PFF Player Rankings Going Into Week 15

[RiverDog]

Here are the rankings by position for those Hawks who met the minimum snap count to qualify for a ranking. The number in parathesis is the number of players who qualified for a ranking, necessary information to put the rankings in their proper prospective.

QB (40) Sam Darnold, #6. Top Ranked: Mathew Stafford, Rams.

WR (134) JSN, #2. Cooper Kupp, T-#37. Rashid Shaheed, T-#60. Top Ranked: Puka Nacua, Rams.

RB (63) Kenneth Walker, #2. Zach Charbonnet, #7. Top Ranked: Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions.

TE (75) AJ Barner, #15. Elijah Arroyo, T-#64. Top Ranked: George Kittle, Niners.

Center (38) Jalen Sundell, #27. Olusegun Oluwatimi, #35. Top Ranked: Creed Humphrey, Chiefs.

OG (80) Anthony Bradford, #70. Grey Zabel, #71. Top Ranked: Quinn Meinerz, Broncos.

OT (82) Abe Lucas, #22. Charles Cross, #24. Top Ranked: Penei Sewell, Lions.

CB (109) Devon Witherspoon, #1. Nick Emmanwori, #27. Tariq Woolen, T-#78. Top Ranked: Devon Witherspoon, Seahawks.

Safety (50) Ty Okada, #27. Coby Bryant, #36. Quandre Diggs, #41 (WTF?) Top Ranked: Jalen Pitre, Texans.

LB (88) Tyrice Knight, #17. Drake Thomas, #27. Top Ranked: Fred Warner, Niners.

DT (128) Top Ranked: Cameron Heyward, Steelers. Leonard Williams, T-#6. Byron Murphy, #27. Jarran Reed, #57.

DE (112) DeMarcus Lawrence, #27. Boye Mafe, #37. Uchenna Nwosu, #83.Top Ranked: Myles Garrett, Browns.

Once again, I'll have to add a disclaimer. I don't consider these rankings to be completely accurate. Most of the time, they do meet the eye test, but there are occasions where they don't. Take them for whatever they're worth, but they do make for a good discussion point.

They do take quite a bit of time to compose, so any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Morpheus08]

Here are the rankings by position for those Hawks who met the minimum snap count to qualify for a ranking. The number in parathesis is the number of players who qualified for a ranking, necessary information to put the rankings in their proper prospective.

QB (40) Sam Darnold, #6. Top Ranked: Mathew Stafford, Rams.

WR (134) JSN, #2. Cooper Kupp, T-#37. Rashid Shaheed, T-#60. Top Ranked: Puka Nacua, Rams.

RB (63) Kenneth Walker, #2. Zach Charbonnet, #7. Top Ranked: Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions.

TE (75) AJ Barner, #15. Elijah Arroyo, T-#64. Top Ranked: George Kittle, Niners.

Center (38) Jalen Sundell, #27. Olusegun Oluwatimi, #35. Top Ranked: Creed Humphrey, Chiefs.

OG (80) Anthony Bradford, #70. Grey Zabel, #71. Top Ranked: Quinn Meinerz, Broncos.

OT (82) Abe Lucas, #22. Charles Cross, #24. Top Ranked: Penei Sewell, Lions.

CB (109) Devon Witherspoon, #1. Nick Emmanwori, #27. Tariq Woolen, T-#78. Top Ranked: Devon Witherspoon, Seahawks.

Safety (50) Ty Okada, #27. Coby Bryant, #36. Quandre Diggs, #41 (WTF?) Top Ranked: Jalen Pitre, Texans.

LB (88) Tyrice Knight, #17. Drake Thomas, #27. Top Ranked: Fred Warner, Niners.

DT (128) Top Ranked: Cameron Heyward, Steelers. Leonard Williams, T-#6. Byron Murphy, #27. Jarran Reed, #57.

DE (112) DeMarcus Lawrence, #27. Boye Mafe, #37. Uchenna Nwosu, #83.Top Ranked: Myles Garrett, Browns.

Once again, I'll have to add a disclaimer. I don't consider these rankings to be completely accurate. Most of the time, they do meet the eye test, but there are occasions where they don't. Take them for whatever they're worth, but they do make for a good discussion point.

They do take quite a bit of time to compose, so any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks for sharing this list.

 

[Azvacar]

Here are the rankings by position for those Hawks who met the minimum snap count to qualify for a ranking. The number in parathesis is the number of players who qualified for a ranking, necessary information to put the rankings in their proper prospective.

QB (40) Sam Darnold, #6. Top Ranked: Mathew Stafford, Rams.

WR (134) JSN, #2. Cooper Kupp, T-#37. Rashid Shaheed, T-#60. Top Ranked: Puka Nacua, Rams.

RB (63) Kenneth Walker, #2. Zach Charbonnet, #7. Top Ranked: Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions.

TE (75) AJ Barner, #15. Elijah Arroyo, T-#64. Top Ranked: George Kittle, Niners.

Center (38) Jalen Sundell, #27. Olusegun Oluwatimi, #35. Top Ranked: Creed Humphrey, Chiefs.

OG (80) Anthony Bradford, #70. Grey Zabel, #71. Top Ranked: Quinn Meinerz, Broncos.

OT (82) Abe Lucas, #22. Charles Cross, #24. Top Ranked: Penei Sewell, Lions.

CB (109) Devon Witherspoon, #1. Nick Emmanwori, #27. Tariq Woolen, T-#78. Top Ranked: Devon Witherspoon, Seahawks.

Safety (50) Ty Okada, #27. Coby Bryant, #36. Quandre Diggs, #41 (WTF?) Top Ranked: Jalen Pitre, Texans.

LB (88) Tyrice Knight, #17. Drake Thomas, #27. Top Ranked: Fred Warner, Niners.

DT (128) Top Ranked: Cameron Heyward, Steelers. Leonard Williams, T-#6. Byron Murphy, #27. Jarran Reed, #57.

DE (112) DeMarcus Lawrence, #27. Boye Mafe, #37. Uchenna Nwosu, #83.Top Ranked: Myles Garrett, Browns.

Once again, I'll have to add a disclaimer. I don't consider these rankings to be completely accurate. Most of the time, they do meet the eye test, but there are occasions where they don't. Take them for whatever they're worth, but they do make for a good discussion point.

They do take quite a bit of time to compose, so any feedback would be appreciated.

Still curious how Zabel is rated so low according to PFF?

 

[RiverDog]

Still curious how Zabel is rated so low according to PFF?

Agreed. I haven't watched a lot of film but just going by what many others have said about Zabel, I'm surprised that PFF has him graded so poorly.

 

[Shane Falco]

I love having their stats but I disagree with a lot of their grades. Appreciate the post though. I like to look at them sometimes and I don't pay for PFF.

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

Witherspoon is #1???! Wow!!

 

[RiverDog]

I love having their stats but I disagree with a lot of their grades. Appreciate the post though. I like to look at them sometimes and I don't pay for PFF.

I have a subscription and am quite willing to look up a grade for you should you ever get curious about a player or position. Just reply to this post.

 

[Mad Dog]

Witherspoon is #1???! Wow!!

Teams just stay away from him. Hard to make the splash plays when QBs are scared of you.

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

Teams just stay away from him. Hard to make the splash plays when QBs are scared of you.

Definitely

I didn’t mean to imply negatively about Witherspoon. Very cool and well deserved!

 

[NoGain]

Thanks for the post, RD.

 

[Ozzy]

Again thanks for sharing these! Film guys have been going nuts on Emmonwori’s tape the past few weeks.

 

[RiverDog]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. It's not a huge deal, takes about 20 minutes, and I'm retired so why should I bitch if no one else gives a rip.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Offensive line play is the Achilles' heel of PFF. They have no idea how to grade it.

 

[BirdsCommaAngry]

Their formula for OG rankings might just be a random number generator.

 

[Trackhawk]

But they aren’t far off on Zabel and Bradford. Zabel isn’t as good as most everyone hypes him up to be, and Bradford isn’t as bad.

That’s not to say that Zabel isn’t still a phenomenal player, for a rookie, who is showing great promise. Nor to say that he isn’t better than Tomlinson. He’s the best we’ve had at the position in a while.

 

[Smellyman]

Teams just stay away from him. Hard to make the splash plays when QBs are scared of you.

not just coverage, he excels in everything

 

[JGreen79]

not just coverage, he excels in everything

Yes, the entire play including pre-snap on his pick is crazy elite

 

[RiverDog]

Offensive line play is the Achilles' heel of PFF. They have no idea how to grade it.

In their defense, offensive line performance is perhaps the most difficult position group to grade. It's not always apparent if they did what they were supposed to do. It can be very subjective.

The other thing is that we don't look at every single play like PFF does, nor does the TV always capture the entire play that an offensive lineman is involved in. The TV angle we see is focused on the ball carrier, quarterback, receiver, et al. And, of course, they have to make room for shots of Taylor Swift.

 

[RiverDog]

But they aren’t far off on Zabel and Bradford. Zabel isn’t as good as most everyone hypes him up to be, and Bradford isn’t as bad.

That’s not to say that Zabel isn’t still a phenomenal player, for a rookie, who is showing great promise. Nor to say that he isn’t better than Tomlinson. He’s the best we’ve had at the position in a while.

I tend to agree with this. There has to be a reason why Zablel is graded as poorly as he is.

 

[RiverDog]

Here's a copy and paste off of PFF's website regarding their grading process that might help answer some questions:

WHO IS DOING THE GRADING?​

PFF employs over 600 full or part-time analysts, but less than 10% of analysts are trained to the level that they can grade plays. Only the top two to three percent of analysts are on the team of “senior analysts” in charge of finalizing each grade after review. Our graders have been training for months, and sometimes years, in order to learn, understand and show mastery of our process that includes our 300-page training manual and video playbook. We have analysts from all walks of life, including former players, coaches and scouts. We don’t care if you played.

Each grade is reviewed at least once, and usually multiple times, using every camera angle available, including All-22 coaches’ tape.

YOU DON’T KNOW THE PLAY CALL?​

We are certainly not in the huddle, but we are grading what a player attempts to do on a given play. While football is extremely nuanced regarding the preparation and adjustments that go into each play call, once the ball is snapped, most players are clear in what they’re trying to accomplish on each play, and we evaluate accordingly. Of course, there are always some gray areas in football. Plays in which there is a clear question mark regarding assignment, we can defer to a “0” grade and not guess as to which player is right or wrong. These plays are few and far between and since we are grading every snap, missing out on a handful throughout the year should not affect player evaluations. Examples of potential gray areas include coverage busts, quarterback/wide receiver miscommunications and missed blocking assignments.

What they are trying to do is nearly impossible: 22 players on the field, 120-130 plays per game, 12-16 games a week, 18 weeks in a season. Times that all together and you get around 700,000 grades.