Which QB is CFL’s leader of the pack?
TALE OF THE TAPE: Traditional passer rating favours Eskimos star but Lions’ Lulay tops new QUAR system
EDMONTON — This just in: Mike Reilly is a good quarterback. But is he the best there is in the CFL?
The Canadian Football League suggests he is. The league’s latest Top Performers of the Week were announced on Wednesday and the Edmonton pivot was on the list alongside Calgary running back Jerome Messam and defensive lineman Charleston Hughes, making it a clean Alberta sweep in Week 5.
Reilly’s last-minute drive in a 31-28 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats was the third game-winning, fourth quarter drive of the season for the Eskimos, who sit at 4-0 heading into Friday’s battle for first place against the B.C. Lions.
The Lions come in with a 4-1 record, having won four straight, their only loss coming against the Eskimos in the season-opener in Vancouver.
Friday’s game will showcase the top two quarterbacks in the league — according to the stats sheet, at least. And depending on which statistical system is being examined, Reilly and his Lions counterpart, former teammate and friend Travis Lulay, can both be considered No. 1.
The traditional passer rating (out of 158.3) shows Reilly sitting atop all CFL starters with an efficiency of 115.1 in four starts, having completed 101 of 140 passes (72.1 per cent) for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns, all the while staying interception-free.
But when it comes to the league’s newly instituted QUAR system (rating QBs on a 1-100 scale), Reilly’s 86.9 rating is second to Lulay’s ultraefficient 95.8 in his two games, completing 57 of 79 passes (72.2 per cent) for 840 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.
Whatever numbers individual fans decide add up better, Eskimos head coach Jason Maas is having none of it.
“I could care less about the ratings of the quarterbacks,” he said. “I focus solely on our quarterbacks and how they play. I know how efficiently our quarterbacks play or don’t play each and every week.
“So I could care less how they rate them. Who they rate best, how they rate them, doesn’t concern me whatsoever.”
Reilly’s penchant for putting together late game-winning drives is more valuable than any number crunching beyond Edmonton’s 4-0 record, in the coach’s mind.
“Either you’re a winner or a loser, and I look at the whole thing that our quarterbacks do because we’re the ones here that know what our quarterbacks are supposed to do on a play-to-play basis,” Maas said.
“And I know when they’re doing it well and not doing it well enough to let us have an opportunity to win.
“We grade our quarterbacks here on the plays that they perform and how well they do, and I don’t look at all the other stuff during the year.”
A new invention this season by head CFL statistician and numbers guru Steve Daniel, the QUAR system’s intent is to take more things into account than passing efficiency, such as second-down conversion success, a quarterback’s rushing contributions, as well as sacks and fumbles.
It all boils down to another tool in the tool box for Eskimos defensive co-ordinator and assistant head coach Mike Benevides.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Steve and I think he’s put a lot of things in the soup mix and I think it’s coming up with a pretty good definition,” said Benevides, preferring a chef analogy to that of a construction worker.
“As the year goes along, I think you’ll see it closer and closer to what it is and I think there’s a lot of data there that’s very valuable.
“Steve does a fantastic job and I think there’s something in there to be said. You’re trying to keep a quarterback’s completion rate down and efficiency down.”
Benevides looks at the passing lists from a defensive perspective, seeing which quarterbacks defences are having success against.
“I do enjoy it,” Benevides said. “I’m a fan first, but I’m a coach, too, and I’m a geek who is into all those kinds of numbers, because stats are stats and all that matters are wins, losses and turnovers. We all know that.
“But there is always a little bit more you can take from it. The analytics in all sports is becoming a huge factor and I’m keen on seeing where that goes through the year with his study.”