Retired NFL star JJ Watt has criticized Pro Football Focus (PFF) for its grading system, stating that there's a stark contrast between PFF grades and those given by coaches, which he has witnessed firsthand. Watt's comments have sparked a debate among football analysts about the accuracy and value of PFF's grading scale and its advanced stats like PRP and elusive rating. While some defend PFF's methodology, others highlight inconsistencies, especially with offensive line and defensive back evaluations. The debate also touches on PFF's public tone, which has been described as 'high and mighty' and could contribute to the dismissal of their work. Analysts argue that while PFF can be a resource, it shouldn't solely define a player's capabilities. Watt's strong stance against PFF's system, which he calls 'terrible', has been echoed by others in the sports community, with some calling out PFF for being hypocritical in their approach to player evaluations.
Retired NFL star JJ Watt rips PFF's popular grading style: 'The system is terrible' https://t.co/SCOReWKK3Z
J.J. Watt rips ‘high and mighty’ Pro Football Focus: ‘They speak like they know everything that there is to know about football’ https://t.co/izLVrT60ZI https://t.co/Xc7MsKGYCl
Whether you like PFF or not, majority of criticisms I see about them indicate people have no idea what they actually do and what their objective is. Definitely good to question how well they do it and if it's applicable to certain things based on that objective, especially if…
Sam- Understand this: There’s still a @JJWatt and NFL without PFF. There’s no @PFF without people like JJ, other players and the league. Stand down. And appreciate you’re able to catch a check as an offshoot to him. You ain’t it, players are. https://t.co/no1SlikPDz
Preach @PatMcAfeeShow 🗣️ Need more folks taking @DariusJButler stance that PFF can be a resource but shouldn't define any player. Can't wait to hear @aqshipley on the OL stuff. https://t.co/kVGnkcUMmw
🗣️It’s impossible to grade players perfectly but PFF is excellent at it and that’s been proven time and time again, including highly graded players getting paid and poorly graded players getting benched/busting.
Last thing I'll say on this: I have immense respect for @JJWatt the player - an All-Time great, and the person. He's done some great things. But he's being a hypocrite. He's complaining PFF talks shit about players & PFF doesn't know what they're talking about. While he talks… https://t.co/Idwxu0CncO
I only use PFF grades or passer rating or QBR or EPA or CPOE when it supports my personal agenda. Otherwise, the stat is stupid and you should probably just watch more ball.
PFF and the analytics community in general would do well to listen to what @JJWatt is saying here about their public tone. There's so much good work being done that gets dismissed or ignored because of the way its presented as some stone tablet from God himself. https://t.co/IiBZIyeth7
This happened more than a few times with @nickfalato and me when we did our tape eval of the #Giants with specifically off grades re: individual OL and DBs for whatever reason. I like PFF for its advanced stats — PRP, elusive rating, etc etc but the 0-100 scale is nonsense to me. https://t.co/nhUyY4QzkT
"I've literally sat in a meeting room with coaches and put the grades side by side.. A coaches grade and a PFF grade and they're not even close" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive https://t.co/NzqZy5JObb