NFL draft preparation continues to evolve ever so slowly as teams figure out how to harness new troves of information available to them. Data tracking companies such as Catapult Sports and Zebra Technologies are leading the push while a growing number of teams are hiring analytics directors. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus has dived into college player evaluation, expanding what it offers to NFL teams and the public through its College Football Focus products.
A huge gap remains between what is available and what teams actually use, amid no clear consensus over what the data means for draft decisions. If teams had this stuff figured out, more of their early draft choices would meet expectations. Instead, teams did not bother to pick up 11 fifth-year contract options for players selected in the star-studded 2011 class.
With the 2015 draft approaching, I consulted with analytics directors and Pro Football Focus senior analyst Steve Palazzolo for analytics-driven thoughts on the 25 players featured in Mel Kiper's latest Big Board. They shared thoughts on factors they valued in making a fuller analysis, explaining why they thought Leonard Williams and some others might be overvalued.