In case you were unaware, yes, the Cowboys do have an analytics department

We live in the year 2019 and that means that technology runs our lives. Who among us isn’t attached to some form of it in one way or another?

The same is true for all NFL teams, heck all professional sports teams in general. As things currently stand the Houston Astros are in the World Series (granted they’re not doing well), and a lot of the way their team is constructed is largely based on sports analytics. You can read about this in Astroball, a fantastic sports book.

Various NFL teams have been at the forefront of analytics in football and places like Twitter tend to really praise those efforts. Obviously, the Cleveland Browns invested heavily in an analytics-based philosophy as they “tanked” to build the team they have, one that isn’t currently living up to expectations, and we’re seeing a similar sort of approach from the Miami Dolphins.

Many have wondered how big of a role analytics play within the Dallas Cowboys organization.

What role do analytics play within the Cowboys, exactly? Chris Hall, the team’s college scouting director, was on Hangin’ With The Boys (a show from the mothership) on Wednesday and he detailed exactly what they do with regards to the scouting department.

“I don’t think it’s changed how we’ve scouted, but it’s become a bigger part of the puzzle that we put together each spring. We’ve got a full analytics staff now that’s grown over the last few years. They interpret a whole bunch of different things that they bring to the table. Whether it’s stats, tendencies, the type of player that fits in different things, there’s so many different things to evaluate now. And Tom Robinson and his staff do a great job of bringing another aspect to throw into the puzzle for us to figure out. We don’t just go with what analytics say, we don’t just go with what scouts say, we don’t just go with what coaches say. Will McClay does a phenomenal job of putting that all together and passing on the information to management, and we make a good group decision on what’s best for the team.”

It’s always fascinating to learn what somebody so connected to the process of scouting the Cowboys has to say about the state of the team. If you get a chance the whole interview is worth your time.