There are so many ways to look at and evaluate professional football. Pro Football Focus does grades, FTN’s DVOA gives some distinct data points, EPA gives a big picture number and things like RAS scores
tell you how athletic a player is. Others just look at box scores and who won to calculate backward what was good or bad (outcome-oriented evaluation).
There is nothing like just watching football.
Watching the Cleveland Browns in Week 10, fans knew a few things:
- Bubba Ventrone probably should be fired
- Shedeur Sanders should get a chance over Dillon Gabriel
- HC Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry should be on the hot seats
- The Browns offense is not only not good but also unenjoyable to watch in almost any way
Yet, despite that, we got news on Tuesday morning that Gabriel is up for the AFC Rookie of the Week Award:
If you just look at the box score, it is still amazing that Gabriel is nominated: 17 for 32 for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Having two scores and zero interceptions isn’t a bad thing, but even PFF gave him just a 63.5 grade.
The film might have been worse with a few throws lowlighted here:
Given his competition, Gabriel seems unlikely to come away with the award:
However, it is a fan vote that decides who wins. Given how Browns fans got Peyton Hillis on the Madden cover a few years ago, it would not be surprising if Gabriel has a much better chance than his performance indicates.
We told you that you’d never guess this news (unless you had seen it elsewhere already).
