San Diego Chargers Daily Links: April 22, 2014

Pass Blocking By Time To Throw - Nathan Jahnke
Looking at the 2013 season, we can start with every pass block by a player during the season, what the time to throw was, what the time to pressure was, and if any pressure was allowed. Any play where the ball was thrown before two seconds and an offensive lineman didn’t allow pressure is taken out of the data set. Any play where an offensive lineman allowed pressure after two seconds would be considered ‘no pressure allowed’ because it came after the two-second mark in that scenario.

Depth and Passer-adjusted Catch Rates - Mike Clay
Our first chart shows the players who exceeded their expected catch rate (again, based only on depth this time) by the largest margins during the 2013 season. Note that only players who saw 50 or more targets are included in this study.

2014 NFL Draft Guide Full 7-Round Mock Draft - Steve Shoup
The Chargers could consider some various defensive players for this pick, but they could use additional help along their defensive line. Hageman is a good fit for the 3-4 scheme and he’s a guy who is just scratching the surface of his potential.

A Game of Inches: The Talent Gap By the Numbers - Matt Waldman
Only the top 6.5 percent of all high school players compete at the college level. It means they are in the 93.5 percentile of all high school players. Likewise, only the top 1.6 percent of all college players enter the NFL–the 98.4 percentile. And that second NFL contract–the seal of approval that you’re a good NFL player–is reserved for less than one percent of all college players; the 99.06 percentile.

If you give a mouse a concussion... - Robert Klemko
Using a novel technique to peer through the skulls of living mice, researchers at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland are observing concussed brains in real time, transforming ideas of what happens at the molecular level and pointing the way to possible treatment for mild brain trauma