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PFF Grades-how accurate are they?

BS85

BS85

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247sports.com

PFF Grades: Miami's top ten players vs. Florida

Here's a look at how Pro Football Focus graded out the ten best Miami Hurricanes vs. the Florida Gators on Saturday night.
247sports.com 247sports.com

So I was reading this article on the top ten players from last night and some of the names surprised me. Patchan grading out as the the top overall player and Brevin not even making the list definitely caught my attention. I've read these the past few years and didn't necessarily agree with them but haven't really dug that deep to see their methodology or anything like that. I don't go evaluate tape after the games but I feel like the best players should basically stand out and these lists almost always contradict that. I see people reference the PFF grades a lot so was curious what you all think if them?
 
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brock said:
Not accurate at all. If Brevin, Finley or bandy don’t at least have an 80, throw the whole list away
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Just an 80? Why not an 85 LOL? These aren’t arbitrary numbers they’re throwing out there. First they evaluate the play and then individual assignments within that play. So while I’m sure Brevin graded out high on his pass catching grade, his run blocking was probably bad which lowered his overall grade. Also, he clearly made some great plays did you watch all of his routes that he wasn’t a target? I’m guessing no. So while PFF might not be what YOU want or perfect, it’s analytical department is top notch made up of former scouts, coaches and personnel professionals.
 
What's more revealing is who isn't in the top 10 list. Or better yet, the gap between their individual grade and top 10. (Given their experience level, I shouldn't expect them to grade out as high as our better or more experience players.)
 
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brock said:
Not accurate at all. If Brevin, Finley or bandy don’t at least have an 80, throw the whole list away
Click to expand...
You didn’t watch Brevin block last night did you? PFF looks at the totality of the game and how well you did your assignment every play. More than a few times brevin did a bad job at the point of attack or on the LOS
 
I don't see anything wrong with that list.

The biggest takeaway is the lack of production on a snap-by-snap basis by our stars. Where is Shaq and Pinckney? Where is Trajan Bandy? On offense where is Jeff Thomas or any of our WRs? These are things that are far more telling from PFF's grades than who they say played well.
 
Not at all accurate. No one uses their ratings. Teams use them for data on personnel, formations, snap counts. No football organization I have ever heard of pays for their “analysis” or “ratings”.

Are they better than a fans analysis (mine included)? Very likely they are.
 
apfenny3 said:
The problem with an outlet like PFF is they don’t know everyone’s assignment every play
Click to expand...

Very true, but that at least means they are consistent throughout. Also, the way they score is very liberal. When they first started off it was just a -1, 0, +1 system...I'm sure its gotten more complex, but you've now got years of data from them in two different levels of football and their results aren't far off the reservation. The occasional outliers, sure...but they've been ahead of the curve many times with their system.
 
Patreek said:
Not at all accurate. No one uses their ratings. Teams use them for data on personnel, formations, snap counts. No football organization I have ever heard of pays for their “analysis” or “ratings”.
Click to expand...

The NFL has paid for their data sets in the past.
 
apfenny3 said:
The problem with an outlet like PFF is they don’t know everyone’s assignment every play
Click to expand...
Bingo. It's like me saying, "This steak tastes weird", while eating a pizza. You have to know what you're judging.
 
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BoxingRobes said:
The NFL has paid for their data sets in the past.
Click to expand...

The NFL pays for their information about snap counts etc... can you show any team that paid for their ratings?

I’m genuinely unaware of any professional team paying for their ratings.
 
apfenny3 said:
The problem with an outlet like PFF is they don’t know everyone’s assignment every play
Click to expand...
This isnt true at all. They don’t have the call sheet but an outside zone is an outside zone, a ZR, RPO, smash concepts are all the same packaged differently. Do you think they grade in a vacuum? Jesus people are really talking out of their a$$holes more than usual today
 
BS85 said:
247sports.com

PFF Grades: Miami's top ten players vs. Florida

Here's a look at how Pro Football Focus graded out the ten best Miami Hurricanes vs. the Florida Gators on Saturday night.
247sports.com 247sports.com

So I was reading this article on the top ten players from last night and some of the names surprised me. Patchan grading out as the the top overall player and Brevin not even making the list definitely caught my attention. I've read these the past few years and didn't necessarily agree with them but haven't really dug that deep to see their methodology or anything like that. I don't go evaluate tape after the games but I feel like the best players should basically stand out and these lists almost always contradict that. I see people reference the PFF grades a lot so was curious what you all think if them?
Click to expand...
Patchan was solid all game
 
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