Pro Football Focus has been releasing their annual rankings this past week, where they stack the top-32 players in the league at each position.
PFF finished up the skill players on Thursday, and the Chargers are represented at each position. What matters the most, however, is where each player stands among the rest of the league.
At quarterback, Justin Herbert checks in at a rather low ranking of No. 15 overall.
Herbert exploded onto the scene in 2020, setting the rookie touchdown record. He was the king of high-variance and high-leverage situations, producing a better passer rating when hurried than he did when kept clean. This is a concern because Herbert will have more opportunities to execute from a clean pocket rather than always under pressure, especially with what the Chargers did this offseason to help build up their offensive line.
Herbert set rookie records in multiple categories at the position, but to PFF, he is dinged because his high level of play was only done when being under duress as opposed to when he had time to throw the football.
The fact that Herbert was always hurried was not his choice, however. The offensive line was poor the entire season, and it doesn’t come around often that any signal-caller can have that type of production under those circumstances.
In my opinion, Herbert deserves to be somewhere between 8 and 10, which is right up there next to Ryan Tannehill and Matthew Stafford and clearly above Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins.
At running back, Austin Ekeler checks in at No. 11.
The highest PFF receiving grade over the last two seasons belongs not to Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, or any other big-name superstar but to Austin Ekeler, whose 93.6 grade is streets ahead of the competition. Ekeler also has the most receiving touchdowns and explosive plays in that time.
Even after missing six games to an injury last season, Ekeler still managed to amass 992 yards from scrimmage, five touchdowns, 5.4 receptions and 93.3 scrimmage yards per game in 2020.
In the upcoming season, Ekeler could be due for a monstrous season since he will be playing for offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who comes from a system that involves backs on the ground and through the air heavily.
At wide receiver, Keenan Allen was snubbed, by no surprise, being listed as the 16th-best player at his position.
Allen’s role was tweaked a bit in 2020 compared to 2019. He ran far fewer routes at the intermediate-to-deep level and wasn’t targeted above expectation at those parts of the field. He did see more shallow route targets, though. His 7.3-yard average depth of target was three yards under his previous mark as a result — the lowest of his career. And that played a big part in him producing worse on a per-route basis. Still, Allen performed admirably in that role with an 85.0 receiving grade that tied for 11th among qualifying wide receivers.
Even with a new quarterback, Allen made the most of his opportunities, tallying 100 receptions for 992 yards and eight touchdowns.
Allen has been disrespected by analysts for years now, and is not given the credit he deserves. In my opinion, Allen should be among the top-10 wideouts.
Finally, at tight end, Jared Cook also checks in at No. 16.
There were much worse ways for the Chargers to go about replacing Henry than signing Cook to a one-year, $4.5 million contract this offseason. The 34-year-old has arguably played the best football of his career over the past three seasons with the Raiders and Saints. Cook can still provide a vertical threat at his age, too. His 14.2 yards per reception over the past three seasons are more than any other tight end in the NFL with at least 100 receptions over that span. It makes for an intriguing potential connection with Justin Herbert in Los Angeles.
Cook, the veteran tight end, comes to the Chargers after spending two seasons with the Saints in which he had 80 catches for 1,209 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Cook will offer some upside as a pass-catching option for Herbert and his familiarity with Lombardi’s scheme should pay dividends.
