Our friends at Touchdown Wire recently did a compilation of the NFL’s worst deep-ball quarterbacks. Pittsburgh Steelers’ Devlin “Duck” Hodges made the list at number 2.
Not that we expected “Duck” Hodges, the undrafted rookie from Samford, to take over for either Mason Rudolph of Ben Roethlisberger with record-breaking efficiency. But on the deep passes than generally help to define the Steelers’ offenses, Hodges was sadly in over his head through eight games and six starts. On passes to deep routes, Hodges completed 13 of 29 passes for 396 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions. Yes, six picks on 29 attempts, giving him a league-high interception rate of 20.7%.
At least one QB was worse than Hodges. I’ll give you a second to guess.
If you said Bears’ Mitchell Trubisky, you are correct!
According to Pro Football Focus, Hodges averaged just under seven yards a pass. Short was his sweet spot where he was 25-for-28.
Hodges’ longest pass was versus Week 12 versus the Cincinnati Bengals when he connected with wide receiver James Washington on a 79-yard touchdown.
To be fair, Hodges was plucked off the practice squad after Week 2 and thrust into action three weeks later against one of the best defenses in the league in the Baltimore Ravens. The rookie likely took minimal reps in practice, and he just wasn’t ready to be a starter.
