Just how bad (or good) is this year's QB class

With QB as the obvious top need for the Titans, the evaluation of this year's QB class is paramount.  QB is the most important position on the team and the Titans don't have anybody other than Rusty Smith at QB, currently.  So, just how bad (or good) is this year's QB draft class?

I decided to compare the college statistics of this year's QB class to QBs drafted in the 1st round over the past 5 years (since the Titans last drafted a QB in the 1st round). I only looked at the statistics for when the QBs were the primary starter for the majority of the season for their team and/or they threw more than 200 pass attempts in that season (so, the 2-3 games they played as freshmen didn't count into this, for example).  And, I looked at the top 6 QB prospects this year: Gabbert, Newton, Mallett, Locker, Dalton, and Ponder.

The comparison is below...there is a disclaimer that certain offensive schemes may inflate some statistics for QBs and some of these QBs only had one year of college play.  The columns in red are for this year's class.

- Note Cam Newton and Mark Sanchez only have one year factored into their statistics

Completion Percentage

COMP % (via shawneriksmith)

YPA (via shawneriksmith)

TD_to_INT Ratio (via shawneriksmith)

INT % (via shawneriksmith)

TD % (via shawneriksmith)

So, the main takeaways I have from this are:

- Cam Newton had an awesome year last year...but it was just one year

- The other QBs are pretty average in terms of completion percentage compared to previous drafts, except Jake Locker, who is by far the worst

- Newton and Mallet had good YPA, TD%, and TD-to-INT numbers with the rest of the QBs average or below average...Jake Locker was the worst again in this stat category

- Gabbert has the best INT% (6th best of 1st round QBs past 5 years) with Ponder/Locker at the high end.

So, based on these statistics, I would not consider Locker a 1st or even a 2nd round prospect.  His statistics cannot be explained by lack of talent around him...they are just that much worse.  Is he an athlete?  Absolutely, but he's not a QB right now, especially at the NFL level.

The rest of the QBs are overall solid, compared to the previous 5 years.  Based on the offense he was in, Gabbert should have a higher completion percentage and higher TD % but he is about average in all of the other categories.

There are several QBs who showed year-over-year improvement, so their last year of playing is much better than what is represented here.  That list includes Ryan Mallett (2011), Andy Dalton (2011), Matthew Stafford (2009), Josh Freeman (2009), Joe Flacco (2008), JaMarcus Russell (2007), and Vince Young (2006).

Obviously, the interviews ("chalk talk" and off-field issues) and workouts (can the guy make all the throws?) will help separate these players even more, but based solely on college performance, I would have Ryan Mallett, Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert, and Christian Ponder as my top rated QBs in that order.  However, they all have questions: Mallett's off-field concerns, Dalton's lack of competition playing at TCU, Newton's one-year wonder?, Gabbert's lack of production in Missouri's spread offense, and Ponder's injury concerns.

There is no clear-cut favorite, in my opinion...I can see any or all of these QBs selected in the 1st round.  This will be an interesting draft come April.