Feverdream
Club Member
I figured that this was where the discussion would go next and I'm willing to grant that most statistics are less illuminating that most fans think (especially sports gamblers).Fair enough. But then that logic can used toward literally every statistic.
Sacks, QB completion %, WR receptions, RB YPC, interceptions, all yardage/TDs from every position, ect.
None of these stats are accumulated in a vacuum. All of them need the added context and include the same variables you are using to invalidate QB Y/A.
At that point literally no numbers should be used in football at all until we can account for every variable that led to how they were accumulated.
I prefer to do my best to attempt to add context (to the best of my ability) to help find the true value in the numbers that are already being used.
It is addmittedly very difficult in football. There are definitely limitations. But I want to account for the types of context you are referencing. That involves diving deeper and using what you consider analytics.
(To be clear, that is not the same as blindly accepting PFF grades)
A great line can make an average RB look like a star, on the stat sheet anyway.
A QB with all day to throw should have a very low INT total.
A DT may pick up 8 sacks in a year because his Edge keeps flushing the QB.
A GREAT WR might have less than 10 TDs if his QB is awful.
Yes, stats are VERY subject to whataboutisms, and I've always doubted most of them in the game of football. (Again, in beisboll the pitcher/hitter matchup is about as unaffected by other considerations as anything in sports except golf)
The newer, more derivative stats are even more subject to this.
In short, I am not a huge stats person. I respect them as being PART of the equation, but I think that most fans take them much too seriously, with sports gamblers being the worst of the lot in this regard.