Sports Analytics Glossary
Your comprehensive guide to sports analytics terms, metrics, and abbreviations
Adjusted Line Yards (ALY)
A metric that assigns offensive line responsibility for running back yards based on distance gained: 100% for 0-4 yards, decreasing for longer runs and negative for losses.
ADOT (ADOT)
Average Depth of Target. The average number of yards downfield a quarterback throws the ball, regardless of completion. Higher ADOT indicates more aggressive downfield passing.
Air Yards
The distance a pass travels in the air from the line of scrimmage to where the receiver catches or is targeted. Does not include yards gained after the catch.
ANY/A (ANY/A)
Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt - passing yards adjusted for TDs and INTs
ANY/A (ANY/A)
Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt. Passing yards with 20-yard bonus for touchdowns, 45-yard penalty for interceptions, minus sack yardage, divided by total pass attempts including sacks. Considered one of the best single stats for quarterback efficiency.
Blitz Rate
The percentage of defensive plays where five or more pass rushers attack the line of scrimmage. Indicates defensive aggressiveness and scheme tendencies.
Catch Rate Allowed
The percentage of targets thrown to a receiver in a defender's coverage that result in a completion. Lower percentages indicate tighter coverage and better defensive back play.
Coffin Corner Percentage
The percentage of punts downed or out of bounds inside the opponent's 10-yard line. Measures a punter's ability to pin opponents deep and directional kicking precision.
Contested Catch Rate
The percentage of contested targets (where a defender is within one yard at catch point) that a receiver successfully catches. Measures a receiver's ability to win in tight coverage.
Coverage Grade
An advanced metric that evaluates a defensive back's performance in coverage, considering target rate, completion percentage allowed, yards per coverage snap, and pass breakups.
Coverage Snaps Per Reception
The number of coverage snaps a defensive back plays per reception allowed in their coverage. Higher numbers indicate fewer receptions allowed per opportunity.
CPOE (CPOE)
Completion Percentage Over Expected - Actual completion percentage minus expected completion percentage.
CPOE (CPOE)
Completion Percentage Over Expected. Measures how much better or worse a quarterback's completion percentage is compared to expectation based on factors like depth of target, receiver separation, and defensive pressure.
Defensive EPA
Expected Points Added from the defensive perspective. Negative values are good for defenses, indicating they allowed fewer points than expected. Measures overall defensive impact.
DVOA (DVOA)
Defense-adjusted Value Over Average - measures team/player efficiency vs league average
DVOA (DVOA)
Defense-adjusted Value Over Average - Measures a teams efficiency by comparing success on every play to league average.
DVOA (DVOA)
Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. Measures efficiency by comparing success on every play to a league average based on situation and opponent, expressed as a percentage above or below average.
DYAR (DYAR)
Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. Measures total value contributed by a player compared to replacement-level performance, adjusted for situation and opponent strength.
EPA (EPA)
Expected Points Added - The difference between the expected points before and after a play.
EPA (EPA)
Expected Points Added. A measure of how much a play increases or decreases a team's expected points on a drive. Positive EPA indicates the offense gained more points than expected, while negative EPA indicates they lost expected points.
Expected Points (EP)
The average number of points a team can expect to score on a drive given the current down, distance, and field position based on historical data.
Explosive Play Rate
The percentage of plays that gain 10+ yards on passing plays or 15+ yards on rushing plays. Measures an offense's big-play capability and home-run potential.
Extra Point Percentage (XP%)
The percentage of extra point attempts that are successfully converted. While traditionally near-automatic, rule changes have made this more challenging and analytically relevant.
Field Goal Percentage (FG%)
The percentage of field goal attempts that are successfully made. Often broken down by distance ranges (under 40 yards, 40-49 yards, 50+ yards) for more detailed analysis.
Fourth Down Aggressiveness
A metric measuring how often a team attempts to convert fourth downs compared to league average or optimal analytical strategy. Higher values indicate more aggressive decision-making.
Game Script
The average score differential throughout a game, weighted by time remaining. Positive game scripts indicate leading, negative indicates trailing. Affects play-calling and statistical interpretation.
Garbage Time
Game situations where one team has a near-certain win probability (typically over 95%), usually occurring late in blowout games. Statistics accumulated during garbage time can be misleading for evaluation.
Kick Return TD Rate
The percentage of kickoff or punt returns that result in touchdowns. While rare, return touchdowns provide crucial momentum swings and unexpected scoring opportunities.
Kickoff Return Average
Average yards gained per kickoff return. Important for field position and a key component of hidden yardage that impacts overall team success.
Leverage Index
Measures how much a play can change win probability. High leverage situations (tied game, late in close games) have indices above 1.0, while low leverage situations are below 1.0.
Line of Scrimmage (LOS)
The imaginary line extending across the field at the point where the ball is placed before each play. Offensive players must be set behind it, defensive players cannot cross it until the snap.
Net Punting Average
Gross punting yards minus return yards, divided by number of punts. Accounts for both punt distance and coverage, providing a complete measure of punting unit effectiveness.
Neutral Game Script
Game situations where the score differential is within 7 points in the first three quarters, or within 8 points in the fourth quarter. Used to analyze performance in competitive situations.
Pass Rush Win Rate (PRWR)
The percentage of pass rushes where a defender beats their blocker within 2.5 seconds. Measures a pass rusher's ability to win matchups independent of team scheme or quarterback holding the ball.
Passer Rating
Traditional quarterback efficiency metric combining completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown rate, and interception rate into a single score scaled from 0 to 158.3.
Play-Action Rate
The percentage of dropbacks that use play-action (faking a run before passing). Play-action typically generates higher yards per attempt and completion percentage.
Points Per Drive (PPD)
The average number of points scored per offensive possession. Normalizes scoring efficiency across teams with different numbers of possessions, providing pace-independent offensive evaluation.
Pressure Rate
The percentage of pass rushes where a defender forces a sack, hit, or hurry on the quarterback. Measures pass rush effectiveness regardless of whether the play results in a sack.
Pressure-to-Sack Ratio
The percentage of total pressures that result in sacks. Helps distinguish between creating pressure and finishing plays, indicating pass rush completion ability.
Punt Hang Time
The number of seconds a punt remains in the air. Longer hang times allow coverage units more time to get downfield and limit return opportunities.
Punt Return Average
Average yards gained per punt return. Includes returns resulting in touchdowns but excludes fair catches and returns resulting in penalties.
QB Rating Against
The passer rating quarterbacks achieve when throwing passes into a specific defender's coverage. Provides an overall measure of coverage effectiveness using the traditional passer rating formula.
QBR (QBR)
Total Quarterback Rating. ESPN's proprietary metric that evaluates quarterback performance on all plays including rushes, adjusting for situation, opponent, and teammates. Scaled from 0 to 100.
Red Zone
The area between the opponent's 20-yard line and the goal line. Critical for scoring efficiency, as teams must convert field position into touchdowns rather than settling for field goals.
Run Stop Rate
The percentage of a defender's run defense snaps that result in a stop (tackle for zero or negative yards, or short of the first down marker on third/fourth down).
Rushing Success Rate
The percentage of rushing attempts that are deemed successful based on down and distance. Measures consistent running game efficiency and staying on schedule.
Special Teams EPA
Expected Points Added from special teams plays including kickoffs, punts, field goals, and returns. Captures the often-overlooked impact of special teams on overall team performance.
Stuff Rate
The percentage of running plays that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage. Indicates defensive line penetration and run defense effectiveness.
Success Rate (SR)
Percentage of plays that gain enough yards to be considered successful based on down and distance.
Success Rate
The percentage of plays that gain 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% on second down, and 100% on third/fourth down. Measures consistent offensive efficiency and staying ahead of schedule.
Tackling Efficiency
The ratio of successful tackles to total tackle attempts, including missed tackles. Measures a defender's reliability in bringing down ball carriers.
Target Share
The percentage of a team's total pass targets that go to a specific player. Indicates how central a receiver is to the passing game and their opportunity volume.
Third Down Conversion Rate
The percentage of third down attempts that result in a first down or touchdown. Critical for sustaining drives and maintaining offensive possession.
Time to Throw (TTT)
The average time in seconds from snap to release for a quarterback. Indicates decision-making speed, pocket presence, and offensive scheme (quick vs. downfield passing).
Touchback Percentage
The percentage of kickoffs or punts that result in touchbacks. For kickoffs, higher rates indicate strong leg strength. For punts, can indicate either poor directional control or intentional strategy.
True Passer Rating
An adjusted passer rating that accounts for drops, throwaways, spikes, and defensive pass interference to better isolate quarterback performance from external factors.
Turnover Luck
The difference between actual turnover differential and expected turnover differential based on fumble recoveries and interception opportunities. Measures unsustainable fortune in turnover outcomes.
Two-Minute Drill
Offensive strategy at the end of a half when time management becomes critical. Typically features faster tempo, more passing, sideline routes, and strategic clock management including timeouts.
Win Probability (WP)
The estimated likelihood of a team winning based on current game situation including score, time remaining, field position, and down-and-distance. Ranges from 0% to 100%.
WPA (WPA)
Win Probability Added. The change in win probability resulting from a single play. Measures individual play impact on game outcome, with positive values helping the offense and negative values helping the defense.
YAC (YAC)
Yards After Catch/Contact - yards gained after reception or first contact
YAC (YAC)
Yards After Catch. The number of yards a receiver gains after catching the ball. An important metric for evaluating receiver elusiveness and quarterback placement accuracy.
Yards Before Contact (YBC)
The average number of yards a running back gains before being touched by a defender. Primarily reflects offensive line blocking quality rather than running back ability.
Yards Per Coverage Snap
Total yards allowed in coverage divided by total coverage snaps for a defensive back. Measures efficiency on a per-play basis rather than per-target basis.
Yards Per Route Run (YPRR)
Total receiving yards divided by the number of routes a receiver runs. Measures per-play efficiency and is less dependent on target volume than traditional receiving stats.
Yards Per Target Allowed
Average yards gained per pass attempt when targeting a receiver covered by a specific defender. Accounts for both completions and incompletions, providing complete coverage assessment.
Zone Coverage Rate
The percentage of defensive snaps a team plays zone coverage versus man coverage. Indicates defensive scheme philosophy and can correlate with pressure and coverage success.
Quick Reference
Common sports analytics metrics you should know
Baseball Metrics
- WAR - Wins Above Replacement
- wOBA - Weighted On-Base Average
- FIP - Fielding Independent Pitching
- wRC+ - Weighted Runs Created Plus
Soccer Metrics
- xG - Expected Goals
- xA - Expected Assists
- PPDA - Passes Per Defensive Action
- PSxG - Post-Shot Expected Goals
Basketball Metrics
- PER - Player Efficiency Rating
- TS% - True Shooting Percentage
- BPM - Box Plus/Minus
- VORP - Value Over Replacement Player
Football Metrics
- EPA - Expected Points Added
- CPOE - Completion Percentage Over Expected
- DVOA - Defense-adjusted Value Over Average
- PFF Grade - Pro Football Focus Grade