I see what your doing but it's just impossible to gauge the importance of any one player unless they are truly spectacular. I don't quite know at dobbs is at that level. Qd has looked amazing in limited action. It's very possible that he could be the better overall player. However what we need most is continuity.
I hope dobbs has an amazing year. If that happens...Tennessee will have an amazing year. We deserve it!
There are actually formulae that try to do this. Billy Beane and his Harvard buddy, Paul DePodesta, famously brought such formulae to major league baseball (building on the genius of guys like sabermetrics creator Bill James). That's what the book and movie
Moneyball were all about.
Do the football-specific formulae work? They don't seem to, at least not as well. And that's because football is such an extreme example of a team sport.
I mean, think about it: a baseball game could conceivably be won by a single player. The pitcher could conceivably throw a truly perfect game (27 strikes, no balls, no bat connecting with any ball), and that same pitcher could go to the plate and hit a game-winning 1-run homer. The other 8 players could all take the night off (well, minus the catcher having to be there just to receive the pitches).
Not only that, but every time the ball goes into play in baseball, every action on the field is a discrete act by a single player. Did the fielder catch the ball? How well did he throw it to base? Did the base player field the throw well? And so on. At any given time, generally only one player is handling the ball or even in the vicinity of it. Not much of a TEAM sport if one member of the team could single-handedly win (or lose) the whole match.
Contrast that with football. Five linemen act as a unit, sharing blocks and synchronizing movements. Defensive linemen are stunting off each other, as well. The center, QB, RB and/or receiver are all shifting the ball around, often two of them in contact with each other and the ball simultaneously. Defenders are making decisions not only based on what the other team does, but also on what they see of their own teammates' successes or failures.
HUGELY team-oriented sport. As far beyond baseball as baseball is beyond doubles tennis.
So I'm kind of with you: I don't think you can isolate percentages on individual players as I indicated. Not even if they ARE spectacular. It's far too much a team sport.
I never really meant to say that hard numbers could be assigned. I only meant to underscore that the difference between the most important and the least important player on the field is relatively small. It's about the team, not any one guy. Not even the QB.
That's all I meant to imply. I agree with your response. :hi:
