Football Glossary

How far downfield, on average, a QB's passes travel in the air before the catch (or incompletion) point — a measure of throw depth independent of yards after the catch.

Requires an air-yards field recorded at the moment of the throw. We only store the play's final gainLoss (air yards + yards after catch combined, and 0 on an incompletion regardless of how far the ball traveled), so depth of target can't be separated out. Not available without a schema change — see the recommendation below.

The player who runs with the ball on a rushing play. Tracking identifies featured backs and rotation patterns.

Sending extra defenders (beyond the normal rushers) to pressure the quarterback. Tracked as yes/no.

Number of defenders in the "box" (near the line of scrimmage). Higher counts (7-8) suggest run defense; lower (5-6) suggest pass defense.

Receptions divided by targets for a receiver.

receptions (targets with a completion result) / targets x 100.

Passes completed divided by pass attempts.

Completions = attempts where result is in the completion set ("Completed Pass", "Touchdown", "First Down", "No Gain", or a made PAT/2pt on that pass). Completion% = completions / attempts x 100 (sacks excluded from attempts).

The percentage of plays on a given down that earn a first down or a touchdown.

For a given down: plays with result = "First Down" or "Touchdown" / all scrimmage plays on that down x 100. Third/Fourth Down Conversion Rate combines downs 3 and 4 into one number.

Distinct from Success Rate above — Success Rate gives partial credit on 1st/2nd down for a "good enough" gain even without converting; Conversion Rate only counts plays that actually earned a new set of downs or scored.

The pass defense scheme. Examples: Cover 1 (man-free), Cover 2 (two deep safeties), Cover 3 (three deep zones), Cover 4 (quarters).

How much better (or worse) a QB's completion rate is than a model would expect, given the difficulty of each throw.

CPOE requires knowing how far downfield each pass traveled in the air (air yards) plus a fitted model of catch probability by depth, separate from a Success Rate or Completion % you already have. Our Play model does not record air yards — only the final gainLoss on the play — so a throw's difficulty can't be estimated. This would need a new field captured at charting time (see the schema note below) before CPOE is possible.

Cornerbacks and safeties who primarily defend against the pass. Cover receivers and provide deep support.

The alignment of defensive linemen and linebackers. Examples: 4-3, 3-4, Nickel, Dime. Describes base defensive structure.

Where the play is directed: Left, Right, or Middle. Reveals tendency toward one side of the formation.

Yards remaining to earn a first down. Starts at 10 on 1st down and decreases with each gain.

Players who line up on the line of scrimmage to rush the passer and stop the run. Typically 3-4 players.

An offensive play attempt. A team gets 4 downs to advance 10 yards. Gaining 10+ yards resets to 1st down.

A continuous series of offensive plays ending in a score, turnover, punt, or end of half. Drives are computed automatically from play data, never stored.

A new drive starts when possession changes between consecutive plays, the previous play ended the possession (punt, turnover, turnover on downs, field goal try, safety, touchdown+PAT), or the half boundary is crossed (Q2 → Q3). An accepted penalty does not end a drive — the play it nullifies is skipped when finding the drive-ending result.

A play-by-play efficiency metric adjusted for the strength of the opponent faced, indexed against a league average.

DVOA is built on top of an EPA-style expected-points model, then further adjusted for opponent strength across a whole league's worth of teams and games. We don't have the underlying EPA model (see "EPA" above), and at youth/HS level we also don't have a shared cross-team dataset to compute a meaningful opponent adjustment or league average against. Not available.

Success Rate restricted to 1st and 2nd down — how well the offense keeps itself on schedule before 3rd down.

Same per-play success test as "Success Rate" above, computed only over plays where down is 1 or 2.

How many points a play added or subtracted versus what an average offense would be "expected" to score from that down, distance, and field position.

EPA is not a formula — it is a statistical model. It requires an expected-points table for every (down, distance, field position) combination, fit from a large play-by-play corpus. We do not maintain one, and we deliberately chose not to substitute a published NFL-derived table: our users are youth and high-school coaches, where field length, roster depth, and scoring dynamics are different enough that an NFL expected-points curve would misstate value and could be mistaken for a measured number specific to this team. We are shipping Success Rate and the metrics on this page now, and will revisit EPA once enough of our own customers' play data has accumulated to fit our own expected-points model — at that point it will be labeled with exactly whose data it came from.

A play gaining significant yardage in one shot.

RUN with gainLoss >= 12, or PASS with gainLoss >= 16. Explosive Rate = explosive plays / total plays x 100.

Absolute yardage thresholds regardless of field position or down — a 16-yard completion on 3rd-and-25 counts the same as one on 1st-and-10.

Advancing the ball past the first-down marker, resetting the down count. A key efficiency metric.

The alignment of offensive players before the snap. Examples: Shotgun, I-Form, Pistol, Spread, Singleback. Tracking formations reveals tendencies.

Yards gained (positive) or lost (negative) on a play. The foundation for most offensive stats.

Two rows of short lines running down the center of the field. The ball is placed on or between the hashes before each play. Left/Middle/Right affects defensive alignment.

The share of the opponent's snaps your defense blows up — a tackle for loss, sack, forced fumble, or interception.

Restricted to their offensive scrimmage snaps (possession = "them", RUN or PASS). A snap counts as havoc if result = "Sack", result = "Interception", result = "Fumble Lost", or it's a RUN with gainLoss < 0 (a tackle for loss). Havoc Rate = havoc snaps / defensive scrimmage snaps x 100.

The standard published formula (Football Study Hall / SIS) also includes pass breakups, which we don't track as a standalone field — ours is a defensible subset, not the full definition. If you chart pass breakups, ask for that field to be added.

Defenders who line up behind the defensive line. Versatile players who defend both run and pass.

The yard line where the ball is placed to start a play. Abbreviated LOS.

Pre-snap movement by a skill player. Motion can indicate play direction and creates defensive confusion. Tracked as yes/no.

The five players who block for the QB and RBs: Center, two Guards, two Tackles. Always 5 on the field.

The intended receiver on a pass play. Tracking targets reveals the passing game hierarchy.

A rule infraction that results in yardage gained or lost. Tracked by type, team (US/THEM), and yardage.

The grouping of skill position players on the field. Notation: first digit = RBs, second = TEs. Example: "11" = 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WRs. "21" = 2 RBs, 1 TE, 2 WRs.

The specific play called by the offense. Examples: Inside Zone, Counter, Mesh, Four Verticals. Tracking by name reveals tendencies.

Either RUN, PASS, or SPECIAL (kicks, punts). The run/pass ratio is a fundamental tendency metric.

Average points scored per offensive possession.

For each computed Drive, sum the point value of its plays (Touchdown = 6, Field Goal = 3, PAT Good = 1, 2pt Good = 2; a Safety given up on the drive subtracts 2). Points Per Drive = total points / total drives. The PAT/2pt try is already attached to its touchdown's drive, so it is not double-counted or missed.

How often the quarterback was pressured on a dropback.

Offense (pressure allowed): PASS plays with pressured = true / all PASS plays x 100. Defense (pressure created): their PASS plays with a pressureBy defender logged / their PASS plays x 100.

A dropback is approximated as "any PASS-type play," which already includes sacks. A QB scramble that a spotter logged as a RUN is not counted as a dropback here, even if the play started as a called pass.

How much more or less often a team passes than a model would predict for that down, distance, score, and time situation.

Like EPA, this needs a fitted "expected pass rate" baseline from a large corpus of play-calling situations — a model, not a formula. We could technically compute an NFL-derived baseline, but the same objection as EPA applies: NFL play-calling tendencies (hurry-up rules, roster size, clock management) do not transfer to Pop Warner or high school, and presenting it as "expected" would overstate its authority. We report Run/Pass tendency by down, distance, and situation directly instead (no expectation baseline implied) — see the Tendency charts.

The player who receives the snap and either hands off, passes, or runs. The primary decision-maker on offense.

A player who primarily runs the ball. Also catches passes and blocks. Personnel notation counts RBs first.

The area between the opponent's 20-yard line and the goal line. Scoring efficiency here is a key coaching metric.

yardLine >= 80 (internal 0-100 scale, where 100 = opponent goal line) — i.e. the opponent's 20-yard line and in.

Percentage of red zone trips that result in a score.

A trip starts the first time a drive's yardLine reaches 80+ and ends at the next touchdown, field goal, turnover, or exit below 80. Efficiency = (touchdowns + field goals) / trips x 100.

Percentage of plays that are runs.

RUN plays / (RUN + PASS plays) x 100. Pass Percentage is the complement.

The number of defenders rushing the passer on a given play. Standard rush is 4; 5+ indicates a blitz.

How often a dropback ends in a sack.

sacks (result = "Sack") / dropbacks (all PASS plays) x 100. Computed for both sides: sacks allowed (our offense) and sacks created (our defense, their PASS plays).

How often a run is stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage.

RUN plays with gainLoss <= 0 / total RUN plays x 100.

Context-dependent, not a single "good direction" number: run it on your defense's snaps and a high rate is good (you're stuffing them); run it on your own offense's run plays and a high rate is bad (your run game is getting stuffed). The app labels which side a given Stuff Rate card is showing.

Defensive linemen exchanging rush lanes after the snap to confuse blocking schemes. Tracked as yes/no.

Percentage of plays that gain "enough" yards to keep the offense on schedule, given the down.

Per play: 1st down succeeds if gainLoss >= 4. 2nd down succeeds if gainLoss >= distance x 0.5. 3rd or 4th down succeeds only if the play result is "First Down" or "Touchdown" (i.e. it converted). Success Rate = successful plays / total plays x 100.

Fixed house-rule thresholds, not opponent- or score-adjusted — a 4-yard gain counts the same on 1st-and-10 up 30 as it does 1st-and-10 in a one-score game. It also does not weight HOW a play succeeded (a 4-yard checkdown and a 4-yard scramble under pressure score identically).

Percentage of drives that end in a touchdown.

drives with result = "Touchdown" / total drives x 100, from computed Drive objects (see "Drive").

Touchdowns thrown divided by interceptions.

touchdowns : interceptions, shown as a ratio. Displays "∞" when interceptions = 0 and touchdowns > 0.

A hybrid player who blocks like a lineman and catches like a receiver. Lines up on the end of the offensive line. Personnel notation counts TEs second.

Loss of possession via interception or fumble. Turnover on downs occurs when a team fails to convert on 4th down.

A pass catcher who lines up wide near the sideline. Primary targets in the passing game.

Yards gained by the receiver after the catch, separate from how far the throw traveled in the air.

Same root cause as aDOT: without an air-yards field we only have total yards gained on the play, so we cannot split it into "in the air" versus "after the catch." Not available without a schema change.

Position on the field from 1 to 50 and back to 1. In this app, 0 = own goal line, 100 = opponent goal line.

Average passing yards per attempt.

Attempts = PASS plays where result != "Sack". Yards Per Attempt = sum(gainLoss on those attempts) / attempts. Sacks are excluded from both the numerator and denominator, matching NFL convention.

Average yards gained per offensive play. A core efficiency metric.

sum(gainLoss) / count(plays) across the filtered play set. Yards Per Run and Yards Per Pass are the same formula restricted to playType RUN or PASS.