Is Jimmy Clausen a Bust After Two Years?

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Is Jimmy Clausen a bust or is he a maturing superstar? I will save my opinion for the comment section and let you, the reader make the call.

Clausen's sophomore stats looked like this: 268/440 60.9 percent for 3172 yards, 25 TDs, 17 ints, 132.49 rating

Let's take a look at the second full season of some of the more high profile QBs of the last five years.

Let's start with a couple Heisman Trophy winners.

We all know of Tim Tebow's accomplishments. He has been one of the biggest game-changing players at his position. He seems to be able to put his team on his shoulders and will them to victory.

See Tebow's speech after Ole Miss loss last year. Tebow's sophomore year was phenomenal. It was his Heisman winning year. His stats on the year read like a one man show.

He completed 217 of 317 passes for 3132 yards. He threw 29 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 833 yards and 22 TDs. This gave him a ridicules passer rating of 177.8.

How about Matt Leinart? Leinart's third year in the system but second as a starter was a National Championship winning year for USC. It was also Leinart's Heisman Trophy winning year. Leinart completed 269 passes out of 412 attempts for 3322 yards. He threw 33 tds with only 6 interceptions. He had a well above average 156.5 QB rating.

Those two are examples of the best of the best. Now let's take a look at a couple mere mortals.

Mathew Stafford had a very good collegiate career. Good enough to garner the first overall pick in last years NFL draft. Stafford’s sophomore campaign netted him a completion percentage of 55.7 by completing 194 passes out of 348 attempts. He threw for 2523 yards with 19 TDs and 10 interceptions which netted him a rating of 128.9.

And last but not least lets compare Notre Dames own Brady Quinn. Brady’s sophomore season saw him complete 191 passes out of 353 attempts for 2586 yards. He had a completion percentage of 54.1 Quinn threw for 17 TDs and 10 interceptions which led to a passer rating of 125.78.

These are strictly individual accomplishments and take into account none of the value of the surrounding team they played on.

Clausen is bested in every category by the two Heisman Trophy winners. He bested the other two QBs in every category with the exception of the interceptions.

So I ask you: Bust or Maturing Superstar?

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