Loading ...Freshmen QBs Through Five Games: How Does Tate Stack Up?
Chad Henne set the gold standard for freshman quarterbacks at Michigan in 2004.
We’re five games into the 2009 season, and already, Tate Forcier has led three fourth-quarter comebacks, quarterbacked Michigan to more victories than they had in all of 2008, and even had his named mentioned in some (incredibly premature) Heisman talk. Impressive indeed for a player who was taking snaps for his high school team at this time last year, but just how impressive is his performance? Let’s take a look at Tate and some other notable true freshmen starters through five games in their first campaigns:
| Completions-Attempts (Comp. %) | Passing Yards | Yards/Attempt | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Passer Efficiency | Win-Loss Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tate Forcier (Michigan 2009) | 71-119 (59.7%) | 894 | 7.51 | 9 | 3 | 142.69 | 4-1 |
| Chad Henne (Michigan 2004) | 83-135 (61.5%) | 1096 | 8.12 | 9 | 5 | 144.27 | 4-1 |
| Robert Griffin III (Baylor 2008) | 58-104 (55.8%) | 831 | 7.99 | 7 | 0 | 145.10 | 2-3 |
| Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State 2008) | 29-46 (63.0%) | 296 | 6.43 | 5 | 1 | 148.62 | 4-1 |
| Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame 2007) | 57-94 (60.6%) | 474 | 5.04 | 1 | 3 | 100.12 | 0-5 |
| Juice Williams (Illinois 2006) | 31-78 (39.7%) | 549 | 7.04 | 4 | 4 | 105.53 | 2-3 |
| Matt Stafford (Georgia 2006) | 36-75 (48.0%) | 485 | 6.47 | 1 | 3 | 98.72 | 5-0 |
| Brady Quinn (Notre Dame 2003) | 44-103 (42.7%) | 469 | 4.55 | 2 | 6 | 75.72 | 1-3* |
| Chris Leak (Florida 2003) | 54-84 (64.3%) | 627 | 7.46 | 4 | 4 | 133.18 | 3-2 |
*Quinn did not play in the Irish's opener, a 29-26 victory over Washington State
There are certainly some flaws in this comparison: not all the players were full-time starters at this point in their freshman seasons, and, due to the NCAA’s inane insistence on including sacks in a quarterback’s rushing total, I could not fairly compare each player’s contribution to the ground game. However, on some level, the numbers speak for themselves, and what they say is this: Tate Forcier is having one of the best, if not the best, season by a true freshman quarterback in recent memory. His completion percentage is up there with Henne, Pryor, and Clausen, and he far surpasses the latter two in both touchdowns and yards per attempt. The best comparison to Forcier is Chad Henne, and Henne had Braylon Edwards and Jason Avant and wasn’t running zone reads and breaking the ankles of Notre Dame linebackers.
There’s really not much I have to add to this. Forcier has been the most consistent performer on offense for the Wolverines, and has shown an ability to create plays and perform in crunch time that far surpasses most young signal-callers. This kid is special, and let’s not allow the letdown against the Spartans cloud that fact.
Similar Posts:
- Michigan’s Team of the Decade: Quarterback
- An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
- Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
- The Denard Conundrum
- Michigan’s Team of the Decade: Offense
Email This Post
I think that Forcier will be the greatest qb to play at Michigan. I have seen them all since 1956. Dr. Steve
“Tate Forcier is having one of the best, if not the best, season by a true freshman quarterback in recent memory.”
Personally, I would expand my search quite a bit further, using objective measures as a filtering tool, before I made a statement that strong. Tate is having an exceptional year for a true freshman, but you wouldn’t have to look too far back (that is, that *recently*) to find a better full season:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/stats?playerId=378497