I'm one of the scouting mentors for FRC 2789 and I've been recently brainstorming new ways to analyze our data to pull out the effects of defense so our team can illustrate what we do best. We currently have a system that's good at gathering quantitative data to rate offensive bots and qualitative data to help our drive team play effective defense. We don't have a system in place that can use quantitative data to rate defensive teams because we're looking for our counterparts this year and we primarily playing defense.
It's been a big headache to find methods that work because so many variables impact individual and alliance scoring and because defender bots can play different roles that impact these stats. Depending on the match dynamics, a defender may be expected to play zone defense, man-to-man defense, to set picks for other shooters, or various combos of the above.
I'm so glad that there are teams going to Champs that have systems that are sophisticated enough to take this problem seriously so I can stop worrying about this and trust that you will find us.
However, because it's fun to geek out, here's what I'd do if I really had to find out who were the best defenders on the field with a small scout team. [
Full disclosure: a lot of what I'm going to say is informed by changes our team has implemented that have improved our defensive play from good to great - so if you do these things, you may just find us 
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YOLO WAY TO FIND GREAT DEFENDERS:
- send scouts into the pits and look for robots with low centers of gravity, chassis with at least 4 cims, and several optional blocking devices that can be added to or removed from the robot for different situations
- send scouts into the stands to take a peek at other scout systems. Look for teams that gather qualitative data that can give their drive teams the intel they need to play shut down defense. For example - my team's scouts gather things such as robots' favored movement patterns, favorites feeds, favorite shooting spots, the accuracy in those spots, etc.
Tell scouts match scouts to look for the following:
- drive teams that know what angles / pathways are good for efficient zone defense
- drive teams that have the skill set to play effective man-to-man defense
- drive teams that know the rules - these teams play aggressively within the rules and have drivers that head quickly to the question box whenever it's necessary to seek clarification on controversial calls
- drive teams that know how to set picks and know when to set picks and when to play defense