Count Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman among those NFL players who don’t care too much about the analytics discussion from outsiders.
Norman was recently asked about analytics and fired off some comments about how he’s viewed and what places like Pro Football Focus provide, per Ben Standig of The Athletic
I know I’m not, but to the outside eye, yeah, for sure. It’s almost like I’m forgotten. When you bring me up, it’s a hot take. With a hot take, you can get so many different variations of who I am. It’s always the hating ones that come out. ‘Oh, yeah. He doesn’t have this. He don’t have that. His PFF number. Like, who the heck is Pro Football Focus? When have they become part of the team where they know the coverages, are in the meetings?
Norman is far from alone in his views here, at least in terms of how NFL players view these sorts of things. And some of his points ring true, especially pertaining to outsiders being unable to 100 percent understand the intricacies of player assignments and schemes.
But at the same time, most of those involved in sending out these analytical deep dives are very open about the gap Norman mentions. The healthy balance is somewhere in the middle, where fans understand advanced metrics aren’t 100 percent of the equation, but serve as a quality resource.
