Tag: Grade

Chiefs Joe Thuney is best pass blocking guard in NFL, according to PFF

#Chiefs OL Joe Thuney is the best pass-blocking guard in the NFL, accoring to Pro Football Focus.

The Kansas City Chiefs offensive line has been one of the best units on the team through nine games. Their play has been particularly exceptional on the interior, as evidenced by veteran guard Joe Thuney’s outstanding 81.3 pass-blocking grade, which stands alone as the best among players at his position in the NFL.

Thuney is one of the Chiefs’ highest-paid players and has been worth every penny of Kansas City’s hefty investment in him, even while the team’s offense continues to find its stride through the second part of its 2023 schedule.

Paired with Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey in the middle of the Chiefs’ line, Thuney has a target on his back every week as opposing pass rushers attempt to harass reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes in the pocket.

Fans should expect Thuney to keep up his exceptional run in pass protection when Kansas City plays the Philadelphia Eagles at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 11.

Willie Gay Jr. earned highest PFF grade during Chiefs’ Week 9 win vs. Dolphins

Willie Gay Jr. earned the highest PFF grade of any #Chiefs player during Kansas City’s Week 9 win over the #Dolphins.

The Kansas City Chiefs defense stood its ground against the Miami Dolphins in Week 9 and was led by linebacker Willie Gay Jr. who received the highest marks on the team for his performance in the resounding victory.

Gay received a stellar 92.0 grade for his efforts against Miami, which led all linebackers in the NFL during Week 9.

With a Monday night game left to play before the week is technically over, it isn’t out of the question that a Los Angeles Chargers or New York Jets defender may eclipse him, though it would take a truly herculean effort.

Gay’s exceptional play was a welcome sign for the Chiefs’ linebacking corps, which is without standout Nick Bolton for the foreseeable future as he recovers from an injury sustained earlier in the season.

If games like the one he put together against Miami become routine for Gay, Pro Bowl honors should be expected for him by the end of Kansas City’s 2023 campaign.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Travis Kelce grades out as best TE in NFL, according to PFF

Travis Kelce grades out as the NFL’s best tight end, according to Pro Football Focus.

While Travis Kelce’s romance with Taylor Swift has grabbed more headlines than any other story this season, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end is making moves on the field that have earned him the best grade in the NFL at his position, according to Pro Football Focus.

Kelce’s spectacular 88.7 grade wasn’t earned by accident. In a year where the Chiefs’ offense has been frustratingly dysfunctional, Kelce’s presence has been one of the only things that the team can rely on week in and week out.

Patrick Mahomes deserves some amount of credit here, too, but Kelce seems to have almost singlehandedly carried Kansas City’s passing game on his back.

Entering the Chiefs’ Week 9 tilt against the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany, Kelce leads Kansas City in receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns, and targets. He figures to play a key role in each of the Chiefs’ remaining games this season and should have no issues remaining the highest-graded tight end in the league if he can continue producing at the rate he has established through the 2023 season’s first eight weeks.

Saints safety Jordan Howden among PFF’s highest-graded rookies of Week 5

Jordan Howden has not only been impressive for the Saints, but across the entire 2023 draft class. He was one of PFF’s highest-graded rookies of Week 5:

The New Orleans Saints have had their struggles throughout the start of the season, but one of the bright spots in recent weeks has been rookie defensive back Jordan Howden. Howden was originally selected by the Saints with the 146th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft out of Minnesota, and Pro Football Focus recognized him as one of their highest-graded rookies coming out of Week 5.

Howden had a solid performance in Week 5’s shutout 34-0 win over the New England Patriots, earning him a place as PFF’s second-highest graded rookie (minimum of 25 snaps) with an overall grade of 86.8.

That put him behind only Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. in the rookies who came away with the highest grades for the week, quite a testament to where Howden stands among NFL players of all positions. The box score has him with a single tackle on the afternoon, but Howden’s biggest play of the game was forcing an interception that played a role in the Saints keeping the momentum through the second half.

 

“I guess, the way the ball was place, it was wither I have to just make a tackle or I was just gonna a have to put my shoulder into his rib,” Howden told reporters after the game. “And then the next (thing) you know, I come out and the ball is out and we’re all celebrating on the sidelines.”

Howden and the Saints will look to keep the momentum rolling as they face the Houston Texans on the road in NRG Stadium at noon CT.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Kadarius Toney earned worst single-game PFF grade of any WR since 2018

Bad news abounds for #Chiefs pass catcher Kadarius Toney. PFF gave him the worst grade of any WR since 2018 for his outing vs. the #Lions.

The hits just keep coming for Kansas City Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney. After single-handedly tanking the team’s chances of victory against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, the beleaguered receiver earned the worst grade given to any NFL wide receiver since 2018 when Pro Football Focus broke down his performance on Friday.

Toney’s 29.7 PFF grade, as shocking as it is, doesn’t come close to doing justice to just how bad he was against the Lions. He could not seem to hang onto the ball, caused a pick-six on a perfectly thrown pass, and let victory slip through his arms when Patrick Mahomes targeted him on Kansas City’s final offensive drive.

The catastrophic performance that the Chiefs got out of Toney may go down as one of the worst games in franchise history from a skill position player.

With any luck, Toney will be able to do better next week when Kansas City faces the Jacksonville Jaguars.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1]

Cumulative draft grades are not kind to the Broncos’ 2023 class

Cumulative draft grades have the Broncos ranked 28th out of 32 teams for their 2023 draft class.

[connatix div_id=”3f8b015acdd24c648befc5d5dac47469″ player_id=”afe1e038-d3c2-49c0-922d-6511a229f69c” cid=”7cbcea0d-4ce2-4c75-9a8d-fbe02a192c24″]

The Denver Broncos only made five picks in the 2023 NFL draft this spring, and general manager George Paton tried to maximize those picks.

Opinions are varied on the team’s 2023 draft class. Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar gave the team a “B” grade, which seems pretty fair. Some draft pundits were much harsher.

René Bugner (@RNBWCV on Twitter) recently compiled 29 evaluations of the 2023 class and gave each team a cumulative draft grade. The cumulative grade for Denver is 2.42, which ranks 28th out of 32 teams.

The Broncos’ cumulative grade was sunk by an “F” grade and three “D” grades. Denver was one of just four teams who received an “F” from one of the 29 evaluators.

Of course, none of this really matters — draft experts have been wrong plenty of times before. As coach Sean Payton noted after the draft, it’s hard to give a fair grade to any particular class until three years after the draft.

We’ll have a better idea of how good (or bad) the Broncos’ 2023 draft class is in 2025. In the meantime, draft pundits aren’t feeling too optimistic.

[vertical-gallery id=620142]

Follow the Broncos Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Broncos coach Sean Payton had a good quote on draft grades

Forget instant draft grades. “[W]e will have a better idea of how this draft went” in three years, Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

We can’t help it. Every year, right after the NFL draft ends, pundits give out grades for each team’s draft class. It’s way too early to give an accurate grade, but we can’t help it.

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton correctly noted after the 2023 NFL draft ended last weekend that this year’s class should be graded three years from now.

“Tomorrow [Sunday]’s the day that all the draft grades come out,” Payton said. “I love tomorrow. But truly, I hope three years from now when all of us will have a better idea of how this draft went, the reports will be good. We heard it a million times — we got our guy today. Half of them are lying, but I would say, and I don’t want to speak for George [Payton], but man, I was excited.

“The process and the hours going into it, all of that, because it was new for me and there’s elements of it that were new relative to how we scout. There are some things that were fantastic. If you started really at the beginning of it all and you said here’s free agency, here we are and the draft just ended — I’m really excited.”

Next year will mark three years since Paton’s first draft with the Broncos and it looks pretty good in hindsight with Pat Surtain, Javonte Williams, Quinn Meinerz, Barron Browning, Caden Sterns and Jonathon Cooper all poised to have key roles this season.

Three years from now, it will be time to look back on the 2023 class, and fans in Denver can only hope it will look as good as the 2021 class in hindsight.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=482983128]

Touchdown Wire gives Broncos a “B” grade for 2023 draft class

Touchdown Wire gave the Broncos a “B” grade for their 2023 draft class.

The Denver Broncos ended up picking five rookies in the 2023 NFL draft over the weekend. After the draft, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar graded all 32 team’s classes and he gave Denver a solid “B” grade.

As a refresher, here’s a look at the team’s draft picks this year:

Round 2: No. 63 overall: WR Marvin Mims, Oklahoma 
Round 3: No. 67 overall: LB Drew Sanders, Arkansas
Round 3: No. 83 overall: CB Riley Moss, Iowa 
Round 6: No. 183 overall: DB JL Skinner, Boise State 
Round 7: No. 257 overall: C Alex Forsyth, Oregon

And here is a portion of Farrar’s commentary for the Broncos’ draft class:

Mims is one of the better and more nuanced deep receivers in this class, and if he’s not catching passes right away in Sean Payton’s offense, it won’t be his fault. Drew Sanders trnafered from Alabama because he couldn’t get reps as an edge-rusher and moved to off-ball linebacker, which now gives him a really interesting two-level skill set.

You’ll hear people saying that Riley Moss should move to safety, but the tape doesn’t show that at all — he’s a quick, aggressive cornerback who will give up the occasional big play, but is just as likely to erase his target. And I had a third-round grade on Skinner, who is one of the more interlining deep safeties in this class.

The Broncos are the inverse Jay-Z — they have one (huge) problem, and about 99 things going well, and this draft class is in the latter category.

To view all of Farrar’s NFL draft grades, visit Touchdown Wire.

[vertical-gallery id=620142]

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=482983128]

Touchdown Wire grades New Orleans Saints 2023 draft class with a solid B

Touchdown Wire grades the New Orleans Saints 2023 draft class with a solid B, having addressed their top needs with highly productive college talent:

However you feel about the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 draft class, they came away with players who were highly productive players and (in many cases) team captains and high-level athletes at some of their top positions of need.

So how does that translate to an overall draft grade? Here’s a take on the Saints draft class from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, who graded them with a solid B. He likes what the Saints accomplished across the board:

The Saints lost a lot of talent along their defensive line in free agency, and they addressed that with authority in this draft. If Bryan Bresee can stay healthy, he’ll be one of the best interior disruptors in this entire draft class. He’s a natural one-gap penetrator, and you can line him up everywhere from nose shade to edge. I liked Isaiah Foskey’s tape more than some people I’ve talked to, and head coach Dennis Allen won’t have any trouble taking Foskey’s 12 sacks and 33 total pressures from last season and extracting that kind of production in his concepts.

The steal of this group is Wake Forest receiver A.T. Perry, who I thought would go in the second day. Perhaps the Demon Deacons’ offense is tough for NFL people to project (I would understand that), but Perry caught 81 passes for 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. I’m not sure how much “projecting” you need to do there. And the Saints can have Fresno State Alumni Day every day with Derek Carr and Jake Haener, who is a quality developmental quarterback.

Sure, the Saints did some things that won’t sit right with everyone. They traded up a few times and may have reached on some prospects higher than the consensus opinion suggests they should have been picked. But at the end of the day, if the Saints got players who can help this team win football games, no one will even remember what was given up to acquire them.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[stnvideo key=”pahxNoVopr-2714582-7618″ type=”amp”]

2023 NFL draft grades: Saints pick QB Jake Haener at No. 127 overall

2023 NFL draft grades: Saints pick Fresno State QB Jake Haener at No. 127 overall, via @DillySanders

The New Orleans Saints trade up again in the fourth round to select quarterback Jake Haener out of Fresno State at No. 127 overall, sending a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars to move up 100 slots from their seventh rounder at No. 227.

In terms of play style, Haener gets a lot of Drew Brees comparisons. He’s a very smart, accurate quarterback. He projects to be a great backup in the NFL, but lacks some of the physical traits to really expect to grow into a starter in today’s NFL.

He was impressive at Fresno State, breaking a lot of Derek Carr’s records along the way. He posted a very impressive 68 to 18 touchdown to interception rate. He overcomes the lack of arm strength with his anticipation at times, but is still limited.

This is a much better pick than Ian Book in the fourth, but still isn’t someone you expect to see the field much any time soon.

Grade: C+

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyahgz6p2j3xp7 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]