NJD's Scouting Report of Andy Dalton

QB is a huge position of need for our Titans this year.  The Titans should do their due diligence to make sure that we don't end up with a head case at QB again. Each week I will have a fanpost looking at each of the top QB's stats and provide game film (when available)and give you guys my perspective on what I think of each QB.

via media.scout.com

ANDY DALTON

Andy Dalton is a name that has been tossed around this site quite a bit recently.  The former TCU QB has a bandwagon as big as the fanbase of the Pittsburgh Steelers right now, and for good reason too.  Andy Dalton is a QB of intrigue.  In this post I will compile as many stats from Dalton's senior campaign as I can dig up on why Dalton has become one of the more popular first-second round prospects since Drew Brees.

Dalton's Stats In "Crunch Time":

In his Senior season Dalton has completed 63.6% of his passes for 877 yards with 10 TDs and 2 Ints passing.  While down he has moved the chains 41 times through the air.  He has completed 20 passes of 15 yards or more and 10 passes of 25 yards or more while tied or down in a game.  Dalton has a college QB rating of 190.64 when TCU was down or tied.  Dalton has also rushed for 4 TDs when down or tied in a game.

My View: Dalton is very good when his team is down when it comes to ball control.  Dalton holds a 5:1 TD/INT ratio which is a eye-popping statistic for a QB.  Dalton also managed to move the chains 41 times when his team was down; this is crucial when it is late in the fourth quarter.  He is also very accurate when throwing in the most pressure-filled moment in a game; which is extremely impressive.

Dalton by the Half:

1st Half: 204 Attempts/140 Completions/68.6% Accuracy/1,985 YDS/18 TDS/3 INTS/176.54 QBR/87 First Downs/40 Completions of +15 YDS/26 Completions of +25 YDS

2nd Half/OT: 112 Attempts/69 Completions/61.6% Accuracy/872 YDS/9 TDS/3 INTS/148.17 QBR/40 First Downs/18 Completions of +15 YDS/6 Completions of +25 YDS

My Take: Remember during the week we played Philadelphia and we were ragging on Kerry for not having good first halves, well Andy here is at his best the moment the game starts.  This stat is particularly impressive because of the lack of talent at the skill positions on the Horned Frogs.  If we draft Dalton we could get that early lead right out of the gate instead of having to play from behind after the first half all the time.  When Dalton plays with a lead he tends to take care of the ball, his 2nd half/OT stats present this.  This is crucial because last year we could have beaten the Chargers had we come out strong and took care of the ball (and not loose the ability to cover a TE or Kenny Britt :D)

Dalton By the Downs:

1st Down: p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } 128 Attempts/89 Completions/69.5 Accuracy/1232 YDS/11 TDS/1 INT/177.18 QBR/43 First Downs/22 Completions of +15 YDS/14 Completions of +25 YDS

2nd Down: p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } 113 Attempts/77 Completions/68.1 Accuracy/1021 YDS/7 TDS/3 INTS/159.16 QBR/50 First Downs/24 Completions of +15 YDS/12 Completions of +25 YDS

3rd Down: 67 Attempts/38 Completions/56.7 Accuracy/523 YDS/7 TDS/2 INTS/150.80 QBR/29 First Downs/10 Completions of +15 YDS/5 Completions of +25 YDS

4th Down: 8 Attempts/5 Completions/62.5% Accuracy/81 YDS/2 TDS/0 INTS/230.05 QBR/5 First Downs/2 Completions of +15 YDS/ 1 Completion of +25 YDS

My Take: Dalton is a first down machine, which is crucial to the possession offense that Palmer wants to run this year.  As you can tell he doesn't have a whole lot of 3rd Down or 4th Down attempts, as he gets his first downs normally in the first two downs.  In all he has gotten first downs on 40.2% of his throws during every down.

Dalton vs. NCAA

vs. Teams With Winning Records: 164 Attempts/113 Completions/68.9% Accuracy/1539 YDS/9.4 YPA/15 TDS/2 INTS/175.47 QBR/27.3 APG/256.5 YPG

vs. Teams With Non-Winning Records: 131 Attempts/81 Completions/61.8% Accuracy/1136 YDS/8.7 YPA/11 TDS/4 INTS/156.27 QBR/21.8 APG/189.3 YPG p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

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vs. Ranked (AP): 23 Attempts/15 Completions/65.2% Accuracy/219 YDS/9.5 YPA/1 TDS/0 INTS/159.55 QBR/23.0 APG/219.0 YPG (Rose Bowl)

vs. Unranked (AP): 293 Attempts/194 Completions/66.2% Accuracy/2638 YDS/9.0 YPA/26 TDS/6 INTS/167.02 QBR/24.4 APG/219.8 YPG

vs. Conference: 196 Attempts/127 Completions/64.8% Accuracy/1840 YDS/9.4 YPA/21 TDS/2 INTS/176.98 QBR/24.5 APG/230.0 YPG

vs. Non-Conference: 120 Attempts/82 Completions/68.3% Accuracy/1017 YDS/8.5 YPA/6 TDS/4 INTS/149.35 QBR/24.0 APG/203.4 YPG

My Take: That lack of competition cliché marked on Dalton is disproved here.  He has completed over 68% of his passes against teams with winning records and he completed over 65% of his passes against ranked teams.  These stats also bring into light that he knows how to take care of the ball against teams with winning records.  However he seems to struggle against teams that he is not to familiar with (because they are outside his conference).

Game Film:

San Diego State D vs TCU O 2010 (via JoshMTD)

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