Is K-State QB Skylar Thompson among Big 12’s best? Only if he excels at this key stat
During his last healthy season at Kansas State, Skylar Thompson ranked near the bottom of the Big 12 in most statistical categories that fans traditionally care about when it comes to quarterbacks.
Passing yards? Seventh. Passing touchdowns? Ninth. Completion percentage? Ninth. QB rating? Eighth.
His conference peers lapped him across the board, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when he was looked over for awards.
But Thompson, now a “super senior” captain in Manhattan, also guided the Wildcats to a victory over Oklahoma, eight wins and a bowl appearance while receiving glowing reviews from his head coach and earning some of the best grades in the nation from Pro Football Focus. One more thing: He protected the football better than any other Big 12 quarterback by throwing just five interceptions.
In other words, he was one of the Big 12’s most efficient passers, even if he didn’t have eye-popping stats like Brock Purdy, Jalen Hurts and Sam Ehlinger.
That makes Thompson a fascinating quarterback to judge entering his sixth and final season of college football.
He has more experience than any other passer in the conference. He has also beaten Oklahoma (twice) more than any other QB in the conference. And he is now in command of an offense that has the look of a much-improved unit, at least on paper. Still, it’s incredibly unlikely that Thompson will match his peers with 300-yard games, because that is not what K-State’s methodical, ground-oriented offense is designed to accomplish.
You have to rate Thompson’s play through a different lens ... and he knows it.
“As far as stats or school records go,” Thompson said, “I couldn’t really care less. I just want to win.”
That is exactly the type of mindset that K-State quarterbacks coach Collin Klein wants out of his starter. Klein doesn’t care much about total passing yards. Instead, he harps on two less traditional stats. He challenges Thompson to throw four times as many touchdowns as he does interceptions, and he pushes Thompson to rank as high as possible in ESPN’s relatively new efficiency statistic known as QBR.
Klein did some research on that stat and realized that the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks tend to play for playoff contenders.
For example: Alabama’s Mac Jones (first), Ohio State’s Justin Fields (second), Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (eighth) and Notre Dame’s Ian Book (ninth) ranked in the top 10 of QBR last season. All four played for a national championship.
Things were even more defined two years ago when LSU’s Joe Burrow (first), Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts (fourth), Fields (third) and Lawrence (fifth) all ranked in the top five and participated in the playoff.
Those are the numbers Thompson will chase this season as he hopes to achieve what other great K-State quarterbacks have done before him, such as winning 10-plus games.
“Quarterback efficiency is really what Coach Klein tries to pinpoint for us,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t tell you exactly what number he’s shooting for, but if you go back and look at all the teams that have made the College Football Playoff or even played in big bowls, their quarterbacks had efficiency ratings that were off the charts. So that’s our goal.”
What exactly is QBR?
Good question. It’s name is short for total quarterback rating, and it was designed by ESPN analytics experts a decade ago to better capture how well quarterbacks play during games. The stat takes into account all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts a game with passes, rushes, turnovers and even penalties.
It’s a way to level the playing field for college quarterbacks, who play in a wide range of offensive systems that are rarely comparable in terms of traditional stats.
In 2019, Thompson ranked fifth in the Big 12 with a QBR rating of 70.2, but he wasn’t far away from second. He was close to everyone ahead of him other than Hurts (89.7). Jett Duffey (72.6), Purdy (71.2) and Ehlinger (77.6) put up similar ratings, which helps show Thompson was a more effective quarterback than his 2,315 passing yards and 12 passing touchdowns indicated.
Is he ready to make a jump and pass Spencer Rattler or Purdy, the Big 12’s top current quarterbacks?
Thompson is striving for more.
When we last saw him, before suffering a season-ending injury against Texas Tech last year, he was often to quick to give up on passing plays and make something happen with his legs. He wants to change that.
“I think my resume and some of my wins speak for themselves,” Thompson said. “But the biggest thing for me this year will be staying in the pocket and delivering big-time throws, especially down the field. I want to prove that I have the arm talent to extend plays.”
Anything to help his QBR efficiency.
K-State football coach Chris Klieman thinks that won’t be a problem for Thompson. He calls him a future NFL quarterback because of the way he does all the little things Klieman’s pro-style offense values — protecting the football, making good decisions on third down and rushing for touchdowns in the red zone.
That statement may come as a surprise to some, but it’s also hard to argue with Klieman given that Carson Wentz, Trey Lance and Easton Stick (the last three quarterbacks he coached at North Dakota State) are now in the NFL.
“He’s closest, in my mind, to Easton,” Klieman said, “as far as how much football they have played. I mean, Easton played 50 some games in college and Skylar is going to come pretty close to that mark himself ... Being in a system now for going on your third year, there’s confidence and there’s comfort level. So we’re really excited about how he’s playing right now and how that’s going to impact our offense.”
That doesn’t mean 4,000 passing yards will follow.
But Thompson doesn’t need gaudy statistics to prove he is one of the Big 12’s best quarterbacks.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Is K-State QB Skylar Thompson among Big 12’s best? Only if he excels at this key stat."