Center Brian Schwenke Likely To Make An Impact With Tennessee Titans

June 30, 2013 by

Brian Schwenke was taken by the Tennessee Titans in the 4th round of the NFL Draft and was their highest rated center (OC) on their board.  Kudos to the organization and scouting staff for finding a long term starter in the 4th round. When the pads go on, Schwenke should immediately start earning more opportunity.

On his analytical profile alone, he should be the opening day starter at center.  The organization may choose to go with more experience however in lieu of talent. Schwenke has multiple pro bowl level potential, and we shall see if it comes to fruition.

Filed Under: Centers (OC), Football Analytics, NFL Draft, Scouting Department, Tennessee Titans

Baltimore Ravens And Their 2013 NFL Draft

June 29, 2013 by

Baltimore is a team that has implemented an analytics department, and it shows with their 2013 NFL Draft selections of  Matt Elam (Strong Safety) and Arthur Brown (Inside Linebacker), two players that should be cornerstones for the defense for the long term.  Arthur Brown in particular meets a particular metric that has been a standard among the better ILBs in the league.  The Baltimore Ravens scouting department has traditionally been one of the best in the league.

However, I want to focus the analytical study more on WR Aaron Mellette, who has been a favorite of some other analytical minds.  He is also touted as having a good offseason.  His pure production analytic scores are great, but his reliance and comparative analytics are both huge red flags.  None of his comparative wide receivers have even made NFL rosters and they too have had good base production metrics.  He does have the best opportunity of the comparatives to break the trend of not making an NFL roster, but the odds are against him making a long term impact.  WR Aaron Mellette was a 7th round pick out of Elon by the Baltimore Ravens though, thus the miss here is of a minimal nature.  With ILB Arthur Brown and SS Matt Elam on board, the Ravens fans will not have to worry much about Mellette failing to make a long term impact.

Filed Under: 3-4 Inside Linebackers (ILB), Baltimore Ravens, Football Analytics, NFL Draft, Scouting Department, Strong Safeties (SS), Wide Receivers (WR)

The Cleveland Browns, Trent Richardson, And An Alabama RB Discussion

June 28, 2013 by

NFL Data Consultants was not a fan of what the Cleveland Browns did with their 2013 NFL Draft.  Despite the selection of QB Brandon Weeden in the 2012 NFL Draft, they did come away with some talent on offense with RB Trent Richardson and WR Josh Gordon (supplemental draft).  Josh Gordon is a case where an organization needs to assign its risk level because he had meet the criteria analytically of a player worth taking, but had other concerns that would affect his long term potential.  At least the Cleveland Browns aren’t totally devoid of analytics.  They do have a single analytics guy, which is better than nothing but it makes his job challenging depending on the level of analytical buy-in from the organization and scouting department.

With RB Trent Richardson, the Cleveland Browns took the best all around running back of the three primarily talked about running backs of Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, and Eddie Lacy in recent NFL Drafts.  Lacy has health concerns, and since I don’t have a medical team to put that into a proper measuring tool, I will speak about what can be seen analytically.  Lacy played the toughest competition of the three backs and was a hammer doing it.  His production metrics were outstanding, but they are only one piece of the puzzle.  His full picture compares him more to committee backs.  Richardson finished in the middle on production metrics, but presents the best overall package and the best ability of the three in the passing game.  Mark Ingram had the lowest competition score between the three and the lowest yards per carry.

Filed Under: Cleveland Browns, Football Analytics, NFL Draft, Quaterbacks (QB), Running Backs (RB), Scouting Department, Wide Receivers (WR)

The Arizona Cardinals Improve Their Offensive Line With OG Jonathan Cooper

June 25, 2013 by

The Arizona Cardinals have not excited me with their recent drafts.  Their best offseason move was to bring in Bruce Arians, to be Head Coach as he will likely be a tremendous benefit to the offense.  There is a reason he has the nickname of Wide Receiver Whisperer.

While the Arizona Cardinals did not take advantage of the abundance of arbitrage opportunities in the 2013 NFL Draft, they did have a solid selection worth mentioning.  First, the value of the position of this player relative to where he was selected is for another article.  I am not grading where the player was, but the quality of a player for his position and long term value.  OG Jonathan Cooper has the analytical profile of a guard that will be starting for many years.  One of his non-modified metrics meets the thresholds you would want in a good OT or DE, but he will be doing it from the Guard position.  The fact that they have a guard that will be a very good player at his position is worth noting.  Again, positional value of offensive guard is worth an analytical study.

Filed Under: Arizona Cardinals, Football Analytics, Head Coaches (HC), NFL Draft, Offensive Guards (OG)

The Buffalo Bills, Moneyball, And WR Robert Woods

June 24, 2013 by

Bill President, Russ Brandon, declared that the Buffalo Bills would be a Moneyball organization.  While the 2013 NFL Draft was not a strong indication of that direction by their scouting department, the Buffalo Bills did take a very solid wide receiver prospect in Robert Woods.

WR Robert Woods was taken 41 overall in the second round out of Southern California.  Despite playing across from one of the more highly touted wide receivers in the nation in Marquise Lee, he put up good reliance and production analytical scores, both which suggest that he is a very small risk for failure.  At the wide receiver position, he was probably one of the safest plays if you were looking for a long term starter.   Interestingly enough, his comparative analysis also shows something very unique about him, but that will be left as a mystery to you for now.  What isn’t a mystery is that WR Robert Woods analytical profile shows he was a good selection by the Buffalo Bills.

Filed Under: Buffalo Bills, Football Analytics, NFL Draft, Scouting Department, Wide Receivers (WR)