The Pro Football Focus grades for games don’t always pass muster with the eye test. The PFF evaluators sometimes see things with different eyes than the fans or the media. It’s often neither right nor wrong, just different.
Not in Sunday’s Browns loss to the New York Jets.
The PFF game grades for Cleveland reflect the game notes and rewatch observations. In essence, Olivier Vernon, Sheldon Richardson and Joel Bitonio played well, David Njoku should have played more, Nick Harris had a terrible debut start, and Sheldrick Redwine probably shouldn’t play again.
First, the good…
Vernon and Richardson were the two highest-graded Browns on either side of the ball. Vernon earned his 88.0 overall with eight QB pressures, one sack, three tackles and impressive all-around play at end. Richardson also fared quite well at DT, posting an 81.7 grade. That was brought down by a missed TFL opportunity, but Richardson dominated the Jets aligned across from him consistently.
Bitonio was the top Dawg on offense with a 75.8. That marks the lowest “best” for the Browns offense all season, even in the dismal early-season losses to the Ravens and Steelers.
David Njoku was the only non-lineman to top 70. The tight end played just 31 snaps and was effective as both a receiver and a run blocker. His grade would have been much higher if not for a blown assignment in one of his two pass protection reps. In a game where both Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant scored in the low 50s — a grade that feels too high for Bryant — Njoku needed more run.
Bryant wasn’t the only rookie to earn a low grade. Nick Harris bottomed out with a 50.6 in his first start at right guard. His pass-blocking grade of 28.9 brought back bad memories of Shon Coleman’s regrettable Browns era. Jets DT John Franklin-Myers dominated Harris off the snap on passing plays.
Then there’s Redwine. In just 12 snaps he earned a putrid 26.8 grade. There was some hope the second-year safety could build off a solid performance against the Giants in Week 15 but he bottomed back down to the unacceptable level of play he showed earlier in the season.
[lawrence-related id=57018]