Wherefore Art Thou Fullback?

May 22, 2013 History

When you think of the fullback in today’s game, you probably think of a player like Vonta Leach, widely regarded as the best blocking back in the NFL. There are also the H-Back/receiving fullback types, like Marcel Reece or James Casey, and the rushing fullbacks like Le’Ron McClain, Jacob Hester, and Mike Tolbert. And it’s [...]

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The Most Pass-Happy Coaches in NFL History

May 21, 2013 Coaches

Yesterday, I looked at the most pass-happy active head coaches and offensive coordinators in the NFL. If you’ve been a loyal reader of my previous posts on Game Scripts, you understand the methodology I’ve used today to grade each coaches. The quick summary is I’ve come up with the term “Game Scripts” to determine the [...]

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Which coaches are the most pass happy?

May 20, 2013 Coaches

One reason I came up with the concept of Game Scripts was to identify the most pass-happy coaches. Remember, a team’s Game Script score is simply their average scoring differential over each second of every game. Last year, the Falcons were the most pass-happy team in the NFL after adjusting for Game Scripts; Atlanta had [...]

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Fantasy Football: Yearly Trends in VBD (FBG)

May 19, 2013 Fantasy

Over at Footballguys.com, I analyzed how the fantasy value of quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends have changed since 1990. The NFL is a very different beast than it was 23 years ago, but you might be surprised to see what that means for fantasy football. To measure value, I examined the VBD curves [...]

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Longest Streaks without a 1,000-yard rusher

May 18, 2013 Trivia

Two weeks ago, I looked at the longest streaks where a team failed to have a player rush for 100 yards. Richie asked me if I could run the numbers on the longest streaks without a 1,000-yard rusher. The longest active streak in the NFL belongs to the Detroit Lions, who have not boasted a [...]

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Examining Previous Eddie Lacy/Johnathan Franklin pairs

May 17, 2013 Draft

Green Bay didn’t use a first round pick on a running back, but the Packers did spend a second round pick on Alabama’s Eddie Lacy and a fourth round pick on UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin.  How much weight should we put on draft status when one team drafts two running backs just a couple of rounds [...]

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Are the Chiefs better than your average worst team?

May 16, 2013 Random Perspective On

How bad were the Chiefs last year? Kansas City went 2-14, tied for the worst record in the league with Jacksonville. Since the Chiefs faced an easier schedule, they received the first pick. With an Simple Rating System score of -14.0, Kansas City had the worst SRS rating in the league. They ranked 32nd in [...]

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Quarterbacks Were Healthier Than Ever in 2012

May 15, 2013 Quarterbacks

Twenty quarterbacks started all sixteen games last season: Eli Manning Tony Romo Andrew Luck Russell Wilson Peyton Manning Matthew Stafford Sam Bradford Aaron Rodgers Matt Schaub Ryan Tannehill Matt Ryan Christian Ponder Drew Brees Ryan Fitzpatrick Tom Brady Josh Freeman Cam Newton Philip Rivers Joe Flacco Andy Dalton Mark Sanchez started 15 games for the [...]

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Placing Cecil Shorts’ Production in Context

May 14, 2013 Receiving

One of the surprising success stories of the 2012 season was the breakout performance of second-year Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts. With a cap value of $729,000 in 2013, Shorts is probably the best value on the Jaguars roster. But he’s one of the more confusing players to project. The optimistic outlook on Shorts is [...]

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Tempo in the NFL

May 13, 2013 Statistics

It’s no secret that Bill Belichick’s Patriots ran an up-tempo offense last year: Tom Brady and crew ran 1,191 offensive plays in 2012, just eight shy of tying the record set by the Drew Bledsoe Patriots in 1994. With versatile players like Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and Danny Woodhead, New England was capable of running [...]

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Time spent leading, tied, or trailing

May 12, 2013 Statistics

Earlier this week, I posted the Game Scripts for each team this season and in each game. After spending the time to calculate the Game Scripts — i.e., the average margin of lead or deficit over the course of every game — it involved minimal extra effort to measure the percentage of time each team [...]

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2013 RSP Football Writers Project: My Picks in Rounds 12 through 17

May 11, 2013 Strategy

Previously on the 2013 RSP Football Writers Project… Introduction/My Picks in Rounds 1 and 2 My Pick in Round 3 My Picks in Rounds 4 and 5 My Picks in Rounds 6 through 11 You can also view every pick in this draft recap. Rounds 12/13 Already on team: QB Josh Freeman, WR Julio Jones, [...]

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Implied SRS Ratings of each NFL Team

May 10, 2013 SRS

On Wednesday, Jason Lisk came up with a set of power rankings based on the point spread for nearly every game this season (spreads for the games in the final week of the season have not yet been released). We can use the SRS to come up with the implied ratings for each team (this [...]

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Record Watch: Can Jason Witten Catch Jerry Rice?

May 9, 2013 Receiving

Jerry Rice’s records are essentially unbreakable. Over a marvelous twenty-year career, Rice caught 41 more touchdowns than Randy Moss, 44 more than Terrell Owens, and 67 more than every player other than Moss and Owens. He also holds the overall touchdowns mark, with 33 more touchdowns than Emmitt Smith, 46 more than LaDainian Tomlinson, and [...]

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Another Note on the Relative Impact of Offense vs. Defense on Scoring

May 8, 2013 History

Last week, Chase had a great post where he looked at what percentage of the points scored by a team in any given game is a function of the team, and what percentage is a function of the opponent. The answer, according to Chase’s method, was 58 percent for the offense and 42 percent for [...]

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Game Scipts: Average margin in every game last season

May 7, 2013 Statgeekery

Yesterday, I presented the average lead or deficit for each team in the NFL last year, a number I’ve called the “Game Script.” Teams that find themselves with big leads or in deep holes early in games tend to deviate from their game scripts. That’s why it’s important to put metrics like pass/run ratio in [...]

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Game Scripts – The Best Teams of 2012

May 6, 2013 Statistics

Last year, I introduced the concepts of Game Scripts. There are 3600 seconds in every game: the Game Script is the average score over each of those 3600 seconds. For reference, you can check out this list of the top single-seasons of all-time. Did you know that the Patriots ranked 20th in pass/run ratio last [...]

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Fantasy Football: A starting point for your running back projections (FBG)

May 5, 2013 Fantasy

As most of you know, I also write for Footballguys.com, what I consider to be the best place around for fantasy football information. If you’re interested in fantasy football or like reading about regression analysis, you can check out my article over at Footballguys on how to derive a better starting point for running back [...]

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Longest streaks without a 100-yard rusher

May 4, 2013 Checkdowns

The Packers have gone 43 consecutive regular season games without having a 100-yard rusher. Not coincidentally, Green Bay drafted Alabama’s Eddie Lacy and UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin in the draft last weekend, hoping that one of those players can bolster the team’s rushing attack. Brandon Jackson rushed for 115 yards in an overtime loss against the [...]

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The Best Undrafted Players To Enter the NFL Since 2002

May 3, 2013 Draft

Now that the NFL Draft is behind us, I thought I’d take a look at the best undrafted rookies to enter the NFL since 2002. At some positions (quarterback, tight end, pass rusher), picking the best players is very easy; at others (running back, wide receiver, safety) you’ll notice that there have been quite a [...]

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Scoring is 60% of the Game

May 2, 2013 Statgeekery

When the New England Patriots score 34 points in a game, that is the result of a couple of things: how good the Patriots are at scoring points and how good the Patriots’ opponent is at preventing points. As great as Tom Brady is, he’s not going to lead New England to the same number [...]

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Where Does Tim Tebow Rank in the Pantheon of Great Quarterbacks

May 1, 2013 Quarterbacks

With the Jets releasing Tim Tebow, it appears that his NFL career may be over. If that’s the case, it’s time to reflect on a great career that never ceased to captivate the nation. While there are many ways to grade a quarterback, probably the best and simplest measure would be “production in last home [...]

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Football Perspective’s Thoughts on the Jets Draft

April 30, 2013 Draft

Yesterday, I discussed some of my general reactions to the NFL Draft. Today, my thoughts on the Jets draft in particular. Round 1, Pick 9: CB Dee Milliner (Alabama) Some mocks had Milliner, the consensus best cornerback in the draft, going as high as third overall.  The Jets had a need at cornerback following the [...]

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My Thoughts on the 2013 Draft

April 29, 2013 Draft

Over the last three days, I analyzed the trades from the first round, rounds 2 and 3, and the final four rounds. Today, I wanted to discuss the things that stood out to me during the draft. In the comments, let me know what got your attention. What was that blur? Chances are it came [...]

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Analyzing the Trades in Rounds 4 through 7 of the 2013 Draft

April 28, 2013 Draft

On Friday, I examined the trades from Round 1 of the 2013 NFL Draft; yesterday, I looked at the trades from rounds two and three. Let’s take a look at what happened on Saturday: 1) Jacksonville traded #98 to Philadelphia for the 101st and 210th picks With Kansas City reportedly interested in drafting USC quarterback [...]

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Analyzing the Trades in Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2013 Draft

April 27, 2013 Draft

Yesterday, I examined the trades from Round 1 of the 2013 NFL Draft. Let’s take a look at what happened on Friday: 1) San Francisco traded #34 to Tennessee for the 40th and 216th picks plus a 2014 3rd rounder The Titans traded up to draft Justin Hunter, the wide receiver from the University of [...]

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Analyzing the Trades in Day 1 of the 2013 Draft

April 26, 2013 Draft

There were five trades in the first round of the NFL Draft.  Who were the winners and losers?  Which draft chart was used — the traditional Jimmy Johnson chart or something closer to my chart?  I’ve never argued that teams use my chart when making trades (rather, I’ve argued simply that they should), but it’s [...]

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Eric Fisher Would Become First #1 Pick from a MAC School

April 25, 2013 Draft

A recap of every #1 pick in NFL and AFL Draft History, along with their conference affiliations: Tweet

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Football Perspective Mock Draft

April 25, 2013 Draft

Before we get to my mock draft, here’s a recap of some of my previous articles on the NFL draft: The numbers behind Football Perspective’s Draft Value Chart Is the draft an efficient market? It appears so, as teams appropriately value age when drafting quarterbacks, teams aren’t biased in favor or against small school prospects, [...]

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Are Big School Prospects Overrated in the NFL Draft?

April 24, 2013 Draft

We already know what the average draft pick is worth, thanks to the Football Perspective Draft Value Chart. If we assign the draft value associated with each pick to the college of that player, then we can determine which school had the most draft value in any given year. As it turns out, the best [...]

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