The Average Face Of An NFL Player, Literally

[leeclemmer]

Here in the U.S. we're back to work after a long Labor Day weekend and getting excited for the first regular season NFL game on Thursday between the Packers and Seahawks. To mark the occasion, I thought I'd take a look at some basic player statistics and have some fun while I'm at it.

This is the face of the NFL football player: the average of 2,047 available player images (out of a total of 2922 players).

Using the SAP Player Comparison Tool, fantasy football fanatics can really dig deep into the numbers to make sure their team crushes the competition. There is no shortage of available statistics and metrics, but having recently stumbled upon the Face of Tomorrow project, I wondered: just what does the average face of an NFL player look like? Using psychomorph, a bit of Python scripting, and player images from nfl.com, I set out to answer this question.

To the right you see the answer. The face is the generated average face of 2,047 available images (875 players did not have a profile image). Next I wondered if there were any differences in player build between different positions. After some experimentation, I decided to group some of the positions for simplification, and since, for example, there wasn't much difference between the average face of Middle Linebacker and an Inside Linebacker.

Here are the results:

	Defensive Back (Corner Back, Defensive Back) Avg. height: 5'11" / 182cm Avg. weight: 195lbs / 88kg Avg. NFL experience: 2.8 years Avg. age: 25
	Defensive Line (Defensive End, Defensive Tackle, Nose Tackle) Avg. height: 6'4" / 192cm Avg. weight: 294lbs / 134kg Avg. NFL experience: 3.4 years Avg. age: 26
	Kicking (Kicker, Punter, Long Snapper) Avg. height: 6'1" / 186cm Avg. weight: 217lbs / 98kg Avg. NFL experience: 5.1 years Avg. age: 28
	Linebacker (Inside Linebacker, Linebacker, Middle Linebacker, Outside Linebacker) Avg. height: 6'2" / 188cm Avg. weight: 244lbs / 111kg Avg. NFL experience: 3.2 years Avg. age: 26
	Offensive Back (Fullback, Running Back) Avg. height: 5'10" / 180cm Avg. weight: 221lbs / 100kg Avg. NFL experience: 2.8 years Avg. age: 25
	Offensive Line (Center, Guard, Offensive Guard, Offensive Lineman, Offensive Tackle, Tackle) Avg. height: 6'4" / 195cm Avg. weight: 312lbs / 142kg Avg. NFL experience: 3.2 years Avg. age: 26
	Quarterback Avg. height: 6'3" / 191cm Avg. weight: 223lbs / 101kg Avg. NFL experience: 4.7 years Avg. age: 27
	Safety (Free Safety, Safety, Strong Safety) Avg. height: 6'0" / 183cm Avg. weight: 207lbs / 94kg Avg. NFL experience: 4.1 years Avg. age: 26
	Tight End Avg. height: 6'4" / 194cm Avg. weight: 253lbs / 115kg Avg. NFL experience: 3.1 years Avg. age: 26
	Wide Receiver Avg. height: 6'1" / 184cm Avg. weight: 200lbs / 91kg Avg. NFL experience: 2.8 years Avg. age: 25

So there you have it. Yes, an Offensive Lineman is much bigger than a Kicker.  Were there any surprises for you? If so, let me know in the comments.

Bonus statistic: an NFL player is most likely to have come from:

1. University of Miami (54)


2. University of Southern California (53)


3. Louisiana State University (51)


4. University of Alabama (49)
   Florida State University (49)


5. Ohio State University (48)