So I subscribed to PFF for a month...

[Spear]

No, and that's not what this list gets at. It's a grading metric for each snap they played. In the role he was asked to fill, he did a better job than all but 5 TEs did in their roles. It does not take into account the variance in roles. Does that discredit the stats? No, it just means you have to use some common sense when you read and interpret it.

And thats exactly the point. If Webb had help blocking a player, and they successfully double teamed him, he fulfilled what he was asked to do. If a different lineman was asked to block a guy 1 on 1, and he successfully does, he also fulfilled what he was asked to do as well. It does not make the two events equal however. This grading system would not make that distinction. Nor does it take into account the % of time a lineman gets helps.

 

[Wakacha]

They really frown upon this, but thanks a ton

 

[Sculpt]

Thanks Sculpt! How did you resize that third thumbnail?

Those thumbnails are hard to read. It's much better, and easier, if you copy/paste the charts into the post per these instructions:

Step 1 -- highlight the chart with cursor and copy (control + C)
Step 2 -- open new post (start new thread or reply)
Step 3 -- In the upper left hand of the post window, click on the "A/A" square.
Step 4 -- click mouse cursor about two lines down (if you want to type something above your chart) and paste chart.
Step 5 -- post!

To answer your question, with the thumbnails, I opened your attachment, I clicked on the chart once which made it a full page pic, then I went to Edit/Select All, then I copied the chart pic (copy image location), then I clicked on Insert Image and pasted the image location (

)

 

[MakeMyDay]

Info on their grading system:

http://www.profootballfocus.com/about/grading/

Thanks for sharing...Good stuff.

 

[Wakacha]

"Emery said the Bears focused on tackles but there were no elite ones available in free agency. He went into detail explaining how the Bears subscribe to data from STATS and Pro Football Focus to aid in their evaluation process"

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-01-01/sports/ct-spt-0102-o-line-bears-chicago--20130102_1_phil-emery-offensive-line-evaluation-process

Getting nervous about the draft yet?

Because Emery is going to rely 100% on these ratings. Got it.

 

[Colonel_Buendia]

And thats exactly the point. If Webb had help blocking a player, and they successfully double teamed him, he fulfilled what he was asked to do. If a different lineman was asked to block a guy 1 on 1, and he successfully does, he also fulfilled what he was asked to do as well. It does not make the two events equal however. This grading system would not make that distinction. Nor does it take into account the % of time a lineman gets helps.

Yeah, you take it with a grain of salt. It isn't gospel, and I don't see anyone saying it is. But it's certainly helpful and interesting.

 

[Spear]

Yeah, you take it with a grain of salt. It isn't gospel, and I don't see anyone saying it is. But it's certainly helpful and interesting.

To be honest i have seen several posters using the rankings to form complete opinions about lineman over the past few weeks.

 

[PeppersSweater]

Tight Ends

Other Notes:

Martellus Bennett ranked 12/64 in 2011 and 6/63 in 2010
Anthony Fasano ranked 7/64 and 4/63
Dustin Keller ranked 47/64 and 40/63
Jared Cook ranked 31/64 and N/A

 

[PeppersSweater]

Cherilus is very intriguing; he's played pretty consistently and doesn't have a significant injury history. I'd be curious to know how he would do as a LT since pass protection seems to be his specialty. On top of that, he plays for a division rival. Speaking of which, check out Detroit's DEs:

4-3 DE

 

[Wakacha]

Hey, do you think you could post pictures of the Linebacker rankings for 2012? I'd like to see how they graded Roach, Urlacher, and Hayes, among others. Thanks!

 

[Wakacha]

Here's the FA tackle PFF rankings over the past 3 years. Next to the player's name is his age at the start of the 2013 season. In parenthesis are their games played. I included Webb to compare their progressions.

Player	2012
Jake Long	46th (12)
J-Marcus Webb	47th (16)

So close. I would have laughed so hard if Webb had been higher.

 

[WindyCity]

As Spear pointed out these rankings have holes and are a little subjective.

But my man Gosder Cherilus had a great year.

 

[sevvy]

We just found our new Tight End. Matt Spaeth!

Honestly, if he could consistently, or even occasionally make catches like the one where he caught that TD falling out of bounds, I'd be all for Spaeth being our #1 TE.

 

[PeppersSweater]

Hey, do you think you could post pictures of the Linebacker rankings for 2012? I'd like to see how they graded Roach, Urlacher, and Hayes, among others. Thanks!

Roach and Hayes did not play 25% worth of snaps, but Roach had an overall grade of 0.2 among ILBs in his 276 snaps, and Hayes graded out at 0.8 in 141 snaps at OLB.

ILB

 

[PeppersSweater]

4-3 OLB

 

[Sculpt]

Thanks for posting those charts, PeppersSweater! This is how the charts would look if you use the "A/A" method I posted instructions on :

Shutdown Corners: Richard Sherman V Darrelle Revis

Category	Sherman 2012	Revis 3-year Average	Difference
Grade	25.1	26.3	DR +1.2
Coverage	26.4	22.4	RS +4.2
Penalties	5	3.0	DR - 2
Tackles	56	46.3	RS +9.7
MTs	6	4.0	DR - 2
TA	87	93.3	DR +6.3
Rec	41	41.7	RS - 0.7
% Ct	47.1	44.6	DR - 2.5
Yards	634	481.0	DR - 153
Avg	15.5	11.5	DR - 4
YAC	135	155.3	RS - 20.3
Lg	56	47.7	DR - 8.3
TD	2	1.7	DR - 0.3
INT	8	5.0	RS + 3
PD	15	15.7	DR +0.7
QB Rating	41.1	44.6	RS - 3.5

 

[Sculpt]

4-3 DE

Interesting Idonije had a higher score than Peppers. Their stats are similar, and Peppers has higher stats: sacks, QB hits, hurries and tackles, until you see Peppers had a lot more snaps. If you divide by the snaps, Izzy was more effect per snap.

 

[Sculpt]

Cherilus is very intriguing; he's played pretty consistently and doesn't have a significant injury history. I'd be curious to know how he would do as a LT since pass protection seems to be his specialty. On top of that, he plays for a division rival.

Yea, if we were to get a FA Tackle, I think Cherilus or Albert would be a better choice than Bushrod.

 

[Sculpt]

Roach and Hayes did not play 25% worth of snaps, but Roach had an overall grade of 0.2 among ILBs in his 276 snaps, and Hayes graded out at 0.8 in 141 snaps at OLB.

ILB

So PFF grade-wise, Roach played better MLB than Urlacher did this year. And 0.2 would put Roach at 20th best, just above AJ Hawk. It's a limited number of snaps, but Roach grades better at MLB than OLB.

 

[Sculpt]

Lol well good to know we don't need a TE upgrade! We have a TE who performed better than Jimmy Graham, Vernon Davis, Tony Gonzalez, etc!

These grades are not inherently assumption and biased free just because they are statistics. This isn't a knock on you, but I'm willing to bet you have no idea how they formulate these final, overall ratings. There is plenty of biases and assumptions ingrained with how they calculate this "overall rating", along with how they determine blocking ratings. The raters are not privy to what player assignments were, do not account for how much "help" players receive from other players in their blocking assignments, etc.

This isn't like receiving/quarterback stats which are far more objective because there is much less room for interpretation when it comes to things like incompletions, catches, dropped balls, etc.

Yea, these are just tools. Doesn't mean Spaeth is better overall than guys below him. But this tends to confirm my own assessment that Spaeth does a good job for the money. We should keep Spaeth. He's a top run blocker, and under appreciated and under utilized as a pass catcher. I think we should sign FA TE Bennett and cut Davis. If not that, then if there's a good value TE in the draft, let's draft one. I think Bennett is the better choice.