When the Packers played the Bears, the TV network ran a graphic of the offensive and defensive formations of each team, with the players’ PFF numerical rankings featured below their names. That signifies to me that the Pro Football Focus grading system has reached a consensus among pro football followers of being an accurate and respected measure of players’ abilities.
How does PFF rates players? On every play, an analyst grades each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to how he did on that play. From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation and are finally converted to a 0-100 scale.
Through Week 12, how has PFF rated Packer players compared to others at their positions?
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is ranked #1 overall by PFF, and he’s also the top-ranked passer, with Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Kirk Cousins, and Tom Brady holding down spots two through six. Aaron’s running grade is but 28th – but the team is better when Rodgers quickly releases the ball instead of scrambling and running. Plus, who’s to say AR won’t show off more of his running prowess in the postseason?
Among the 124 rated wide receivers, Davante Adams is at the top of the pile, and by a relatively wide margin. Interestingly, his two closest pursuers are the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Will Fuller, who the Packers considered trading for a few weeks ago, stands at #4 – on November 30, however, Fuller was suspended for six games for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Substance Policy.
Among the 36 rated centers, Corey Linsley is far and away the top-ranked guy – his total score of 89.8 is more than 10 points above his nearest competitor. Corey sprained his MCL against the Bears, so he’s expected to be out for three to six weeks. Even after Corey was carted off during the first period, the Packers’ O-line showed its depth by continuing to prevent Rodgers from being sacked, or even hit, the rest of the game.
Of 78 rated tackles, David Bakhtiari is top ranked; he’s almost equally highly ranked at both pass blocking (4th) and run-blocking (6th).
At cornerback, I believe Jaire Alexander had been the top-rated cornerback until recently. Following the Bears game, however, he currently ranks #4 among 125 rated CBs. He’s ranked fifth overall in pass coverage, while his run defense mark is graded as mediocre.
Below are some of the rest of PFF’s rankings of other key Green Bay players.
Despite rarely being beaten by pass rushers over a year and a half now, guard Elgton Jenkins is only rated 35th overall (out of 80). PFF has the second-year man at #13 at pass blocking, though he’s rated only #51 at run blocking.
PFF also doesn’t rank the rest of Green Bay’s receivers highly. They’ve got Allen Lazard at 74th, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling at 117th, eighth from the bottom. My eyes have certainly not shown Lazard to be ranked so low – to me it’s no coincidence that Allen missed two of the games that Green Bay has lost.
I’d also take issue with Robert Tonyan being ranked just 24th out of 72 tight ends. Though his receiver rating is okay at 20th, PFF marks him quite low as to pass- and run-blocking.
As to “half backs,” PFF has Aaron Jones at #27 and Jamaal Williams close behind at #30. The ratings be damned, I’ll be crushed if the Pack parts ways with Jones at season’s end.
As to the team’s other tackles, Rick Wagner comes in with a very respectable #20, while Billy Turner is at #52. Turner is being paid an average of $7M per year, while Wagner is getting $5.5M.
Green Bay’s primary guards, Elgton Jenkins and Lucas Patrick, are rated at #36 and #46 (out of 83) respectively.
With some trepidation, I turn my attention to the Packers’ defenders.
Re cornerbacks other than Alexander, Kevin King ranks 49th, Chandon Sullivan 62nd, and Josh Jackson 96th.
At safety, Adrian Amos stands in a commendable seventh position; he also ranks seventh as to pass coverage. The remaining Green Bay safeties are: Darnell Savage, a respectable 19th; Raven Greene, 53rd; and, Will Redmond, 70th.
Listed under “linebackers,” are: Krys Barnes, 73rd (out of 86), and Christian Kirksey, 80th. By the way, Blake Martinez, now with the Giants, is rated at #11 by PFF.
The next category is edge defenders. Za’Darius Smith is 14th (out of 106), Rashan Gary is 72nd, and Preston Smith is 89th.
That brings us to Interior Defenders, who number 127: Kngsley Keke is tops on the team, at 26th; Tyler Lancaster and Kenny Clark are tied at 37th; and Dean Lowry is 91st. The numbers for Keke and Lancaster are surprisingly solid – and better than Clark, who’s been playing through some injuries.
Kickers are also rated, though the placekicker listing has been inoperative. Punter J.K. Scott ranks 7th out of 29.
If you accept the notion that the PFF grading system is a good indication of a player’s performance, it’s not hard to say where the team’s strengths and weaknesses exist – or which players are, and are not, returning good value based on what they are getting paid. These ratings also highlight which Packers players need to step up and improve their play over the rest of the season and post-season.
Blessed with Top Talent
One final note. I’ve been looking at PFF grades sporadically over the past four years or so. Mostly I like to view scores of linemen, as it’s hard for TV viewers to see how well they are performing, as opposed to players in the skills positions.
To the best of my knowledge no Packer player has finished first at his position in the PFF rankings since at least 2016. But breaking news! Of the 14 positions that PFF employs (“Kickers” is still not functioning), Cleveland has two of the top-ranked guys, at fullback and guard. Eight other teams (most of whom are in the AFC) have one player each. Green Bay, however, has the top-rated quarterback, wide receiver, tackle, and center – and Jaire Alexander has off and on held PFF’s top cornerback spot. Astounding!
On this basis alone, I think you have to view Green Bay as having a real shot at making the Super Bowl.
Another way to look at things: despite the Packers being blessed with star players, the play of ILBs Christian Kirksey, Krys Barnes, Kamal Martin, Ty Summers, and Oren Burks might well determine how far the team goes the rest of the way.
Still another way to contemplate the future: though I don’t know what Aaron Rodgers’ final PFF player grade ranking was last year, his passer rating was only twelfth best among NFL QBs – and the Packers still made it to the NFC championship game. This year though, Mr. Rodgers is shooting the lights out – making anything possible!