PFF's Depth Chart Ratings for NFC West

[hawknation2014]

Strong depth for the Seahawks with backups Jackson, Rice, Williams, and Smith all listed as starter-caliber players. Seahawks have as many "elite" starters as the rest of the NFC West combined. And three more players are listed as fringe elite starters.

Chris "hit and run" Culliver and Aldon "Danger 2 Society" Smith are each listed as starters for the 49ers. They haven't drafted well over the last three years and it shows with their depth.

Strong front lines for the Rams.

Blocking may continue to be a problem for Arizona, and they should see a dropoff at LB.

 

[WillySchu]

John Ryan is below average? PUH-LEEZ

 

[Galen96]

John Ryan is below average? PUH-LEEZ

this... :13:

 

[loafoftatupu]

John Ryan needs an upgrade.

Bruce Irvin should be downgraded to an average NFL starter at LB.

Anyone who thinks that Joe Staley is less than elite is missing brain cells. The dude easily handles almost any D lineman he goes up against... even when he is playing on one leg.


I put no stock in this.

About the only thing it tells me is that the Cardinals are in serious trouble in this division with no one to back up an aging QB with a history of injuries who's playing behind a mediocre O-line - and having to play 6 games against 3 of the best front 7's in football.

Agreed.

It is like the Cards are trying to get better at Oline, but with Palmer they needed to be aggressive about it.

The other thing is the Washington Dansby effect. While they have a formidable group up front, it is likely that the middle will not be able to play at the level of last season.

I respect the Cards, they can present trouble, but it doesn't seem consistent enough to truly take seriously over a season.

 

[Brahn]

Niner's battle cry this season...

Upside! Upside! We got Upside!

- Niners Fans when they talk Tank,Kaep, and Lattimore
2 of those guys will hit "Upside" just by taking a snap

 

[FriscosFinest]

I usually dont really care about this stuff, but its fun to talk about when theres nothing else to talk about.. but I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well. You guys have outstanding starters on defense.. but I'd definately argue that we have better depth, especially on our front 7.

Oh and wow..our CB Brock is actually considered good . Does our secondary still suck?

 

[Mike 4G]

I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well.

Agreed, I would take all 4 of those players if I could.

 

[hawknation2014]

I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well.

Agreed, I would take all 4 of those players if I could.

I wouldn't want the Seahawks to touch Aldon Smith, unless they're drive blocking him into the dirt. At the rate he's going, he's going to seriously hurt himself or someone else off the field.

 

[Throwdown]

Like I know he's an al-queda operative, but I'd put Aldon smith as elite, and how in the hell Bowman isn't elite is beyond me.

 

[loafoftatupu]

Like I know he's an al-queda operative, but I'd put Aldon smith as elite, and how in the hell Bowman isn't elite is beyond me.

This is 2014 rating system, so my guess is that they are rating him one notch below elite coming off major knee surgery - which I suppose makes sense, but that still doesn't explain some other misses.

Bowman is 100 percent bad ass. that dude should be top rated even if both his knees were jacked.

I genuinely hope that guy fully recovers. He is an extremely special player to watch regardless of the uniform.

Manningham gets hit in the knee and let's the ball go.

Bowman gets hit in the knee while recovering a fumble and never phases him. No way he was letting go of that ball.

I'm just glad that the Hawks fumbled the Niners to better field position after because that would have been a bad score, even if it was a FG.

 

[RichNhansom]

I usually dont really care about this stuff, but its fun to talk about when theres nothing else to talk about.. but I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well. You guys have outstanding starters on defense.. but I'd definately argue that we have better depth, especially on our front 7.

Oh and wow..our CB Brock is actually considered good . Does our secondary still suck?

Not sure how you can make that argument without trying to credit guys like Tank and Lemon which have proven zero and Seattle has our own class of hold overs waiting to unleash. To be fair pretty much every team does.

Starting on your D-line no one has been able to beat out Cowboy and he is now 35 years old. Bowman and Aldon are both huge question marks for now. If you remove the unprovens from the argument I would say that Seattle has the better starting rotation and depth for both teams is unknown. The big difference is we don't have a guy like Willis but one guy doesn't make up for the rest and Seattle has pretty consistent depth through the starters and depth at LB and DL.

To me that really is the difference. Your starters get more fan fair but it is not like they are 10 times better than anything Seattle has

I would take Mebane over Dorsey or Williams, Bennett and Avril over Cowboy at this stage of his career and even Aldon Smith with his current troubles and possibly not seeing the field. With Bowman injured KJ Wright is the second best LB comparing the two groups behind Willis and Wagner is in the same conversation as Wright. Brooks and Moody are decent but not special. If they were all healthy and young and not looking at missing time you could make a good argument but of the two groups the Seahawks are the only ones who can say that. As for depth beyond those I have mentioned it is a crap shoot with to little of information to make a fair comparison but just like you I am excited for the guys who are waiting to make an impact.

 

[FriscosFinest]

I usually dont really care about this stuff, but its fun to talk about when theres nothing else to talk about.. but I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well. You guys have outstanding starters on defense.. but I'd definately argue that we have better depth, especially on our front 7.

Oh and wow..our CB Brock is actually considered good . Does our secondary still suck?

Not sure how you can make that argument without trying to credit guys like Tank and Lemon which have proven zero and Seattle has our own class of hold overs waiting to unleash. To be fair pretty much every team does.

Starting on your D-line no one has been able to beat out Cowboy and he is now 35 years old. Bowman and Aldon are both huge question marks for now. If you remove the unprovens from the argument I would say that Seattle has the better starting rotation and depth for both teams is unknown. The big difference is we don't have a guy like Willis but one guy doesn't make up for the rest and Seattle has pretty consistent depth through the starters and depth at LB and DL.

To me that really is the difference. Your starters get more fan fair but it is not like they are 10 times better than anything Seattle has

I would take Mebane over Dorsey or Williams, Bennett and Avril over Cowboy at this stage of his career and even Aldon Smith with his current troubles and possibly not seeing the field. With Bowman injured KJ Wright is the second best LB comparing the two groups behind Willis and Wagner is in the same conversation as Wright. Brooks and Moody are decent but not special. If they were all healthy and young and not looking at missing time you could make a good argument but of the two groups the Seahawks are the only ones who can say that. As for depth beyond those I have mentioned it is a crap shoot with to little of information to make a fair comparison but just like you I am excited for the guys who are waiting to make an impact.

Theres a reason no ones able to beat out cowboy.. hes a monster. Our LB's Skuta/Wilhoite can easily start for other teams that are in need of LBs. When they played last year, they made noticeable plays. The defense almost didnt skip a beat. Our LB's are deep. Tank hasnt played yet, so I wont speculate on his potential. But Lemonier has played a small bit, and has made some turnovers and sacks as well. I believe his first sack was a safety?

All in all, its tough to speculate, but I can honestly say the next 2-3 years the niners/seahawks will still be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[4freakin9]

I usually dont really care about this stuff, but its fun to talk about when theres nothing else to talk about.. but I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well. You guys have outstanding starters on defense.. but I'd definately argue that we have better depth, especially on our front 7.

Oh and wow..our CB Brock is actually considered good . Does our secondary still suck?

Not sure how you can make that argument without trying to credit guys like Tank and Lemon which have proven zero and Seattle has our own class of hold overs waiting to unleash. To be fair pretty much every team does.

Starting on your D-line no one has been able to beat out Cowboy and he is now 35 years old. Bowman and Aldon are both huge question marks for now. If you remove the unprovens from the argument I would say that Seattle has the better starting rotation and depth for both teams is unknown. The big difference is we don't have a guy like Willis but one guy doesn't make up for the rest and Seattle has pretty consistent depth through the starters and depth at LB and DL.

To me that really is the difference. Your starters get more fan fair but it is not like they are 10 times better than anything Seattle has

I would take Mebane over Dorsey or Williams, Bennett and Avril over Cowboy at this stage of his career and even Aldon Smith with his current troubles and possibly not seeing the field. With Bowman injured KJ Wright is the second best LB comparing the two groups behind Willis and Wagner is in the same conversation as Wright. Brooks and Moody are decent but not special. If they were all healthy and young and not looking at missing time you could make a good argument but of the two groups the Seahawks are the only ones who can say that. As for depth beyond those I have mentioned it is a crap shoot with to little of information to make a fair comparison but just like you I am excited for the guys who are waiting to make an impact.

So 2 time second team all-pro Brooks is "decent but not special" :34853_doh:
Looks more like he's a top 4 OLB in the NFL.

 

[RichNhansom]

I usually dont really care about this stuff, but its fun to talk about when theres nothing else to talk about.. but I'd put bowman and aldon smith as elite (even though hes a bonehead). Probably Joe Staley/Vernon Davis as well. You guys have outstanding starters on defense.. but I'd definately argue that we have better depth, especially on our front 7.

Oh and wow..our CB Brock is actually considered good . Does our secondary still suck?

Not sure how you can make that argument without trying to credit guys like Tank and Lemon which have proven zero and Seattle has our own class of hold overs waiting to unleash. To be fair pretty much every team does.

Starting on your D-line no one has been able to beat out Cowboy and he is now 35 years old. Bowman and Aldon are both huge question marks for now. If you remove the unprovens from the argument I would say that Seattle has the better starting rotation and depth for both teams is unknown. The big difference is we don't have a guy like Willis but one guy doesn't make up for the rest and Seattle has pretty consistent depth through the starters and depth at LB and DL.

To me that really is the difference. Your starters get more fan fair but it is not like they are 10 times better than anything Seattle has

I would take Mebane over Dorsey or Williams, Bennett and Avril over Cowboy at this stage of his career and even Aldon Smith with his current troubles and possibly not seeing the field. With Bowman injured KJ Wright is the second best LB comparing the two groups behind Willis and Wagner is in the same conversation as Wright. Brooks and Moody are decent but not special. If they were all healthy and young and not looking at missing time you could make a good argument but of the two groups the Seahawks are the only ones who can say that. As for depth beyond those I have mentioned it is a crap shoot with to little of information to make a fair comparison but just like you I am excited for the guys who are waiting to make an impact.

So 2 time second team all-pro Brooks is "decent but not special" :34853_doh:
Looks more like he's a top 4 OLB in the NFL.

Alright I'll give you Brooks I guess I just discount him since he should be in prison for his assault on Divens that the Santa Clara DA (weird coincidence I'm sure) decided that signed statements from multiple eye witness's and medical records weren't sufficient evidence to file charges.

Apparently for the Niners the DA has to be present during the crime for him to believe any 9er player could possibly do something wrong.

 

[Subzero717]

I dont think Bennett starts in Reds spot and I didnt see Toomer.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

How do they rate the NFC South? Where is the link if you dont mind? Sorry. :mrgreen:

 

[Subzero717]

And McDaniel is taking over Reds 5 spot.

 

[Marvin49]

Like I know he's an al-queda operative, but I'd put Aldon smith as elite, and how in the hell Bowman isn't elite is beyond me.

LOL. Nice. Got a real LOL from me.

 

[Marvin49]

We can argue the Niner and Seahawks "ratings" all day, but what surprises me more is how many Rams starters are rated below average...including the entire LB corps.

 

[RedAlice]

We can argue the Niner and Seahawks "ratings" all day, but what surprises me more is how many Rams starters are rated below average...including the entire LB corps.

There is a thread about this on one of the Rams boards - PFF (same as Evan Silva btw) is consistantly negative on Rams players.

I can hardly see how several of those Rams players are "below average" starters. But, fact is Rams have yet to do anything other than be inconsistent.

I am amused by the chart and look forward to seeing how those "below average" starters actually, um, perform as starters this year.