Dak Prescott was the top quarterback of Week 12 by DYAR, and a big way he did it was with passes to the middle of the field.
Prescott threw eight passes to the middle of the field, completing six of them. Each of these passes gained at least 10 yards and a new set of downs, for a total of 129 yards and a league-leading 93 DYAR. Receivers on these passes included George Pickens twice, CeeDee Lamb and the 48-yard pass to KaVontae Turpin.
Passes to the middle of the field are generally more efficient than passes to the sides. For example, this year passes to the middle have 31.9% DVOA and 8.1 yards per pass. Passes to the left have 19.3% DVOA and 7.0 yards per pass, while passes to the right have 14.2% DVOA and 6.8 yards per pass.
The identiry of this year’s best quarterback on passes up the middle will surprise you. It’s not Prescott, who is third in DYAR on such passes. Daniel Jones and his surprising season in Indianapolis is second. But it is San Francisco backup Mac Jones, who is first in DYAR on passes up the middle, and by a lot! He threw 27% of his passes in the middle of the field. The league average is 21%.
Here are the top 10 quarterbacks this year in DYAR on passes up the middle. Jalen Hurts is a very surprising name here, as he’s had trouble with passes up the middle in past seasons.