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Clean pockets: yards per attempt vs. sack rate

College Football Charts
Data updatedOct 31, 2026

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Clean pockets: yards per attempt vs. sack rate

Top 50 of 172 quarterbacks by both stats combined. Season so far, games through Oct 24, 2026. Dashed lines are the averages; up and right is better on both.

From the play-by-play. Players with 30+ pass attempts, 15+ carries, 8+ catches, a sack, an interception or a fumble recovery this season; these stats also need 50+ dropbacks and 50+ attempts. Labels mark the best on both stats and anyone you highlight. Hover or tap a dot for the numbers.

What this shows

Each dot is one of 50 quarterbacks, placed by sack rate (across) and yards per attempt (up). Sacks per dropback. Passing yards per attempt. The dashed lines are the averages: 3.9% and 8.9. Where lower is better, the axis is flipped, so up and right is always better.

There is moderate relationship here (r = +0.66; r runs from −1 to +1). Players who are better at one tend to be worse at the other. One explains about 44% of the differences in the other.

6 of 50 (12%) are above average on both. 23 are above average only on sack rate, 15 only on yards per attempt, and 6 on neither.

Where the data comes from. Play-by-play from CollegeFootballData.com (the public cfbfastR files), games through Oct 24, 2026. Every stat here is computed from those plays.

Best on both

  1. Tayven Jackson, North Texas: 1.5% sack rate, 9.7 yards per attempt
  2. Hauss Hejny, Colorado State: 1.0% sack rate, 9.3 yards per attempt
  3. Darian Mensah, Miami: 3.8% sack rate, 10.5 yards per attempt
  4. David McComb, Miami (OH): 5.5% sack rate, 11.0 yards per attempt
  5. Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State: 3.2% sack rate, 9.7 yards per attempt
  6. Kevin Jennings, SMU: 3.6% sack rate, 9.9 yards per attempt

Great at one, not the other

  1. Jackson Gutierrez, Navy: 9.9% sack rate, 10.8 yards per attempt
  2. Ksaan Farrar, Colorado State: 1.3% sack rate, 6.8 yards per attempt
  3. Michael Hawkins Jr., West Virginia: 8.1% sack rate, 10.1 yards per attempt
  4. Walker Eget, Duke: 0.5% sack rate, 7.3 yards per attempt
  5. Julian Sayin, Ohio State: 6.8% sack rate, 10.5 yards per attempt
  6. Jeremy Hecklinski, Iowa: 1.5% sack rate, 7.1 yards per attempt

About the stats on this chart

What is sack rate?

Sacks per dropback.

Where does the sack rate data come from?

From play-by-play from CollegeFootballData.com (the public cfbfastR files), games through Oct 24, 2026.

What is yards per attempt?

Passing yards per attempt.

Why does yards per attempt matter?

If a defense gives up a lot of yards a snap, it's going to give up points eventually, no matter how many turnovers bail it out.

Where does the yards per attempt data come from?

From play-by-play from CollegeFootballData.com (the public cfbfastR files), games through Oct 24, 2026.