ESPN's New QB Rating Tabs Matt Cassel As 'Average'

In case you hadn't heard, ESPN got a bit fed up with the rather ridiculous NFL statistic known as Quarterback Rating and came up with their own statistical measurement of a QB's success: The Total Quarterback Rating.

Essentially, the new formula takes into account a whole new host of situations and statistics. ESPN says:

The QBR formula takes into account down, distance, field position, time remaining, rushing, passing sacks, fumbles, interceptions, how far each pass travels in the air, from where on the field the ball was thrown, yards after the catch, dropped balls, defensed balls, whether the quarterback was hit, whether he threw away the ball to avoid a sack, whether the pass was thrown accurately, etc.

Even though the formula hasn't been run against every single signal caller, ESPN did come up with some general rankings for some of the NFL's quarterbacks. 

How did Matt Cassel do? He rated out as "Around Average," joining players like Jon Kitna and Kyle Orton. ESPN included ratings of Top Tier, Well Above Average, Above Average, Around Average, Below Average and Poor.

Check out the rest of Cassel's company, after the jump:

H/T Tarkus in the FanShots

• Top tier: Brady, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Michael Vick, Rodgers and Drew Brees.
• Well above average: Josh Freeman, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.
• Above average: Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub, David Garrard and Kerry Collins.
• Around average: Matt Cassel, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer, Colt McCoy, Kyle Orton and Jon Kitna.
• Below average: Shaun Hill, Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, Matt Hasselbeck, Chad Henne, Donovan McNabb, Sam Bradford and Alex Smith.
• Poor: Derek Anderson, Brett Favre and Jimmy Clausen.