RockyMountainOySker
All-Conference
The Evolution of Football
Published on June 1, 2010 by Brandon Cavanaugh · 3 Comments
By Chris Michener
http://www.hothuskers.com/huskerhype/
What is the best way to spend a day or two in the offseason? For me, it is to create a database in Microsoft Excel of every player who ever played for Nebraska (at least it was this past weekend). This conveniently includes heights and weights and I got to wondering how the physical statures of Husker football players have changed over the past half-century. I put together some analysis and the following charts are what I came up with. This article will cover the offensive side of the ball.
Let me explain my methodology. For each year, I found the average height and weight of every position on the roster. This counts Ndamukong Suh the same as Justin Jackson. While it may not be completely appropriate, it was by far the easiest way to compute the numbers.
What is shown in the following graphs are a 4-year “rolling average,” which smoothes out extreme peaks and valleys for out of the ordinary years. I won’t go into the statistical breakdown too much, but it makes the trend over time much easier to analyze.
Lastly, to read the graphs you’ll need some basic understanding of how to read two y-axes. Look at the red line for height, and correspond that to the left y-axis (in inches). Look at the blue line for weight, and correspond that to the right y-axis (in pounds).
Let’s look at the first position: quarterback. As seen from the graph, the average height has varied over the years but is now about two inches more than the average QB back in 1962. It’s interesting to note that we had fairly short QBs during the late 80s and also during the Solich era. In terms of weight, QBs are much heavier than were in the ‘60s. The average QB today is almost 210 pounds, a full 25 pounds more than Devaney-coached quarterbacks were. I’m curious to see if this trend in weight will continue upward for QBs over the next decade. I would venture to say that it won’t if we move toward more of a run-based offense with dual-threat QBs.
On to the running backs. The height of RBs over the years has somewhat of a “V” shape – it crossed 6’0” back in the 70s, dropped to under 5’10” in the late 80s, and is now inching back up to 6’0”. Not a huge change, but still somewhat significant. Note a dip in the mid 2000s, heavily influenced by Mr. Cory Ross. Weight, on the other hand, has steadily increased over the years. RBs today routinely weigh more than 210 pounds, which was more uncommon back in the early 60s. Will this trend continue into the future? I doubt it. I can’t see RBs continue to put on much more weight without losing precious speed.
The FB graph is very interesting and confirms what we already should know: fullbacks today are about 1000 times bigger than they were under Devaney. It is common knowledge that tiny Frank Solich was a fullback in the 60s for the Huskers, when the average weight was less than 200 pounds. Today, fullbacks routinely tip the scales at 230-240 pounds. This has been a tremendous transformation that as you can see by looking at the graph may have finally hit its peak. The height of the fullback has been somewhat erratic over the years but has not experienced any major changes besides the return to taller FBs as of late.
Wide receiver is next. Like the running backs, the receivers’ height has been V-shaped over the years including a dramatic drop of more than two inches off the average in the early 80s. Over the past 20 years, the Maurice Purify-type receivers have been making a comeback as height and weight have dramatically increased. Receivers today weigh 20 more pounds and are 3 inches taller than they were in the Abdul Muhammad era. This is another trend that I am anxious to follow over the next decade.
Tight end is a position that players have gotten significantly taller and bulkier. The average Husker tight end in 1967 was 6’1”, 196, and today that figure is 6’4”, 234. Again, the height was somewhat V-shaped but has made its comeback, while weight progressively increased through the mid-2000s and is currently experiencing a slight drop.
Finally, the position that may have seen the most significant changes over the past 50 years: offensive line. I lumped together all OL positions for ease. The average OL in 1962 was 6’1”, 211, and today is 6’5”, 294, a whopping 39 percent increase in weight. OL at Nebraska have gained about 15 pounds per decade. It appears that this is finally tapering off, although I wouldn’t be surprised to hit a 310-pound average over the next ten years.
Every single position showcased here now has a higher average height and weight than in the 60s, which is somewhat expected but interesting to see evidence of at the same time. What will football players look like in 2060? Part II coming soon!
Published on June 1, 2010 by Brandon Cavanaugh · 3 Comments
By Chris Michener
http://www.hothuskers.com/huskerhype/
What is the best way to spend a day or two in the offseason? For me, it is to create a database in Microsoft Excel of every player who ever played for Nebraska (at least it was this past weekend). This conveniently includes heights and weights and I got to wondering how the physical statures of Husker football players have changed over the past half-century. I put together some analysis and the following charts are what I came up with. This article will cover the offensive side of the ball.
Let me explain my methodology. For each year, I found the average height and weight of every position on the roster. This counts Ndamukong Suh the same as Justin Jackson. While it may not be completely appropriate, it was by far the easiest way to compute the numbers.
What is shown in the following graphs are a 4-year “rolling average,” which smoothes out extreme peaks and valleys for out of the ordinary years. I won’t go into the statistical breakdown too much, but it makes the trend over time much easier to analyze.
Lastly, to read the graphs you’ll need some basic understanding of how to read two y-axes. Look at the red line for height, and correspond that to the left y-axis (in inches). Look at the blue line for weight, and correspond that to the right y-axis (in pounds).
Let’s look at the first position: quarterback. As seen from the graph, the average height has varied over the years but is now about two inches more than the average QB back in 1962. It’s interesting to note that we had fairly short QBs during the late 80s and also during the Solich era. In terms of weight, QBs are much heavier than were in the ‘60s. The average QB today is almost 210 pounds, a full 25 pounds more than Devaney-coached quarterbacks were. I’m curious to see if this trend in weight will continue upward for QBs over the next decade. I would venture to say that it won’t if we move toward more of a run-based offense with dual-threat QBs.
On to the running backs. The height of RBs over the years has somewhat of a “V” shape – it crossed 6’0” back in the 70s, dropped to under 5’10” in the late 80s, and is now inching back up to 6’0”. Not a huge change, but still somewhat significant. Note a dip in the mid 2000s, heavily influenced by Mr. Cory Ross. Weight, on the other hand, has steadily increased over the years. RBs today routinely weigh more than 210 pounds, which was more uncommon back in the early 60s. Will this trend continue into the future? I doubt it. I can’t see RBs continue to put on much more weight without losing precious speed.
The FB graph is very interesting and confirms what we already should know: fullbacks today are about 1000 times bigger than they were under Devaney. It is common knowledge that tiny Frank Solich was a fullback in the 60s for the Huskers, when the average weight was less than 200 pounds. Today, fullbacks routinely tip the scales at 230-240 pounds. This has been a tremendous transformation that as you can see by looking at the graph may have finally hit its peak. The height of the fullback has been somewhat erratic over the years but has not experienced any major changes besides the return to taller FBs as of late.
Wide receiver is next. Like the running backs, the receivers’ height has been V-shaped over the years including a dramatic drop of more than two inches off the average in the early 80s. Over the past 20 years, the Maurice Purify-type receivers have been making a comeback as height and weight have dramatically increased. Receivers today weigh 20 more pounds and are 3 inches taller than they were in the Abdul Muhammad era. This is another trend that I am anxious to follow over the next decade.
Tight end is a position that players have gotten significantly taller and bulkier. The average Husker tight end in 1967 was 6’1”, 196, and today that figure is 6’4”, 234. Again, the height was somewhat V-shaped but has made its comeback, while weight progressively increased through the mid-2000s and is currently experiencing a slight drop.
Finally, the position that may have seen the most significant changes over the past 50 years: offensive line. I lumped together all OL positions for ease. The average OL in 1962 was 6’1”, 211, and today is 6’5”, 294, a whopping 39 percent increase in weight. OL at Nebraska have gained about 15 pounds per decade. It appears that this is finally tapering off, although I wouldn’t be surprised to hit a 310-pound average over the next ten years.
Every single position showcased here now has a higher average height and weight than in the 60s, which is somewhat expected but interesting to see evidence of at the same time. What will football players look like in 2060? Part II coming soon!
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