Stat Analysis

The Ohio State Buckeyes have one of the most talented rosters in college football. Their opponents, however, do not. Guest columnist Akshay Ramprakash looks at the caliber of athlete at every school to see which teams are heavyweights and which are punching bags.

Drew Brees needs 201 passing yards to surpass Peyton Manning as the NFL's new passing king. How long can his reign last, and who are the top challengers to the record?

Is it possible to use player, coach, and stadium data to perfectly predict player injuries in the NFL? No -- but analyzing all three at once can show some surprising trends, including that the Eagles (Carson Wentz aside) seem to be ahead of the curve in keeping their players healthy.

Carson Wentz may not be ready for Week 1 after tearing his ACL in Week 14 last year. We look through our injury database to see just what a reasonable timetable of return is for one of the game's most serious injuries. Also: how have the other 2017 starters with torn ACLs been used this preseason?

In the second part of his look at scrambling quarterbacks, guest columnist Keegan Abdoo shows how Lamar Jackson and similar mobile quarterbacks can limit the playbooks of opposing defensive coordinators.

What kind of impact does a running quarterback like Lamar Jackson have, and how does that change between NCAA and NFL football? Guest columnist Keegan Abdoo starts to answer those questions by looking at what coverage schemes are most vulnerable to scrambles in college and the pros.

On which route did Jalen Ramsey make quarterbacks look trashiest? How good were the Super Bowl champion Eagles? Also: major déjà vu for New England, and a look at the trade-off between touchdowns and interceptions for each route.

Why isn't there more route variation for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay? Was Eli Manning still washed up on the most common routes in 2017? And we offer solutions for Jameis Winston's vertical woes and the right kind of fade for Derek Carr.

Our intro to DVOA by routes focuses on receivers. Which wideout was the best at the game's two most common routes? Also: an argument in favor of the fade, how the Dolphins should replace Jarvis Landry's screens, and T.Y. Hilton's wacky 2017.

A question from a reader has us diving into week-by-week DVOA splits, looking at how both run and pass defense change over the course of the year. Is wear and tear to blame for defensive declines, or does Old Man Winter have something to say?