

Retzlaff hasn't attempted as many passes as some of the other quarterbacks in the league. In terms of passing yards per passing attempt, Retzlaff ranks third out of 16 quarterbacks. Here's the top 10 after three weeks:

Passing yards per attempt - Big 12 / BYU On SI

Cam Rising and KJ Jefferson lead the league, although those two haven't thrown for as many passing attempts as Retzlaff. Rising and Jefferson have attempted 29 passes and 51 passes, respectively. Of the quarterbacks that have attempted 80 passes or more, Retzlaff leads the league in yards per attempt.

PFF Grades

PFF grades are a great way to split out the impact a quarterback had on a game versus the pure statistical output. For example, Retzlaff threw a 57-yard touchdown in week one that traveled 60 yards in the air. That's a much more difficult throw than a screen pass that goes for 57 yards. That's where stats like passing yards and touchdowns can be misleading. PFF strips out the noise and compares how a quarterback performed relative to the situations that they were put in. Were they making the right reads? How did they perform under pressure? Were they taking care of the football? Were they throwing receivers open or throwing to wide open receivers? All those things go into PFF grades.

Retzlaff ranks third in the Big 12 in terms of PFF offensive grade (minimum 40 drop backs).

1. Shedeur Sanders - 90.3
2. Noah Fifita - 85.7
3. Jake Retzlaff - 85.1
4. KJ Jefferson - 83.5
5. Alan Bowman - 82.2
6. Josh Hoover - 79.4
7. Avery Johnson - 77.8
8. Sam Leavitt - 75.1
9. Brendan Sorsby - 75.1
10. Behren Morton - 70.5
11. Rocco Becht - 69.9
12. Garrett Greene - 68.9
13. Isaac Wilson - 59.4
14. Donovan Smith - 56.1
15. Jalon Daniels - 53.7
16. Dequan Finn - 48.6

Big-Time Throws

Jake Retzlaff leads not only the Big 12 in big-time throws, he also leads the country. 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."

1. Jake Retzlaff - 11
2. Shedeur Sanders - 10
3. KJ Jefferson - 7
4. Alan Bowman - 6
5. Garrett Greene - 5
6. Noah Fifita - 5
7. Avery Johnson - 4
8. Rocco Becht - 3
9. Brendan Sorsby - 3
10. Behren Morton - 3
11. Josh Hoover - 3
12. Sawyer Robertson - 2
13. Isaac Wilson - 2
14. Jalon Daniels - 2
15. Cam Rising - 1
16. Sam Leavitt - 1

This stat speaks to Retzlaff's ceiling. He is capable of making throws that few quarterbacks can make. His ceiling has never been a question. It's more about the floor. If Retzlaff can clean up even half the mistakes, he has the potential to lead BYU to a lot of wins this season.

Turnover-Worthy Plays

As mentioned, Retzlaff's ceiling is not the issue. It's the turnovers. While he does lead the nation in big-time throws, he also ranks near the top of the conference in turnover-worth plays.

1. Jalon Daniels - 7
2. Garrett Greene - 7
3. Donovan Smith - 4
4. Jake Retzlaff - 4
5. Alan Bowman - 4
6. Dequan Finn - 3
7. KJ Jefferson - 3
8. Rocco Becht - 3
9. Avery Johnson - 3
10. Isaac Wilson - 2
11. Noah Fifita - 2
12. Behren Morton - 2
13. Josh Hoover - 2
14. Cam Rising - 1
15. Brendan Sorsby - 1
16. Shedeur Sanders - 1

That's an area that Retzlaff needs to clean up heading into conference play.

ESPN QBR

According to ESPN, "QBR incorporates all of a quarterback's contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game onpasses,rushes,turnovers, andpenalties. Since QBR is built from the play level, it accounts for a team's level of success or failure on every play to provide the proper context, then allocates credit to the quarterback and his teammates to produce a clearer measure of quarterback efficiency."

1. Josh Hoover - 83.1
2. Alan Bowman - 79.6
3. Garrett Greene - 75.9
4. Brendan Sorsby - 75.4
5. Sam Leavitt - 69.3
6. Avery Johnson - 67.6
7. Rocco Becht - 65.8
8. Behren Morton - 64.7
9. KJ Jefferson - 64.5
10. Shedeur Sanders - 63.0
11. Jake Retzlaff - 57.1
12. Isaac Wilson - 52.0
13. Jalon Daniels - 44.7
14. Noah Fifita - 42.3
15. Donovan Smith - 40.5
16. Dequan Finn - 28.1