Some weird Pro Football Focus ratings

I've been reading ProFootballFocus.com the last couple days in some spare time, and there is a lot of great stuff there. They really take the time to evaluate everybody, every game. They step up for some of our guys, like Troy, who they say played like a Hall of Famer this year and didn't jump on the "he's slowing down" bandwagon that everybody who only reads INT stats did. They love Keisel, and give him tons of props. But there are some things I really can't wrap my head around.

1. Pouncey - they say that the fact that he's basically universally considered one of the top 2 or 3 centers in the game, and the best center by many, is a joke/farce/sham and based 100% on his draft status. Like people forgot to actually watch him and just assumed he's great because of how he played in college. I know people take draft status too seriously, but it's usually the other way, isn't it? Like, something he has to live up to? I don't remember anyone getting extra credit for being drafted high. The bigger they come, the harder they fall, if they fall. Their argument might fly if it was made in between his draft and his first season, but he's played two years and that's what people are judging. They consider him average at best, and in the draft grader don't even give him status as a "solid contributor." Instead of being given title of Contributor, he's lumped in with the likes of Dennis Dixon, Mike Humpal, Frank Summers, Rashon Harris, Chris Scott, and Crezdon Butler. It's one thing to think he's overrated, but this seems absolutely loony to me. They don't seem to mind the fact that we took a center at #18 though, so I don't think that's it. I'm basing this on the fact that they love SF's pick of LG Mike Iupati at #17 the same year.

2. Miller - this is just one setence that caught my eye. It's from their review of the week 17 game against the Browns: "Heath Miller (+5.3) entered the game with a negative rating for run blocking, but his performance in the running game here (+4.5) was a key feature of this win and actually vaults him into 6th place in our run blocking rankings for tight ends."

I agree with them about that performance, but... after 16 weeks, he had a negative rating for run blocking??? HOW on earth is that possible? In the 13 games I graded, I could count his run blocking mistakes on 1 hand. He always makes an effective block, and he probably had 25+ pancakes on the season. And he commonly faces competition more regularly suited for an OT. Again, I'd understand if they had him graded somewhat lower than I did. But they're saying that after 16 weeks, he was a below average run blocker?? Even his biggest critics -- whether they're here, on NFL Network, in fantasy football magazines... you know, people who look at stats and say he's something like the 20th best tight end in the league -- even those people don't even hesitate to acknowledge he's a great run blocker. Most will even grant that he's the best in the game; they just disagree about how important it is. But PFF says that except for one performance in week 17, he was a below average run blocker in 2011? I don't get it.

At times they seem like they're doing really amazing things, and at other times they just blow my mind with their stupidity. I tried to comment, but you have to pay to be a member, so forget that. I'd love to see how they break down Pouncey and Miller's games individually, but I can't find it. It's probably in the "premium stats" section. Anyone a member?

 

Player evaluation is different to some people, Miller will be fine, Pouncey is our 2nd best Ol, needs
to get healthy,He is head and shoulders better than our other OL he have. Pouncey will benefit
greatly with the addition of David Decastro.

 

to me it's not so much what they do as individules, but what they do together. heath is a vital cog in the offenses wheel and so is pouncey. pouncey's big thing to me is the way he delivers multiple blocks consistantly. theres not much going on so these so called experts spew their spew. we know better and so does our front office.

 

A major part of their reasoning seemed to be a statistic: our yards per rush up the middle. It wasn't very high, so they determined Pouncey wasn't doing well.

Somewhere on the site they say if you actually compare him to another center head up, like Nick Mangold, you'll see how overrated he is and how he's not in their league. I wonder if he saw the 2010 AFC Championship game?? Pouncey got knocked out, but even Doug Legursky looked better than Mangold!

 

casey has always manhandled mangold.

 

casey has always manhandled mangold. [/quote:28jolno6]


Yup, because they don't try to cut block him the way other teams do.