Usage / Role
61%
Regular offensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2014-2018Northwestern
Clayton Thorson
QB • 6'4" • 226 lbs • Wheaton, IL, USA
Balanced quarterback profileVolume operator
Clayton Thorson is a balanced quarterback profile with 15.5 usage in the latest tracked season.
Impact Production
0
Developing production for a quarterback
lowelite
Reliability
15
Sporadic game-to-game production
lowhigh
Star Power
19
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2016 Postseason · Northwestern
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Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- Northwestern
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Nebraska
Player Story
Clayton Thorson built his college career from 2014 through 2018 as a quarterback from Wheaton, IL wearing No. 18, spending time with Northwestern. The clearest part of Clayton Thorson's career was his passing role:...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Northwestern
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2014
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2019
- Selection
- Round 5 · Pick 29
- Overall
- No. 167
- NFL Team
- Philadelphia Eagles
Clayton Thorson, QB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2016 Postseason · Northwestern. Clayton Thorson is a balanced quarterback profile with 15.5 usage in the latest tracked season.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Total offense
- 11,137
- Passing yards
- 10,729
- Rushing yards
- 408
- Touchdowns
- 88
Quick Answers
Clayton Thorson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Northwestern · QB
- Career Total Offense
- 11,137
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 9 entries · 53 games
- Best season
- 2016 Postseason · Northwestern
- Top game
- Nebraska
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Wheaton North · Northwestern
- High school pipeline
- Wheaton North · 12 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2019 · Round 5 · Pick 29 · Philadelphia Eagles
- Latest roster
- No. 18 · Senior
- 2018 Total offense rank
- 3,071 total offense · QB 42nd (top 12%) · Big Ten 6th (top 4%) · National 42nd (top 3%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Total Offense | Pass Yds | Rush Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2015 Postseason | Northwestern | 13 | 80 | 57 | 23 | 0 | 56.1 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Northwestern | 13 | 1,839 | 1,465 | 374 | 12 | 56.1 |
| 2016 Postseason | Northwestern | 13 | 230 | 214 | 16 | 1 | 71.6 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Northwestern | 13 | 3,050 | 2,968 | 82 | 26 | 71.6 |
| 2017 Postseason | Northwestern | 13 | 29 | 35 | -6 | 0 | 62.2 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Northwestern | 13 | 2,838 | 2,809 | 29 | 23 | 62.2 |
| 2018 Postseason | Northwestern | 14 | 235 | 241 | -6 | 2 | 62 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Northwestern | 14 | 2,836 | 2,940 | -104 | 24 | 62 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Clayton Thorson
Clayton Thorson played QB for Northwestern. Across 5 tracked seasons, Clayton Thorson recorded 10,729 passing yards, 408 rushing yards, and 24 receiving yards. His top tracked season came in 2016 with Northwestern.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2016 Postseason
Northwestern paired 3,280 primary output with 56.7 efficiency.
Supporting note
2015 Postseason role shape
pass-led usage with 55.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2018 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Nebraska
Win with balanced pass-rush production and strong creator value. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2015 Postseason · Northwestern
Games
13
Primary Metric / G
147.6
Efficiency
55.1
Usage
19.3
Consistency
67.7
Best Game by takeover score
Nebraska
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Tennessee: 80. Stanford: 173. Eastern Illinois: 159. Duke: 91. Ball State: 301. Minnesota: 152. Michigan: 102. Iowa: 135. Nebraska: 303. Penn State: 73. Purdue: 130. Wisconsin: 67. Illinois: 153
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Tennessee: 32 by 35.7. Stanford: 32 by 67.9. Eastern Illinois: 18 by 70.7. Duke: 34 by 37.2. Ball State: 40 by 66. Minnesota: 30 by 62.9. Michigan: 30 by 41.5. Iowa: 46 by 44. Nebraska: 37 by 74.8. Penn State: 12 by 65.1. Purdue: 26 by 57.7. Wisconsin: 27 by 45. Illinois: 31 by 48.1
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins160.2 · Games = 10 · +54.5 vs Losses
Losses105.7 · Games = 3 · -54.5 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Total Offense
Top game by takeover score
Nebraska
Best efficiency game
74.8 vs Nebraska
| Result | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1/1 | @ Tennessee | L 6-45 | 8 | 20 | 57 | 40.0 | 0 | 2 | 35.7 | 12 | 23 | 1.90 | 0 | 21 |
| Sat 11/28 | @ Illinois | W 24-14 | 12 | 25 | 146 | 48.0 | 1 | 1 | 48.1 | 6 | 7 | 1.20 | 0 | 9 |
| Sat 11/21 | @ Wisconsin | W 13-7 | 9 | 20 | 60 | 45.0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Sat 11/14 | vs Purdue | W 21-14 | 9 | 19 | 82 | 47.4 | 0 | 1 | 57.7 | 7 | 48 | 6.90 | 0 | 16 |
| Sat 11/7 | vs Penn State | W 23-21 | 5 | 8 | 58 | 62.5 | 0 | 0 | 65.1 | 4 | 15 | 3.80 | 0 | 16 |
| Sat 10/24 | @ NebraskaDual-threat | W 30-28 | 13 | 28 | 177 | 46.4 | 1 | 0 | 74.8 | 9 | 126 | 14 | 1 | 68 |
| Sat 10/17 | vs Iowa | L 10-40 | 17 | 35 | 125 | 48.6 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 11 | 10 | 0.90 | 0 | 15 |
| Sat 10/10 | @ Michigan | L 0-38 | 13 | 27 | 106 | 48.1 | 0 | 1 | 41.5 | 3 | -4 | -1.30 | 0 | 3 |
| Sat 10/3 | vs Minnesota | W 27-0 | 14 | 19 | 128 | 73.7 | 0 | 0 | 62.9 | 11 | 24 | 2.20 | 2 | 6 |
| Sun 9/27 | vs Ball State3+ TD | W 24-19 | 18 | 31 | 256 | 58.1 | 3 | 1 | 66 | 9 | 45 | 5 | 0 | 20 |
| Sat 9/19 | @ Duke | W 19-10 | 9 | 23 | 70 | 39.1 | 0 | 2 | 37.2 | 11 | 21 | 1.90 | 0 | 20 |
| Sat 9/12 | vs Eastern Illinois | W 41-0 | 11 | 16 | 152 | 68.8 | 1 | 0 | 70.7 | 2 | 7 | 3.50 | 1 | 8 |
| Sat 9/5 | vs StanfordDual-threat | W 16-6 | 12 | 24 | 105 | 50.0 | 0 | 0 | 67.9 | 8 | 68 | 8.50 | 1 | 42 |
Player Story
Clayton Thorson story
Clayton Thorson built his college career from 2014 through 2018 as a quarterback from Wheaton, IL wearing No. 18, spending time with Northwestern. The clearest part of Clayton Thorson's career was his passing role: 10,729 passing yards, 61 touchdown passes, 1,697 attempts, and 408 rushing yards across 53 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with Northwestern. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Quarterback careers are usually judged first by volume, efficiency, and scoring chances. His career also includes 408 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards, and 2 tackles, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 53 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Northwestern.
The arc is straightforward: Clayton Thorson moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Northwestern
2014-2018
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
201420152015201620162017201720182018
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Northwestern | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 Postseason | Northwestern | 1,919 | 55.1 | 19.3 | 1,919 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Northwestern | 1,919 | 55.1 | 19.3 | 0 |
| 2016 Postseason | Northwestern | 3,280 | 56.7 | 20.8 | 1,361 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Northwestern | 3,280 | 56.7 | 20.8 | 0 |
| 2017 Postseason | Northwestern | 2,867 | 54.3 | 17.5 | -413 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Northwestern | 2,867 | 54.3 | 17.5 | 0 |
| 2018 Postseason | Northwestern | 3,071 | 52.1 | 15.5 | 204 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Northwestern | 3,071 | 52.1 | 15.5 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Nebraska
Week 8 · W 30-28 · Conference game
Win with balanced pass-rush production and strong creator value.
303
Total Offense
84.9 takeover
303 total offense with 74.8 efficiency.
#2
vs Bowling Green
Week 3 · W 49-7
398
Total Offense
71.8 takeover
Win with 398 yards of offense and 79.2 efficiency.
398 total offense with 79.2 efficiency.
#3
vs Nebraska
Week 4 · L 13-24 · Conference game
292
Total Offense
70.9 takeover
Loss shaped by high passing volume and turnover pressure.
292 total offense with 60.6 efficiency.
#4
vs Michigan State
Week 9 · W 39-31 · Conference game
367
Total Offense
69.8 takeover
Win with 367 yards of offense and 61.6 efficiency.
367 total offense with 61.6 efficiency.
#5
vs Ball State
Week 4 · W 24-19
301
Total Offense
66.8 takeover
Win with 301 yards of offense and 66 efficiency.
301 total offense with 66 efficiency.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2016 Postseason · Northwestern
3,280 primary output · 56.7 efficiency · 20.8 usage
71.6
#2
2016 Regular Season · Northwestern
71.6
3,280 primary · 56.7 efficiency · 20.8 usage
#3
2017 Postseason · Northwestern
62.2
2,867 primary · 54.3 efficiency · 17.5 usage
Milestones
17
250+ passing yards
13
300+ total offense
16
3+ TD games
15
Above avg efficiency
Next best actions
Keep exploring Clayton Thorson
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