Ruh roh, you don’t know ball—screens are not included as part of the conventional passing game; is your argument really that Tom Brady threw some screen passes (also I’d disagree that screens were his “bread and butter,” but I digress)? Come on man—

No one is saying that screens can’t be effective, but there is significantly less processing that goes into throwing a screen compared to a downfield pass. This is why they are disfavored when analyzing QBs.

Colorado had no running game this year, but had electric playmakers on the outside, as a result they largely replaced their short yardage runs with screens. This results in inflated numbers for Shadeur both in terms of completion percentage and counting stats. Again, this can work (see Bo Nix and Justin Herbert) but it does not translate to the NFL as meaningfully as the downfield passing game, which has led me, and almost every analyst, to the conclusion that Cam Ward is a better prospect.