PFF Player Rankings As Of Week 4

[RiverDog]

Here's the weekly player rankings for our guys as of Week 4. The number ranked at each position is in parathesis. I've also put our guy's previous week's ranking as well as the top ranked for each position from the previous week in parathesis:

Quarterback (34 ranked) Geno Smith #10 (#5). Top Ranked: Derek Carr, Saints (Derek Carr)

WR (122 ranked) DK Metcalf #28 (#34), Tyler Lockett #36 (#26), JSN #50 (#44), Jake Bobo #69 (#77). Top ranked: Nico Collins, Hou (Chris Godwin, Bucs)

RB (59 ranked) Kenneth Walker #1 (NR), Zach Charbonnet #28 (#34). Top ranked: K9 (David Montgomery, Lions)

TE (76 ranked) AJ Barner #17 (#20), Noah Fant #36 (#34). Top ranked: Isiah Likely, Ravens. (Isiah Likely)

C (35 ranked) Conner Williams, #20 (#22). Top ranked: Eric McCoy, Saints (Eric McCoy)

G (70 ranked) Laken Tomlinson, #36 (#37), Anthony Bradford #70 (#66). Top ranked: James Daniels, Pit (James Daniels)

T (77 ranked) Charles Cross, #8 (#1), Stone Forsythe #73 (#36). Top ranked: Jordan Mailata, Eagles (Charles Cross)

CB (97 ranked) Tariq Woolen, #10 (#5), Devon Witherspoon #17 (#26), Tre Brown #52 (#37). Top ranked: Zyon McCollum, Bucs (McCollum)

S (77 ranked) Julian Love, #2 (#1), Rayshawn Jenkins, #14 (#10). Top ranked: Brandon Jones, Den (Love)

LB (80 ranked) Jerome Baker #28 (NR), Tyrel Dodson #36 (#20), Tyrice Knight #46 (#59). Top ranked: Fred Warner, Niners (Warner)

DT (123 ranked) Leonard Williams #7 (#5), Jarron Reed #17 (#24), Byron Murphy #73 (#71)). Top ranked: Cameron Heyward, Pit (Dexter Lawrence)

Edge (111 ranked) Derrick Hall #18 (#27), Boye Mafe #20 (#21), Dre Mont Jones #91 (#80). Top ranked: Adian Hutchinson, Lions (Hutchinson)

A couple of highlights.

A number of our defensive guys regressed from their previous week's rankings, particularly in the secondary, Woolen and Spoon slid from #5 to #10 and from #17 to #26 respectively, Tre Brown slid from #37 to #52, Love and Jenkins slid from #1 to #2 and from #10 to #14. That's to be expected when the opposing quarterback doesn't throw a single incompletion. The exception was Jarron Reed, moving up to the #17 ranked defensive tackle from #24 in the previous week.

Geno slipped from #5 to #10, a bit surprising if you ask me as I didn't think he played that poorly, and Charles Cross dropped from #1 to #7. Kenneth Walker was the top ranked running back. Anthony Bradford can't slip much further. He was ranked #70 out of the 70 offensive guards that met the minimum snap count required for a ranking. That one was no surprise.

And as a reminder, if any of you folks have a question about a ranking or grade, say like where Aaron Rodgers ranks (he's tied for 5th with Lamar Jackson) or where Charles Cross's run blocking grade ranks him (he's ranked #1 in run blocking), please don't hesitate to ask. I paid for full access to the site, so I need to get my money's worth.

 

[LeveeBreak]

Thanks RD. Appreciate the insights.

 

[ZagHawk]

I am not on the Geno bandwagon but even my eyes could see he played lights out on Monday. I am surprised he dropped, unless it was that Interception he threw towards the end.

 

[RiverDog]

I am not on the Geno bandwagon but even my eyes could see he played lights out on Monday. I am surprised he dropped, unless it was that Interception he threw towards the end.

The quarterback rankings don't meet the eye test, at least not my eye test. Andy Dalton, for example, ranks 3rd even though he's averaging just 179 passing yards per game, his completion percentage, at 63%, is nothing to write home about, and he's just 1-2 as a starter. Kyler Murray is ranked 7th even though his team is just 1-3 while Mahomes, while leading his team to a 4-0 start, is only ranked 13th.

An even more egregious oversight is the Vikings' Sam Darnold. His completion percentage is 68.9%, he leads the league in TD passes and passer rating, and his Vikings are 4-0 and one of the biggest surprises of the season, yet he's ranked just 17th.

IMO they're not putting near enough weight on the team's success in their quarterback rankings as the QB is the single most influential position on the field.

 

[ZagHawk]

The quarterback rankings don't meet the eye test, at least not my eye test. Andy Dalton, for example, ranks 3rd even though he's averaging just 179 passing yards per game, his completion percentage, at 63%, is nothing to write home about, and he's just 1-2 as a starter. Kyler Murray is ranked 7th even though his team is just 1-3 while Mahomes, while leading his team to a 4-0 start, is only ranked 13th.

An even more egregious oversight is the Vikings' Sam Darnold. His completion percentage is 68.9%, he leads the league in TD passes and passer rating, and his Vikings are 4-0 and one of the biggest surprises of the season, yet he's ranked just 17th.

IMO they're not putting near enough weight on the team's success in their quarterback rankings as the QB is the single most influential position on the field.

It would seem like these rankings are similar to the probowl. Your reputation is 50% of the equation vs the actual production. Mind that sometimes your reputation does follow current production, but sometimes people with existing long standing reputations can get away with average to barely above average production and be top ranked.

 

[LeveeBreak]

I thought TD passes weigh heavily...but I could be wrong on that.

 

[RiverDog]

It would seem like these rankings are similar to the probowl. Your reputation is 50% of the equation vs the actual production. Mind that sometimes your reputation does follow current production, but sometimes people with existing long standing reputations can get away with average to barely above average production and be top ranked.

I don't think reputation factors into these rankings very much. PFF goes to extremes to try to keep them as objective as possible. That's not to say that there isn't some personal bias by the individual evaluators, just that I don't think it's anywhere close to the bias that exist in the Pro Bowl and other voted on teams and awards.

 

[knownone]

Dalton's per-game stats are misleading because he threw one pass against NO in a blowout loss. He is currently averaging 270 yards per start and benefiting from the small sample size in his PFF grade.

PFF wasn't too kind to Geno this week. He had a turnover and a TWP, and most of Seattle's scoring production came from Walker. His grade didn't lower that dramatically, though. He was 81 last week and 78.5 this week.

I wouldn't pay any attention to the numerical rankings. The difference between #5 and #10 is only a handful of plays this early in the season.

 

[Rat]

Their first quarter All-Pro teams are out. It's not particularly friendly to the NFCW.

Niners - 2 players
Cardinals - 0 players
Rams - 0 players
Seahawks - 0 players