It takes a special kind of nerd to enjoy the business and numbers side of sports, and I am that special kind of nerd. This interest, however, can cause some issues and take the romance out of the game. But first, a history lesson. The introduction of mathematics into sports isn’t anything new. We have been tracking statistics in baseball since the turn of the century. No, not this century, the 20th century.
I’ve been watching the commentary on this all week. The difference in impact on a team’s performance between the top RBs and a no-name guy with a really good O-line is nearly zero. It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s true. It’s great to have a goodRB, but it isn’t critical. There was a stat floating around about how kickers average 2.2M/year but RBs only get 1.8 on avg and how messed up that was. Well, kickers score 2-3X more points for a team than even the top RBs….and there’s a lot less of them than there are RBs. So yeah, sadly, supply & demand is still a powerful force in the universe and extending/paying a RB past age 27-29 is a bad business decision.
I’ve been watching the commentary on this all week. The difference in impact on a team’s performance between the top RBs and a no-name guy with a really good O-line is nearly zero. It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s true. It’s great to have a goodRB, but it isn’t critical. There was a stat floating around about how kickers average 2.2M/year but RBs only get 1.8 on avg and how messed up that was. Well, kickers score 2-3X more points for a team than even the top RBs….and there’s a lot less of them than there are RBs. So yeah, sadly, supply & demand is still a powerful force in the universe and extending/paying a RB past age 27-29 is a bad business decision.