Pass Defense Ranking's Affect on TE's

[TitleTown]

Hey ya'll. I'm just wondering if there's any way to breakdown how much yardage a pass defense cedes to WRs vs. TEs, or if such statistics are even worth looking at. Hypothetically speaking, I feel that if the Jets have the #1 pass defense this year, that might be a result of very low numbers to opposing Wide Receivers despite high yardage totals to opposing Tight Ends. So if I'm deciding between two similar TE to start this week, and they face the 5th best and 5th worst pass D respectively, this might not be an accurate reflection if the first D generally stops WRs but not TEs. Thanks.

[MikesVikes]

Hey ya'll. I'm just wondering if there's any way to breakdown how much yardage a pass defense cedes to WRs vs. TEs, or if such statistics are even worth looking at. Hypothetically speaking, I feel that if the Jets have the #1 pass defense this year, that might be a result of very low numbers to opposing Wide Receivers despite high yardage totals to opposing Tight Ends. So if I'm deciding between two similar TE to start this week, and they face the 5th best and 5th worst pass D respectively, this might not be an accurate reflection if the first D generally stops WRs but not TEs. Thanks.

 

The Huddle would give you that information if you signed up. It's updated after each week.

[LosGatosEnFuegos]

I can't find it, but last season I believe I wrote a fairly long post looking at TE performance vs. DEF rank against TEs.

 

Maybe Big John can find it? Found it:

 

The gist of it was that TE performance is not greatly affected by top DEFs, at least not the studs. In fact, DEF rank vs. TEs is largely determined by how many top TEs they've faced.

 

If you're discussing similarly ranked TEs, you need to look at the match ups. In the case of the Jets, assuming Revis signs, they'll have two shutdown corners, and you would need to assume TE production would benefit as a result. Then again, if you're playing the 5th worst DEF, you might think that TE has a better chance to find the EZ. There is no good rule of thumb IMO.

 

Like MV says, the Huddle does give DEF rankings each week broken down by position. However, IMHO, while it's quite useful for QB, RB, & WR, the TE ranking is a dubious one to rely on.

Edited August 19, 2010 by LosGatosEnFuegos