Customer Reviews

Pro Football Prospectus 2008: The Essential Guide to the 2008 Pro Football Season

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Football Outsiders/Pro Football Prospectus is the best thing going as far as public football analysis.

This edition needed a more thorough editing job. It abounds with typos, transposed numbers and missing negative signs.

Additionally, the authors make a fair ammount of errors. Correlation and causation are confused, conclusions are drawn from questionable sample sizes, context and interrelatedness of statistics aren't considered strongly enough. In the text-heavy portions, it seems that the FO team tries to "force" analysis and discussion instead of approaching their subject with the detachment of scientists.

That said, at times the analysis is superlative and there is great data in here from the charting of NFL games from the last few seasons.

One Moment Changes Everything: The All-America Tragedy of Don Rogers
Of all the books that rely on statistical information to be applied in a useful way (fantasy football), Pro Football Prospectus is, to me, the very best. It doesn't seem as easy to use as the baseball version, but at over 500 pages, it's incredibly heavy on the stats, which are listed in numerous ways, then compared and analyzed dispassionately (you won't believe the ways they use statistics to uncover who is undervalued, and who is overvalued). It covers every team, and every player. Strengths, weaknesses, injuries. It all helps make FF drafts easier than some of the similar books now available (though, admittedly, I haven't seen them all). The fact that PFP 08' is the first one available this summer doesn't hurt. Once you get used to it, it's easy to reference, meticulously organized and, of course, heavy on the nuts and bolts, (but paper-thin on the glitz). If you just want to win arguments, or want information about a particular player's personal life, it's too heavy for you. If you want information on just your favorite team, there are better places to get it (media guides, for one). It really is only for ultra-serious, intense fans of the game, and, of course, FF players. For roughly $15.00 online, how can you go wrong? I haven't seen anything else on the market that comes close.
--Sean D. Harvey

This was the second of a two part order for my brothers birthday. He spent the day going through the prospectus, challenging the guide's projections, and often commenting "HAH! I knew that!" Even those projections that he disagreed with, he enjoyed the challenge of the season's end results. Thank-you for the immediate delivery and better-than-expected results.

I'm like a kid on Christmas Day when this book arrived from Amazon. Why am I so happy?

There's almost 500 pages!
* Roughly 10 pages of analysis and stats on every NFL team.
* Breakdowns of all skill positions

Fantasy Football!
* Fantasy Risers and Fallers - Bill Barnwell
* Building a Better Draft Value Chart - Ben Riley
* Wide Receivers: Size Matters - Rob Pitzer
* Fantasy Projections
* Actual Draft Value Chart

Where else do you find stuff like this?!?
* Rating the 32 Medical Staffs - Bill Barnwell and Will Carroll
* The College Spread Offense: Bridging the Evaluation Gap - Doug Farrar

This is the third year in a row I have bought the Football Prospectus book, and still delivers. This is a must for any fan, and gives so much in depth information. I have watched and played football all my life, and this book still gives insight to many different things.

Not only for regular fans, this is also great for people who play fantasy football, and gamble on football as well.

I highly recommend this, and any future versions that the Football Outsiders guys put out.

As always a great read for any football fan. The in depth essays and analysis show interesting trends behind the scenes. The chapters on teams and the profiles on players are so much fun to read through. Some of the research they've only started on looks to have very promising new material for next year as well.

This is the best, independently produced volume about pro football. The author and his team has have put much effort and research into this book and it is very detailed regarding the NFL teams and their stats.

A comprehensive guide of all 32 NFL teams, it is a must for any football fan.

Not quite as staggeringly awesome as the baseball version of the Prospectus, but a great, great reference for the upcoming NFL season. It is interesting to see that there are metrics that can be applied to football just like the ones used in baseball, and the Football Outsiders do it better than anyone. If you're looking for predictions on the whole season, your team, or just some prep for your fantasy league, this book is for you.

This is the 4th year Aaron Schatz and company have published a prospectus and they have become the best football analysts whose information is publicly available. they introduce statistical analysis in a very useful fashion that allows you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your favorite teams and players. You can check out their work at footballoutsiders.com. They don't cover college football too much so this is mostly for NFL fans.

These guys write a better book each year and I've had all 4 since they first started doing them. I tell people, if you are a casual football fan, you might kinda like it, but won't be able to get through it. But if you are an obsessive football fan, it is a must-read.