My take on Kevin Riley: Part 1

I’m sure it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Finally I give my take on the much maligned Kevin Riley. I’m sure you’ve all had the urge to call for his benching; heck, I’ve had it too. But here’s my take on Riley.

First, his completion percentage. 54.7% is a mark there’s no defending, but honestly I don’t put too much emphasis on completion percentage. A stat like yards per attempt takes in account all of th incompletions, but also gives credit to a passer who makes more deep plays. Besides, the difference between 54.7% and 58% with the passes he threw is a mere 1 completion per game; that’s no real difference. So I’m not concerned about his completion percentage; it certainly could us an increase and I think it will this season, but it’s not a huge deal.

Next up, his yards per attempt. This is what points to me thinking that there’s hope for Kevin. His yards per attempt are higher than Nick Foles, Jermiah Masoli, Sean Canfield, and Jake Locker. As in, he’s better on his attempts than 50% of the great quartet that went to ESPN as the “top” quarterbacks in the conference. His yards per attempt last year was at 7.46. So basically if you got a run for 3 yards, and you throw the ball twice then you’ll probably get yourself a first down. That’s perfectly fine for a quarterback.

Now, a look at his touchdowns. He threw 18 touchdowns a season ago. The average was 16, so he was slightly above average. Of the Pac-10 QBs, he threw more than ASU’s cluster****, Masoli, Andrew Luck, Kevin Prince, Barkley, and WSU’s QBs. So was better than 3 of the “top” Pac-10ers. 18 is a fine total; over 1 per game is just fine.

Finally, his interceptions, of which he threw 8 of. He only threw more than 1 against Arizona (2) and Utah (2). So even on his awful games, he didn’t give the ball up to the other team. Which is nice, but avoiding those awful games would be better. Notable Pac-10ers that threw more were Foles, Barkely, and Locker, 3 of the “top” Pac-10ers. His interception total is okay; a decrease would be very good.

So looking at the numbers he was actually very solid. Other than completion percentage, he was better than luminaries such as Foles, Barkley, and Locker. Riley may be much better than we give him credit for. And with a look toward 2010, an improved offensive line and improved receivers should only make him better. Go Bears and Go Kevin Riley!

And yeah, there will be a Part Two.