2020 NFL Draft: Using text analytics to evaluate the 2020 off-ball linebacker class

Last week, we debuted an approach to understanding NFL prospects using text analytics on their scouting reports. Using the awesome resource that is Dane Brugler’s draft guide from 2015 to the present, we went through and derived a similarity score between every pair of prospects during that time frame.  

Once these similarity scores were computed, we looked at early-career WAR for each comparable player and weighted them by the similarity in their scouting reports. If a player is a close comp to a player who produced a lot his rookie deal, the score would go higher. Similarly, the same thing would happen if a player was a far away comp to a player who played poorly.  

[Editor’s note: Check out PFF’s 2020 Mock Draft Hub, NFL Draft Big Board and NFL Mock Draft Simulator. PFF Elite subscribers can also download the 1,250-page 2020 NFL Draft Guide.]

Here, we provide a ranking using this approach for the top linebackers in this week’s draft, along with some under-the-radar players the method likes. 

Davion Taylor, Colorado