Signature Stats

Yesterday it was the offensive tackles‘ turn, so it only seems fair that we move onto the offensive interior as we look at NFL’s most effective pass protecting lineman from 2011.

If you missed how we go about deciding that, the formula used is built from numbers we gather during our analysis process. We weigh hits and hurries as worth 75% of sacks, add up the three forms of pressure, divide it by the number of times they pass blocked at a certain position and you’re left with a figure. Work in a multiplier to get it into form, and it equals your PBE number:

(1– ((Sacks + (0.75*(Hits + Hurries))/ Pass Blocking Snaps))*100 = PBE Rating

So let’s look at how those centers and guards turned out shall we, with a minimum criteria of at least 200 snaps at guard or center (separately).   Read the rest of this entry »

Given that it’s a week we’re dedicating to offensive lines and linemen, it seems appropriate that we bring back an old favorite to show which linemen are the most efficient when it comes to pass protection; Pass Blocking Efficiency (PBE).

It’s a simple enough formula. We weigh hits and hurries as worth 75% of sacks, add the three forms of pressure up, divide it by the number of times they pass blocked at a certain position and you’re left with your PBE number. For the mathematically inclined, it looks a little like this:

(1– ((Sacks + (0.75*(Hits + Hurries))/ Pass Blocking Snaps))*100 = PBE Rating

Looking at all offensive linemen who played at least 200 snaps as tackle (note, only snaps at tackle are counted), let’s see which of the 75 guys who qualified impressed the most over the course of the regular season.  Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL season has finished, and–with the last of the confetti–it’s time to turn our attention to a bit of evaluation and stock-taking of the season that just was. 2011 provided us with some interesting numbers and play, but perhaps none more so than some of the data we find in our tackling study for cornerbacks.

For any of you who have seen our tackling studies in previous seasons, you will be well familiar with the sight of Asante Samuel being firmly rooted to the base of the table with an impressive level of tackling ineptitude. This season, the Philadelphia Eagles have given Samuel company at the bottom end, and for once, he isn’t even the poorest performing tackler on his own team.

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When Eli Manning said he believed he was an elite quarterback, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Sure Eli had won a Super Bowl, but there was so much of his game that made Giants fans cringe at times. One of the early knocks on Eli was how he handled pressure. Heading into this year, he wasn’t exactly our most favorite QB in this area, as he completed just 44.7% of passes with nine interceptions on the 173 plays he was pressured in 2010.

So, if he was going to make those who mocked his comments eat their words, he especially needed to improve this aspect of his play. More so, with a line that was entering rapid decline mode, he had to step up his game to fit in amongst the top players in the league if the Giants’ season was to go anywhere.

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It’s that time of the year again–time to look at the best and the worst when it comes to tackling in the NFL. As with every season we’re going to start our analysis with the safety position, the last line of defense.

When tackles are missed, it’s almost always a bad thing, but when safeties miss tackles, it’s often catastrophic and results in six points. As the very position name would suggest, safeties should be reliable tacklers, able to bring the runner down when they have to and make sure the play doesn’t get behind them, but that just wasn’t the case with a lot of players this season.

Tackling in 2011 was far from impressive from the safety group, featuring some of the worst tackling we’ve ever seen. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a fundamental skill when it comes to being a wide receiver, yet something some guys have a big problem with; catching the ball.

It can be what prevents a dangerous receiver becoming a great one and seeing their team’s receiver drop a catchable ball in a key situation is the bane of many a fan’s existence. It happens to the best of them, but who does it happen to most frequently, and who does it happen to less?

Well we’ve tweaked our drop percentage article and it has now become a signature stat called the ‘Drop Rate’. A simple enough formula where we’re looking at how often a receiver drops a ball for every catchable ball thrown his way (with a catchable ball being defined as something that was either caught or dropped). The results, as ever, prove interesting so let’s look at them.

(It should be noted that to qualify for the study a receiver needed at least 30 catchable balls thrown their way).

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Yesterday was all about awards at Pro Football Focus but today, for this piece anyway, we’re stepping away from that and instead we’re looking at one of the new statistics we’ve just added to our premium section.

Yes, after months of perfecting them, we’ve only gone and brought out signature stats for all defensive positions. So it’s only fair we celebrate that by picking one at random and exploring it, maybe even forcing a few of you to take the bait and sign up for full membership. In some respects we’re evil like that.

So let’s give you a glimpse at what is on offer by using some of our completely unique data to tell you which defensive tackles are the best pass rushers. This data involves sitting through each and every play, finding out who is on the field and who is rushing the passer. Yes, as strange as it may be, some defensive tackles will find themselves covering a zone. Those crazy defnsive co-ordinators.

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Back in August we wanted to give our customers more. You see we have all this unique data and we thought to ourselves, how can we really appease fans insatiable need for more information and at the same time show off the ridiculous detail we go into in collecting information about the NFL.

Plus it gives something to the brigade who think our analysis is useless but our numbers are golden. You may hurt our feelings with your mean words but we won’t neglect you despite your ignorance (let’s hope that gets taken in jest).

Anyways you can see a list of our offensive signature stats by clicking the link, and now I’ll run through the defensive side of things. If you can resist our seductive stats and analysis no more, or are close to breaking, look here for more reasons why to subscribe before pulling the trigger on taking your relationship with PFF to the next level of Premium Subscription status.

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We say it every year, but if there’s one aspect of play that gets consistently overlooked, it’s what happens on the offensive line. While other positions have easy-to-understand stats that paint a picture in the ball park of what has been going on, there’s nothing really tangible for those big guys doing all the grunt work.

Only now there is, as by breaking down how many times a lineman sets in pass protection, and working how many sacks, hits, and hurries they’ve given up, we’re able to tell you just how efficient they are when it comes to keeping trouble off of their quarterbacks.

The key word there is “efficient.” While there is some overlap between being the most efficient and being the best, we’d always point you in the direction of our grading to find out just who the best are. That’s the only form of offensive line analysis that looks into not just what happened, but how quickly it happened and the nature of the situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in the week you may have seen our Pass Rushing Productivity feature that looked at the success pass rushers were having relative to how often they were rushing the passer. It revealed that there simply isn’t a more productive pass rusher in the league than Carlos Dunlap right now, and added evidence to just how productive Von Miller has been.

So, getting into a bit more detail, it’s time that we looked at the best individual pass rushing performances of the season – the games that stood out, statistically speaking. If you want the best with added intelligence, take a look at the grading section in our premium area that takes into account how the pressure was achieved, but if you want raw numbers, it doesn’t get any better than this. Read the rest of this entry »