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Emery explains stance on Bushrod stats
By Dan Pompei, Tribune reporter
3:43 p.m. CDT, March 13, 2013
In his season-ending news conference, Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery cited Pro Football Focus’ statistical analysis to explain how the team’s offensive line played.
He did not cite the website to explain why he signed Jermon Bushrod, undoubtedly because the website did not paint a very flattering picture of Bushrod.
PFF ranked Bushrod as the 44th best offensive tackle in the NFL, barely better than J’Marcus Webb, who ranked 47th. And they ranked Webb ahead of Bushrod in pass blocking efficiency.
Asked about it Wednesday, Emery said, "It comes down to this. We’ll use statistical data to help us differentiate between players, but that isn’t the final evaluation. We invest in staffing and spend a lot of time evaluating players. We formulate our own thoughts."
Emery said he and his staff rely on many evaluative tools, including game tape, college performance, behavioral and psychological studies and interviews.
Emery doesn’t mind coming to a different conclusion than PFF.
"We know there are going to be differences of opinion," he said. "It’s deciding which players are the best fits for you, which ones do you feel are going to be the most productive for you. It doesn’t bother me that someone else has a difference of opinion about a player that we brought in."
That isn’t to say he does not value statistical analysis. In fact, he said he attended the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics conference in Boston earlier this month. He said it was a very enjoyable experience.
"One thing about that conference I found out is there are a lot of people in analytics," he said. "There are a lot of websites out there in terms of people trying to evaluate players with statistical methods."
Chicago Bears News: Phil Emery explains his stance on stats - chicagotribune.com
Arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still messed up.
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in other words, Emery to PFF, blow me. Your stats are flawed and we found others that we think are more accurate...but thanks for playing.
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If PFF was so great at evaluating players, then why arent any of them GMs on NFL teams?
I'm trying//to let go//of maybe//but maybe's just so//very interesting//Oh, what a thing.
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Originally Posted by
Jimmors 
If PFF was so great at evaluating players, then why arent any of them GMs on NFL teams?
Advanced metrics have made huge waves in NFL front offices, but much like baseball, analytics geeks will always be the paid advisers in the background outside of the big boys club. These stats are cool and nice, and there is a point to their accuracy, but give me actual football evaluators watching tape and scouting players any day over the propeller-hat wearing geeks who try to quantify everything with arithmetic. In this case we have the guy's OL coach who is more familiar with him than maybe anyone else in football to back our scouting.
Case in point, I am a firm believer in the road scout in baseball who utterly LOATHES sabremetrics, but I understand their place in the game. To give the real evaluators every last bit of an edge they can.
Last edited by lklrlolnlilklsox; 03-13-2013 at 08:27 PM.
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or perhaps PFF is great as long as it supports their decisions...
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Junior Member
Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. ~Aaron Levenstein
or if you prefer...
The average human has one breast and one testicle. ~Des McHale
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I will take the advice of the man that has watched every single rep Bushrod has ever played, probably more than once.
I will also take the advice of the man that new every protection call and assignment of those plays.
Aaron Kromer
I will also take the word of the elite QB he protected who lobbied to keep him pretty hard.
Drew Brees
I will also take the opinion if the great coach and Superbowl GM who made Bushrod thief #1 priority to bring back.
Payton and Loomis
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Originally Posted by
kevperro Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. ~Aaron Levenstein
or if you prefer...
The average human has one breast and one testicle. ~Des McHale
ah. thanks for that. I just thought my mirror was broken.
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Originally Posted by
lklrlolnlilklsox Advanced metrics have made huge waves in NFL front offices, but much like baseball, analytics geeks will always be the paid advisers in the background outside of the big boys club. These stats are cool and nice, and there is a point to their accuracy, but give me actual football evaluators watching tape and scouting players any day over the propeller-hat wearing geeks who try to quantify everything with arithmetic. In this case we have the guy's OL coach who is more familiar with him than maybe anyone else in football to back our scouting.
Case in point, I am a firm believer in the road scout in baseball who utterly LOATHES sabremetrics, but I understand their place in the game. To give the real evaluators every last bit of an edge they can.
And in this case that's about what it came down to. The PFF ratings were for the 2012 season only and he did not make the the 2013 Pro Bowl Roster like he did in 2011 and 2012. Was 2012 just a bad year for him following two better ones? I can see making the Pro Bowl once as a gift even though he may not have earned it because guys opt out but two years running would be rare. There must be something there to like since this is the second time we pursued him.
I wasn't in favor of this guy over a guy like Beatty or over Albert as well but those choices were taken away and of those left Bushrod was the best deal for the dollar. Kromer knows the guy inside and out so it's always made sense that he'd be a prospect. Analyticals aside he was the BPA of the OTs who can play LT and in their estimation we needed a LT so we could move Webb back to RT and compete with Carimi.
It may not have been the perfect solution but is does make sense. It's too bad we had to guarantee a guy $17 mil to find out if he really is better than Webb at LT but I guess that's a risk we had to take. I can't see where he could be any less of a player and if he can play more consistently game to game then I guess we improved the position.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Originally Posted by
bearsinhouston or perhaps PFF is great as long as it supports their decisions...
Well there's that too but Phil says you weren't supposed to notice. 
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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