I was one of the very first people to champion PFF, back when it was just a basic number counting site. But, after I saw how badly they were screwing up when they started making up ****ty formula for their 'analysis', I knew it was time to move away from it. And nothing's changed enough to bring me back. The formulae still suck, and the hype now far exceeds the value.
Hold on. So, you
were ok with PFF, but not anymore? I'm confused; am I misinterpreting or are you saying you were ok with them grading on a -2 to +2 scale? Or is the "basic number counting" you are referring to something totally different?
Anyway, they still start with the same -2 to +2 scale:
From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale and appear in our Player Grades tool.
PFF Player Grades | Pro Football Focus
I would love nothing more than to see a site actually find a way to accurately analyze football players, beyond the very basics (Boy, he did that run in x.y seconds!, He's a 100 tackle guy, etc...) via data. That has not yet happened yet.
I'd want PFF to find a way to identify the Xs and Os & tendencies in playcalling. If you are going evaluate every player on every play why not provide some info on what passing concepts are used most? Same for defensive coverage. I don't expect the exact play-call on every play, or anything impossible. But at least identify recognizable passing plays when it's there (i.e. "Spider 2 Y Banana") & what the Defense did (Cover 1); even if you can't tell, just list middle of the field open vs closed, man vs zone, or just an individual route, etc. Don't know why PFF won't do this. It would be much easier to watch the All-22 with some info.
It's recognized because it's overhyped. That makes it the Buzzfeed of NFL stat sites, but it doesn't make it worth a damn.
If there's "hype" surrounding PFF it's due to the immediate backlash it gets from fans over its evaluations/tweets. So, if there's hype; its more like controversy, because any time someone cites PFF in a discussion, any discussion, it's immediately met with the same outright dismissal (& valid criticisms) that we are currently discussing.
Also, not "worth a damn"? Really? I totally acknowledge the gaps/flaws of PFF, but you can't just dismiss having
former NFL Scouts grade each play of each game. Especially so, because you cannot use conventional stats to evaluate, say, a LT or an ILB like you can with, say, a QB or RB. So, if you want to try and rank all the players at each position; PFF is pretty much the only site that even attempts to do this. Now, back when it was some random fan (from the UK watching a TV broadcast)? Yeah, it was indeed not "worth a damn." But when former NFL Scouts grade players after watching All-22 film...then I genuinely think it shouldn't be outright dismissed. Questions/Criticism of the results? Sure. But not dismissal.
