Joe Brolly and others have described Kerry as a one-man team. Brolly recently said the All-Ireland champions are "mediocre" and "nothing" without David Clifford.

Let's analyse the numbers to see just how reliant Kerry are on the reigning Footballer of the Year...

Since making his debut in 2018, Clifford has scored 24 goals and 234 points in his 57 league and championship appearances.

He has registered 20-139 from play, plus four penalties, 85 frees, and 10 marks. He is averaging 5.4 points per game.

So far in 2023 Clifford has scored 47 of Kerry's 195 points (24.1%). This is slightly down on his percentage from last year (25.2%), although he has missed two games so far compared to one in 2022.

Here are the figures for the previous four years:

2021 Clifford got 63 out of Kerry's 217 points (29%)

2020 42 out of 186 (28.8%)

2019 36 out of 285 (12.6%)

2018 51 out of 240 (21.3%)

Remarkably, Clifford has scored every single time he has taken to the field.

In recent weeks he has been sensational. He had 2-6 against Clare, 0-8 against Mayo and 1-5 against Cork. Against Mayo in particular, many of his teammates underperformed. This, to a large extent, is what has prompted the debate - although Brolly has called Kerry a one-man team in the past.

His numbers are certainly impressive and he is unquestionably Kerry's most important player. But how do his stats stack up against those of his rivals, and his own teammates?

We would need to compare Clifford's data against all the other top forwards to get a full picture but just by way of example, Dean Rock kicked (or fisted) 30.6% of Dublin's points in 2022. Clifford's highest ever percentage for a season is 29%.

Shane McGuigan has scored 37.1% of Derry's points in the 2023 championship. Clifford has notched 34% of Kerry's total. Does this make Derry a one-man team?

Clifford has scored 50% or more of Kerry's points in just one of his 57 games. (He got 1-5 out of 1-10 against Galway in 2018.)

In the 2023 All-Ireland group stage alone, this feat has already been achieved by the aforementioned McGuigan, Darren McCurry (Tyrone), Cormac Costello (Dublin) and Oisín Gallen (Donegal).

Clifford has been Kerry's top scorer in 23 of his 57 games, and joint top scorer in seven. Naturally enough, someone else has been top scorer the other 27 times.

Looking at campaigns as a whole, Clifford has been Kerry's top marksman in the championship just once, in 2018. (He was also joint top scorer in 2020 as he and Killian Spillane both scored 0-4 in Kerry's only match.)

Meanwhile, Seán O'Shea has been Kerry's leading scorer in the championship three times (2019, 2021 and 2022).

Clifford and O'Shea made their debut together in 2018. Their scoring rate is almost identical. O'Shea has scored 338 points in 64 appearances (5.3 points per game) versus Clifford's 306 points in 57 appearances (5.4 points per game).

O'Shea has scored 25% of Kerry's points since January 2018. Clifford has scored 22.7%. Clifford is more prolific from play, granted, but if nothing else the percentages clearly show that more than one man is getting the points on the board.

All told, over three-quarters of Kerry's points during Clifford's career to date have been scored by his teammates.

Of course, putting the ball over the bar isn't everything. Clifford also contributes via assists and by drawing defenders' attention away from his fellow forwards. Unfortunately the assist data is not readily available and the amount of attention he attracts is not easily quantifiable.

Clifford also seems to strike for goals and points at important times. Again, this data is not readily available.

Kerry's record in games in which David Clifford did not play is surprisingly good. He has missed 10 fixtures. Kerry have won eight of them and lost two.

The Fossa forward is a phenomenal player but several of his teammates are also legitimate stars in their own right. The likes of Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan, Seán O'Shea and Paudie Clifford are elite footballers who would start for most, if not all, other teams in the country.

Kerry's captain is a generational talent, and he is standing out even more at the moment because a number of his teammates haven't really been playing to their potential. Kerry have been depending on him more in recent weeks. That much is true.

But you have to question if a one-man team is even possible at this level. For example, as good as Clifford was against Cork, Kerry still needed O'Shea to kick his five points. Jason Foley had an excellent game in defence, keeping the dangerous Brian Hurley scoreless from play.

It's never really just one guy, even if the highlight reel might suggest otherwise.

Would Kerry win the All-Ireland without Clifford? Probably not. Every team needs their best player, even more so if the player in question is a potential GOAT candidate.

However, when we look at the numbers, and also when we consider the calibre of some of the players around him, it seems unreasonable to say that Kerry would be "nothing" without him.