PFF Player Rankings Week 4

[River Dog]

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 guys 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.

[4XPIPS]

I trust PFF to a certain point, but Derek Carr over Sam Darnold that doesn't sit well with me. Sam Darnold is playing lights out football and should be the best at PFF as he is the playing the highest level at this point as well. I know PFF takes a more in depth looking into their grading, but the stats alone should tell you who is number in rankings at this point.


Sam Darnold
CMP/ATT
73/106
CMP%
68.9
YDS
932
TD/INT
11/3

Derek Carr
CMP/ATT
72/100
CMP%
72
YDS
824
TD/INT
6/3

By the way Geno leads the league in passing yards, at this point and still maintaining a CMP% of 72.3. Geno having a stellar year to start as well.

[NorthHawk]

Geno's playing great.
I wonder how much the 4 starting DL that are out are causing the rankings of the DBs to slip. I'm not sure that can be quantified.

[River Dog]

I trust PFF to a certain point, but Derek Carr over Sam Darnold that doesn't sit well with me. Sam Darnold is playing lights out football and should be the best at PFF as he is the playing the highest level at this point as well. I know PFF takes a more in depth looking into their grading, but the stats alone should tell you who is number in rankings at this point.


Sam Darnold
CMP/ATT
73/106
CMP%
68.9
YDS
932
TD/INT
11/3

Derek Carr
CMP/ATT
72/100
CMP%
72
YDS
824
TD/INT
6/3

By the way Geno leads the league in passing yards, at this point and still maintaining a CMP% of 72.3. Geno having a stellar year to start as well.

The quarterback rankings don't make a lot of sense to me, either. For example, Andy Dalton is ranked 3rd even though he's averaging just 179 passing yards per game, his completion percentage at 65% isn't all that great (Geno's is 72.3%, his passer rating isn't top 10, and he's not a running threat, his longest run being for 6 yards, and his team is 1-1 in his two starts. Kyler Murray is ranked 7th even though his team is 1-3 while Patrick Mahomes is ranked 13th while leading the Chiefs to a perfect 4-0 record. The QB you mentioned, Sam Darnold, is a perfect 4-0 as a starter and a big part of one of this season's biggest surprises. IMO they're not putting enough weight on a starting QB's W/L record.

Geno is having a good year overall, but his TD:INT ratio is 4:4, so that has to hurt his overall ranking.

[NorthHawk]

I just saw a stat that the 4 QBs with the most INTs when under pressure are Cousins, Geno, Nix, and Williams.
Cousins has 4 and Geno has 3.
Maybe that’s part of his lower than expected rankings.

[River Dog]

I just saw a stat that the 4 QBs with the most INTs when under pressure are Cousins, Geno, Nix, and Williams.
Cousins has 4 and Geno has 3.
Maybe that’s part of his lower than expected rankings.

I'm sure it is. Geno's TD:INT ratio is 4:4, which drags down his passer rating to 91.2, 17th amongst starting QB's. He also doesn't have a very good red zone completion percentage, one of the worst in the league, which was one of his big weaknesses last season, and as a team, we're 17th in 3rd down conversions, which has to fall at least to some degree on Geno's shoulders.

So while Geno has been running up some impressive numbers on one side of the stat sheet, the other side is less impressive, which undoubtedly gets him docked in these rankings.