Byron Leftwich

I just read an op-ed about Byron Leftwich and how he got a bad deal here in Jacksonville, Florida and I am extrememly skeptical of the facts used to portray Leftwich as a starting QB in the NFL. You can read the entire op-ed here.

I want to reference just two parts of the editorial and make a few comments on the opposing side of the argument. First the article describes Leftwich's throwing motion as "slightly long delivery". An obvious mischaracterization of his actual throwing technique. I think Greg Cosell got it right when he characterized Leftwich's arm by saying..."Everything he does -- from his drop away from the center, to his plant and set in the pocket, to his delivery throwing the ball -- simply takes too long. It's too deliberate, too lengthy." Given this knowledge of a QB it is obvious why Jacksonville choose to go with David Garrard. He does not have any obstacles on the onset to limit the offensive coordinators ability to open the game up with short and quick west coast style offense. With that Jacksonville turned to their running game and thus the play action was set up for Byron; which typically freezes the defense for that extra spilt second for Bryon to deliver the ball. Since we know that Jacksonville's running attack was brutal through the tenure of Leftwich, it is easy to say that Jacksonville had to change their style of football to compliment the style and lack of technique from Leftwich. So did Jacksonville really oust Leftwich because they had a personal grudge against him or maybe it was because Leftwichs' technique and playing style handicapped the team?

Secondly, the article claims that Leftwich played in 46 games and started 42 games for Jacksonville alone. This is not an accurate statistic. The actual stats for Leftwich can be found by pressing ...here. According to the NFL Leftwich in '03 started 15 games, in 04' 14, in '05 11, in '06 just 6 games. If my math is correct and there are 16 game seasons, then Leftwich missed a total of 18 games as a "starter" for Jacksonville during the '03-'06 seasons. So why is the article concluding that Leftwich played in more games then he actually did is beyond me. At the fact sheet for Leftwich you will also find how many fumbles he had as a result of his "slightly long delivery". Just while playing in Jacksonville he had a total of 26 fumbles in 4 years. Now if you only look at games where he played over half the season he averages a fumble every 1.9 games he played in. Compare that to the elite QB's and you will find a gigantic discrepancy. For example Carson Palmer who played in more games over a 4 year stretch than Leftwich, averaged a fumble every 2.77 games. And thats with 15 more games over a 4 year span. In conclusion Leftwich sucks and NFL teams around the league have not signed him to a contract because of the aforementioned obstacles in his game. Thank God Jacksonville only gave this guy 4 chances!! Best of luck Tampa Bay, you will need it this year.