Comments for Three's A Pattern

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Big D

Big D — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:48:43 +0000

What’s not takin into account is how much credit Tebow got for the work that the rest of his team (receivers and rb’s) did. Getting the ball down to the 1 and Tebow rushing it in. Of his 56 rushing TD’s 17 are 1 yrd runs…17! And 16 are within 2-3 yrds… 16! That’s 59% (33) of his rushing TD’s. Talk about blouted rushing stats.

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Griffin

Griffin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:48:15 +0000

Guys, again, this wasn’t meant to be a “who’s better Tebow or Walker?” post. It’s just done to point out that a “season” and a “season” are relative terms and not absolute.

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by JimBeam

JimBeam — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:32:05 +0000

Mike O, did Walker ever have to worry about getting sacked ?

Sure he probably took a few hits behind the line of scrimmage but Tebow, when dropping back to pass, could lose as many as 10 yards or more.

You can’t use games played as the comparison you have to use attempts as it’s the only thing even closely relative despite it’s differences.

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by C

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:05:37 +0000

Also, besides that stats, you cannot discount the fact that Tebow had to do more than just run. When Walker go the ball he could just focus on running, when Tebow gets the ball he has to read coverages, check down recievers and then make a decision all within seconds…Walker just has to choose the right gap and let his athletic ability take over. Walker was an amazing RB. But what Tebow was able to do as a QB will change college football forever. Defintely put Tebow amongst the greats of all time, along with Walker. But you cant compare apples to oranges…way to many free variables…

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Griffin

Griffin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:27:50 +0000

Lavril,

Tebow is a great player, no one is questioning that. But you cannot discount the sheer number of games he’s played in relation to HW. Projecting stats is fun, but in the end, meaningless. However, their averages are not a fantasy.

Also, that’s not what normalization would be. In this case, normalizing would include some sort of error removal. Since this isn’t a random sampling of data, normalizing it wouldn’t work.

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Lavril

Lavril — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:54:38 +0000

Commenting on just your statistical analysis. It is always interesting to “project” what players “would’ have done to what someone actually DID. I didn’t see anywhere in your projections Herschel being injured and not scoring another TD in his career in his imaginary forth year. Just ask Bradford, Best, and numerous others how easy it is to not fulfill what others “project” a player to do. I think the only fair comparison of any athletic endeavor is what happens on the field and not in the fantasy of the statistician. If you want to partake in that, start a “what if” record book…I am sure the records there would be utterly fantastic. What if for example, you did a statistical analysis of the size and speed of the defensive players each actually played against? The offensive lines they ran behind? This is a team sport remember… Can you project Herschel scoring against the “average” 2009 athlete? Tebow against the “average” 1983 athlete? You certainly must do that to “normalize” your statistics. How about in the end, we just list their accomplishments as they occur and not worry about who is “better” among greats? Or for that matter what a “season” is…

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Lavril

Lavril — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:23:54 +0000

Oh did you notice while you were busy comparing him to one of the best all-time running backs ever in football…he just tied super bowl mvp Eli Manning for touchdown passes in a career as well …and he isn’t finished..lol How many touchdown passes did Herschel throw?? How many running TDs. did Manning have.. The point is…Tebow is just a scoring freak and although you can compare parts of his game to many others, no one compares to him as a whole, period. Let’s sit back and see if he can win his 3rd national title in his 4 years. He is on course. And even if he never plays a down in the NFL because of his “uniqueness”, his college career is without a doubt among the top few finest ever.

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Griffin

Griffin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:53:58 +0000

Thanks Mike. I tend to agree with what you said. I’m not from GA or FL ( not even from the south ) so this isn’t mean to rail for or against one player. Both players are freakishly athletic. The point of the article ( indeed of the blog too ) is to point out that sometimes a “season” isn’t a “season”.

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by mike o.

mike o. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:40:51 +0000

The sharing the rock is important. Tebow can throw the ball away or to another player. This allows him to avoid losses and keeps the defense guessing. As a defender I must wait to see and then react. This gives tebow a clear advantage. Walker on the other hand didn’t have such an advantage. Everyone in the state of GA knew he was going to get the ball and he still could not be stopped. If you could add tebows check downs and throw aways to his attempts then you would see that what walker did is much superior. One more way to know is look at the highlights of walker and tebow. Walker could take it to the house from any spot on the field. Tebow is a very unusual player. A TV person said it best he may be the only player in history that could playaction to himself. That alone would freeze the defense. If we are using what ifs then ask this question, take away the pass threat of tebow and put him at tailback,let everyone one on the defense know he is going to run the ball. Then see what his yardage would be? The same could be said for walker give him the modern spread, line him up in the shotgun with the pass or run option and see what his yardage would be. I am from GA and had the pleasure of see walker run track in HS. So I will say I am a little biased, but walker and tebow are both great but walker is in a class of running backs like no other. FL will have the same problem as GA, everyplayer that come the fan will be looking for the next tebow. GA has been looking for years. These two have set the bar so high that we may not see another set of players like them.
Keep it up I like the discussion

Comment on Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow and Context by Griffin

Griffin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:26:43 +0000

TDs / attempt is another good stat. However, Tewbows number was called a lot in short yardage situations, despite sharing the rock. That’s why I mentioned that the short yardage stats would be pretty telling. I have a feeling Tebow got a lot of gimme tds, which would explain his high TD / attempt ratio.