BEREA, Ohio — Part of Paul DePodesta still feels like he should be back at Citi Field these days instead of here conducting one of the most unusual experiments in recent NFL history.
Nearly eight months have passed since DePodesta made the unprecedented leap from vice president of player development and scouting for the Mets to “chief strategy officer” for football’s moribund Browns, but it still hasn’t entirely sunk in for the 43-year-old Harvard graduate.
Not only is one of the most well-known proponents of sports analytics bringing “Moneyball” to the NFL, but DePodesta himself is changing sports entirely.