New Stat Alert: Age Curve For Superstar Running Backs

Taking a page from hockey analytics, I have created a better state to gauge the effect age has on superstar running back performance.

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You may not know this about me, but I am a massive nerd. I know I come off very much like Mr. Cool Guy, but behind this magnificent head of hair, I am a comic book lovin', movie buff who is addicted to sports data.

Not just football data but in general, I love all kinds of sports data. If you avidly pay attention to all my Xs, you will know I have been furthering my education online with data science courses. These courses revolve around R and Python programming languages, emphasizing visualization. I will take these courses and then take sports analytics courses.

The goal in doing all of this is to find a spot in a team's front office. I have recently expanded into the world of Hockey Analytics. Why eliminate an entire sport?

I just finished my first book on hockey analytics and highly recommend it if you're into broadening your analytics knowledge. Come to find out, the world of Hockey Analytics is so ahead of the football world. I gained some valuable insight and new ways of looking at particular topics in football.

I decided to take one of the stats I learned there and apply it to football. Specifically to a star player on the Tennessee Titans: Derrick Henry. Today, I will introduce a stat to the Titans community and the football world: Age Curve for Superstar Players.

Full disclosure: I couldn't find anyone who has done this specific stat for the NFL, just a generic version. I may not be the first if some random on Reddit did it. I don't reddit.

Why Age Curve for Superstar Players?

First, the original stat is called Age Curve for Elite Players, but that doesn't translate to football. Sure, many elite players have played in the NFL, but the difference between hockey and football is that not all positions are measured the same in terms of success.

Since I am focusing on running backs, I had to modify the word to keep my integrity intact. I have been adamant that today's sports society is watering down the word elite. Someone called Dalvin Cook elite, and that just isn't true. However, he is a superstar for the running back position, so I chose the word superstar.

Next, I went with a qualifier of a superstar because it is weird to lump someone like LaMont Jordan, who played until he was 31, in with Derrick Henry when talking about the part that age plays in regression at the running back spot. It makes no sense. 

So, as a football society, we have been looking at age in terms of running backs all wrong. Henry is among the elite or, at the very least, superstars at his position. He is a freak of nature and should be treated as part of the exception, not the rule. This is why coming up with a set of parameters makes sense.

Setting up The Age Curve for Superstar Running Backs