I read Mike Sando's grades for the NFC West recently and didn't really feel like I understood his process as to how
he came up with his grades. So, I decided to do my own grading. Table 1 shows my grades along with the stats
used to obtain those those grades shown in Table 2. I admit my analysis was not conducted using any sort of
regression analysis. I simply looked at the stats and how productive each team was last year at each position (With
the exception of obtaining Phil Dawson). Many players on each team have left and new ones have been signed. For
instance, both of the starting safeties for the Cards have left so their grades are based on players that are not even
playing for them anymore. Also, I have put the stats for the QB position in Table 3 so everyone can compare the
stats since it is hotly contested who the best in the division is. Enjoy.
It is important to remember that I looked only at productivity by each starter for each position and not talent. For example, STL was graded as having the #1 WRs in the division because of their productivity in the offense.
The most difficult grading was for the WR position due to the stats I used. I had to create a point system to determine which team obtained what grade as explained in Table 4. Also, STL has the best WR since they're receivers contributed more to the passing game than the other teams even if the player talent isn't there.
For CBs, WRs, LBs, and RBs I looked at the top 4 or so players at that position since so many players contribute.
TABLE 1. Grades per team from 1-4.
TEAM | SF | SEA | STL | ARZ | |
POSITION | |||||
QB | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
RB | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
WR | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
TE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
OL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
DL | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
LB | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
S | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
CB | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
P | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
K | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
Coach | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
TABLE 2. Statistics used to obtain each positions grade.
Stat | |||||||||
POSITION | |||||||||
QB | Yds/Att | Yds/game | Yds/game | QBR | Rating | Rush Yds/Game | TD % | INT % | Total Yds/ Game |
RB | Yds/Att | Tot Yds | TD | ||||||
WR | Yds/Rec | Yds/Game | Total Yds | TD | |||||
TE | Yds/Rec | Yds/Game | Total Yds | TD | |||||
OL | Sacks Allowed | Rush Avg | |||||||
DL | Sacks | ||||||||
LB | TOT | INT | FF | Sacks | |||||
S | TOT | INT | FF | *Pro Bowlers | *All Pro | ||||
CB | TOT | INT | FF | *Pro Bowlers | *All Pro | ||||
P | Punt Avg | # In 20 | |||||||
K | FG % | ||||||||
Coach |
Pro Bowlers = # of players that made pro bowl
All Pro = # of players that made All Pro team (1st or 2nd)
* I used Pro Bowlers and All Pro Team members to obtain a better understanding for each grade. I would have used these parameters for the other positions but the stats spoke for themselves whereas the Safety and CB positions were a little bit trickier.
TABLE 3. Stats for each QB position in the Division.
COMP % | Yds/Att | Rating | QBR | Pass Yds/game | Rush Yds/Game | TD % | INT % | Total Yds/ Game | |
SF (Kaep) | 62.4 | 8.3 | 98.3 | 76.8 | 226.75 | 51.875 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 278.625 |
SEA (Wilson) | 64.1 | 7.9 | 100 | 69.6 | 194.875 | 30.5625 | 6.6 | 2.5 | 225.4375 |
STL (Bradford) | 59.5 | 6.7 | 82.6 | 51.6 | 231.375 | 7.9375 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 239.3125 |
**ARZ (all qbs) | 55.6 | 5.65 | 63.5 | 24.9 | 211.4375 | 6.9375 | 55.6 | 55.6 | 218.375 |
**The stats for ARZ were averaged amongst all QBs.
TABLE 4. Stats for each WR position in the Division. The total WR grade was determined by grading each stat and assigning 0.25 pts per rank. For instance, SEA had the highest Yds/Rec grade so they get 1 point, whereas SF was 2nd in Yds/Rec so they get 0.75 pts. and so on. In the end SEA and ARZ were tied for 2nd place but I give the nod to Fitz (subjective but he's the best WR in the division even if stats don't show it) so ARZ WRs are graded 2nd best in the division.
Yds/Rec | Yds/Game | Total Yds | TD | |
SF | 12.87135 | 137.5625 | 2201 | 14 |
SEA | 14.02158 | 121.8125 | 1949 | 18 |
STL | 12.25116 | 164.625 | 2634 | 17 |
ARZ | 10.8419 | 171.4375 | 2743 | 11 |
I understand my analysis has holes and could be better put together. But I had no idea how Sando came about his results and wanted to create my own to better understand the dynamics within the division and between positions.