A recent study by West Coast Shaving shows that the NFL's best quarterbacks play better with beards.

In the name of science, and presumably beard oil sales, the company compared five of the League's best playcallers' 2013 quarterback ratings with and without facial hair.

They found that every one of them played substantially better when rocking a beard.

Andrew Luck, the most famous bearded QB they looked at, saw his QB rating skyrocket from 73 when clean shaven to 88.06 when bearded, an improvement of 20.63%.

Aaron Rodgers, darling of the 2014 NFL season and holder of an insane 106.4 career QB rating, played 17.12 % when bearded than not.

Though these researchers couldn't establish causation here, another recent scientific study in Behavior Ecology indicates that bearded men appear more aggressive and dominant than clean-shaven men. Theoretically, this might be affecting play, with beards either intimidating rival teams, or possibly helping to bolster a player's confidence in his own standing and aggression.

Either way, it's clear that beards aren't just mere decoration.

Now, how the heck can Jets fans get Geno Smith to grow a beard?

[H/T CBS Boston

Andrew D. Luecke Style Editor, Esquire Digital Before coming to esquire.com, Andrew D.

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