Pro Football Focus

PFF was founded by Neil Hornsby in the United Kingdom. Dissatisfied with some limitations of standard statistics, Hornsby began grading players in 2004. The staff gradually expanded over the next few years, and the site was launched in 2007. The 2006 NFL season was the first season for which PFF has compiled a complete set of data.

For the 2011 season, PFF provided customized data to three NFL teams, agents, media and NFL players.{{cite web | last=Albergotti | first=Reed | title=In Super Bowl, Giants Go Long for a Number Cruncher | date=February 4, 2012 | work=The Wall Street Journal | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203889904577199781897959096?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_6}}{{cite web | last=Beane | first=Jordan | title=For the Love of the Game | date=July 30, 2012 | website=Chargers.com | url=http://www.chargers.com/news/article-1/For-the-Love-of-the-Game/11d999d7-5197-4fc0-9d9e-11b5eb6747ab | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803013739/http://www.chargers.com/news/article-1/For-the-Love-of-the-Game/11d999d7-5197-4fc0-9d9e-11b5eb6747ab | archive-date=2012-08-03 }}

In 2014, sports commentator and former NFL player Cris Collinsworth bought a majority interest in the service, which moved its operations to Cincinnati, near where Collinsworth lives in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.{{cite magazine |last=Vrentas |first=Jenny |url=http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/25/pro-football-focus-nfl-neil-hornsby-cris-collinsworth-analytics# |title=Football's Focus Group |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=January 25, 2015 |access-date=2017-04-03 }}{{cite news|last1=Best|first1=Neil|title=Cris Collinsworth liked using Pro Football Focus, so he bought it|url=http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/cris-collinsworth-liked-using-pro-football-focus-so-he-bought-it-1.10940909|access-date=2016-09-12 |work=Newsday|date=October 10, 2015}}

PFF began collecting data for every NCAA Division-I college football game in 2014.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

As of 2021, PFF provides customized data to all 32 NFL teams, 102 NCAA FBS teams, 9 CFL teams, national/regional media (e.g., The Washington Post, The Athletic, ESPN) and sports agencies/agents.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PFF|title=Pro Football Focus (@PFF) {{!}} Twitter|website=twitter.com|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19}}

PFF grades every NFL player on every play on a scale of -2 to +2 using half-point increments. The grades are contextual and not necessarily based on statistics. For example, a four-yard run may be graded differently based on factors like down and distance or broken tackles; while a four-yard run for a touchdown may be a +2, a four-yard run that is stopped short of the line to gain on 3rd down may be graded as a negative play. Similarly, an interception may be graded differently if it is tipped by a wide receiver or thrown directly to a defender.

The evaluations are then extrapolated onto a 0–100 ratings scale that is sorted by position and free for anyone to view. These grades appear in many areas of NFL media, including NBC Sunday Night Football player introductions.

Furthermore, grades are separated by play type. Beyond just an overall grade, an offensive lineman receives one grade for pass-blocking and one for run-blocking.{{cite web | last=Stuart | first=Chase | title=Young, and Defending the Blind Side | date=December 7, 2010 | website=The Fifth Down | url=https://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/young-and-defending-the-blind-side/}} The average grade for every position and play type is meant to be a 60, with raw grades being normalized.

In watching every game, PFF is also able to record information and create data that is typically unavailable. One example is how frequently individual offensive linemen yield pressure.

PFF claims to cover every player on every play of every game at the NFL and major college football levels and creates advanced statistics based on the information gleaned from this.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pff.com/news/pro-pff-signature-statistics-a-glossary |title=PFF Signature Statistics – a glossary |work=PFF |language=en |access-date=2018-06-19}}

PFF has been criticized by the analytics community regarding the accuracy and veracity of its ratings.{{cite web | last1=Allen | first1=Bruce | title=Can Pro Football Focus Stats Be Blindly Trusted? | date=June 4, 2014 | url=https://bostonsportsmedia.com/2014/06/04/can-pro-football-focus-stats-be-blindly-trusted/ | website=Boston Sports Media Watch | access-date=May 5, 2016}} In contrast to the purely quantitative ratings released by sources such as Football Outsiders, TeamRankings, and numberFire, PFF uses qualitative and opinion-based grading as the root of its 0–100 Player Grades – not its advanced statistics. As such, the 0–100 Player Grades are not truly quantitative and could be seen as being prone to bias, poor sample sizing, or other issues.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

• Bobby Slowik - Former Senior Analyst{{cite web|last=Dougherty|first=Doug|url=https://www.houstontexans.com/news/offensive-coordinator-bobby-slowiks-time-at-pff-beneficial|title= Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slowik's time at PFF "beneficial" |publisher=Houston Texans|date=March 9, 2023|accessdate=January 14, 2025}}
• Zac Robinson - Former Senior Analyst{{cite web|last=DaSilva|first=Cameron|url=https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/07/02/nfl-rams-zac-robinson-pff-quarterbacks-coach/|title=Zac Robinson enjoying transition from PFF to Rams so far|work=USA Today|date=July 2, 2019|accessdate=January 14, 2025}}
• Bruce Gradkowski - Former Senior Analyst{{cite web|last=Gradkowski|first=Bruce|author-link=Bruce Gradkowski|url=https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-quarterback-rankings-all-32-starters-ahead-of-the-2021-nfl-season|title=PFF Quarterback Rankings: All 32 starters ahead of the 2021 NFL season|publisher=Pro Football Focus|date=July 28, 2021|accessdate=January 15, 2025}}
• Gunther Cunningham - Former Director of Football Oversight{{Cite web |title=From Pro Football Focus: Gunther Cunningham to join PFF staff |date=March 31, 2017 |url=https://www.detroitlions.com/news/from-pro-football-focus-gunther-cunningham-to-join-pff-staff-18700227 |access-date=January 31, 2024 |publisher=Detroit Lions |language=en-US}}

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• [https://www.pff.com/ Official website]

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