Checkdown passes are not inherently bad — in many cases, they can be very useful. If nothing is open downfield and the pocket starts to collapse, checkdown passes allow a quarterback to turn a busted play into something positive.
The issues arise — and where the label “Captain Checkdown” begins to be thrown around as a pejorative — when quarterbacks start to lean too heavily into that easy way out, eschewing difficult passes into tight coverage in favor of taking the safe but toothless option.
Let's look at the quarterbacks who lean heavily on the checkdown in favor of plays that would have a far greater impact on moving the chains.
To get a large enough sample size, we’re going to look at two years worth of PFF data.
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https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-captain...eckdown-passes
Not a huge surprise that Rudolph is second.