Business Commons^™

Paying For Protection: The Effects Of Having An Elite Left Tackle, Quinn Andrew Wesley Keefer

Journal of Applied Sport Management

We exploit relatively new data collected by the NFL, since 2009, on the number of hits taken by a team’s quarterback to estimate the benefits and costs of employing an elite left tackle. We model the effect of an elite left tackle using a system of equations, which is estimated with seemingly unrelated regressions. Our system of equations considers quarterback hits, yards gained, and the probability of a quarterback injury. Overall, an All-Pro left tackle increases offensive production by 106 yards, or 8.5 points, and reduces the probability a team’s quarterback misses a game due to injury by 10.3 percentage …