John Skelton (American football)

John Skelton

refer to caption

Skelton during his tenure at Fordham
No. -- Free agent
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1988-03-17) March 17, 1988
Place of birth: El Paso, Texas
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight: 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school: El Paso (TX) Burges
College: Fordham
NFL draft: 2010 / Round: 5 / Pick: 155
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Pass attempts: 602
Pass completions: 320
Percentage: 53.2
TD–INT: 15–25
Passing yards: 3,707
QB Rating: 63.0
Player stats at NFL.com

John Michael Skelton (born March 17, 1988) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Fordham and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Skelton has also been a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans.

High school career

Skelton attended Burges High School in El Paso, where his father served as an assistant coach. He lettered in football, basketball, baseball, and track. After passing for 2,172 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior in football, he earned first-team All-District I Class-AAAA and All-City honors, and was named the Offensive MVP by the El Paso Times in 2005. He finished his football career as the starting quarterback in the 2006 El Paso All-Star Game.[1]

In basketball, Skelton earned All-City, All-District and All-Region honors. Changing positions every year in baseball, he earned All-District honors all four years and All-City honors in 2006.[1]

College career

In 2006, midway through his freshman year at Fordham, Skelton won the starting quarterback position and started every game for the rest of his college career. He received Patriot League rookie player of the week honors in that season.

Skelton had a solid first full year as the starting quarterback in 2007, being named 2007 Second Team All-Patriot League in a season in which he threw for 22 touchdowns (the third best single season total in Fordham history). He threw for over 200 yards in seven games in 2007 and for over 300 yards in two games and ranked second in the Patriot League in passing yards per game and total offense. He led the Fordham Rams to a Patriot League championship,[2] earning them a trip to the NCAA FCS playoffs. In the playoff game against the University of Massachusetts, Skelton set a Patriot League playoff record for touchdowns responsible for at five(5), throwing for 3 and running for 2.

In 2008, Fordham struggled to a 5–6 record, missing the playoffs. However, Skelton put up good numbers for the Fordham Rams with 2,650 yards, and 15 touchdowns with 7 interceptions, finishing the season ranked second in the Patriot League in passing average (236.8 yards/game) and total offense (244.5).

John Skelton's senior year, the 2009 season, was a record-shattering one, with new school records for completions and passing yards. He led the NCAA FCS in passing yards/game (337.09) and total passing yards (3,708), ranked second in total offense (348.18/yards/game), and ranked third in completions per game (25.82).

Out of the 11 scheduled games, Skelton threw for over 300 yards eight times, 4 times exceeding 400 yards. During his four-year career at Fordham, he completed 802 passes for 9,923 yards and 69 touchdowns, all school records.

In recognition of his accomplishments and strong interest from NFL scouts and teams, Skelton played in the prestigious East-West Shrine Game on January 23, 2010, at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando and participated in the NFL Scouting Combine in February.

Awards and honors

Records

Fordham University school career records:

Statistics

  Passing Rushing
Season Team GP Rating Att Comp Pct Yds TD Int Att Yds TD
2006 Fordham 9 94.88 167 74 44.3 960 6 8 56 204 1
2007 Fordham 12 127.73 383 216 56.4 2,650 22 11 96 453 6
2008 Fordham 11 129.66 372 228 61.3 2,605 15 7 58 213 2
2009 Fordham 11 150.05 441 284 64.4 3,713 26 10 86 346 5
Totals 43 131.41 1,363 802 58.8 9,923 69 36 296 1,216 14

Source: NCAA.org[12]

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
6 ft 5⅜ in 243 lb 4.85 s 4.33 s 7.17 s 33½ in 10 ft 8 in
All values from 2010 NFL Scouting Combine[13][14]

Arizona Cardinals

2010 season

Skelton was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was signed on July 14. After Matt Leinart was released, he was named the third-string quarterback for the Cardinals.

Skelton's first NFL game experience was a 2010 preseason game against the Houston Texans where he led the Cardinals to two touchdown drives in two possessions as Arizona rallied for a victory. He completed five passes out of six attempts for 84 yards and achieved a perfect passer rating of 158.3.[15]

Skelton entered in the fourth quarter of a game against the St. Louis Rams to make his NFL debut, and he completed three of his six passes for 45 yards with a passer rating of 75.0. The Cardinals still failed to win, losing to the Rams 6-19. Skelton was named the starting quarterback thereafter.

In his first career NFL start, Skelton led the Cardinals to a 43-13 victory over the Denver Broncos, snapping a seven-game losing streak for the Cardinals. He completed 15 of his 37 passes with 146 passing yards. He was nominated for Rookie of the Week after this game, but Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots wound up winning the award. In Skelton's third NFL start, on Christmas Day, he led the game winning drive, bringing the Cardinals in field goal range where Jay Feely was able to kick the game winning field goal. The Cardinals won 27-26 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Skelton would lose the last game of the season against the San Francisco 49ers for the Cardinals throwing both a touchdown pass and an interception. He would finish his rookie season with two touchdown passes and two interceptions, a total of 662 passing yards, and a QB rating of 62.3.

2011 season

In 2011, Skelton stepped into the starting quarterback position for an injured Kevin Kolb. He helped end the Cardinals' six-game losing streak in his first game as starter against the St. Louis Rams in week 9, winning 19–13. For the rest of 2011 he threw for 1,913 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 68.9. Skelton started seven games in total and the team had a 5–2 record during his starts.

2012 season

On August 31, 2012, Skelton was named the starting quarterback for the Cardinals for game one against the Seattle Seahawks on September 9. Shortly after, Skelton lost his job due to an ankle injury in week 1. He started four games following Kolb's injury before being benched in favor of 6th round rookie Ryan Lindley. Skelton started one more game due to poor play from Lindley only before being benched for the season after a four interception performance in a rematch against the Seahawks on week 14.[16] [17] On April 1, 2013, Skelton was released.[18]

Cincinnati Bengals

Skelton with the Bengals, 2013

On April 3, 2013, the Cincinnati Bengals claimed Skelton off waivers.[19] Skelton was waived by the Bengals on August 31, 2013.[20]

San Francisco 49ers

On October 2, 2013, Skelton was signed by the San Francisco 49ers.[21] He was waived on October 9 after the 49ers acquired McLeod Bethel-Thompson.[22]

Tennessee Titans

On November 18, 2013, Skelton was signed by the Tennessee Titans. Skelton was waived by the Titans on December 17, 2013.[23]

Montreal Alouettes

On February 6, 2015, Skelton was signed by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.[24] He was released in May 2015.[25]

Statistics

Season Team Games Passing Sacks Rushing Fumbles
GP GS W–L[26] Comp Att Pct Yds Y/Att TD INT Rating # Yds Att Yds Avg TD FUM Lost
2010 Arizona Cardinals 5 4 2-2 60 126 47.6 662 5.3 2 2 62.3 9 65 10 49 4.9 0 3 1
2011 Arizona Cardinals 8 7 5-2 151 275 54.9 1,913 7.0 11 14 68.9 23 162 28 128 4.6 0 4 1
2012 Arizona Cardinals 6 6 1-5 109 201 54.2 1,132 5.6 2 9 55.4 15 98 4 5 1.3 0 4 2
Totals 20 17 8-9 320 602 53.2 3,707 6.2 15 25 63.0 47 325 42 182 4.3 0 11 4

Personal life

His brother, Steve, played tight end with the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans and is currently a free agent.

References

  1. 1 2 "Arizona Cardinals bio". Arizona Cardinals. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
  2. ↑ "Fordham football team wins Patriot League Championship".
  3. ↑ "John Skelton, Fordham freshman QB named Patriot League Rookie of the Week".
  4. ↑ "Sophomore Quarterback Throws for Three Touchdowns in Win at Colgate".
  5. ↑ "Sophomore Quarterback Throws for Career High 323 Yards and Two Touchdowns in Win at Lafayette".
  6. ↑ "Patriot League Football Release - 10.05.09".
  7. ↑ "College Sporting News Allstars 10/19/09".
  8. ↑ "Patriot League Football Release - 10.19.09".
  9. ↑ "Eastern College Athletic Conference - 10.04.09".
  10. ↑ "NCAA Championship Subdivision National Player Report - 11.21.09".
  11. ↑ "NCAA Championship Subdivision National Player Report - 11.21.09".
  12. ↑ "John Skelton #19 QB".
  13. ↑ 2009 NFL Draft Profile
  14. ↑ John Skelton Combine Work out
  15. ↑ "Arizona Cardinals rookie QB John Skelton makes strong debut".
  16. ↑ Gregg Rosenthal (13 August 2012). "John Skelton named Arizona Cardinals' starting QB". Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  17. ↑ Arizona Sports (18 November 2012). "John Skelton benched in second quarter vs. Falcons". Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  18. ↑ Rosenthal, Gregg (1 April 2013). "John Skelton cut by Arizona Cardinals after three years". National Football League. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  19. ↑ Hanzus, Dan (3 April 2013). "John Skelton claimed on waivers by Cincinnati Bengals". National Football League. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  20. ↑ http://www.bengals.com/news/transactions.html Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  21. ↑ Sessler, Marc (2 October 2013). "John Skelton, San Francisco 49ers strike contract". National Football League. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  22. ↑ "QB Bethel-Thompson claimed off waivers by 49ers". Yahoo! Sports. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  23. ↑ Twitter / TennesseeTitans: The #Titans have signed QB Tyler Wilson from the Raiders practice squad and waived QB John Skelton.
  24. ↑ https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/563775233643933696
  25. ↑ http://en.montrealalouettes.com/article/alouettes-transactions-2015
  26. ↑ Games won or lost with Skelton as starter.

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