METHODS

What every score means

TE Versatility Scout separates what a tight end is asked to do from how well they perform. The player profile shows performance percentiles; Deployment Breadth and role share[...]

Reading the profile

Percentiles

Each axis is converted to a 0–100 percentile among TEs with that component available. Higher is better after score direction is aligned; Route Release Tax i[...]

Overall score

The overall score is the unweighted mean of the five fully covered pass-game axes. It intentionally excludes Deployment Breadth and the provisional Run-Game[...]

Samples and shrinkage

Component outputs retain their opportunity counts. Where supplied, empirical-Bayes shrunk estimates are used so small samples move toward the league[...]

Performance axes

AXIS 1

Protection Impact

60% Protection Value Added + 40% Edge Seal Sustainability

Protection Value Added (PVA) estimates the change in expected pressure if TE blocks and chips are removed from the protection structure. Edge Seal Sustainability measu[...]

AXIS 2

Chip-to-Route Value

40% PAV + 40% CSR + 20% inverted Release Tax

Protection-to-Availability Value (PAV) is extra protection-window time after a chip, multiplied by the TE's receiving availability. Chip-to-Separation Return (CSR) m[...]

AXIS 3

Route Threat

34% Eligible Threat Rate + 33% Separation Over Expected + 33% Middle-of-Field Access

Eligible Threat Rate measures timely viable receiving options. Separation Over Expected compares observed separation with route/context expectation. Middle-of-Field[...]

AXIS 4
Coverage Stress

50% Coverage Gravity + 25% Constraint Value + 25% Red-Zone Conflict

Coverage Gravity captures added defensive attention. Constraint Value measures defensive alignment changes when the TE aligns inline versus detached. Red-Zone Confl[...]

AXIS 5
Open-Field Creation

100% YAC Runway

YAC Runway estimates post-catch open-field opportunity from defender spacing, momentum, and catch location. The profile uses the player-specific shrunk YAC-over-expected esti[...]

AXIS 6 · PROVISIONAL
Run-Game Impact †

40% rush EPA on/off + 25% rush success on/off + 20% edge-run EPA + 15% short-yardage conversion

Run tilt, heavy-package usage, and box count are context fields, not score credit. The uploaded source table has no upstream methodology in this repository; this axis is visible and[...]

Deployment is context, not performance

Deployment Breadth is the context-adjusted Dual-Threat Deployment Index. It uses normalized entropy across inline route, detached route, chip-and-release, standard pass block, an[...]
Deployment Breadth drives role filters, archetypes, and role-similarity comparisons. It does not increase the overall performance score.

Similarity and evidence

Performance similarity
Nearest players based on the five validated pass-game axes.

Role similarity
Nearest players based on context-adjusted deployment shares.

Combined similarity
70% performance + 30% role. Every metric retains a player-level table, play-level table, and machine-readable summary under output/[...]
Scope and limitations The tracking study covers 2021 Weeks 1–8 and is pass-play focused. Metrics are transparent, observational estimates—not proprietary NFL grades or causal claims. Interpret player per[...] Implementation detail, validation outputs, score thresholds, and player-level evidence are included in this repository under src/ and output/.