We have some good and some bad from Pro Football Focus‘ latest rankings.
The football analytics outlet decided to list the NFL’s best edge defenders in their eyes. In little surprise, the Buffalo Bills player to pop up on the list was Von Miller.
The future Hall of Famer signed a massive deal with Buffalo this offseason. However, some might hope that Miller would have appeared higher than No. 22.
Despite that, PFF did have some good things to say.
Here’s the breakdown:
We saw last season that Miller still has some juice. He enjoyed his first double-digit pressure game in multiple years and earned a 93.0 PFF grade during the Rams’ playoff run to a Super Bowl. Miller may be a declining force, but he is declining from a position of being the best edge rusher of his generation, so he has plenty of room to slip and still be a significant problem for opposing offenses.
Declining? Hard to argue at 33 that Miller’s best days are ahead of him… but PFF does see some promise still ahead for him. The Bills signed him with those exact hopes.
The most-interesting aspect comes a few slots later in PFF’s list.
At No. 24, a familiar face clocks in: Jerry Hughes. The former Bill signed with the Houston Texans last week.
Evidently PFF doesn’t think Hughes is far off which is a question to ponder in regard to replacing Hughes with Miller.
But a second to think about: What if the Bills had kept both Miller and Hughes in the fold? That might’ve been a dynamic duo worth trying.
For those curious, here’s what PFF said about Hughes:
Jerry Hughes is virtually a guaranteed 50 pressures to any defense he’s on, even at this age. He tallied 55 for the Bills last season and has averaged that figure over the past nine years. Hughes is still an effective edge rusher.
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