Thread: Emery explains stance on Bushrod stats

Butka, all the extra analysis should be taken w/a grain of salt, it IS a nice tool, but it cannot be the only tool you use. Stat's can lie, you have to be able to watch the games also to get an acurate feel of a player, and even that might not be enough b/c of what you stated. But it at least gives you a feel for what a player is. That's why you have to have confidence the GM and coaches know how to grade the player and take that into consideration also.

If our OC is high on Bushrod, I'll take his word over it then anyones. B/c of all the things you just said.

Originally Posted by Butka

I've said this numerous times over the years about PFF and I'll say it again. I've been in a film room, having been graded and I've done the grading myself. You can not give an honest, definitive grade on a player, without knowing their exact assignment on a play. Assignments can change in a split second, and it can change after the snap of the ball. There is not a damn way of knowing the final assignment without being in the room. You do not know if the RT saw a possible blitz and made a call to slide the protection further his way. You have no way of knowing if the QB called an audible which changed the protection, if the QB called a proper audible, if every blocker adjusted properly, and which ones did or didn't. There's a lot of unknowns without being on the inside.

PFF is nice and well intended. It has a lot of fans excited because they think they have a strong resource for player grading, but knowing what I know about handing out grades to players, I take PFFs analysis with a grain of salt. I haven't seen a lot of Bushrod. But to be honest, the few times I've seen him, I wasn't impressed. However, I can't honestly say I've seen enough to give a real review of the guy. But Aaron Kromer is someone who has seen every play (probably no less than 50 Times) and knows every true grade Bushrod has received. He's a highly regarded coach and if he has rubber stamped this acquisition, then I'll trust it for now.

Agreed, the thing about metric stats is with baseball, each pitch can be isolated and analyzed as its pitcher vs hitter. Between the lines in football it is 11 v 11 not 1 v 1. It is important to note that. You can look Bushrod vs each pass rusher one on one but often if they run stunts or slip or get stepped on it can all be different. Ultimately it can't be isolated down to the way it is in baseball, and graded as it depends on the guy next to you, the QB, the guy going against you, the play call, the coach, all the way down to field conditions, plus many more. To me, as an Economics major with a strong interest in causality between variables especially in sports, i think that is just way too many variables to get an accurate indication of how good a player is.

Kromar no doubt had a strong say with the Bushrod signing. Being with a new team, new coach, new GM, new QB, being able to have a clean break from a player, that makes me think he felt he would be a strong upgrade and worth that money, I think moving J'marcus over to RT will be helpful too. Having the tackle position solidified, along with center, we just need to get one guard in the draft(assuming Carimi will get better as a guard over the offseason, or Ed. Williams or James Brown between the 3 one has to step up), and we could have a exponentially better OL next season.