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PFF collectively the writer of this week’s FMIA - interesting stuff


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A few nuggets amidst a lot of interesting info:

 

Levi Wallace’s high upside going into this season

 

coverage ability is more important to a pass defense than pressure

 

RT is as important as LT and should be paid as such

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/06/17/pro-football-focus-nfl-analytics-fmia-guest/

 

 

 

Edited by dave mcbride
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https://sports.nbcsports.com/2019/06/17/five-nfl-players-who-could-become-stars-in-2019/

 

Levi Wallace, CB, Buffalo Bills: If there’s a player with the backstory to rival Wake’s, it’s Wallace. With precisely zero scholarship offers coming out of high school, Wallace walked on at Alabama, and eventually earned a starting job. Then he had to do it all over again when he went undrafted before signing as a collegiate free agent with Buffalo. As a rookie in 2018, he earned the highest PFF grade of any first-year cornerback, along with the highest coverage grade, and wasn’t beaten for a catch longer than 29 yards all season. Though he played far fewer snaps than first-round selection Denzel Ward of Cleveland, Wallace looks like a potential star in the making if he’s given greater opportunity in year two.

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1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

A few nuggets amidst a lot of intersting info:

 

Levi Wallace’s high upside going into this season

 

coverage ability is more important to a pass defense than pressure

 

RT is as important as LT and should be paid as such

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/06/17/pro-football-focus-nfl-analytics-fmia-guest/

 

 

 

One other very important point made, especially for you Jerry Hughes naysayers, pressures are more important than sacks.  Combine that with coverage being more important than pressure, and it looks like McD is following the analytics on D very well.

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2 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

A few nuggets amidst a lot of interesting info:

 

Levi Wallace’s high upside going into this season

 

coverage ability is more important to a pass defense than pressure

 

RT is as important as LT and should be paid as such

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/06/17/pro-football-focus-nfl-analytics-fmia-guest/

 

 

 

while I don't entirely agree that RT is 100% as important as LT, I have been under the assumption for quite a few years now that its much more important than it was 15 years ago. so many teams now rush their big time players over the RT and there are plenty of teams with edge duo's that come from both sides.

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39 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

while I don't entirely agree that RT is 100% as important as LT, I have been under the assumption for quite a few years now that its much more important than it was 15 years ago. so many teams now rush their big time players over the RT and there are plenty of teams with edge duo's that come from both sides.

Yep. Teams got smarter and look for the best possible match ups. The days of the agile LT and the big lumbering road grader RT are over. The game has changed, and you need a quality pass blocker at RT. 

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25 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

while I don't entirely agree that RT is 100% as important as LT, I have been under the assumption for quite a few years now that its much more important than it was 15 years ago. so many teams now rush their big time players over the RT and there are plenty of teams with edge duo's that come from both sides.

I was in agreement with you on the relative importance of right tackle.  That changed for me when I watched Denver crush the Carolina o-line in the Super Bowl.  Most of the damage came over the right tackle. Good edge duos are more prevalent now than they were several years ago.  Teams can't hide a weak player at right tackle any more. 

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PFF now has 500 employees.  That surprised me.

 

I still think context matters.  Is the player in the right system receiving the right coaching?  Are the players around him bringing out his best - or worst?  Did he have nagging injuries or personal problems that impacted his play?    How committed, disciplined and coachable is the player - will he get better?

 

Stats don't tell you the whole story but they do have an important story to tell.  

 

 

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28 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

PFF now has 500 employees.  That surprised me.

 

I still think context matters.  Is the player in the right system receiving the right coaching?  Are the players around him bringing out his best - or worst?  Did he have nagging injuries or personal problems that impacted his play?    How committed, disciplined and coachable is the player - will he get better?

 

Stats don't tell you the whole story but they do have an important story to tell.  

 

 

They address this issue in the piece and say that it's part of their own evaluation process now. 

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As mentioned by a few others before me, the most interesting part of the article was the coverage vs pressure debate and the "pressures > sacks' bit.

Both appear to be true in today's NFL.

Quick passes rule the day. As such, coverage DOES seem to trump pressure. You want to affect the QB as much as possible as quickly as possible. This is why pass-rushing DTs have become such hot commodities: The quickest path to the QB is a straight line through the center. 

They're right to point out the Patriots, too. It's why Belichick traded away Chandler Jones and let Trey Flowers walk, but is willing to spend big money on guys like Gilmore and Revis. He understands that you can find different ways to put pressure on the QB with various tactics, but if your cover guys can't hold up, then it's useless.

Interesting stuff.

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2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

PFF now has 500 employees.  That surprised me.

 

I still think context matters.  Is the player in the right system receiving the right coaching?  Are the players around him bringing out his best - or worst?  Did he have nagging injuries or personal problems that impacted his play?    How committed, disciplined and coachable is the player - will he get better?

 

Stats don't tell you the whole story but they do have an important story to tell.  


Arrest warrants are stats.  Injuries too if you have enough data.

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4 hours ago, Fortunesmith said:

https://sports.nbcsports.com/2019/06/17/five-nfl-players-who-could-become-stars-in-2019/

 

Levi Wallace, CB, Buffalo Bills: If there’s a player with the backstory to rival Wake’s, it’s Wallace. With precisely zero scholarship offers coming out of high school, Wallace walked on at Alabama, and eventually earned a starting job. Then he had to do it all over again when he went undrafted before signing as a collegiate free agent with Buffalo. As a rookie in 2018, he earned the highest PFF grade of any first-year cornerback, along with the highest coverage grade, and wasn’t beaten for a catch longer than 29 yards all season. Though he played far fewer snaps than first-round selection Denzel Ward of Cleveland, Wallace looks like a potential star in the making if he’s given greater opportunity in year two.

I felt like the only thing that kept Wallace from being a shut down guy was his strength.....which I hope he worked on in the offseason.

 

I really feel like we might have something special with this group of corners as a whole......your pass defense is only as strong as its weakest link.....and I am not sure that I see one.

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For some time, left tackle was considered more important than right tackle for one simple reason.  Most QBs are right handed.  That, of course means that when they pass, their left foot is going to be forward, and their right foot further from the line of scrimmage.  It is natural for their field of vision to be the right side of the field.  The left tackle protects his blind side.  The traditional thinking by defenses was that if the blind side of the QB was more vulnerable, they wanted to attack it by putting their most disruptive pass rushers on that side.  Well, teams in the NFL are always adjusting to what other teams are doing.  If the most disruptive pass rusher was on that side, you'd better have your best pass blocker on that side.  But then some defensive gurus figured, if the best pass blocker is going to be on that side, maybe we can put our best pass rusher on the other side to give ourselves an advantage against poorer pass blocking on our left (offense's right) side.  I still think there are more disruptive right defensive ends than there are left defensive ends, but the bottom line is if you leave yourself too vulnerable in any place on your offense, defenses are going to try and figure out how to take advantage, and more often than not, they will succeed.  You don't want to be stuck with Jordan Mills as your right offensive tackle.

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