Ryan Keeping the Interceptions Down

I found an interesting statistic on Twitter, and figured that I would pass it along.

Eric Branch, a blogger for the San Francisco 49ers recently tweeted a statistic of the fewest interceptions in a quarterback’s past 665 pass attempts. Starting from fewest to highest, I will mention the Top-5.

They are as follows:

1. Alex Smith (6)

2. Aaron Rodgers (9)

3. Matt Schaub (13)

T-4. Matt Ryan (14)

T-4. Joe Flacco (14)

T-6. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning (15)

I think this speaks well to Ryan’s ability to control turnovers. Alex Smith played in an offense where he was not asked to make a lot of dangerous throws. Matt Schaub also had a tremendous running game to lean on, and didn’t have to throw very many high-risk throws. The only player who threw less picks than Ryan who is truly better is Aaron Rodgers, who is also the reigning MVP of the National Football League. It is interesting to me that Joe Flacco threw the same number in his last 665 passes, and while his interception percentage would be the same in the same sample size, his touchdown percentage would certainly be far lower than Ryan’s.

I couldn’t legitimately argue that Ryan is better than those players who are tied for the No. 6 spot, but they all throw the ball more than he does. They are also excellent (except for Eli Manning) at not turning the ball over.

I think this list is fairly important in that it shows Ryan is very good at not forcing bad throws, and if he does he places the ball where only his receiver can get it and a DB won’t be able to pick it off. The only thing Ryan needs to do to rival the likes of Brees, Brady, and Rodgers (at least in this statistical column) is to increase his Touchdown percentage. He has already proved his reliability to me.