No Mo Avg. Joe?

Wins above replacement, Player efficiency rating, DVOA and any other analytic that is supposedly a measure of a player's value over the average guy you'd have to play if that player weren't playing are inherently misleading, as they essentially penalize players with obvious weaknesses by comparing them to a mathematical "avg player." But in reality there is no avg player, all players are a combination of strengths and weaknesses.


Team building is about weighing respective players strengths and weaknesses and playing them in complimentary positions and situation to maximize their strengths and limit their weaknesses. Value is very much dependent on context. A new smartphone can be as much as $900, but it's worthless without service. And an old clunky landline phone will let you call anywhere in the world as long as there's a dial tone. Analytics are selling smartphones, but as long as you can make calls, you can win games.

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