2018 College Football Previews: Introduction and Glossary

So, I think I’ve found out a better way to do my conference previews this season. Instead of 11 10,000 plus word previews I wanted to put out more of data/visual preview this year. So, each preview will consist of two parts: the conference preview and the P.L.U.M.P. Pages. The conference preview will consist of a 10,000 ft conference view, and top returning performers on offense and defense. The P.L.U.M.P. pages will cover Players Likely Unknown to Most People. The players in question are of three groups: 1) incoming recruits (both freshmen and JUCO), 2) redshirt freshmen or 3) sophomores who didn’t play last season. The rest of this page is a glossary and hopefully those of you who read will enjoy and learn from these previews.

General

Division – Which division the teams are in within the conference.

2017 Adj. W/L – Wins and losses adjusted for each team’s strength of schedule last season.

% Yards Ret. – Percentage of yards gained by QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs last season that are returning this season.

% Touches Ret. – Percentage of pass attempts, rush attempts, and targets from last season returning this year from QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs.

% Line Starts Ret. – Percentage of career offensive line starts returning to the roster from last season.

% Tackles Ret. – Percentage of tackles accumulated by defenders returning from last season.

% Passes Def. Ret. – Percentage of passes defensed (PDs) accumulated by defenders returning from last season.

247Sports Score – An adjusted version of 247Sports composite team recruiting rankings from the last four years weighted towards the 2016 and 2017 rankings the heaviest.

Total Points – The final power ranking for each team heading into the 2018 season.

Offense & Defense

Year – The year of eligibility for each player. 1-FR 2-SO 3-JR 4-SR

Height – Players height in inches.

Weight – Players weight in pounds.

Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A) – Yards per attempt with yardage adjustments for TDs and INTs.

Adjusted Yards per Rush (AY/R) – Yards per rush adjusted for TDs.

Completion Percentage (Comp%) – Completions divided by attempts. A non-perfect way to judge accuracy for a passer.

Sack Percentage (Sack%) – Sacks divided by drop backs. A non-perfect way to compare pocket awareness for a passer.

Touches (Tou.) – A bit of a misnomer here since I use it as a combination of rush attempts and pass targets.

Adjusted Yards per Target (AY/T) – Yards per target with yardage adjustments for TDs.

RB Production (RBP>12) – My measure of production from my draft work it combines touches, AY/A, and AY/R. In this case it’s the final adjustment that compares only rushers with at least 12 touches.

Targets (Tar.) – Number of times a player is targeted with a pass.

Catch Percentage (Cat%) – Catches divided by targets. A non-perfect way to account for a recievers consistency to come down with a pass.

WR Production (WRP>18) – My measure of production from my draft work, it combines catch percentage, Targets, and AY/T. In this case it’s the final adjustment that compares only receivers with at least 18 targets.

TE Production (TEP>12) – My measure of production from my draft work, it combines catch percentage, Targets, and AY/T. In this case it’s the final adjustment that compares only tight ends with at least 12 targets.

Tackles (Tkls) – Total tackles from 2017.

Tackles for Loss (TFLs) – Total tackles behind the line of scrimmage from 2017.

Sacks – Total sacks from 2017.

Passes Defensed (PDs) – Passes intercepted or broken up in 2017.

Points – Differs by defensive position group but is a tweaked combination of the four above defensive stats weighted for each position group.

P.L.U.M.P. Pages

# Recruits Above Threshold – The threshold is slightly different for P5 and G5. For the G5 (SBC/CUSA/MAC/MWC/AAC and Independents Liberty/UMASS/BYU/Army/New Mexico State) these are recruits that where at least .8000 (3 star) recruits in the 247 Composite Rankings. For P5 (BXII/P12/B1G/ACC/SEC and Notre Dame) these are recruits that clear the .8500 (3 star) recruits in the 247 Composite Rankings.

Sample Ave. – The average of the recruits meeting the above threshold.

Player (Star Rating) – Recruit with their composite star rating.

247Rating – The composite score ratings for each prospect (explanation here)