#football It might be impractical to do, but why can’t a QB’s passing-yard stats reflect only the yards thrown for completions, instead of the total yards gained? I mean, the QB throws a ten-yard pass to a back who then runs for sixty yards before being tackled. In my view, the QB should be credited with ten yards only, since it was the running back who got the extra sixty yards.

What say you?

@johnldeboer When I was younger, I agreed. Now, after having played the game and watching a whole bunch of it, I better understand. Those yards by the back are the result of the pass from the quarterback. They may be after the catch, but they are still the result of a passing play.

If we take away the passing yards after the catch from the quarterback, should we not also take away the receiving yards before the catch from the receiver?

@Beardalope Since the yards-after-catch is a stat, the receiver would be able to get credit for the yards passed that he caught. And the QB could then get credit for that stat, since he threw the pass. But now both the receiver and the QB get credit for the total. So the receiver actually gets two stats from that one pass play. The QB has little to do with that second stat in most cases, yet he gets credit for it in the total.

@johnldeboer You do see some statisticians accounting for yards after catch as a sub-stat, and it does give a better overall picture of the receiver's playmaking ability. Similar to yards after contact for a running back. It's an interesting discussion.

In the same vein, punt distance should be measured from the spot of the kick the same as field goals. Not from the line of scrimmage as is currently done.

@Beardalope Yes, they measure field goal distance from where it’s kicked, so punters should be treated the same. And when a QB scrambles in the backfield and finally hurls a caught pass, the distance is measured from the line of scrimmage, even though he might be twenty yards back at the time.