Blog

Posts written by our club members about how sports analytics contributes to their everyday life.

Drafting Quarterbacks

Anish Cherwoo

Preview: The NFL Draft is an interesting time because almost no new information comes out for 4 months from the end of the college season up until Draft Day. Yet every week, if not every day, the media pushes new narratives regarding the top prospects in the draft. This has been particularly prevalent in this year’s draft with there being such a top-heavy quarterback class. So really I just wanted to talk about the top quarterbacks in this class: Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, and Trey Lance.
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What Really Changed the Browns’ Season in 2020?

Siddarth Srivastava

Preview: The offensive line. That’s what. The Browns’ offense was the exact same in most areas from 2019 to 2020. They still had Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, 2 All-Pro receivers. They still had Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, 2 All-Pro running backs. They did add Austin Hooper, but he didn’t contribute much outside of blocking. The main difference from 2019 to 2020 was the offensive line. That’s where the magic happened and translated to the entire offense and ultimately the entire team being better.
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A Rare Trade Where Both Sides Won

Siddarth Srivastava

Preview: The Vikings traded Stefon Diggs for a first-round pick to the Bills during the 2020 offseason. This seems to be a trade where both sides were winners, which doesn’t happen very often in the NFL for big trades(see the Deandre Hopkins and Jamal Adams trades). The Vikings used that pick to draft Justin Jefferson, who went on to have a historic rookie season. Stefon Diggs also in his own right had an amazing year for the Bills. He emerged as a definitive top 5, arguably top 3 receiver, in the NFL and was AP First Team All-Pro.
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Which 12-Seed Should You Pick?

Riley Henderson

Preview: It’s finally back. After a 24-month long hiatus, March Madness is here again and promises to bring double the upsets to make up for lost time. Although limited in capacity and geography, this year’s tourney comes to us with the distinct advantage of being the easiest ever to get away with watching during class. But before you start switching tabs between Zoom and March Madness Live, you must put pen to paper and make your picks. And that brings us to everyone’s favorite trendy upset pick, the 12-seed over the 5. While it seems like these matchups reliably produce upsets every year, you shouldn’t just blindly pick the 12-seed with your favorite mascot. Rather, you can be much more precise in your judgment by once again turning to our old friends, offensive and defensive efficiency.
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WAR Sucks

Daniel Waldman

Preview: Baseball is a gorgeously paced game, to an extent that almost defies description. Its drama operates in negative space, the slow-burning tension that matures and warps and snaps into action. The ball moves faster than in any other game this side of jai alai, tearing through still air and distilling the game into a series of rapid, beautifully unfair uncertainties. Wins are the 0-1 binary outcome the best run-creating and run-preventing efforts of 50 players are reduced to, and it is in their service that baseball, at least when the world is spinning, is played.
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How Investing Became My New Fantasy Basketball

Devang Patel

Preview: I was distraught by the NBA season’s cancellation in early March. Fantasy basketball had become a large part of my life, I was fresh off of a championship in my league, and I was almost guaranteed a second one this year. Coming home from school and finishing the semester at home was devastating, yet it may have been a blessing in disguise because I began actively managing my own portfolio. In doing so, I realized that the skills I gained in fantasy basketball were highly applicable to trading.
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