Of course, when I asked Zodda how the hell Slater manages to beat a double team like that basically every time, he answered, "Dark magic."You need to read more Zodda, bro. ;-)
And baseball, of course, is also much more linear than football in terms of figuring out a player's output and value. And where does the ease of assessing a player's contribution break down? Precisely where there are interaction effects among players, such as players' overlapping range in the field or the compatibility of pitching style (e.g. GB v. FB) in relation to the fielding.Unlike Pedro, whose singular brilliance on a baseball diamond was easy to see for all - because, that's how God operates, right? - Slater's skills are often hidden, off-screen, by commercial, and because most fans don't give special teams the weight it deserves as a "phase of the game".
Speaking of "dark magic"...Credit to Rev for turning this into a learning experience for all of us and broadening the discussion.
Bracketing the issue of whether or not Slater is a top three player, I think this is worth unpacking a bit.I love Slater, too, and think the casual fan underrates ST generally, but to some extent we can measure "value" in how much much Belichick is willing to pay, and Slater has the 18th-highest cap hit on the team, behind dudes like Branch, Scott Chander, and Cannon. I'm sure (behind closed doors) Belichick and Joe Judge would say Slater's a bargain at twice the price, but I'd guess he's closer to the bottom half of the top 10 than the top (which still makes him underrated by most here).
Looking at salary the coach (GM) is willing to play is definitely instructive, which is why your player value series is so interesting (I still can't believe more people don't do that kind of work even after The Blind Side.). But Belichick obviously does not set the market himself and we know (Also: The Blind Side) that football has market inefficiencies (only 32 teams will do that) and that scheme and strategy can even create some to be exploited, such as with Belichick's moving to a 3-4 and back depending on what the market demands for different types of players.
So to really gauge total value that Belichick estimates, we'd need to know what Belichick would be willing to pay if pushed more by the market. In this context, it's worth noting that FO at least has the Patriots at #1 in special teams, so there is reason to believe that Belichick values ST more than other HCs and just isn't being pushed as much by market forces, i.e. he might be willing to pay more if forced to.
That said, DVOA is, as we all know, a black box and a lot of that DVOA comes from a certain kicker, so that muddles things some.