SI Coordinated Against Tebow?
For those that missed our Twitter feed this morning, SI’s Stewart Mandel called this morning’s Toby Gerhart teaser (“Gerhart – 31st in yards per carry. Lost 4 to teams that lost 17. Heisman…really?”) a “smear campaign”. I took it as a teasing nudge (and still do) from a writer that happens to be one of my favorites in the business. His college football articles are part of the few “must reads” every week for me. His writing is unbiased and almost always “dead on”. And I (as a tiny flea speck of an amateur) was thrilled to even be noticed.
This afternoon I noticed SI’s cover. Pro Gerhart lead with an anti-Tebow follow (Why Tebow Shouldn’t Get the 2009 Heisman). Then there’s the Dan Patrick Show (an SI property) this week. Segments include Gerhart and McCoy themselves – and Gary Danielson dismissing Tebow.
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First, I understand that Mandel couldn’t have known anything about this. I’m certain he has zero web placement or editorial control. However, it does make me wonder whether SI is not-so-subtly pushing a candidate.
I make no bones that I am pro-Tebow…I’m a personal blog that has Tebow in my logo. However, I have utilized stats that I believe to be contextual. I’m more interested in yards/carry and yards/pass attempt than total yards. I believe it tells me more about a player than looking at total anything – without knowing context. And if you check out the site from two years ago, you’ll see I emphasized many of the same numbers then…this isn’t me choosing some obscure stat because it currently favors Tebow.
SI seems to be actively dismissing the Tebow campaign. I understand Gerhart’s had a good year and I genuinely like everything I know of the kid, his game and his lifestyle. I also genuinely question whether you can call a running back in 31st place in the nation in yards per carry (not to mention tenth in the PAC10 behind even his own QB) the “best player in the country”.
I understand the questions about Tebow’s candidacy – he doesn’t have similar numbers to prior years and his total yardage is low (compared to a McCoy or Keenum). However, SI is the only major outlet I could find (in a quick search) that doesn’t even mention Tebow in their weekly Top five. Between that, their article stating explicitly that he shouldn’t get it and the DP Show segments, one has to wonder if there is something else at play here. Their rival, ESPN, has an exclusive television deal with the SEC. Tebow already gets the SEC a ton of exposure. Would it be a coup for their rival to have the face of the SEC get an award like the Heisman? Would SI forgo editorial objectivity to try to prevent that rival from such a win?
Food for thought.
Dec 03, 2009
I understand you have your candidate (I have mine too) and that the YPC stat is a barometer for the performance of a running back. Given your motive (discredit other candidates, hype Tebow–there is nothing wrong with this and everybody needs fans) I would say there's no reason to not keep quoting this number.
Toby may be 31st in the country in YPC, but he's right at the top of feature backs and has a couple things working against him in that number. First off, you stop getting yards when you make it in the end zone; Toby has more rushing TDs than any other running back (and it's not really even close). Second off, they run a pro-style offense. In the spread option, your running back can average 6-7 ypc because the defense does not know who to key on. But you can't run the same play to the same guy 25 times a game 12 games a year or it just won't work. Stanford has an 83% conversion rate on 3rd & 4th downs this year when they give it to Toby. I guarantee you most of those times the defense knew what was coming, keyed on him, and got run over. Stanford runs the ball down your throat, forces the defense up close, and then runs the play action pass. While he may only average 5.6 YPC, he's a very big reason that Stanford QB Andrew Luck is 4th in the nation at 8.9 yards per pass attempt, just ahead of… Tim Tebow (who is averaging 4.1 yds on the ground). So since yards per play is the barometer, Andrew Luck is averaging more yards per passing attempt, passing completion, and rushing attempt than Tim Tebow. Maybe he should win the Heisman. Unless, of course, touchdowns count. In which case… we get back to Toby.