Good morning.
ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com collaborated to rate 122 teams in the four major sports on the strength of each franchise’s analytics staff, its buy in from executives and coaches, its investment in biometric data and how much its approach predicated on analytics.
Not surprisingly, the San Diego Chargers finishing in the bottom 10 among pro sports teams in these rankings. Chargers head coach Mike McCoy expressed his thoughts on analytics last season when asked how it affected whether or not he decides to go for it on fourth down.
“I’m going to go with my gut decision on those things,” McCoy said. “No one on a piece of paper can tell me this is the right thing or the wrong thing to do. What if on the first play there’s a fumbled snap? So you can’t tell me on a piece of a paper it says ‘fumbled snap,’ or ‘incomplete pass’ or ‘illegal contact’ -- things like that you can’t put on paper.
“It’s all about what you think is best, and what you think is best for your team at that time.”
Also, general manager Tom Telesco cut his teeth in the NFL under former longtime general manager Bill Polian, who is not a believer in analytics. However, one area the Chargers will use analytics as a predictor of success is in the draft, taking a close look at medical history and measurables in the evaluation process to help determine if a player will be successful at the next level.
ESPN NFL Insider Kevin Seifert talks about why NFL teams have been slow to embrace analytics in this video.
In this ESPN Insider piece, Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders identifies three sleeper running back prospects in this year’s draft based on speed score results from this year’s scouting combine.
Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated breaks down whether Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon is Round 1 material. Bedard does not believe Gordon’s receiving and pass-blocking skills are good enough to warrant a first-round grade.
In this video, Jordan Beane of Chargers.com talks with LaDainian Tomlinson before he’s inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions Breitbard Hall of Fame.
Kevin Connaghan of Pro Football Focus ranks Brandon Flowers as the top cornerback in this year’s free agent class.
Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego writes that Chargers stadium point man Mark Fabiani deserves credit for speeding up the process in San Diego.
Scott Kaplan of The Mighty 1090 AM radio says he’s not buying the Chargers partnering with the Oakland Raiders on a new stadium in Carson, California.
Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego says that the Chargers need to get more physical in the offensive and defensive lines.
Steve Hartman, Mike Costa and Judson Richards of Xtra 1360 Fox Sports Radio talk with former Raiders CEO Amy Trask about the Chargers’ stadium issue in this audio link.
