Tag: WAR

Terry McLaurin is one of the NFL’s most valuable wide receivers

Terry McLaurin ranks among the most valuable wide receivers, in some elite company.

The Washington Commanders knew how critical Terry McLaurin was to the team when they signed him to a three-year extension over the summer. McLaurin’s value on the field is unquestioned, as he’s one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.

However, his value in the locker room and popularity with the fans made his return even more essential.

Through 13 games this season, McLaurin continues to prove his worth. The fourth-year wideout has 62 receptions for 945 yards and three touchdowns. McLaurin has reached those numbers with virtually no downfield passing game over the last eight weeks.

How is McLaurin’s value assessed across the league?

According to Pro Football Focus, McLaurin ranks No. 5 in PFF WAR [wins above replacement. Check out this company; the four wide receivers McLaurin is behind are Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs.

Let’s allow PFF to explain the WAR metric.

Determine how good a given player was during a period of time (generally a season) using PFF grades;

Map a player’s production to a “wins” value for his team using the relative importance of each facet of play;

Simulate a team’s expected performance with a player of interest and with an average player participating identically in his place. Take the difference in expected wins (e.g., Wins Above Average);

Determine the average player with a given participation profile’s wins above replacement player, assuming a team of replacement-level players is a 3-13 team;

Add the terms in the last two calculations to get that player’s WAR.

Considering McLaurin has played with countless quarterbacks in his four NFL seasons, including two this season, it’s clear he should be considered an elite wide receiver.

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Seahawks QB Russell Wilson named MVP by Pro Football Focus

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson had the highest WAR in the NFL last year, according to Pro Football Focus’ new metric.

While the NFL has yet to release its award winners, Pro Football Focus has already crowned their MVP – Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

PFF recently created a WAR (wins above replacement) metric, which allows comparison between all players and determines who was the most valuable to their team.

Wilson was the 2019 WAR leader in a landslide, accruing a WAR of 4.08 – making him roughly four wins better than a replacement-level quarterback.

Patrick Mahomes finished second with a WAR of 2.96, followed by Dak Prescott (2.40) Aaron Rodgers (2.38) and Lamar Jackson (2.29).

Wilson had the highest grade (91.2) of any quarterback in the league as well, and of course, finished with an excellent 31-to-five touchdown-to-interception ratio while leading the Seahawks to an 11-5 record.

While most believe the MVP award will go to Jackson, PFF explains why their calculations paint Wilson as the far more valuable player.

“While Jackson had an entire offense built around his strengths and had a coaching staff that embraced analytics to extend drives and steal fine winning margins, Wilson was dealing with a situation that consistently put him behind the eight ball then asked him to dig the team out of a hole,” PFF writer Sam Monson wrote. “The fact that he was able to do just that as consistently as he did only stands testament to his MVP-caliber season.”

The NFL will announce the MVP winner on February 1.

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