Making the Cut: Receivers of the National Football League

In this paper the prospects of the National Football League, or NFL, are studied in order to determine the relationships between past college statistics, other “measurables,” and how they translate to successful careers in the league. When referring to measurables, this consists of all of the numerical data from each player that should, in theory, help teams get an idea of the players strengths or weaknesses. The data being used comes from an annual scouting combine for NFL teams that is held prior to each season. Information about the player’s college statistics and pre-draft measurables are being compared to several individual player statistics that are commonly indicative of successful careers. The goal is not only to benefit teams in identifying productive players, but also for the young men with dreams of competing at the highest level. It is often difficult to get a concrete idea of what teams are looking for, because many teams having differing opinions about which players will provide the most value. This investigation deals specifically with receivers and analyzing data collected from their past in order to make predictions on future careers. Multiple regression models are necessary due to several important independent variables (measurables) for each dependent variable (player statistics). Analyzing these relationships leads to the construction of several mathematical models which aim to predict the success of future prospective NFL receivers