Originally Posted by
texaschief
IMO, the only stats that matter in football are those of the QB. Stats become more and more useless as the number of players to field size ratio shrinks. Money ball works in baseball because it is primarily and individualized sport. 1 pitcher throwing to 1 batter who hits the ball to 1 player's "zone." You can measure how well each of those players does on an individual basis because there are measurable variables. You don't get that when you start talking about sports where players have to rely on other players to do their part in order for the play to work.
On a football field, a player shares a field with 21 other players. The variables on a football field are way too large to measure. You can cherry pick and pretend like you're comparing apples to apples, but the statistics for a LT for example, don't account for the infinite number of variables that could and do occur during each play. Statistics only account for a certain set of variables. If you were to say Jake Long gave up 5 sacks during the first half of the season, but only 4 during the 2nd half of the season, would you assume all variables were the same? Because that's what you're doing when you look a PFF stats. You assume all variables are the same. You're not accounting for overloaded sets, whether or not the TE, RB, or OG chipped the pass rusher, the caliber of pass rusher, etc. Stats are a black and white tool that only show a glimpse of the whole picture when it comes to football.
Football statistics are a tool and sometimes they are able to indicate tendencies and trends, but there are WAY too many variables on a football field for your stats sheet to be the only tool in your toolbox.
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