Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth rails against NFL's reliance on analytics: 'Just a bunch of fluff'

Former Denver Broncos lineman Mark Schlereth tees off on analytics during an appearance on OutKick’s 'Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.'

NFL teams' use of advanced metrics has been hotly debated in recent years.

Three-time Super Bowl winner and FOX Sports NFL analyst Mark Schlereth weighed in on the debate. Schlereth, who played in the NFL long before analytics were introduced, expressed his distaste for the usage of metrics. 

"There's one thing for me. It's the analytics people. … (They) become gospel," Schlereth said during a recent appearance on OutKick's "Don't @ Me w/ Dan Dakich."

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The NFL shield at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., Nov. 25, 2024. (Kirby Lee/magn Images)

"Because you take those numbers, and you can make them say whatever you want. … And the average fan thinks that becomes gospel. They don't understand how the game works, so this is a way you can basically go, 'OK, let me put my thumbprint on this' the air yards per target or whatever bulls--- they're feeding you as an analytics number-crunching nerd."

Former NFL player and current sportscaster Mark Schlereth stands on the field during a game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium Sept. 8, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

All 32 NFL teams had a designated analytics employee on their staffs last season.

ESPN anonymously surveyed each of those staffers in 2024 to learn more about how teams used analytics. Some teams lean more into analytics than others, while some general managers' backgrounds could make them more prone to take an analytics-first approach.

The survey received 22 responses. The findings named the Cleveland Browns as the No. 1 NFL