Apologies for jumping on an dusty, old thread... but I have a very different nomination for the dumbest part of the game.
They ignored some very important stats when they baked the cards. Stats have progressed but S-o-M football just ignores many of them. You want an extreme example? Consider %catches when the player is targeted.
Okay, let's say you throw to a guy who made 100 catches like Davante Adams in 2022:
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/20 ... 22/1/52022It's a darn studly card, worthy of a man with a 15.2 yards per catch. There is a major problem with this card: To get his 100 catches he was targeted 180 times, a 55.6% catch rate. His card is *all wrong*. His stats:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... amDa01.htmHe catches far too many balls when he is targeted. Granted, part of that is on the QB. The top QBs throw catchable balls - but there's also what some call "soft hands".
Consider Will Dissly. Outstanding hands, he can really pull the ball in when it's close to him. Let's call him Mr. Soft-hands: He was #1 in the league in catch % at over 89%. Almost 9 out of 10! Missing 1/10 puts it at 3.6 chances, missing 11% makes it close to 4 chances. So he should "miss" the ball on a 5, let's check out his card.
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/20 ... 22/1/52022Whoops. On a flat pass vs a run defense, Mr. Soft-hands misses on 4,8,11. I count that at 10 chances. Something wrong here? This for a man who should average 4 missed chances right OR wrong.
Short passes are even worse, he has 14-20 chances of a miss.
When you get to the receiver card, you're already past the influence of the pass rush, the QB, the offensive line - I think it's reasonable to consider this to be a "target".
That is my nomination for the dumbest part of the game; Davante Adams (55% catch percentage) and Tyreek Hill (70%) drop the same number of short passes. They all miss on a 7 (short pass vs a run defense). Let's not even talk about Dissly (89% catch percentage) his card is a travesty. Sorry Will!