Category: PFF

PFF: Gardner Minshew registered the highest grade of rookie QBs in 2019

Despite their projected win total in the eyes of the nation, the Jags have a lot to be excited about thanks to Gardner Minshew.

Gardner Minshew’s rookie success was very eye-opening to fans and the staff as the young quarterback was able to register a 6-6 record as a starter. As we’ve previously discussed, a big part of his success was his evasiveness, scrambling ability, and deep ball accuracy, all of which are traits that could make him a franchise quarterback.

With him not seeing the field the entire season, Minshew registered a 60.6 completion percentage (285-of-470) for 3,271 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and six picks. That was good to register him a Pro Football Focus grade of 70.3, which is higher than any rookie quarterback from 2019, including first overall pick Kyler Murray.

This is just another reason why fans should be excited about Minshew heading forward. With the Jags committing to him this season, Minshew has been working hard this offseason despite the limitations the coronavirus has caused. That was clear in a recent video that surfaced last week of the young-signal caller, who looks to have added some muscle to his frame.

Another reason to be excited about Minshew is that he’s being paired with a new offensive coordinator in Jay Gruden, who has proven to be good with young quarterbacks like Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins. If he can tap into Minshew’s potential that would be great for the Jaguar King and company, who many think will be in position to take a quarterback first overall next year.

 

PFF: Gardner Minshew ranked only under Lamar Jackson in scramble yards

Gardner Minshew had an impressive rookie season in 2019, but one of the most overlooked elements of his game was his ability to run.

When fans think of the top scramblers in football, Gardner Minshew’s name isn’t one that necessarily comes to mind but opposing teams may be mindful of his abilities to run going forward. Per Pro Football Focus, the rookie was second in scramble yards with 350 as a rookie in 2019, with only the league MVP, Lamar Jackson, ahead of him (430 yards).

Minshew dazzled fans so much with his evasiveness in the pocket more than his rushing ability to the point where it was easy to overlook where he ranked as a scrambler. However, when considering where he ranked in the category in 2019, it’s worth noting that he’s good enough in the department to make it another element to the offense —at least when necessary.

The Jags have a new offensive coordinator in Jay Gruden this year, who should help Minshew tremendously. Gruden has a good track record with young quarterbacks such as Kirk Cousins and Andy Dalton, and if he can get Minshew to reach their levels (when they were at their best), it would work wonders for the offense.

While fans shouldn’t expect him to utilize a lot of designed runs for Minshew, Gruden certainly will be mindful of the young signal-caller’s abilities with his feet. However, it will be the progress Minshew makes as an arm talent that Gruden will look to more so improve.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

[protected-iframe id=”094699f2ff1a7d0f2b73a1003ed462e5-105974738-159322853″ info=”https://art19.com/shows/52b19b09-1623-4a21-8e60-9c3364a98261/episodes/21875d6d-5121-4864-a586-5be4fa970089/embed” scrolling=”no”]

Yannick Ngakoue Jags’ lone pending free agent on PFF’s top-50 list

The Jags had one player to grade out as a top free agent in 2019 per PFF and that was DE Yannick Ngakoue, who the team must retain.

With a busy offseason coming up for the league, Pro Football Focus has completed their top-50 free agents list for 2020.

Fortunately, there was only one player from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster who was listed, and of course, that was edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who came in at the No. 18 spot.

18. EDGE Yannick Ngakoue

Ngakoue has followed his collegiate profile as a good pass-rusher and below-average run defender (career-high grade of 60.0 in 2018). His best season came in 2017, as he graded at 81.0 overall to go with an 88.2 pass-rush grade and 82 total pressures (14 sacks, 15 QB hits, 53 hurries). Over the last two years, he’s posted pass-rush grades of 76.8 in 2018 and 77.5 this season, both solid numbers but not at the 2017 level that had Ngakoue looking like the next great pass-rusher in the NFL. At just 25 years old, he looks like a strong presence off the edge for the foreseeable future, but his questionable run defense coupled with the fact that more valuable positions are hitting the open market has us lower on him than most.

Oddly enough, Ngakoue wasn’t listed as a top-7 player but it appears PFF isn’t high on his ability against the run. Personally, I thought he was solid enough in the category to definitely get paid like DeMarcus Lawrence or Frank Clark (a five-year deal guaranteeing around $65 million) but only time will tell if a deal truly happens.

Ngakoue had arguably his best season as a pro in 2019 and that’s despite having a nagging hamstring injury earlier in the year. He ultimately finished the season with a career-high of 41 tackles and eight sacks.

Coming into the offseason general manager Dave Caldwell said Ngakoue would be the team’s No. 1 priority in the offseason. With the team losing a franchise player like Jalen Ramsey in 2019, it would be wise to keep Ngakoue, especially when considering the amount of needs the Jags already have.

PFF grades D.J. Hayden as a top-10 CB for 2019 season

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense was downright hard to watch at times, but if there was one player who brought it week after week, it was nickelback D.J. Hayden. The seventh-year veteran had the best season of his career, totaling 42 tackles, two …

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense was downright hard to watch at times, but if there was one player who brought it week after week, it was nickelback D.J. Hayden. The seventh-year veteran had the best season of his career, totaling 42 tackles, two sacks, six pass breakups, and a forced fumble on the season.

For the most part, Hayden blanketed those who lined up against him in the slot, and when defenders did catch the ball on him, it was for a minimal gain. His ability to provide above average play at the nickelback position and make tackles were a big part of why he acquired a Pro Football Focus grade of 77.4. According to their regular season research, he also was listed as the league’s tenth-best cornerback on their rankings for 2019.

10. D.J. HAYDEN, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

The former 12th overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft has developed better awareness in his ability to play through traffic against picks, rub routes and screens while in man-to-man press coverage.

The Jaguars run a lot of single-high man-to-man coverage and Cover-3 zone, and Hayden flourished within this scheme by allowing the fewest passing yards (210) of any qualifying cornerback. Like McCourty, Hayden is also one of four players at his position who has not allowed a touchdown pass all season. This form of success has bred confidence and new life into Hayden, who was once seen as a first-round bust in Oakland but is now coming off the highest-graded season of his seven-year career.

Hayden tied with Richard Sherman by allowing the third-lowest yards per reception average among cornerbacks (8.4) to go along with the NFL’s 20th-best passer rating when targeted (74.2), proving that sometimes it’s not about when you go in the draft, but rather, where you go.

As a former first round pick for the Oakland Raiders the early stages of his career weren’t as strong as Hayden would’ve liked and he eventually parted ways and found himself in Detroit temporarily. After that, he found his way to Jacksonville as a free-agent in 2018, and what a great decision that turned out to be.

In a time when the Jags’ defensive backs group was going through a lot in 2019, Hayden stepped up not only on the field, but off of it too, by becoming one of the voices of the locker-room. If the team can add some younger interior rushers and help at linebacker, 2020 may be an even better year for Hayden, who still has room to improve.

Gardner Minshew, Jawaan Taylor and Josh Allen make All-Rookie PFF team for 2019

When looking at the class from top to bottom, fans would be hard-pressed to find a team that got more out of their 2019 draft class than the Jacksonville Jaguars. While it may have gone under the radar of most casual fans, the good people at Pro …

When looking at the class from top to bottom, fans would be hard-pressed to find a team that got more out of their 2019 draft class than the Jacksonville Jaguars. While it may have gone under the radar of most casual fans, the good people at Pro Football Focus seemingly paid close attention to the group and named quarterback Gardner Minshew II, pass-rusher Josh Allen, and right tackle Jawaan Taylor to their annual All-Rookie team this past week.

Of the three, Minshew came away with the highest overall PFF grade (70.3), which was also more than first-round selections Dwayne Haskins and Kyler Murray.  According to PFF analyst Ben Linsey, Minshew especially thrived with deep ball throws, accumulating a 129.0 passer rating on passes 20 or more yards, which was a total good for the best in the league.

Allen made the cut alongside San Francisco 49ers pass-rusher Nick Bosa due to ranking behind him with the second highest pass-rushing grade (70.2) of any rookie on the edge. He also was slightly behind Bosa in total pressures with 49, pressure rate (13.7%) and win rate while pass-rushing (15.7%).

Lastly, Taylor was praised by PFF for his pass-blocking success mostly. He was the only rookie offensive tackle in the league to register 500 or more offensive snaps and record a pass-blocking grade higher than 60.0. He was also one of 20 right tackles to allow a pressure rate lower than 6.0%.

Heading into 2019, the Jags had clear needs at both quarterbacks and right tackle, so the analytics and grades compiled by PFF are certainly encouraging for the futures of Minshew and Taylor. As for Allen, he made a respectable Jags pass-rush even better, and if he continues the fast growth fans witnessed in 2019, the Jags’ have their franchise player on the roster to take Jalen Ramsey’s place.

Yannick Ngakoue acquires highest PFF grade for Jags vs. Raiders

Jacksonville Jaguars pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue balled out Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, registering what was his best game of the year so far. Alongside the Jags’ other pass rushers, he was disruptive all day accumulating five tackles, two …

Jacksonville Jaguars pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue balled out Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, registering what was his best game of the year so far. Alongside the Jags’ other pass rushers, he was disruptive all day accumulating five tackles, two sacks and a pass deflection.

Of course, when a player has a day like Ngakoue, that typically translates on Pro Football Focus’ grading scale — and that was the case for the fourth-year pass rusher. He was able to register the Jags’ highest grade for the database Week 15 with a 81.2. That also bumped his overall grade on the year to a 76.3. 

Ngakoue, who was battling a hamstring injury earlier in the season, has been solid as the season progressed and has also held his own against the run, and area where fans criticize him before the season. At this point he’s made it to where the Jags would be foolish to not re-sign him in the near future, but it’s looking as though another regime will have to make that call as the Jags are likely heading towards some front office changes.

Ngakoue has also had an impact in the locker room, too. He’s often been seen on the Jags’ social media posts rallying the team trying to keep them upbeat through what has been a tough season.

Simply put, if that doesn’t prove what kind of asset he is to the team, then I don’t know what will for ownership.