9781422285237 - Analytics: Sports Stats & More

throws a player intercepted and deflected, divided by the number of pass attempts thrown in his direction. By using this formula and reviewing college players entering the draft, the Jaguars selected Connecticut cornerback Dwayne Gratz in the third round in 2013. Cornerback is a premium NFL position in which most starters are first-round picks, but Gratz was a starter in each of his first two NFL seasons. Using new stats to dig deeper is the reason most teams are embracing the practice. Pro golfer Brandt Snedeker explained the power of analytics for him on the PGA Tour. He entered the 2012 British Open having missed the cut in all three of his previous Open starts. His stats, however, said it should be otherwise. Mark Horton, an English numbers wizard, crunched Snedeker’s data and developed a plan. “[Horton] said, ‘Let me break it down for you,’” Snedeker told golf.com. “He told me that I don’t drive it particularly straight, but I drive it okay. I don’t hit a bunch of greens, but I hit them okay. ‘But you putt really freakin’ good—you’re one of the best I’ve ever seen. So you know what you need to do this week? Just hit the danged green!’” That sounds like simple advice, but for Snedeker, it was seeing it spelled out in numbers that made the difference. He

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