Why is that the interception number is always the main statistic looked at
to measure performance?
I mean, I think its one of the more misleading stats used to measure how
good a corner back is. One year a corner back can get 6 interceptions and have 2 the
next...but does that indicate he had a down year?
Let's take a look at Richard Sherman for instance:
2013: 8 Interceptions
2014: 4 Interceptions
2015: 2 Interceptions
[Per NFL.com]
Richard Sherman has managed to grab half of the interceptions subsequent to the year prior, however, every football fan knows that this is in no way indicative of a regression. 2 weeks ago against the Jets, Sherman managed to pick off the Jets (guarding Brandon Marshall) 2 times. Just because Sherman didn't grab as many interceptions in 2015 as years prior, doesn't mean he had a down year. I think it's also ridiculous to expect your corner back to consistently have high interception numbers year in and year out; what if he doesn't get thrown to a lot? or what if the smarter move on a particular play was to bat it down opposed to making a catch on it?
This leads to my recommendation of which statistics should be considered when truly evaluating a corner back's performance for the NFL Season. I believe the Pass Deflection number should be weighed more. Also, the number of times a QB has thrown in the direction of that corner back should be reviewed against the number of passes thrown within the game. I think these stats are important because there might be instances where a corner back may not have had as many pass deflections due to a low number of passes thrown his way OR because the ball thrown into his direction was out of reach in order for him to make a play on the ball. With that being said, maybe ESPN can create some sort of metric measuring the amount of playable passes thrown in the corner back's direction.
Don't get me wrong, there are a number of ways to skew any type of statistics. But I believe that pass deflections, # of balls thrown to, and the interception stat should be reviewed in conjunction when measuring the performance of a particular Corner back. Maybe these sports analysts can create some sort of metric measuring how many throws were playable out of the number of balls that were thrown in their direction.
All in all, I just think as sports fan we need to approach our review of certain stats with a "outside the box" methodology. Again, many may think my impression of the interception stat is stupid. Some might even have other recommendations... well let me know what they are.
Thanks for reading The Word Around Town ... Sports Talk, for the Average Joe.
- HP
