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2 weeks Ago By Dan Treacy
Analytics are taking over sports, whether you like it or not. No, that doesn't mean the product on the field changes much at all. Football is still played the same way it always has, give or take a few major changes over the years.
Analytics do, however, sometimes influence the way defenses scheme or the way a coach thinks about what to do on fourth down. The greatest impact analytics have on the NFL, though, can be found behind the scenes. Front offices use analytics more than ever to determine how to build a roster.
That trend stretches across all types of professional sports, but football is helping lead the way. Here's a look at the analytical PFF ranking shown during "Sunday Night Football" games and what it actually means. NFL HQ: Live NFL scores | Updated NFL standings | Full NFL schedule What does PFF ranking mean? A player's PFF ranking is their Pro Football Focus ranking at their position.
For example, a linebacker with a PFF ranking of 25th out of 86, that player has the 25th-highest Pro Football Focus grade among players with enough snaps at the position during the current season. PFF ratings are different than PFF rankings . Each player receives a rating from 0-100, which fluctuates throughout the season.
The rankings place those ratings in order from highest to lowest. In many ways, both the ratings and rankings are subjective. Pro Football Focus claims it analyzes each play for each player, but that still leaves some room for interpretation, considering it's not always cut-and-dry.
It might not be hard to evaluate whether a quarterback made a bad throw, but other positions, such as linebacker, are much more subjective. A linebacker's rating might be influenced by the player not being where he should've been rather than the player outright making a bad play, for example. The ratings and rankings are still helpful for those positions, though.
Quarterbacks and wide receivers have enough stats that just about anyone can gauge how well they are playing. For offensive linemen, linebackers and other position groups, advanced stats are typically required to get a sense of how well a player is truly performing. "This in-depth grading allows our team to judge player performance in every facet of the game before compiling individual plays into an overall grade for each player by game, by season, and beyond," PFF wrote in 2016.
What is PFF? PFF is Pro Football Focus, a football analytics site that launched online in 2007. Some of the detailed evaluations of players are behind a paywall, but basic player grades are free for all to view. Pro Football Focus says it provides custom data to all 32 NFL teams as well as more than 100 college football programs.
MORE: Brandon Aiyuk injury update | Deebo Samuel injury update Why does NBC show PFF rankings? Originally founded in the United Kingdom, Pro Football Focus is now owned by NBC color commentator Cris Collinsworth. The site isn't owned by NBC, but Collinsworth, a longtime staple of the "Sunday Night Football" broadcast booth, is the common thread between NBC and PFF. Collinsworth has heard criticism over the years for PFF's ratings, which comes as no surprise.
When rankings and ratings are subjective in any way, it's impossible to avoid disagreements. Still, the rankings have become a staple of NBC broadcasts as analytics become more mainstream in the NFL..
