Breaking Down the Stats: Teddy Bridgewater

Apr 13, 2013; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals Red Team quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) looks to pass against the White Team during the spring game at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Teddy Bridgewater has been the talk of the 2014 NFL Draft’s quarterback class. He’s been viewed as easily the best quarterback in this years group, but also one of the best players out of everyone. Mocks generally have Bridgewater being selected either pick number one or two. There are many attributes to fall in love with, physically and mentally. He has a strong arm, great play action fake and footwork. He is a team leader and understands football. Here we are going to break down the statistics of Bridgewater from the 2012 season.

Every NFL team wants a quarterback that is going to do whatever it takes to win. Bridgewater led a lesser-known Louisville Cardinals team to a final record of 11-2 and won the All State Sugar Bowl. The two losses that Louisville sustained totaled 12 points, one of which was lost in overtime. Bridgewater was a winning machine, which brought attention to himself.

Bridgewater carved out the third best quarterback rating out of my top five quarterback prospects (https://nflmocks.com/2013/05/09/quick-look-2014-quarterback-draft-prospects/) at 160.5. This trend stuck with Bridgewater for facing ranked opponents, as well. He posted a 146.7 QB rating, which fell just behind A.J. McCarron and Braxton Miller. His rating is very good against the top talent at the collegiate level. Bridgewater will have to continue this to keep his high praise as a top player in the nation. Along with the very solid rating, Bridgewater protected the ball very well only throwing 8 interceptions, while tossing 27 touchdowns.

Bridgewater played much better at home, as the crowd was cheering for him and not while he was trying to make his calls. When the crowd is against Bridgewater, his QB rating dropped just over 20 points. This is by no means an extreme problem, as majority of quarterback fair better at home than on the road. Bridgewater’s QB rating takes the second biggest jump from home to away games out of my top five prospects.

NFL players need to be able to play with a chip on their shoulder and in a close game. While Teddy Bridgewater’s QB rating drops all the way down to 138.4 in the fourth quarter, that shows less than what one would think. Bridgewater was thrown in some uncompetitive games, which allowed him to play more relaxed as the game came down to a close. The more important statistic is that Bridgewater had a staggering 153.9 quarterback rating in a close game. A close game constitutes as a game that each teams score is within seven points of the others. Bridgewater had the best QB rating out of the top five quarterbacks in this important category.

Overall, Bridgewater’s statistics check out as a great quarterback. He has the potential to be the number one overall pick. He also has shown the progress through his years at Louisville. Along with all of his upside, he has shown the statistics to back all of this up.