Wisconsin Football: Pro Football Focus Loves the Badgers
Pro Football Focus places four former Wisconsin Football players on its Top 50
The advanced statistics revolution across all sports changed how personnel folks evaluate players and how fans assess sports reality and fantasy sports. One of the leading football advanced metrics groups is Pro Football Focus (PFF).
PFF recently unveiled its Top 50 list for the 2017 NFL season and Wisconsin Football was well represented. In fact, Wisconsin Football claimed four of the 50 spots which means according to PFF, Wisconsin Football can lay claim eight percent of the best NFL players.
According to PFF, Wisconsin Football players are slotted at 27th (Joe Thomas), 26th (Russell Wilson), 16th (Travis Frederic), and 2nd (J.J. Watt).
Insert this somewhere in your recruiting sales pitch for Wisconsin Football.
Next: Wisconsin Football Interview with 2018 Commit Reggie Pearson
"For a decade, Thomas has been the benchmark for pass-blocking excellence at left tackle in the NFL…Thomas played in all 1,030 snaps for the Browns last season and went all season without a bad game…"
"Wilson has been under pressure on more than 40 percent of his dropbacks in each of the past four seasons, and despite that he had an adjusted completion percentage of 72.0 (second in the league) and passer rating of 85.8 (fourth) this past year."
"What is most impressive about Frederick is his consistency regardless of opponent…Frederick now hasn’t allowed a sack in two years of play and just one in the past three seasons combined."
"He has notched 440 total pressures over his NFL career and 319 defensive stops, and has the PFF record for total pressures over a season, with a ludicrous 119 in 2014."
Watt himself doesn’t always show much appreciation for these lists. For example, the NFL Network list of the Top 100 players from 2017. Watt quite correctly drowned the list in ice cold water all over the NFL Network list.
I played 3 games... this list is a joke. https://t.co/KnKDX1p816
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) June 6, 2017
A healthy enough Watt is a lock to rate high on the PFF list. His brother T.J. could find a way onto PFF’s Top 50 with a productive pass rushing season in Pittsburgh. I’d be surprised to see Ryan Ramcyzk on the 2018 Top 50 even if given a starting spot in New Orleans this year.
The other guy who is certainly Top 50 in my heart, if not the PFF list, is Wisconsin Football’s Melvin Gordon. Gordon had 997 yards on 254 carries (3.9 Per Carry average) and 10 TDs. Gordon missed the three games to injury last season. Those numbers would grow to 1,227 yards on 312 carries and 12 TDs. Gordon will have to make another leap akin to one from a disappointing rookie year to his breakout sophomore year to crack the PFF Top 50.
Ezekiel Elliott is #45 on the list and he posted 1,631 yards on 322 carries,(5.1 average), and 15 TDs. That’s a lot of carries for any RB, especially a rookie. Dallas may look to dial back Elliott’s workload this year. Gordon won’t have Frederick and the Dallas OL to run behind but the Chargers did add a pair of elite OG in the NFL Draft and a late round OT.
Next: Wisconsin Football uses June to Bolster Class of 2018
The blessing and the curse of advanced statistics is that its never been easier to justify any possible perspective. Some valid criticisms I’ve read of PFF and Football Outsiders is that they don’t know the specific scheme or assignments when grading a player. That doesn’t make me want to dismiss them outright however. However, I still like leaning on the advanced statistics types because I need something more illustrative to evaluate a pass rusher beyond his sack totals or a defensive back via interceptions.
Whatever your preferred statistical usage, it’s fair to conclude that Wisconsin Football has made his mark among the elite in the NFL.