Alabama Football: A.J. OK! How Does McCarron Stack Up Against McElroy?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)

I was in a gathering of Alabama fans this past week and was approached by one who said, "I read your articles and don't understand why you're so big on A.J. (McCarron)"

Well, for him and all the other people who still think that Alabama is in a precarious position with a "rookie" at quarterback, let me offer the following facts.

First of all, let me remind those fans that Alabama fared pretty well with Greg McElroy during his "rookie" year.

So how does McCarron stack up to McElroy's first year?

This same time in McElroy's career, he had thrown for 1,684 yards and nine touchdowns with three INT's.

Right now, McCarron has thrown for 1,664 yards, 10 touchdowns and three INT's while sharing snaps in two of the first three games.

So actually McCarron is doing better than McElroy did at this same time in his career.

Under McElroy, the 2009 team that won a national championship, Alabama averaged a team scoring average of 32.1 points per game.

So far this year, Alabama is doing better with a 39.4 average or over one touchdown more per game.

That year, McElroy had a 138 and change passing rating.

This year, McCarron is at 145 and change.

That year, McElroy averaged nine first downs a game passing and McCarron is averaging over 11.

These stats are interesting because McElroy had the same main receivers to throw to as McCarron plus McElroy had Julio Jones who caught over 20 percent of all the catches made.

McElroy had a habit of zeroing in on just a few main targets and there were just five people who had over 50 percent of his catches.

McCarron spreads the ball around and so far, he's already thrown more TD passes to more receivers than McElroy did for the whole year and McCarron still has five games he could play in.

And he is doing better than McElroy did last year, his second and last as a starter.

So when people tell you that Alabama's quarterback could be their big liability, now you have the facts to set them straight and tell them you keep hoping he becomes the same liability that McElroy was in his first year.

Should McCarron do as well ultimately as McElroy, you can say you witnessed the McEra of great football at Alabama. Both did extremely well and it bodes well for Alabama that McCarron seems to be another McChip off the great quarterback block.