Jonathan Lintner

@JonathanLintner

Teddy Bridgewater meant more to his school than any other quarterback selected in this year's NFL draft, or so says a group a numbers nerds that know about getting such things right.

FiveThirtyEight.com — the website of Nate Silver, formerly of the New York Times and now with ESPN — noted in a study published this week that Bridgewater alone added 3.8 victories to the University of Louisville's 2013 football season alone.

It's a statistic comparable to "Wins Above Replacement," or WAR, in baseball — summing up total contributions by one player to his team. Except FiveThirtyEight attached a monetary figure.

Bridgewater's worth to U of L measured in at $2,811,260, a figure the study tied into the whole "should student-athletes be paid?" debate. The only signal caller ahead of Bridgewater was Jameis Winston, the Heisman Trophy winner who added 4.2 wins and was worth an estimated $3,073,590.

Other top quarterbacks included Oregon's Marcus Mariota (3.5 wins and $2.5 million), Baylor's Bryce Petty (3.4 wins and $2.5 million) and Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (3.3 wins and $2.4 million).

"Commentators have pointed to racism, greed and tradition as three reasons that college athletes aren't paid," wrote FiveThirtyEight's Seth Gitter and Peter Hunsberger. "But…to pay a college athlete fairly, a school first needs to figure out how much he or she is worth."

The website came to its conclusions after evaluating from a model that included nine seasons of college football — 6,884 games in all — with eight years of schools' financial information. Bridgewater's worth was high once the study adjusted factors such as local economy, having to find a fair system given that a school such as Texas will likely always bring in more money than U of L regardless of its quarterback.

IN THE C-J

• Columnist Adam Himmelsbach caught up with Peyton Siva for Wednesday's centerpiece sports story. The former Cardinal point guard has been in town this summer enjoying a place the Detroit Pistons player now calls home. (http://cjky.it/R8JX27)

• Turf writer Jennie Rees offered some post-Preakness Stakes thoughts in today's paper on subjects ranging from California Chrome's spot in history to negative comments made by his owners about treatment by Churchill Downs. (http://cjky.it/1jrUh0C)

• The University of Kentucky's baseball team advanced in the SEC tournament on Tuesday, thumping Alabama to move on to the event's double-elimination portion. UK plays next at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. (http://cjky.it/1gkI5PS)

AROUND THE WEB

• Following news that nine U of L football players from last year's team have now signed NFL contracts is, for many, the realization that star running back and Louisville native Michael Bush remains a free agent. Bush this week moved onto Pro Football Talk's "All-Unemployed Team," which highlights the best talent still remaining. (http://bit.ly/1koDDz1)

• A former Cardinals teammate of Bush, Elvis Dumervil, was listed among Athlon Sports' top 50 players of the BCS era. He "posted one of the greatest single-seasons in NCAA history," the magazine noted, of the senior year in which he set the NCAA record with six sacks against Kentucky and a school-record 20 that season, earning All-America honors. (http://bit.ly/1lPHL9B)

• CNN Money is already wondering how much money California Chrome can make for his owners. Even if he doesn't go on to win the Triple Crown, it's estimated the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner can collect a $25,000 stud fee for starters and father 100 to 120 foals a year — good for $1.5 million. (http://cnnmon.ie/SiNmwH)

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.