The Read Optional Advanced Metrics — Week 4
Alongside my team RODS ratings and Quarterback ROPE Index ratings, I have additionally developed some metrics for measuring the efficiency of each team’s pass defense (ROPED Index), rushing offense (RORO Index) and rushing defense (RORD Index). The ROPED Index I published throughout the 2016 season and the basis for how the metric is derived can be found here.
The RORO and RORD Indexes are based on a similar approach, taking into account a number of factors affecting rushing performance. Each of these factors is graded to give an overall efficiency percentage that can be measured against the rest of the league.
ROPED Index — 2017 Season to Date
The Jaguars lead the way through four games thanks to their premium cornerback duo of AJ Bouye and Jalen Ramsey. The Jaguars have only given up 698 passing yards through the first four weeks, the best in the league despite playing a game less than two teams. They additionally lead the league the lead in both sacks (18) and adjusted sack rate (12.9%), and are the only team with an adjusted sack rate of over 10%.
The Steelers are second in ROPED Index, having conceded the lowest yards per attempt of just 5.2 and yards per completion of 8.4. They are also second in adjusted sack rate with 9.7% and second in touchdown percentage with just 2.2%.
The Bills sit third in the rankings, having conceded just one passing touchdown in 2017 so far.
The two-time defending ROPED champion Denver Broncos have not been as dominant so far this season and currently sit 13th in the league for pass defense
At the bottom are the Patriots. They have the worst overall defense, per my RODS team rankings and have conceded a league worst 9.4 yards per attempt and touchdown percentage of 7.7%.
The Dolphins have the second worst pass defense so far this season, quite some going for a team having played just 3 games. They have allowed the highest completion percentage and are one of four team yet to make an interception.
The Chiefs, who sit at the top of the team RODS rankings have a pass defense that has allowed the lowest completion percentage of just 51.4%, but are allowing big plays on those completed passes as they have given up the joint most yards per completion of 14.1 yards (with the Colts).
RORO Index — 2017 Season to Date
The Chiefs, who have the top offense in the league overall, per the RODS ratings, have the top rushing offense in the league so far in 2017. They lead the way in rushing yards and yards per carry and are second in touchdown percentage having scored six rushing touchdowns in four games.
The Giants have the worst rushing offense in 2017, having rushed for just 237 yards in four games, the third fewest in the league. The Cardinals are suffering in the run game since losing David Johnson to a wrist injury and have the fewest rushing yards per game in the league and the fewest yards per carry so far this year.
RORD Index — 2017 Season to Date
The Broncos, famed for their ‘No Fly Zone’ secondary, lead the way in rushing defense so far in 2017. They have conceded the fewest rushing yards at the lowest yards per attempt and are the only team yet to concede a rushing touchdown.
The Rams have the worst rushing defense so far in 2017, having allowed the third most yards (606) and the highest rushing touchdown percentage at 5.7%. The Jaguars have the second lowest rated rushing defense, compared to their number one pass defense. They have concede the most rushing yards (662) and the highest yards per carry at 5.7.
The Patriots with the third lowest rated rushing defense, having struggled to penetrate opposing offensive lines and have the lowest tackle for loss percentage at 1.9%. This compares to the Eagles who have got after opposing running backs, creating a tackle for loss ten times more efficiently than the Patriots at nearly 20%. Because of their ferocious defensive line, the Eagles have faced the lowest percentage of rushing attempts at just 28.8%. The Chargers have faced the highest percentage of rush attempts and are the only team to have faced more rushing than passing attempts, with 51.7% of defensive snaps being run plays.
I’ll be back after week 8 with the updated rankings at the halfway point in the season. You can find me on Twitter @PaddiCooper or @ReadOptional.
