by Vincent Verhei

"STRENGTHS Consistent winner and tough. Scouts say his teammates and coaches see through deficiencies and trust the competitiveness above all else. Has NFL size. Benefited from playing in a pro­style attack. Has adequate mobility and is unafraid to pull the ball down and get tough yards to extend drives. Extremely bright person. Doesn't always look pretty, but finds ways to make winning plays in adverse situations. Doesn't get cute and feeds his top talent. Tasked to manage the offense and did just that. Smart and self­aware. Understands his strengths and weaknesses and doesn't take very many low percentage chances. Was the most accurate short-yardage passer in Pac-12 at 76.7 percent."

That, in part, is how Kevin Hogan was described on NFL.com heading into this year's draft. And if you knew nothing else about him, you'd think he was big ("NFL size") and intelligent ("extremely bright," "smart and self-aware," plus, you know, he went to Stanford), if not the most attractive guy you've ever seen (did they have to say "doesn't always look pretty" AND "doesn't get cute?").

The words that have proven to be most prophetic, though, are "Has adequate mobility and is unafraid to pull the ball down and get tough yards to extend drives." That was shown on Sunday, when Hogan unexpectedly did something that has been done only a couple of dozen times in NFL history.

Hogan was a four-year starter in Palo Alto, but statistically he was rarely more than an average quarterback in the Pac-12, usually getting outshone by top-two draft picks Marcus Mariota or Jared Goff, later-round picks like Sean Mannion or Brett Hundley, or even his current teammate Cody Kessler. Although he went 36-10 as a starter with the Cardinal, including multiple conference championships, his passing mechanics left a lot to be desired. Ben Muth, an all-Pac-10 tackle during his time at Stanford and the author of our Word of Muth offensive line analysis column, liked Hogan's competitive spirit. But when Cian Fahey (the Film Room guy) said Hogan threw "an ugly-looking football," Muth admitted that Hogan was "an all-time grenade chucker," and that comparisons to great Stanford quarterbacks of the past were ridiculous.

Hogan was not expected to be highly drafted, and thus he was not listed in our QBASE projections. And in fact he was not highly drafted, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round, the tenth quarterback off the board. He failed to stick in Kansas City, getting cut before training camp, but then signed with Cleveland's practice squad the very next day. And there, in a normal season, he would have stayed, but 2016 has been no normal season, particularly not in Cleveland. Already this year, the Browns have lost Robert Griffin and Josh McCown to injury; signed, played, and released Charlie Whitehurst; shuffled Terrelle Pryor from wideout to quarterback and back again; and given Kessler (whom they drafted in the third round) an extended tryout as a starter.

In Sunday's game against the Bengals, with Pryor nursing a gimpy hamstring, the Browns experimented with Hogan as an option quarterback. It was never meant to be a full-time thing, and Hogan would come in for one play at a time before returning to the bench. And then Kessler suffered a concussion, and suddenly there was Kevin Hogan, for one afternoon the primary quarterback in an honest-to-God NFL football game. And though he wasn't entirely useless as a passer -- he did pick up a pair of third-down conversions with his arm -- it was that "adequate mobility" that made the biggest impact. Hogan had two 15-yard runs as a read-option gimmick, then a 28-yard touchdown and two 16-yard gains on scrambles out of the pocket. When all was said and done, Hogan had 104 yards on seven carries. That's actually more yards than the 100 he had on 24 pass attempts, but between the two it was just enough to put Hogan in some exclusive company.



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Sunday's game was just the 36th time since the birth of the AFL in 1960 that a quarterback (or any player) has thrown for at least 100 yards and run for at least 100 yards in the same game. For comparison's sake, there have been 36 games of 476 or more passing yards in the same timeframe, and 36 games of 227 or more rushing yards. Hogan is the 20th member of the 100-100 club -- remarkably, three of them (Hogan, Pryor, and Griffin) are currently on the Browns' payroll. Michael Vick, naturally, leads the way with eight 100-100 games. Russell Wilson is next with four, while Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, and Cam Newton have three each. Nobody else has done it more than once.

Does Hogan have any shot at becoming the sixth player to go for 100-100 in multiple games? Honestly, not much. Though Griffin is almost certainly out for the year and Whitehurst has come and gone, Hogan is still third on the depth chart behind Kessler and McCown. And though Hogan may wind up starting this Sunday against the Jets (who are having their own quarterback issues these days), he'll go back to the bench as soon as Kessler recovers from his concussion, or McCown's broken collarbone has healed enough to let him see the field. At least Pryor seems set as a full-time wideout now.

So Hogan's tenure as a starter, if it even happens, is likely to be quite short. That's one reason he's unlikely to go 100-100 again. The other issue is that Hogan does, in fact, throw an ugly looking football, and he is an all-time grenade chucker. In passing numbers alone, he was one of the worst quarterbacks of Week 7, and he didn't even throw a pass in the first 25 minutes of the game. Remember Hogan's pre-draft strengths we listed at the beginning of this article? Well, NFL.com listed his weaknesses too, and they were lengthy:



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"Mechanics and footwork are a mess. Throws with a very wide base, a pitcher's stride and a protracted delivery. Ball rarely comes out of his hands cleanly."

"Plays flat­footed in the pocket with little bounce as he scans field and does a poor job of re­setting and coming to balance before delivery."

"Below-average arm strength and struggles to consistently make accurate, catchable throws to the field side."

"Average at reading defenses, preventing him from getting ball out on time."

"Needs much more poise and pocket awareness. Had issues climbing and sliding to clean areas of the pocket when they were there."

"Drops eyes and immediately panics when pressure is mounting in his face. Took sacks he had no business taking."

"Hogan will need time and coaching to try and improve his mechanics and footwork if he wants to have a shot to be an NFL backup."

Unless he makes major strides as a passer, Hogan may never get another chance to show what he can do as a rusher. So no, he is unlikely to ever join Vick, Wilson, and the other quarterbacks who hit 100-100 twice. It's much more likely that he will join Virgil Carter, Jack Concannon, and Johnny Manziel (yes, another Cleveland quarterback) as one of the lesser-known one-hit wonders.

Quarterbacks Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 1. Drew Brees NO 37/47 367 3 1 1 188 188 0 KC The magic range for Brees came 10 to 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. On passes to receivers at that distance, Brees went 9-of-10 for 151 yards and nine of his 20 first downs. On third downs, he went 10-of-12 for 96 yards and seven first downs, though one of those incompletions was a pick-six. Mostly, though, he was tremendous at getting New Orleans into scoring range, and then converting those opportunities. On Kansas City's side of the field, he went 16-of-19 for 159 yards and 12 first downs, including three red zone touchdowns. 2. Andrew Luck IND 27/39 353 3 0 2 170 161 9 TEN Luck killed the Titans with deep passes, going 9-of-14 for 219 yards on passes that traveled more than 15 yards past the line of scrimmage. 3. Aaron Rodgers GB 39/56 326 3 0 2 115 109 6 CHI Rodgers' average gain is a little muted because he threw 16 passes in the red zone alone, completing 11 of them for only 45 yards, but three touchdowns and two other first downs. On third and fourth downs, he went 11-of-14 for 78 yards and eight first downs, with a 15th pass resulting in a DPI for 18 yards and another first down, though he also had a sack-fumble. 4. Jameis Winston TB 21/30 269 3 1 2 114 114 0 SF First quarter: 2-of-5, 42 yards, one first down, one sack, one interception, minus-52 DYAR, which was bottom-five among quarterbacks this week. Rest of game: 19-of-25 for 227 yards, with 16 first downs and one sack. 5. Tom Brady NE 19/26 222 2 0 0 107 102 5 PIT A strange, streaky game. He started off 11-of-12 for 109 yards and five first downs, plus another play that would have been a first down, but Chris Hogan fumbled it away. And he finished 4-of-5 for 91 yards and four more first downs. But he failed to pick up a first down in between, going 4-of-9 for 22 yards in the process. 6. Andy Dalton CIN 19/28 308 2 0 3 90 90 0 CLE Dalton's good day was really A.J. Green's good day. When Dalton was not throwing to Adriel Jeremiah, he went 11-of-20 for 139 yards and only five first downs, plus three sacks. 7. Alex Smith KC 17/24 214 2 0 0 85 85 0 NO Smith never threw a pass in the red zone, but then, he didn't have to, not with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Ware and a 38-yarder to Tyreek Hill. 8. Matthew Stafford DET 18/29 266 1 0 3 75 62 14 WAS 9. Ryan Tannehill MIA 15/25 204 1 0 1 74 74 1 BUF More than half of Tannehill's yardage came on three plays: a 26-yard catch by Jarvis Landry in the first quarter, a 21-yarder to Landry in the third, and a 66-yard throw to Kenny Stills on Tannehill's last pass of the game. 10. Trevor Siemian DEN 14/25 157 1 0 0 56 56 0 HOU 11. Matt Ryan ATL 22/34 273 1 1 3 52 55 -3 SD 12. Carson Palmer ARI 29/49 342 0 0 4 46 42 4 SEA If you watched Sunday night's game, you are probably wondering how on earth Palmer could rank this high. The answer is two-fold. First, opponent adjustments. Seattle's pass defense is outstanding, and Palmer gets more than 50 DYAR for playing them. Second, the game went to overtime, and in overtime Palmer went 5-of-10 for 124 yards and five first downs (he had only nine in regulation), good for 63 DYAR. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 13. Philip Rivers SD 27/44 371 1 1 4 29 29 0 ATL By DYAR, Rivers was much more effective in the fourth quarter and overtime (45 DYAR) than in quarters 1 to 3 (minus-16 DYAR). Really, though, the difference comes down to two early plays: a fumble (returned for an Atlanta touchdown) and an interception. He actually averaged more yards per dropback (8.8) early than he did late (5.5), though his success rate climbed from 48 percent to 57 percent. 14. Derek Carr OAK 23/37 200 1 0 0 28 30 -2 JAC Oakland threw a lot of screens against Jacksonville, with little success. On passes to receivers at or behind the line of scrimmage, Carr went 8-of-11 for 20 yards with no first downs and only one successful play: a 6-yard gain on first-and-10. 15. Kirk Cousins WAS 30/39 301 1 0 2 27 42 -15 DET Remember, everyone: Detroit's defense sucks. Cousins loses 66 DYAR this week to opponent adjustments, most in the league. 16. Cody Kessler CLE 9/11 82 0 0 0 23 30 -7 CIN Only two of Kessler's throws traveled more than 3 yards past the line of scrimmage. But he completed both of them, for gains of 13 and 8 yards. 17. Brian Hoyer CHI 4/11 49 0 0 0 22 22 0 GB How predictable was Chicago's offense early in this game? Only one of Hoyer's passes came on first down -- and that was on first-and-15. 18. Tyrod Taylor BUF 14/28 221 1 0 4 20 7 13 MIA Taylor's last pass of the third quarter was a 67-yard touchdown to Marquise Goodwin that put the Bills ahead 17-6. Then, in the fourth quarter, he went 4-of-14 for 54 yards with two first downs and two sacks, and the Bills eventually lost 28-25. 19. Russell Wilson SEA 24/37 225 0 0 1 20 29 -9 ARI If you watched Sunday night's game, you are probably wondering how on earth Wilson could rank this high. The answer is two-fold. First, opponent adjustments. Arizona's pass defense is outstanding, and Wilson gets nearly 50 DYAR for playing them. Second, the game went to overtime, and in overtime Wilson went 7-of-8 for 104 yards and four first downs (he had only three in regulation), good for 72 DYAR. And yes, I did copy-and-paste this from Carson Palmer's comment and change the specific numbers, because it was the same story for both men. 20. Geno Smith NYJ 4/8 95 1 0 2 19 12 8 BAL Smith's 69-yard touchdown to Quincy Enunwa was a highlight, but he had just one other first down all day. He had four third-down passes, all with 6 yards or less to go, and converted only one of them. 21. Marcus Mariota TEN 23/37 228 2 0 3 9 4 5 IND Remember, everyone, Indianapolis' defense sucks almost as bad as Detroit's. Mariota took the second-biggest hit from opponent adjustments this week behind only Kirk Cousins. 22. Landry Jones PIT 29/46 281 1 1 0 0 0 0 NE At the start of the fourth quarter, the Steelers trailed just 20-13 and were very much alive. But in the fourth, Jones went 9-of-20 for only 54 yards and two first downs. The longest of those nine completions gained only 9 yards. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 23. Ryan Fitzpatrick NYJ 9/14 120 1 0 3 -3 -3 0 BAL Fitzpatrick came out all pissed off and guns a-blazin', going 4-for-4 on his first drive for 46 yards and three first downs, including a touchdown. Then he settled down and reminded everyone why he had been benched, going 5-of-10 for 59 yards but only two first downs the rest of the way, with three sacks. Like his unfortunate teammate Geno Smith, he struggled on third downs, going 3-of-6 for 39 yards and only two conversions, with two sacks. He failed to convert five third downs with 6 yards or less to go. This, Ryan, is why everyone has lost faith in you. 24. Eli Manning NYG 24/37 196 0 0 0 -13 -13 0 LARM Third downs: 3-of-11 for 32 yards and only two first downs. 25. Carson Wentz PHI 16/28 138 1 2 0 -26 -27 1 MIN Wentz's first half was disastrous, with only four first downs, two interceptions, and a fumble. But he was quite good in limited action in the second half: 7-of-8 for 85 yards and five first downs, plus a 5-yard DPI and a fumbled snap. Wentz was also one of four quarterbacks this week to get a boost of 50 DYAR or more from opponent adjustments (Carson Palmer, Brock Osweiler, and Sam Bradford were the others), and Russell Wilson just missed at 49 DYAR. 26. Blake Bortles JAC 23/43 246 1 2 1 -74 -83 8 OAK Well, Bortles got himself another garbage-time touchdown, this one still leaving Jacksonville down by multiple scores with less than five minutes to go. But this does not mean he was effective in scoring range. Inside the Oakland 40, he went 5-of-13 for 24 yards (not a typo) with two first downs and one interception. 27. Kevin Hogan CLE 12/24 100 0 2 2 -84 -130 46 CIN Hogan converted his first third-down pass, a 5-yard completion to Terrell Pryor on third-and-5, and his last, a 17-yard completion to Gary Barnidge on third-and-10. In between, he went 0-for-4 with a pick. 28. Brock Osweiler HOU 22/41 131 0 0 1 -89 -82 -7 DEN I'd like to thank NFL Research for doing my job for me: Osweiler's 3.2 yards per pass attempt vs. Denver is the third-fewest in a single game by a player with 40-plus attempts in the Super Bowl era. The only players worse than Osweiler: Jesse Palmer and Bruce Gradkowski. Other names in the bottom ten include rookie Peyton Manning and Joe Flacco and Eli Manning in the years they won Super Bowls, so let's not bench Osweiler just yet. On the other hand, it was Osweiler's third game this season with at least 40 passes and fewer than 5.0 yards per attempt. Since the birth of the AFL in 1960, only one quarterback has thrown so many passes with such little efficiency more often in a complete season: Joey Harrington, who did it four times in his second season in 2003. Osweiler is one game away from that record and it's not even Halloween. 29. Matt Barkley CHI 6/15 81 0 2 1 -113 -113 0 GB 6-15-81-0-2 pretty much speaks for itself, right? 30. Colin Kaepernick SF 16/34 149 1 1 4 -121 -163 42 TB Kaepernick's first two passes resulted in gains of 24 and 17 yards. Those were his two longest completions of the day, and the only time all day he picked up first downs on back-to-back throws. He also fumbled on two of his four sacks. 31. Joe Flacco BAL 25/43 248 0 2 1 -128 -118 -10 NYJ Midway through the third quarter, the Ravens were up 16-14, and had a second-and-13 at their own 39. Flacco then threw interceptions on two of his next three passes. Counting those three throws, he ended the game completing just eight of his final 19 passes, gaining 33 yards and only two first downs in the process. In the entire game, not once did he throw a pass in the red zone. 32. Case Keenum LARM 32/53 291 1 4 3 -133 -138 4 NYG The Rams might well have won this game if they had just taken the deep ball out of their playbook. Keenum threw 13 passes that traveled at least 14 yards past the line of scrimmage. The Giants caught more of those passes (four) than the Rams did (three, for 97 yards). 33. Sam Bradford MIN 24/41 224 1 1 6 -143 -143 0 PHI How bad was this game for Bradford? He get the biggest boost from opponent adjustments this week, and he's still last. Bradford became the 16th man to fumble four times in one game on Sunday (Michael Vick, Mark Sanchez, and Colt McCoy have done it twice each -- in only 25 starts, in McCoy's case), and he also threw an interception. He also did some serious stat-padding at the end of this game. With the Vikings down by 18 points and less than five minutes to go, Bradford completed each of his final nine passes for 90 yards and four of his 11 first downs, including his one touchdown.

Five Best Running Backs by DYAR (Total) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. Jeremy Hill CIN 9 168 1 2/2 24 0 82 68 13 CLE Hill had five first downs on the ground, including a 74-yard touchdown and gains of 40 and 20 yards. And all of his carries gained at least 1 yard. He joins Colin Kaepernick and Maurice Jones-Drew as the only players since 1960 to run for at least 150 yards on fewer than 10 carries. And all three of his catches were successful too, including first downs on second-and-5 and second-and-10. 2. Matt Forte NYJ 30 100 1 4/4 54 1 79 47 32 BAL Forte averaged 3.3 yards per carry, had only four first downs, and had a fumble. I was sitting here trying to find the mistake in his numbers when I realized he was playing the Ravens, who have been tremendous against the run this season. As a result, he goes from minus-30 YAR rushing, to plus-47 DYAR. His catches included a 13-yard touchdown and a 31-yard gain on second-and-8. 3. Jay Ajayi MIA 28 214 1 1/1 2 0 67 70 -3 BUF You probably saw Ajayi's 53-yarder in the highlights, but he had nine runs that gained at least 10 yards against the Bills. Only 17 other runners have so many 10-plus-yard runs all season. Meanwhile, he was hit for no gain or a loss just three times. 4. David Johnson ARI 33 113 0 8/13 58 0 51 40 11 SEA Johnson, like Forte, gets a massive boost from opponent adjustments -- from minus-2 rushing YAR to 40 rushing DYAR. His 14-yarder on third-and-25 in the fourth quarter was his only gain of 10 or more yards, he had only six first downs, and he was hit for no gain or a loss eight times. He added three first downs as a receiver, including two third-down conversions. 5. LeGarrette Blount NE 24 127 2 1/1 7 0 42 40 2 PIT Eight first downs on the ground, including gains of 11 (twice) and 25 yards, while getting hit for no gain or a loss four times.

Five Best Running Backs by DYAR (Rushing) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. Jay Ajayi MIA 28 214 1 1/1 2 0 67 70 -3 BUF 2. Jeremy Hill CIN 9 168 1 2/2 24 0 82 68 13 CLE 3. Matt Forte NYJ 30 100 1 4/4 54 1 79 47 32 BAL 4. David Johnson ARI 33 113 0 8/13 58 0 51 40 11 SEA 5. LeGarrette Blount NE 24 127 2 1/1 7 0 42 40 2 PIT

Worst Running Back by DYAR (Total) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. Chris Ivory JAC 5 48 0 2/4 3 0 -33 -12 -21 OAK Fourty-two of Ivory's rushing yards came on his only first down, while he was hit for a loss once and also fumbled.

Worst Running Back by DYAR (Rushing) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. LeSean McCoy BUF 8 11 0 0/0 0 0 -20 -20 0 MIA Two of McCoy's carries lost yardage, none gained more than 4, and none counted as successful plays.

Five Best Wide Receivers and Tight Ends by DYAR Rk Player Team Rec Att Yds Avg TD Total

DYAR Opp 1. A.J. Green CIN 8 8 169 21.1 1 82 CLE Seven of Green's receptions went for first downs; the other was a 6-yard gain on first-and-10. Two gained exactly 48 yards, including his Hail Mary touchdown at the end of the first half. 2. Julio Jones ATL 9 15 174 19.3 0 56 SD Eight first downs on the day, capped off by a 50-yarder, plus two other catches of 20-plus yards. 3. Davante Adams GB 13 16 132 10.2 2 52 CHI First ten targets: seven catches, 61 yards, two first downs. Last six targets: six catches, 71 yards, six first downs, including both touchdowns. 4. Rob Gronkowski NE 4 4 93 23.2 1 50 PIT Every catch went for a first down, two were third-down conversions, and two gained 30-plus-yards. 5. Russell Shepard TB 5 6 77 15.4 1 49 SF All of Shepard's catches went for first downs, and three were third-down conversions.