Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
This same thing happens every year, though this year it seems to be happening to an even greater degree than usual. Maybe it's because with the Lockout and lack of OTA's etc people (especially the media, and ESPECIALLY the 'new media'/blogosphere etc) seem to be WAAAAAAAAY over analyzing the Preseason games this year as that is all we have. Especially vis a vis stats/scores/yardage etc, as this is how us FFLers often measure performance. Just remember this, most of that stuff doesn't matter, or maybe is 10% as important as you/we think it is. I think the lockout also whipped everyone into a frenzy over the fear of no NFL, but that doesn't mean these PS games are any more important tht the meaningless preseason games of years past.
These PS games are for the coaches to evaluate talent and various skill sets to a certain degree, but are really just a way for the NFL to glean another billion dollars or so out of the suckers/fans who are willing to pay 100 bucks to watch two disinterested team's scrubs play a game that no one really cares who wins. Offensive & Defensive coaches aren't gonna tip their hands and 'open up their playbooks', so most of the plays are of dubious importance.
There is one aspect of the PS that truly does matter, and that is evaluating how far a player has come back from an injury. As it is one of the few chances we get to see how recovered from said injury/surgery etc the player is with our own eyes. To a certain extent how the rookies perform at the 'speed of an NFL game' is important. This is especially true when evaluating a rookie who will start out of the gate a la andy dalton. But judging and drafting as if these PS games are as important say as last years games is ludicrous. The effort level of all players is less in these games, no matter what they tell you. The plays on O and D are very vanilla, and so take what you see with a grain of salt.
DO NOT massively alter your draft boards based on what stats are put up in PS. Do not draft a guy who wasn't even on your board, because he put up wild numbers in these scrimmages and conversely don't drop a guy off your boards because of how bad their stats looked in PS. History is littered with examples of the fallacy of both moves.
I'll close with this. Anyone remember the Detroit lions 0-16 season? They went 4-0 in the preseason. Relax people, football will be here soon enough, but don't take ESPN's 'hype bait' and get too worried about the fact that Michael Vick threw three int's in a meaningless preseason game.
These PS games are for the coaches to evaluate talent and various skill sets to a certain degree, but are really just a way for the NFL to glean another billion dollars or so out of the suckers/fans who are willing to pay 100 bucks to watch two disinterested team's scrubs play a game that no one really cares who wins. Offensive & Defensive coaches aren't gonna tip their hands and 'open up their playbooks', so most of the plays are of dubious importance.
There is one aspect of the PS that truly does matter, and that is evaluating how far a player has come back from an injury. As it is one of the few chances we get to see how recovered from said injury/surgery etc the player is with our own eyes. To a certain extent how the rookies perform at the 'speed of an NFL game' is important. This is especially true when evaluating a rookie who will start out of the gate a la andy dalton. But judging and drafting as if these PS games are as important say as last years games is ludicrous. The effort level of all players is less in these games, no matter what they tell you. The plays on O and D are very vanilla, and so take what you see with a grain of salt.
DO NOT massively alter your draft boards based on what stats are put up in PS. Do not draft a guy who wasn't even on your board, because he put up wild numbers in these scrimmages and conversely don't drop a guy off your boards because of how bad their stats looked in PS. History is littered with examples of the fallacy of both moves.
I'll close with this. Anyone remember the Detroit lions 0-16 season? They went 4-0 in the preseason. Relax people, football will be here soon enough, but don't take ESPN's 'hype bait' and get too worried about the fact that Michael Vick threw three int's in a meaningless preseason game.
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Foster was a known steal from the year before. It had next to nothing to do with PS (save that Tate went down w/ an injury then IIRC) He was being hyped like mad around here all summer 2010 (ie b4 preseason)For every Terrell Davis who shines in PS and comes out of nowhere there are 40 scrubs who disappear after PS is over.
