Roster Info & Analysis & Stats & Other Trivial Stuff

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
#1

I was bored last Saturday morning awaiting kickoff of the Hamilton/Montreal game and I was watching ESPN College GameDay and got thinking about where CFL players went to school which led me to do & post this (http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=85351) on the CFL Forum ...

Which then led me to look at that TiCats roster with a little more depth & breadth & detail ... (Yes ... I'm bored at times!)

So here it goes ... Some interesting facts & figures regarding the 2013 Ticats!

Roster data as of Wednesday, Sept 25th, 2013 which amounts to 72 players on the active, practice, 1 game & 9 game IR's.

There are 38 Imports & 34 Non-Imports or 52.78% & 47.22% respectively.

The average age of TiCats players is 26.77 years of age. The median age is 26.08. The average deviation in age is 2.22 years. The oldest is 38.33 (Henry) and the youngest is 22.7 (Newcomer Luke Tasker)

Naturally, the largest group on the TiCat roster are 26 year olds representing 22.22% of the team. The next are 25 year olds @ 18.06%. Then 24 year olds @ 12.5%. Then 27 year olds @ 9.72%. When you add it up, 70.83% of the roster is 27 years of age and younger.

For those wondering how this compares to the rest of the league ... Here are the league #'s (Which includes the TiCats #'s)

Average age in the league is 27.33 years. Median age is 26.81. The average deviation in age league wide is 2.47 years. All of which is higher than the TiCats.

But where are the TiCats younger/older in comparison to the league as a % of their rosters? The TiCats have 5.81% less 23 & 24 year olds than the rest of the league. Yet they have 14.55% more players aged 25 to 27.

The average CFL experience is 2.79 years. The median is 2. The average deviation in experience is 1.99 years. The most experience once again is Henry with 15 and the least are 33 players being in their rookie CFL season.

As stated, there are 33 players or 45.83% of the roster in their rookie year. Another 17, or 23.61% are in their 2nd year. 5 players or 6.94% with 3 years under their belt. Same with guys in their 4th year. Players with more than 4 years experience in the league account for 16.67% of the entire roster. All told, 83.33% of the roster is 4 years and under as far as CFL experience.

What else ... Let's see ...

Average height is 6'1 & 1/4. Tallest is 6'8", newcomer Joel Reinders and shortest is 5'5" and it's not Luca ... It's Tavoy Moore.

Average weight is 233.57 pounds with Peter Dyakowski tipping it up at 325 & the lightest being Lindsey Lamar & Matt Bucknor at a light heavy weight boxing class of 180 pounds.

Now ... Where did these players come from as far as their amateur football training? (Ie; College)

34 of the TiCats or 47.22% of the roster played college ball south of the border in the FBS. (Top tier of NCAA Football) 22 or 30.56% played here at home in the CIS. (All of them NI's naturally) 8 or 11.11% went to schools in the FCS while 6 were in D2 for 8.33%. 2 players, Delvin & Josh, have no college football experience.

Of the 34 total Non-Imports, 22 or 64.71% of them went to school here in Canada and played in the CIS. 12 or 35.29% went to school south of the border. Of those, the vast majority, 9 or 75% got scholarships and played at BCS schools.

Saint Mary's is the most popular Canadian School with 5 players coming from there followed by Laval with 3.
5 in total come from out west. (Dino's, Bison's & T-Bird's oh my!)
6 are fairly local having played in the OUA.
5 come from the Q.
6 have been flown in from down east after their schooling.

The most popular school from those having played in the US is ... South Florida with 3 ... South Carolina, Nebraska, Central Michigan all have 2 former players on the current TiCat roster.

List of top schools for the entire league can be found here (http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=85351)

Anyways ... That's it for now ... Hope this kept your attention and was mildly interesting, entertaining & informative!

#2

as somewhat of a stats geek myself I congratulate you on your research

however,

If I had that much time on my hands i'd sleep LOL!

#3

Yes I know what you mean! Tends to be when I can't sleep that I decide to engage in such useless and trivial endeavors!

What I found interesting ... And you can be the judge of how interesting ...

How many players played FBS or BigTime NCAA football ... 47% of the entire roster. I thought FCS & D2 would have had higher numbers (only 19% combined approximately)

Was also surprised how many NI's or Canadians go down south for college football. Over a third have played US College ball and 3/4's of those once again at BigTime FBS College ball!

We knew the roster was younger and less experienced. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's not young because of the number of 23 & 24 year olds but rather because the bulk of the team, over 50%, is between 25 & 27. I think this bodes well. But it is remarkable and a statement upon the coaching, that this team is right in the thick of it and can compete & win with anyone in the league while 45% of the team is in their first year of professional Canadian Football & another 24% is in their 2nd!

#4

That doesn't surprise me. Generally speaking (and please don't start replying with examples of each individual CIS starter) I think it is believed (right or wrong) that a player out of US college ball will have been exposed to better talent and coaching than in Canada. Now I say generally. So the statement of 3/4 of NI on our roster playing south of the border does not surprise me.

I'm not saying I don't like the CIS or think that there are not good players here. I just think on the talent and coaching is stronger south of the boarder.

#5

Not disagreeing with you ... just clarifying ... as I know I threw a lot of numbers out & not in a really organized manner ...

But ...

It's 1/3rd or 12 of the 34 NI's that played college football down south. That's all levels of US College. And of that 1/3rd or 12, 9 of them played FBS. That's what surprised me. Not just the overall amount ... 1/3rd but the fact that more NI's get scholarships and play in BigTime Football programs in the FBS. I thought more Canadians would be getting scholarships and going to FCS & D2 schools.