A question about Troy Aikman....

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by gortiz

This my friends is impossible to tell, there is no way you can ever judge this. Passing accuracy falls into the same category as "bat speed" or "best jump shot" Using average yards per completion is no good. How many times have we all seen Jerry Rice catch a 6 yard slant and turn it into a 50 yard foot race! Also, you have to look at attempts, weather conditions, playing indoor/outdoor. Manning would not have the same numbers if he played in Buffalo. Quality of WR's? I mean, you can't do it. I remember a SI article a long time ago saying Bernie Kosar was crazy accurate, that might be something to look into, he played outdoors, never had WR's to speak of?

True enough about Jerry Rice, of course Michael Irvin made several plays in his day too. Irvin posted a 15.9 yards per catch average in his Dallas days. Jerry Rice, in the years in which Montana was his QB (Montana to Rice: 1985-1992), exhibited a 16.9 yards per catch. Both YPC numbers are excellent, but it's entirely possible that Jerry Rice was the difference between Montana's 11.9 and Aikman's 11.4.

Then again that's hard to say too, because Irvin and Aikman have a confounding statistical effect on one another, and so do Montana and Rice. It's like which is more accurate, Rice wouldn't have been Rice without Joe Montana, or Montana wouldn't have been Montana without Jerry Rice.

This makes my head hurt. You're right, it comes down to subjectivity.