Comparing Baker Mayfield to the other rookie quarterbacks so far
By Mitch Zoloty
Interceptions Thrown
"1. Josh Allen 5 INTs 2. Josh Rosen 6 INTs 3. Baker Mayfield 7 INTs 4. Sam Darnold 14 INTs"
Another stat that is skewed by how many games they’ve played. Darnold has started the most games, so of course he would have thrown the most interceptions. The troubling part about this, however, is that Darnold leads the NFL with 14 interceptions so far on the season. No other quarterback has more than 10.
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Mayfield currently has seven, despite only starting six games, which is also a little troubling. If he would have started nine games like Darnold, he may have somewhere around 10. To win football games, you cannot turn over the football. Each of these rookie quarterbacks are throwing at least one interception per start, which isn’t good. They are rookies however, and these high numbers should go away as they advance through their careers.
Percentage Of Passes Intercepted
"1. Baker Mayfield 2.6% 2. Josh Rosen 3.6% (tie) 2. Josh Allen 3.6% (tie) 4. Sam Darnold 4.8%"
Mayfield throws the least percentage of interceptions compared to the other rookie quarterbacks, which is a great sign. In 2001, when Tom Brady played his first 14 starts, he had an interceptions rate of 2.9 percent. Currently, he holds a 2.1 interception percentage this season, which shows that Mayfield is in pretty good territory at the moment.
The other rookies should eventually fall down from their high interception rate, but Darnold’s 4.8 percent is pretty alarming. To put him in comparison, Jamarcus Russell’s career interception percentage was only 3.3 percent.
The only quarterbacks with higher interception percentages this season than Darnold who have started at least three games are Jameis Winston and Sam Bradford. Nathan Peterman would also most likely be above him if he had started three games so far this season.