Whoa, whoa, whoa – don’t shoot the messenger on this one.
According to ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating (QBR), Vikings backup/savior Case Keenum is ranked higher than Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Keenum’s Total QBR of 68.0 is the fifth best in the NFL. Rodgers has a rating of 62.3, good for eighth best.
In fact, Keenum also has a better rating than Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford.
Total QBR is a statistic that’s only been around for six years, and here’s how it’s calculated according to ESPN.com.
“ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating (Total QBR), which was released in 2011, has never claimed to be perfect, but unlike other measures of quarterback performance, it incorporates all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers and penalties.”
Look, I’m not implying that Keenum is a better quarterback, and if I was Rick Spielman, I’d pull a Mike Ditka – who traded nearly every draft pick he had to acquire Ricky Williams – for the chance to have Aaron Rodgers quarterbacking the Vikings.
And while this is fun … it’s probably a better indicator of QBR’s flaws than the two quarterbacks’ actual level of play.
Since becoming a statistic, Total QBR hasn’t always been kind to Rodgers. He’s finished outside the top 10 on two different occasions (2013 and 2015) in the last five years.
Yet Rodgers has widely been considered a top-five, if not the best, quarterback in the league during that time.
Keenum has played for three teams since coming into the NFL in 2012 and has produced mediocre results. Rodgers’ resume speaks for itself: Super Bowl winner and MVP quarterback.
There’s nothing more to say.
Both the Vikings and Packers are scheduled to meet this Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Who will have the better performance? Who knows. What we do know, is Rodgers has never won a game at the Vikings’ new palace – though he’s only played one game there …
Also, there’s a statistic out there which says Keenum is better than Rodgers and that is amazing.
