Review: Football Outsiders

Did you read Moneyball as soon as it came out? Are you fascinated by the idea of using complex statistics to analyze a game, a team, or individual players? Do you love football? If you like both these things then FootballOutsiders.com (FO) is for you. Today I’m going to turn my analytical eye on this analytical website.

Aesthetics

FO has a simple grey, green, and white color scheme. Nothing fancy. It works. This is a data driven website that focuses on content. While not beautiful or breathtaking, the site is easy enough on the eyes. I wish it was a tiny bit less crowded though.

Design

Once again, this is a data driven site. Design includes a navigational bar at the top that features drop down menus for each section of the site. The site opens with this week’s current features. It utilizes three columns, with the left column focusing on current statistics and links, the middle column providing main content, and the right column showing in-site links and advertising. The search bar is easy to find in the top right column.

Content

This is a website for die-hard football fans or people who love statistics and math. If you watch football every week, and then watch ESPN for the analysis, and still hunger for more football analysis and statistics then you should check this site out. Statistics are available for many aspects of football. As explained on the site’s About page, these statistics are not the traditional yards per carry or QB ratings. They are predictive statistics that are rigorously analyzed using advanced statistical analysis. People with math-phobias do not despair! There are also plenty of articles exploring fantasy football and (relatively) non-statistics focused topics. Most interestingly, they “challenge the conventional wisdom about the game”. I like anything that challenges convention!

Links

The writers of Football Outsiders (referred to as “Outsiders” on the website) have experience writing, and the site is partnered with FoxSports.com. On their Links page, these guys have listed a ton of links to FoxSports content, other places they write for, and NFL-team specific blogs. Categories for links include: Articles Written by the Outsiders Appearing Elsewhere, National Columnists, Statistical Analysis, Other News and Commentary Sites, Specific Team Blogs, Un-Official Specific Team Salary Cap Pages, and Intelligent Analysis for Other Sports.

Price

FO offers a premium subscription to the site for access to their DVOA (one of their calculated stats) database which contains DVOA stats for every season from 1996 – 2006 plus the current 2007-08 season. However, the website offers plenty of information for everyday users who don’t need to deeply analyze the 1998 NFL season and aren’t up to shelling out $40 for the back season statistics.

Overall

This is a content, statistics rich site with analysis for a hard core fan. It’s easy to find data and articles for in-depth football analysis. Overall it is a great resource for those interested in getting deep into football, but others might find it too analytical.