Positions

One of most common questions we get on twitter is in regards to cornerbacks. Precisely how many receptions have they given up, how many yards have they allowed and how good are they.

Well if you want to know how good they are we have a rather excellent area in our premium area that gives each player a grade based on their body of work for an entire season. If you don’t believe in the power of the premium, then we have forgotten about you either. So to quench your thirst for cornerback numbers we’re going to give you some of the most relevant numbers from the 2011 regular season.

Looking for the best and worst performers when it comes to yards and receptions allowed and more? Then look no further with our glancing look at the 2011 cornerback numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re eight weeks into the season and Darelle Revis is doing something pretty special. The level of play he’s returned to after a 2010 season slowed by early injury is causing people to draw legitimate comparisons to Deion Sanders in his prime.

To this point, Revis has been thrown at 33 times. He has allowed 10 receptions. He has yet to give up a touchdown, though he has scored one of his own. Opposing quarterbacks are just as likely to have the ball picked (four times) or batted down (another six times) as they are to have it caught by their intended receiver when they challenge Revis’ coverage. Picking on Revis this season is yielding a QB rating of just 2.9. Yes, 2.9. Read the rest of this entry »

Take a casual glance at the numbers, pretty much any of them, and you’d be inclined to think Vick isn’t playing at the same level as he did in 2010.

His team, despite all the preseason hype, is 2-4 and seemingly playing a must-win game every week. He’s already thrown more regular season interceptions (eight) than he did last year (six) when he was in the running for league MVP.

Still, PFF founder Neil Hornsby included him on his recent Pro Bowl Cheat Sheet along with Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the NFC, and ahead of such quarterbacks as Eli Manning and Matthew Stafford.

Let’s have a look at why that might have been …

Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, it took outside linebacker Clay Matthews just one game to accumulate three sacks. We are six weeks into the 2011 season, and Matthews is just sitting at two. While some have been quick to defend one of the most well-known players on the Super Bowl defense, others have already decided he isn’t the player he once was.
.
So which is it? Has Clay Matthews made a turn for the worse, or is his two sack total not telling the whole story? If you’re familiar with our work, you know we’ve seen Matthews on every play he’s been in and know what the whole story is. Read on and be clued in.
.
Read the rest of this entry »

A few months back, I took a look at a number of statistics and problems in the way that they are used in a series called Stat Sheet Misconceptions. A number of these dealt with common statistics for quarterbacks, leading to a discussion about the current passer rating and the problems I have with it. At that time, I didn’t offer a specific alternative, but suggested that pretty much anything would be an improvement.
.
Fast forward a few months to now, and quarterback ratings have come into the spotlight again with ESPN’s new Total Quarterback Rating being released. It definitely is an upgrade over the past system, but because ESPN hasn’t revealed the exact formula for it, it’s been difficult for it to fully catch on. In the time since the our Stat Sheet Misconception pieces ran, we’ve built another alternative to propose one more step in the right direction.
.
Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. At its heart, it’s still a game of blocking and tackling. The offense tries to move the ball 10 yards, and 11 guys on defense try to stop them, and over and over we go. So how do we get from that to Cover 1, 2, 3, quarters, man or zone, stunts, blitzes and A-gaps, 3-technique tackles and nickel backs? Well, coaches get involved.
.
Coaches have spent the past 80+ years implementing various tweaks to try and put their players in the best situations to succeed. It’s not that often you get your hands on a superstar – the guy so talented he can execute any assignment and can change games from any alignment – so the rest of the time, you’ve got to scheme around the players you do have.
.
And so we come to defensive line techniques.
Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday we looked at the offensive players that were left, and within hours of it going live, a number of players were picked up. Coincidence? Completely. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be telling myself I scared teams into making moves on players.
.
Well my delusional state needs some more material. So right now I’m going to look at what defensive players are left before they’re all gone. With that said, I, Khaled Elsayed will look at the best players left, tell you something interesting about them, and suggest a possible team fit.
.
Let’s roll.
Read the rest of this entry »

While 33 of our top 51 players have been signed to contracts (or in Damien Woody’s case retired), there are still 18 players out there itching to be signed.
.
In fact, I believe that there are enough quality players still available that if they decided to form a team, could probably win the NFC West. While I don’t have the power to form a 33rd NFL team, the least I can do is make the team on paper to prove that you would have a solid lineup. So, if your team still has yet to fix all of their problems, you know who to put at the top of your wish list.
.
Note that while players such as Kyle Orton and Asante Samuel might be available through trades, I only selected players who are either unrestricted free agents or who were cut. Their previous team is listed in parentheses.
Read the rest of this entry »

During last year’s offseason, the Redskins made some headlines uniting Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson and Willie Parker to fight for carries in training camp. While the three of them have over 20,000 yards rushing combined, Johnson and Parker didn’t make it to the end of September, and Portis was cut prior to the lockout.
.
This year, the Redskins are trying the same strategy of adding players over the age of 30 and seeing what works out, this time at receiver. It started with bringing back their star receiver Santana Moss. A trade with Denver brought them Jabar Gaffney, and they signed Donte Stallworth from the Ravens and Brandon Stokley from the Seahawks.
Read the rest of this entry »

He’s one of the best players in the league that many haven’t even heard of. A safety who had our highest grading last year, and over the past three years. A guy who I never thought I’d see trending on twitter. Quintin Mikell.
.
As free agency started and the deals trickled through, my No. 6 ranked free agent found himself a new home. It was surprising to some that Mikell got so much money, but I’m going to tell you why it’s such a good deal for the Rams. They just nabbed themselves a talented and durable safety. Scrub that, they just nabbed themselves one of the most talented and durable safeties in entire league. Read the rest of this entry »