DraftBoy
09-13-2016, 06:26 AM
I recently posted in another thread that I had become somewhat uncomfortable with PFF's scores because they seemed too subjective. I thought about it somewhat and the only way to fairly evaluate that statement is to review them and compare them (if possible to other scoring sites). The only other site assigning individual player grades that I'm aware of is Buffalo Rumblings, but if somebody knows of another, please let me know.
Also please note that I don't pay for PFF's advanced stats, so I can only see the Top 5 players by grade for Offense and Defense each week.
Before I dive in, I would just like to everybody know that there is not an even comparison because the scales are somewhat different. PFF grades on a scale of 1-100 where as Buffalo Rumblings (BR) is doing -1 to +1 (kinda).
The details of their scoring are in the links below:
PFF - https://www.profootballfocus.com/about/how-we-grade/
BR - http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2016/9/8/12846794/buffalo-bills-grades-rumblings-bills-grades-the-intro
For PFF the scoring is similar to how the grades go in school with 70-79 being average, whereas with BR the average is 0.0.
PFF Week 1 Scores - https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-buf-bal-grades/
BR Week 1 Scores - http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2016/9/12/12890658/bills-ravens-tyrod-taylor-sammy-watkins-grades-rumblings-week-1
PFF Top 5 Offensive Players (BR Grade) -
TE Clay - 79.2 (+1.0)
OT Mills - 76.1 (+0.2)
WR Watkins - 76.0 (+1.0)
OT Glenn - 72.3 (+1.0)
QB Taylor - 71.2 (-0.6)
The two sites seem to agree on the play of Clay, Watkins, and Glenn offensively, but differ greatly on the play of Mills and Taylor. In fairness to PFF they gave Taylor a QB grade of 57.2 but I'm not sure how he got from there to a 71.2 overall. BR had higher scores for both WR Woods +1.2 and OG Miller +1.2.
PFF Top 5 Defensive Players (BR Grade) -
LB P. Brown 84.8 (+1.6)
LB Alexander 81.3 (+0.8)
CB Gilmore 79.7 (+0.4)
DL K. Williams 79.3 (+0.8)
DB Graham 78.3 (+0.6)
Again the sites seem to agree on Brown, Alexander, Williams, and Graham. But they differ on Gilmore and BR had Jerry Hughes as the Bills best defender with a score of +2.4.
As you can see from above there can be a lot of subjectivity based on what the person doing the review is looking for and utilizing the score. I'm not quite sure why PFF rated Hughes so low, or Taylor so high. Similarly I'm not entirely sure why Woods got a high grade from BR.
Just food for thought.
Also please note that I don't pay for PFF's advanced stats, so I can only see the Top 5 players by grade for Offense and Defense each week.
Before I dive in, I would just like to everybody know that there is not an even comparison because the scales are somewhat different. PFF grades on a scale of 1-100 where as Buffalo Rumblings (BR) is doing -1 to +1 (kinda).
The details of their scoring are in the links below:
PFF - https://www.profootballfocus.com/about/how-we-grade/
BR - http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2016/9/8/12846794/buffalo-bills-grades-rumblings-bills-grades-the-intro
For PFF the scoring is similar to how the grades go in school with 70-79 being average, whereas with BR the average is 0.0.
PFF Week 1 Scores - https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-buf-bal-grades/
BR Week 1 Scores - http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2016/9/12/12890658/bills-ravens-tyrod-taylor-sammy-watkins-grades-rumblings-week-1
PFF Top 5 Offensive Players (BR Grade) -
TE Clay - 79.2 (+1.0)
OT Mills - 76.1 (+0.2)
WR Watkins - 76.0 (+1.0)
OT Glenn - 72.3 (+1.0)
QB Taylor - 71.2 (-0.6)
The two sites seem to agree on the play of Clay, Watkins, and Glenn offensively, but differ greatly on the play of Mills and Taylor. In fairness to PFF they gave Taylor a QB grade of 57.2 but I'm not sure how he got from there to a 71.2 overall. BR had higher scores for both WR Woods +1.2 and OG Miller +1.2.
PFF Top 5 Defensive Players (BR Grade) -
LB P. Brown 84.8 (+1.6)
LB Alexander 81.3 (+0.8)
CB Gilmore 79.7 (+0.4)
DL K. Williams 79.3 (+0.8)
DB Graham 78.3 (+0.6)
Again the sites seem to agree on Brown, Alexander, Williams, and Graham. But they differ on Gilmore and BR had Jerry Hughes as the Bills best defender with a score of +2.4.
As you can see from above there can be a lot of subjectivity based on what the person doing the review is looking for and utilizing the score. I'm not quite sure why PFF rated Hughes so low, or Taylor so high. Similarly I'm not entirely sure why Woods got a high grade from BR.
Just food for thought.