The Jackal wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 10:12 am
Thorny wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 8:21 pm
I think Forcier was a better QB then Sorrells his Senior season BUT only his senior season.
I know that whether Forcier was the better QB his sophomore year will always be contested. However, prior to his injury his Junior year he looked like he was in the process of losing the starting job to Worley who strangely enough is not in the conversation of top 5 Furman QBs of all time.
Do I think that level of play was always in Forcier? Yes. However, Lamb and Sorrels couldn't figure out a way to bring it out of him or put together a workable offense. For Lamb and Sorrels, Sorrels was the better QB despite Forcier's upside.
I would have loved to see Forcier as a Sophomore in the offense he played in as a Senior but my gut says Sorrels WAS the better QB at that point.
In dissecting this, remember that Sorrells, Worley, Hannon, Forcier, etc. didn't play with the level of talent on the team that existed in the mid-2000s or exists on the team now.
Recruiting, coaching, development, depth, and talent were all issues during that period of time. We didn't necessarily see it in the moment, but we can certainly see it now.
Right - a whole host of variables - including a few you didn’t mention in this post - quality of competition, type of offense, quality of defense (do they get off the field and give the ball back to the Offense), rules differences, etc. - COULD be considered when trying to make this type of evaluation across the span of over 20 years - BUT, FUBeAR isn’t a strong enough theoretical mathematician to derive some type of formula to take all of those things into consideration.
So that leaves us with this framework…
The question was “Top QB this century” - so we have to define that 1st …
“this century” = 2000 - 2022 (some would argue 2001-2022, but FUBeAR hates those people)…
“Top” = that’s harder…
…to FUBeAR, “Top” does NOT mean “most talented” - here’s why - when FUBeAR was playing Football for the Paladins, we won a whole boatload of games and SoCon Championships. We were a “Top” Team and we came out on “Top” in most of our games. BUT…we were very rarely the more talented Team on the field, nor ever the most talented Team in the SoCon. So, FUBeAR puts 0 weighting on “the talent eye test” or any “metrics” (HT/WT/40 time/Arm Strength/etc.)
…to FUBeAR, “Top” means they had the best (or better, as we move down the rankings) overall CAREER, regardless of ‘talent’ level…and even sometimes, as was FUBeAR’s personal case, despite lacking talent.
Then we have to have some methodology for defining the “best/better career.”
Really only a few things we can consider there…
* Career Personal Production (QB Stats)
* Offensive Production (QB is the leader of the Offense. He ‘owns’ it)
* Career Accolades (All Whatever, MVP, etc.)
* Wins vs. Losses
* Team Success (Championships, Advancement in Playoffs)
Everyone can write their own formula using these 5 parameters or can ‘eyeball’ them and come up with their ranking. That’s how FUBeAR came up with…
1. Martin - pretty much checks all the boxes above, including the “talent” box that FUBeAR doesn’t consider
2T. Napier - Career stats not as strong as some, but other boxes well-checked
2T. Sorrells- Career stats are clearly “Top,” as was Offensive Production (FUBeAR thinks). Other areas not as strong
Huff - has potential to continue 2022 performance in 2023 and, like Martin, check all the boxes…perhaps, with an even bigger check mark in a few of those boxes. As noted, definitely has potential to take the top spot.
Hannon, Forcier, Blazejowski, Gray (not necessarily in that order) would be in the next tier.
