Sports – FiveThirtyEight — Quarterbacks RSS




How Our New NFL Model Did This Season

Quarterbacks ruled the 2019 NFL season, with Patrick Mahomes bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Kansas City and Lamar Jackson emerging as the league MVP. Quarterbacks were in control of the FiveThirtyEight prediction model, too, as a key factor of the new version of our Elo rating system, which adjusted for the performance of every starting […]

Continue reading



Kirk Cousins Is Putting Together An Under-The-Radar Elite Season

Eighteen months after Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer introduced Kirk Cousins to the media as his new quarterback and as the highest-paid player in NFL history, Cousins told the media that he wouldn’t be “playing quarterback here much longer” without significant improvement. At that point, after the second game of the season, Cousins had […]

Continue reading



Teams Are Excelling When Their QBs Leave The Pocket. Can That Continue?

In Kansas City’s Oct. 6 game against Indianapolis, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes faced a third and 18 from the Colts 27-yard line. Perhaps a bit skittish after an 8-yard sack on the previous play, Mahomes vacated the pocket early despite good protection from his line. Retreating backward, Mahomes faked left, then spun around and sprinted […]

Continue reading