Comments on: SI Coordinated Against Tebow? http://www.he15man.net/2009/12/02/319/ Tim Tebow for The 2009 HE15MAN Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:17:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Steve Ritter http://www.he15man.net/2009/12/02/319/comment-page-1/#comment-140 Steve Ritter Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:27:15 +0000 http://www.he15man.net/2009/12/02/319/#comment-140 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. 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.

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