The formula:
We will be wathcing a player and giving them a grade on every play where they have either a positive or a negative impact on the outcome.
The grade scale will be as follows:
+2 (for exceptional plays): [ex. the player made a game changing play to help his team]
+1 (for a good play) [ex. a player helped his team advance the ball at least five yards, prevented a gain on defense]
0 (standard play or the player had no impact on the outcome) [ex. a quarterback hands the ball off]
-1 (the player made a mistake that prevented his team from suceeding but the damage was minimal) [ex. allowed a sack on a blitz, made a bad pass but the defense dropped it]
-2 (the player made a horrible decision or play that really cost his team) [ex. a pick 6, a quarterback runs OB and sacks himself, a player drops a very easy pass]
Now here are some examples to help you better understand how to grade.
– A quarterback drops back and throws a nice first down pass (Grade +1)
– A quarterback throws a two yard screen pass that the running back runs for thirty yards (Grade for the quaretrback is a 0 but for the running back +2). The reason is that the quarterback made a routine play and the running back was the reason the ball was advanced.
– an offensive lineman misses his man which casues his quarterback to be sacked (-1) but if the ball was fumbled or the quarterback was hurt (-2).
– an outside linebacker makes a sack (+1)
I think you get the idea. Now obviously you have to use some judgment because the outcome of a football play is not always black and white. You have to ask yourself why that happened? Was the player I am watching really involved? And what was the result of their effort?
Is this formula a perfect grading scale for rating prospects? Absolutely not! It should be used for us as fans to help us to watch a player more closely then we would have otherwise.
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