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Advanced Statistics and Giants Pass Protection

by Rich Resch on June 14th, 2011 at 10:30 am

Yesterday, I discussed a Pro Football Focus study concluding that the Giants were the best team in terms of avoiding sacks.  Today, I am examining a couple of their other studies that deal with the Giants’ offensive line protection.

Pro Football Focus recently conducted a study to rank every team in terms of pass protection.

We considered who gave up the most pressure on a per play basis, how much of that pressure turned into sacks, and how many blockers teams kept in.

Using this guideline, PFF concluded that the Giants had the sixth best pass protection in the NFL in 2010.

The Giants recognized they had one pretty big weakness in David Diehl, and opted to leave guys into limit the damage. The tight ends and additional linemen they used went some way towards negating Diehl’s -19.8 pass blocking grade. Special mentions also to Ahmad Bradshaw, who finished the year as our highest-rated pass blocking back. Meanwhile, Eli Manning was the only guy to allow a lesser percentage of pressure to turn into sacks than his brother. Something in the DNA?

You’ll notice that PFF rates David Diehl as a liability. In a more in-depth study, PFF sought to determine the top 15 left and right tackles in the NFL.

Our grading has seen plays where hits and hurries are given up, valued at roughly three quarters the worth of a sack. So our formula includes a pretty basic weighting that correlates. Sacks added to three quarters of Hits and Hurries, divided by the amount of snaps in pass protection multiplied by a 100.

Using this formula, PFF concluded that the top left tackle is Jake Long of the Dolphins, while the top right tackle is Sean Locklear of the Seahawks.

Interestingly, Kareem McKenzie ranks as the second best right tackle in the NFL. He is behind the #1 slot by a significant margin, but there is also a healthy gap between him and the #3 right tackle Eric Winston of the Texans.

As for left tackle, only two players (Brandyn Dombrowski of the Chargers and Levi Brown of the Cardinals) rank lower than David Diehl among NFL starters.

Obviously, one can question how much stock they would like to put into this study. I’m a big fan of advanced statistics in Major League Baseball, but I’m not sure how much merit there is in these advanced football statistics.

Still, it would be foolish to simply write off these studies simply because they are hard to understand or rely too much on statistics.  Stats don’t always tell the whole story, but they shouldn’t be ignored.

So while I wouldn’t recommend taking these statistics as the gospel, I would suggest keeping an open mind.

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About Rich Resch

Rich is a graduate of University of Maryland and is currently the senior editor of Giants Football Blog. He is a former contributor to Hot Foot Blog, and a former featured columnist on Bleacher Report. Hear him live on "Giants Rush," Wednesday nights at 9 on Blog Talk Radio. Follow him @RichResch View all posts by Rich Resch →
  • Anonymous

    Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that that LT is a huge issue for the giants. u00a0David was a door mat all year and the fact that they addressed this issue so late is absurd. u00a0Second, I would have liked them to add into the equation hurries and pressure causing interceptions and tip passes. u00a0I think they would find that the giants offensive line was worse than they previously ranked. u00a0I believe QB get a little bit too much blame for tipped passes and interceptions. u00a0Sure its the QBs job to throw it away and make good judgements but it also the Olines job to give him time to do that. u00a0In this study they dont seem to take into consideration QB mobility in the pocket. u00a0In other words teams with extremely good pocket QBs have an advantage. u00a0ELi is one of the best Qbs in avoiding sacks but horrible when he is rushed. u00a0How many sacks a line gives up does not tell the story given the giants threw over 25 interceptions. u00a0

  • Anonymous

    Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that that LT is a huge issue for the giants. u00a0David was a door mat all year and the fact that they addressed this issue so late is absurd. u00a0Second, I would have liked them to add into the equation hurries and pressure causing interceptions and tip passes. u00a0I think they would find that the giants offensive line was worse than they previously ranked. u00a0I believe QB get a little bit too much blame for tipped passes and interceptions. u00a0Sure its the QBs job to throw it away and make good judgements but it also the Olines job to give him time to do that. u00a0In this study they dont seem to take into consideration QB mobility in the pocket. u00a0In other words teams with extremely good pocket QBs have an advantage. u00a0ELi is one of the best Qbs in avoiding sacks but horrible when he is rushed. u00a0How many sacks a line gives up does not tell the story given the giants threw over 25 interceptions. u00a0

    • Mickster

      That’s because when the pressure gets close, Eli throws it . . . anywhere and everywhere. u00a0He doesn’t want to get himself hurt, so he gets rid of it. u00a0Protecting himself is more important than anything to him. u00a0He throws off his back foot constantly, instead of stepping INTO the throw. u00a0Now that he’s a family man, coming home in one piece is clearly more important than punching into the end zone. u00a0If it continues, I say our 1st round pick next year should be a QB. u00a0Maybe THEN Eli will think about adjusting his priorities.nnThough I love the guy, Diehl is a guard that’s been playing out of position for some time now. u00a0We got away with it for a while, and we’re now waiting for Beatty to one day step up. u00a0Anytime now, William!!nnAny comments Jay, about Bradshaw’s blocking? u00a0What, no mention of BJ?

      • Anonymous

        First, your making my point the Oline has been bailed out time and time again because of ELIs insistency on never getting hit.u00a0 If he had I think this line would be ranked a lot lower.u00a0 Second, bradshaw being a top blocker only proves my point further that these statisics are flawed.u00a0 Bradshaw is not a great blocks is he good and throwing himself at peoples knees sure but I watched the games that was his go to move all the time.u00a0 Jacobs is better blocker and the fact that he is not on this list I can only he played a hell of a lot less snaps than Bradshaw.u00a0

        • Mickster

          I wasn’t disagreeing with you regarding the line.u00a0 If Beatty doesn’t make it THIS year at LT he never will, and you’ll have the last “told you so” regarding Reese NOT selecting Castonzo.u00a0 nnEli now thinks he’s a Tiffany Lamp.nnAs for the backs, I was ribbing you.u00a0 I agree that Jacobs IS a better blocker than Bradshaw, but I don’t know any other 198 lb. back that blocks like Ahmad does.u00a0 I give Coughlin credit, his guys always do a good job of teaching the skill position players how to be effective blockers.u00a0 It’s been a staple of Giants football as long as he’s been here.

  • Cobalt2323

    When there is no football…guys sit around in a room and make up more crap for us to argue over.u00a0 It’s a joke.nnEli Manning was the least sacked QB in the NFL with 16 starts.u00a0 Diehl has trouble with speed rushers…so does McKenzie.u00a0u00a0 I remember Freeney & Mathias eating the boys for lunch.u00a0 nnThen you guy want to draft a QB…to force ELI to change his game.nnSeriously guys.u00a0 He will break all of Simms records when all is said and done.nnThere are only 3 active QB’s in the NFL that have thrown for over 3000 yards & 20 TD’s SIX years in a row.u00a0 Peyton, Brees & Eli.nnGet a real Offensive Coordinator…and we will get to stop talking about these useless stats and fix Eli ideas.u00a0

    • Mickster

      Cobalt,nThose were MY words you twisted into a corkscrew.u00a0 Sorry, but I want more from Eli.u00a0 He’s capable of it.u00a0 His stats may be getting better, but his clutch performances aren’t what they were in seasons past.u00a0 I suppose you LIKED him when he crumbled to the ground like a shot deer and fumbled the ball against the Eagles last year WITHOUT being tackled?u00a0 Or was your favorite the INT he flicked toward the goal line in heavy traffic against the Titans?u00a0 He’s making some bonehead decisions under duress.u00a0 I think he’s afraid to get hit.u00a0 He needs to re-grow a set.nnAt least someone’s saying SOMETHING on this blogsite now.