I was watching some pre-season games this weekend and became interested by an all too typical story line. It’s the preseason in the NFL for those of you who don’t watch football and many teams this week have to make drastic cuts to trim their roster to 75 players and then to the league maximum of 53 by next Saturday. Some guys will make the roster, others won’t and will either go back to their “day” jobs or end up on a scout team making far below the league minimum.
By the way (side note here), the league minimum for a rookie is currently (2009) set at $310,000. The salary range, again minimum wage goes up to $535,000 for a guy with 3 years experience in the league and a measly $845,000 for a veteran with over 10 years experience…
Unlike some fans, I actually like this time of year, most people think “oh, it’s only pre-season, it doesn’t matter”, but for these young men playing their guts out trying to make a squad it makes an incredible amount of difference. Unlike college teams where there may be some favoritism involved in many “cut” or “travel” decisions the NFL is all about business. What 53 players will give me the best chance of getting to the playoffs and making a run for the Super Bowl? Sometimes questionable decisions are made – players are released and go on to have extremely productive careers in other organizations. How does this happen? Does one player “fit” poorly with one team and exponentially better with another? How are these decisions made? Do the coaches and front office people have the correct information all the time to make these business decisions?
Those are the same types of questions that I’ve encountered the last 15 years in banking, finance, retail, supply chain, transportation, etc. What skill sets need to be fostered in your organization so that these decisions can be made? What differentiates organizations that make “good” decisions versus “bad” ones? What tools do I need to ensure my personnel have all of the information necessary to make these decisions?
This is what REAL SPORTS ANALYTICS can do for your organization! Take the guess work out of the statistical analysis of your grading system and allow your coaches to focus on the intangibles that are so important. Give your personnel the tools they need to make better decisions. And most importantly use 21st century technology to give your organization the competitive advantage to get on that road to the playoffs.
Now, for the “home cooking” part….
There is a QB battle going on right now with an NFL team in the southeast (I won’t name the team). There is a veteran who has had a mediocre career at best. There are two younger guys who have some NFL experience, but are still very unproven. Then there’s the rookie. Who will win? That’s where this gets interesting.
I am going to use the Real Sports Analytics application that I have created, powered by Essbase and Dodeca to grade out these four quarterbacks. I can already tell you that the current 1st string veteran did NOT grade out well the other night. He consistently missed open receivers (mostly high), his decision making ability was not sound and in a couple of instances did not make a clean handoff or pitch to the running back. Basically, this “veteran” is a train wreck waiting to happen… But, the coaching staff is new, they are still trying to use an antiquated system for player grading and these miscues may be overlooked in the long run, we’ll see. I also have some concerns about the rookie’s arm strength, just not convinced yet he can hit those 15 yard “out routes” from a cross-field position.
I’m going to watch the game again to score the 2nd, 3rd and 4th string guys – I’ll let you know how that turns out.
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