PFF review: An Exploration of the QB Competition at Cal

Can scouting grades provide us any insight this early in the season?

Scouting a quarterback’s ability to succeed or fail on the field is a task coaches, analysts, media, and fans have struggled with for decades. Those with a knack for it can probably parlay that skill into millions of dollars.

PFF touts their system as a great objective analysis tool - a way to compare QBs that filters out the impact of disparate blocking systems and wide receiver play. I personally don’t think it’s possible to normalize for all that stuff, but I appreciate what PFF is trying to do and it’s better than my flawed eye test.

What my eye test said to me after the Auburn game was that Cal was right to make the switch to Sam Jackson, and right to stay with Jackson. But PFF doesn’t agree with my eye test. Let’s see if I can figure out why, and if it’s enough cause for me to re-evaluate my initial analysis.