Better Than Average (BTA) was developed to show which players were truly better than their peers when the advantage of the schedule was removed. . This is a true 1:1 measurement because it only considers how well players did against all others who faced a particular defense. It counts up three occurrences:
“Top 8” – When a QB produced one of the top 8 game performances for fantasy points allowed by a defense.
“Top 4” – When a QB scored in the top 4 game performances for fantasy points allowed by a defense.
“#1” – Who had the best fantasy game against a defense over the past year. There could only by 32 such events since each defense can only allow one “best game”.
BTA – Simply adding up the 1, 4 and 8 values for a numerical expression of how effective a quarterback truly was last year against all other players in his position. The strength of schedule doesn’t matter. Only what a player produced against all other players in that position against that defense. It is a measurement of player ability against the others in his position.
| Most #1 Games | |
|---|---|
| Aaron Rodgers | 6 |
| Drew Brees | 3 |
| Matt Ryan | 3 |
| Tom Brady | 3 |
| Andrew Luck | 2 |
| Kirk Cousins | 2 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 2 |
The dominance of Aaron Rodgers shows up here. Seems that having one of the top quarterbacks made reaching the playoffs easier since three of the top four were in conference championships. But as we often see, once you leave the top two or three in the position, there is not a tremendous difference in the rest of the top 12 – fantasy starters in most leagues.
What is also interesting is the age of those top quarterbacks. This has not been a young man’s game when it comes to quarterbacks that make a difference.
| Quarterback | BTA | #1 | Top 4 | Top 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Rodgers | 33 | 6 | 13 | 14 |
| Andrew Luck | 23 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| Drew Brees | 23 | 3 | 9 | 11 |
| Matt Ryan | 21 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Kirk Cousins | 20 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Tom Brady | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Andy Dalton | 15 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Dak Prescott | 15 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Philip Rivers | 15 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Marcus Mariota | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Carson Palmer | 14 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Cam Newton | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Matthew Stafford | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Blake Bortles | 13 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Derek Carr | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Colin Kaepernick | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Jameis Winston | 12 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Tyrod Taylor | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Russell Wilson | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Joe Flacco | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Alex Smith | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Sam Bradford | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Carson Wentz | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Eli Manning | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Trevor Siemian | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Brian Hoyer | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Matt Barkley | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Josh McCown | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Case Keenum | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Blaine Gabbert | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
