An additional thought on the USFL, which began play 30 years ago this week. That league landed a bunch of big-time quarterbacks, and I don't understand why those guys weren't more successful.

Steve Young and Doug Williams, most notably, went on to be Super Bowl MVPs, but they didn't make much of an impact in the USFL. Brian Sipe was a former NFL MVP, but he was a disappointment with the New Jersey Generals and Jacksonville Bulls. Doug Flutie flopped in New Jersey. He's similar to Young, I think, in that experience and coaching made him a much better quarterback later in his career.

Jim Kelly put up the best passing numbers in the USFL, winging it in the run-and-shoot offense of the Houston Gamblers. No surprise there; Kelly was a capable passer. But look at the two passers who finished with even higher passer ratings. Chuck Fusina and Cliff Stoudt. Stoudt was god-awful with Pittsburgh in 1983, throwing 21 interceptions and only 12 touchdowns.

By my count, six of the top 11 passers in the USFL were guys who never had success at the USFL level, which is not what I would expect. On the chart below, I've got those guys (players with no NFL success) in bold. I've got players who had at least some NFL success in plain type.


Single-season passing stats for notable USFL quarterbacks
   Pct   Yards   TD  Int  Rate   Year   
   65%   3837   31    9   104.7  1984   Chuck Fusina (Stars)
   58%   3121   26    7   101.6  1984   Cliff Stoudt (Stallions)
   63%   5219   44   26   98.2   1984   Jim Kelly (Gamblers)
   63%   4623   39   19   97.9   1985   Jim Kelly (Gamblers)
   63%   3534   26   15   92.8   1984   Greg Landry (Wranglers)
   60%   3358   34   19   91.2   1985   Cliff Stoudt (Stallions)
   57%   3561   27   17   86.7   1983   Bobby Hebert (Panthers)
   58%   4092   28   16   86.3   1984   John Reaves (Bandits)
   54%   3811   30   19   86.1   1985   Bobby Hebert (Invaders)
   63%   3980   21   16   85.1   1983   Fred Besana (Invaders)
   61%   3496   20   14   84.0   1985   Chuck Fusina (Stars)
   59%   2540   17   15   82.3   1984   Brian Sipe (Generals)
   58%   2361   10    9    80.6   1984   Steve Young (Express)
   57%   2718   15   10   78.1   1983   Chuck Fusina (Stars)
   54%   3758   24   22   76.4   1984   Bobby Hebert (Panthers)
   53%   3673   21   17   76.4   1985   Doug Williams (Outlaws)
   56%   2672   20   16   74.7   1983   Alan Risher (Wranglers)
   56%   3772   20   18   74.0   1983   Johnnie Walton (Breakers)
   56%   4193   25   29   73.2   1985   John Reaves (Bandits)
   55%   3554   17   19   72.2   1984   Johnnie Walton (Breakers)
   57%   3068   18   25   69.3   1985   Rick Neuheisel (Gunslingers)
   56%   2813   11   19   68.9   1983   Bobby Scott (Generals)
   48%   2109   13   14   67.8   1985   Doug Flutie (Generals)
   55%   1741    6    13   63.1   1985   Steve Young (Express)
   49%   3084   15   21   60.5   1984   Doug Williams (Outlaws)

^aEUR"Ian Allan