Amazon-analyzed big data may not be enough to predict injuries in the NFL :
The Amazon Web Services partnership will try to close the gap with league-level data from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, which capture location data, speed, and acceleration for every player on the field hundreds of times a minute through microchips in their pads. It also includes video footage of games, information on playing surface and environmental factors, and anonymized player injury data, according to the NFL. It doesn’t collect data on how hard body parts are hitting the ground or other players, which is one limitation, Binney says. But it can see, with granular detail, how and at what speed a player ran a play, changed direction, or made a tackle. The goal is to find out if any common elements of football are more likely than others to lead to any injury.
This stat caught my eye:
Currently, the injury count per game is holding steady at an average of six or seven.
That’s…high.
I watch a lot of kid rugby (since Grasspunk junior plays) and six or seven seems about right for rugby too. It’s the quantity theory of sports injuries.
It’s high, but of course there’s a range of severity. I enjoy watching football and six or seven seems right, but I’d guess about half are “minor” in terms of the player being out for between one play and a game or two. My impression is that the average is about one season-ending ending injury per game (between the two teams). Which is…high, too.