re: Point Per Yard - The New Statistic No One Wants You To See (Updated)

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a real indicator stat would be a percentage for each drive of yards gained on each drive vs the yards available to be gained

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i agree

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But it would not account for how well teams convert opportunities, whether created on a long drive by the offense or a short field by the defense/special teams, into points and specifically touchdowns.

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that is a separate indicator altogether. the question is first whether or not LSU is playing on a short field, and whether that is affecting their yardage totals.

so first you start with yardage vs yardage available.
you'd could then build in a coefficient and statistical bonuses for points, touchdown vs field goal to get an overall ranking of offense.

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but the stat IS worthless. It's most closely related to an efficiency stat. But efficiency is measured in plays or time, not yards. so a real efficiency would be points per time of possession or number of plays, which could measure how quickly and efficiently an offense scores.

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The stat is not worthless. The point was to show that based on the available starting position, no matter where it is on the field, the team can convert points. By combining the defensive effort of field position, it averages each teams ability to score points over the yards available.

Efficiency cannot necessarily be calculated using TOP as shown earlier. While it does show the number of points scored with a relevant control of time, you can assume that efficiency means a short scoring drive. If a teams goal is to wind the clock down, like LSU, then running the ball for 8 yards a clip is more efficient then slinging it 80 yards in 1 minute. That's why by taking out relevant factors of efficiency and basing the stat on touchdowns and field goals, you can look at how many yards it takes to score a point and get a pretty decent idea of how teams stack up offensively

It may not make logical sense, but nearly every stat in football, especially efficiency stats, use yards as part of the formula. This one is no different, and like other stats it isn't a total indicator of anything. I use it as part of my capping in conjunction with plays and yards per play.

nice

Bump.
Update and post on sec and/or dawg rant.

Bumpy