Quote:This is something you pointed out a couple of years ago when the discussion was Blaine Gabbert, and you were right. The most telling statistic when evaluating a QB is yards per attempt. Total yards passing divided by total attempts. Bortles is the most aggressive downfield thrower we've had in a long long time, maybe since Mark Brunell. And there are no fluky plays to inflate his YPA stat, either. No screen pass that went 80 yards, nothing like that.

<a class="bbc_url" href='http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/the-importance-of-passing-yards-per-attempt/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0'>http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/the-importance-of-passing-yards-per-attempt/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0</a>


“To put it most simply, passing yards per attempt is the single most important indicator of success in all of football. The short version is this:

* Teams that win the passing YPA battle almost always win the game.

* Teams that lose the passing YPA battle almost always lose the game.

* The winningest teams in history are typically the teams with the best passing YPA average.

* The winningest quarterbacks in history are typically the quarterbacks with the best passing YPA average.”


Like you, I have also noticed throughout the preseason, Bortles has been averaging close to 9 YPA, which is pretty high.