Content available exclusively for subscribers
Former Jets offensive tackle George Fant had enough.
He saw an article on a fan site on Bleacher Report entitled “Jets top player to avoid in 2024.” and Fant was on the list.
“I usually try to stay out of stuff like this, but at some point, it has to stop,” Fant tweeted. “If you are writing an article, watch the film yourself and stop using PFF as the basis.”
I could not agree with him more.
Writers and fans rely on this analystics service too much in their player evluations.
We don’t know who is doing the evaluating and what their background in football is.
Also, whoever the individuals are, they don’t have access to team playbooks and game plans, so they are sometimes guessing on assignments, and perhaps blaming the wrong people, and this impacts grades.
In a preview of the 2024 NFL free agent class, PFF wrote about Mekhi Becton, “performed admirably as a pass protector despite the revolving door of quarterbacks operating behind him.”
His pass proetection seemed uneven this year.
I actually wrote in the last issue of Jets Confidential Magazine: “Mekhi Becton is a free agent coming off a tough year in pass protection, and his better position at his point is probably right tackle.”
Did you see the Houston game against Jonathan Greenard?
I also wrote in that issue:
“While left Mekhi Becton was solid as a run blocker this past season, he struggled in pass protection, giving up too many sacks. After two knee operations, he might have lost a little foot quickness, impacting his kick slide, and he might be a better fit on the right side moving forward, whether with the Jets or somewhere else.”
I’m not looking to pick on Becton here, just pointing out that may the buyer beware with PFF.
Too many people have blind faith in their grading system.
Including people from the team on social media, always promoting player’s PFF grades, even though the coaches grade differently. Here is something else I wrote in the last JC:
“If people tweet stuff about individual players’ impressive Pro Football Focus grades, to point out how well a player is doing, but do it after this after a loss, could be perceived as moral victory material. Football is the ultimate team sport, so individual grades, don’t mean much.
“And also, the problem with some promoting PFF grades, is the coach’s grades are often different. PFF doesn’t have access to the playbook or the game plan, and doesn’t always know what players are asked to do.
“As Jeff Ulbrich once said when asked about a metric from an outside company about his defense: ‘These companies that are now evaluating the NFL statistically like that, they don’t necessarily know what we’re calling all the time, so I don’t put a ton into that.’
“So not only promoting individuals after a loss is something that can hurt culture, but these grades might not even be a proper reflection on how the player is grading out based on his assignments, so this is kind of double whammy.”
Fant is right. Stop relying so heavily on this mysterious service, when we don’t even know how the sausage is made.
February 15, 2024
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Friday.