CIN Cincinnati Bengals · QB· #9

Joe Burrow

Age
29
Height
6'4"
Weight
216 lbs
College
LSU; Ohio State
Drafted
2020, No. 1 overall (CIN)
Experience
7th NFL season

58

Overall grade

7th of 40 quarterbacks

Well above typical

above average; 50 is average

Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Joe's best number is success rate: 49%, 10th of 40 among quarterbacks.

Lately he is playing better. Success rate is 54% over the last 2 games (87 dropbacks), against 45% before that. A few plays could easily explain this. Worth watching, not worth believing yet.

Written from his numbers, not from film. 5 games are behind the season figures.

How he stacks up

Every graded stat at a glance, against all the quarterbacks in the league.

  • Accuracy over expected+6.0 pts6th of 38small sample
  • Sack rate4.6%9th of 40
  • Bad throws11.5%9th of 38small sample
  • Success rate49%10th of 40
  • EPA per dropback+0.1314th of 40

Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying quarterbacks. Faded bars are still small samples.

How he has progressed

Where he has ranked among quarterbacks after each week, and every game behind it.

WorstMiddleBestrecent12345Week 1: 45th percentileWeek 2: 38th percentileWeek 3: 57th percentileWeek 4: 60th percentileWeek 5: 67th percentile67th

Season rank climbed: 45th to 67th percentile since Wk 1.

The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.

EPA per dropback game by game
WeekOpponentThat gamedropbacksSeason rank after
1vs TB−0.073645th pct
2vs HOU−0.023638th pct
3vs PIT+0.393857th pct
4vs JAX+0.095560th pct
5vs MIA+0.273267th pct

One game is a small sample: a single stat over 39 dropbacks can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.

The numbers, in context

Each one against every quarterback with at least 40 dropbacks. Right on the strip is better.

EPA per dropback

Above typical

+0.13

14th of 40 quarterbacks · top 35%

Expected points added: how many points the play added to (or took from) the offense's scoring chances, given the down, the distance and the field position. Sacks, scrambles and throwaways all count, so it is everything he does when he drops back, not just the completions.

The box score: Passing yards and touchdowns ignore down, distance and sacks, so a 6-yard checkdown on 3rd-and-12 looks like a good play.

Does it show up in winning? Across 151 games league-wide, teams won 84% of the time when their quarterback was in the best third on EPA per dropback, and 28% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +0.16 (87) vs +0.10 before+4.9grade points upWithin the noise

Sample still growing · 197 dropbacks · true level likely −0.05 to +0.31

Success rate

Well above typical

49%

10th of 40 quarterbacks · top 25%

How often a dropback gains enough to keep the offense on schedule: about 40% of the yards needed on first down, 60% on second, all of them on third and fourth.

The box score: Yards per attempt cannot tell a gain that helped from one that did not.

Does it show up in winning? Across 151 games league-wide, teams won 74% of the time when their quarterback was in the best third on success rate, and 36% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: 54% (87) vs 45% before+14.3grade points upLeaning that way

Sample still growing · 197 dropbacks · true level likely 43% to 55%

Accuracy over expected

Well above typical

+6.0 pts

6th of 38 quarterbacks · top 16%

His completion rate compared with what each throw was expected to be, given depth, pressure and where the receiver was. +3 means he completes 3 more of every 100 throws than an average passer would on the same throws.

The box score: Completion percentage rewards the quarterback who throws short and punishes the one who throws deep.

Does it show up in winning? Across 145 games league-wide, teams won 70% of the time when their quarterback was in the best third on accuracy over expected, and 31% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +9.2 pts (83) vs +3.4 pts before+11.3grade points upLeaning that way

Small sample: could move a lot · 185 throws · true level likely +0.7 pts to +11.3 pts

Bad throws

Well above typical

11.5%lower is better

9th of 38 quarterbacks · top 24%

The share of his attempts that Pro Football Reference's charters called a bad throw: off target, not just incomplete. Fewer is better.

The box score: An incompletion also blames him for a drop or a throwaway.

Does it show up in winning? Across 124 games league-wide, teams won 66% of the time when their quarterback was in the best third on bad throws, and 39% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: 12.7% (55) vs 10.9% before−1.4grade points downWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 165 attempts · true level likely 7.4% to 15.7%

Sack rate

Well above typical

4.6%lower is better

9th of 40 quarterbacks · top 23%

Sacks as a share of his dropbacks. It is the quarterback and the line together. Fewer is better.

The box score: A sack total depends on how often he drops back.

Does it show up in winning? Across 151 games league-wide, teams won 55% of the time when their quarterback was in the best third on sack rate, and 37% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: 2.3% (87) vs 6.4% before+13.1grade points upLeaning that way

Sample still growing · 197 dropbacks · true level likely 2.0% to 7.1%

How he plays

Tendencies: how his game differs from the quarterbacks around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.

Average depth of throw

Style

7.2 yds

Throws it short, more than most quarterbacks. A typical one is 8.0 yds.

How far past the line of scrimmage the ball travels, on average. It is a style, not a skill.

Sample still growing · 188 throws

Deep throws

Style

8%

Rarely throws deep, and more so than almost any of the quarterbacks. A typical one is 11%.

The share of his throws that travel 20 or more yards in the air.

Sample still growing · 188 throws

Play-action dropbacks

Style

17%

Rarely uses play-action, and more so than almost any of the quarterbacks. A typical one is 23%.

How often a dropback starts with a fake handoff.

Sample still growing · 165 dropbacks

Blitzed

Style

28%

Is rarely blitzed, more than most quarterbacks. A typical one is 32%.

How often defenses send an extra rusher at him.

Sample still growing · 165 dropbacks

Leaves the pocket

Style

7%

Stays in the pocket, and more so than almost any of the quarterbacks. A typical one is 18%.

How often he is outside the pocket when he throws or is sacked.

Solid sample · 165 dropbacks

Playing time

He has played in 4 of his team's 4 games with snap counts, on the field for about 100% of the team's offensive plays when he plays.

Each column is a game: the share of his team's offensive snaps he played. 80% means about 8 of every 10 plays. “Out” means he did not play; a question mark means snap counts are not posted yet. Shaded games are the recent stretch.

Game by game

Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.

Joe Burrow game by game
GameResultSnapsAttCmpYdsTDIntSackedEPA/dropbackSuccessCPOEBad throws
Wk 1 vs TBW 33–27100%3625245111−0.0750%+6.4 pts8.3%
Wk 2 vs HOUW 20–6100%3620182205−0.0228%−6.5 pts16.7%
Wk 3 vs PITL 27–30100%3828269301+0.3958%+8.9 pts7.9%
Wk 4 vs JAXL 17–22100%5538410122+0.0951%+9.8 pts12.7%
Wk 5 vs MIAW 31–24–3223190400+0.2759%+8.2 pts–

The box score

The traditional totals, with where each ranks among quarterbacks. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.

Joe Burrow box score totals
StatTotalRank
Pass attempts1974th of 40
Completions1342nd of 40
Passing yards12963rd of 40
Passing touchdowns114th of 40
Interceptions thrown310th of 40
Times sacked918th of 40

Players with a similar profile

The quarterbacks whose grades are closest to his across the same stats. Similar means similar numbers, not the same style of play.

Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.

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Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.