On Thursday, CBS NFL broadcaster J.J. Watt put beat reporters on blast over the increasingly popular practice of reporting on stats at training camps, which Watt sees as a “insane and ridiculous” concept. And while Watt didn’t single out one beat writer in particular, Eagles beat reporter Eliot Shorr-Parks, who has posted training camp stats extensively this week, heard Watt’s grievances loud and clear.
Shorr-Parks, who covers the team for Sportsradio 94WIP in Philadelphia, has perhaps reported on training camp stats more than any other beat reporter around the NFL, giving fans what he believes to be insight into how some of the star players on the team have performed early on in training camp.
While Watt believes that the idea of keeping track of player stats during practices is flawed given that reporters don’t know what a coach is trying to accomplish in any particular drill that they have their players do, Shorr-Parks simply believes reporting on player stats gives dedicated fans more insight, which is always a positive.
“Here’s the thing. This is what always happens with the training camp stats,” said Shorr-Parks on Thursday’s edition of the WIP Afternoon Show. “People go, ‘Well, you need more context.’ Yes, I agree. The stats are not the end all, be all. Much like you can’t just look at a box score of a game and get the full story of what happened. If a quarterback on a play goes one for one for three yards, but it’s fourth and two, then that is an awesome play. But if you told me a quarterback just went one for one for three yards, that doesn’t mean as much.
“So, when I say that Jalen Hurts is completing 93% of his passes this offseason and over the last two practices, I agree that doesn’t tell the whole story. And I agree that I don’t have as good of a read on what the players are trying to accomplish in practices as the players do. But that’s true for a lot of things. When I watch an NFL game or when Pro Football Focus watches an NFL game, they don’t know what defense is being called, but they still grade safeties and they still make judgments. I agree that I don’t have the full scope of training camp for the training camp stats.
“But what I do know is, I have more information than people that don’t keep stats. You can tell me that the stats maybe don’t perfectly depict what’s happening. But when I tell you Jalen Hurts has completed 93% of his passes, or went 305 passes last year with the interception, that is a better description of what’s happening in practice than me coming on here and going, ‘Jalen has been great.’ That’s the thing I don’t get about the training camp stats and why it works people up so much. It’s just more information.”
What Shorr-Parks is saying here is quite simple. These stats that he is keeping track of shouldn’t be relied on as gospel without context. But as Watt alluded to, it is hard for fans to be able to get access the kind of context necessary to give the stats validity.
Regardless of whether you agree with Watt or not, it sure doesn’t sound like Shorr-Parks is going to stop posting stats from training camp on social media anytime soon…
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.