Numbers are in: Pressure doesn’t shake Jake Bentley
South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley took his share of lumps as a freshman, getting sacked often as he learned the scheme behind a line that struggled.
But when he got passes off under duress, he was pretty good.
According to numbers from Pro Football Focus, Bentley had an 86.2 rating under pressure. That number was far and away the best for returning SEC players, better than Arkansas’ Austin Allen (68.3) and Danny Etling (62.1).
No returning QB in the SEC was better under pressure than South Carolina's Jake Bentley in 2016. pic.twitter.com/BUweMvoS0R
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) June 12, 2017
PFF has already posted numbers showing Bentley has the best deep ball of any SEC returner and had the best passer rating off play action (88.9) of any returning conference passer.
South Carolina QB Jake Bentley led all returning SEC QBs with an 89.0 passer rating on non-play action passes.
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) June 4, 2017
Can he even improve in 2017? pic.twitter.com/MG4WaQe2X3
After sitting the first six games of 2016, looking like a redshirt, Bentley took the starting job through a bye week and flourished, throwing for 1,420 yards, nines scores and four interceptions. Sacks were an issue, as he was taken down 24 times in seven games, but the staff has said a better knowledge of the offense will help there.
This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Numbers are in: Pressure doesn’t shake Jake Bentley."