Tag: PFF stats

Browns offensive line ranked 1st in both run and pass blocking for 2020

It’s a testament to talent, scheme and OL coach Bill Callahan

Take a bow, Bill Callahan. The Browns offensive line coach helmed the league’s best unit in 2020.

Callahan’s talent-laden line finished first overall in both run blocking and pass protection grades for the entire season at Pro Football Focus, which evaluates every player on every snap.

The Browns earned the highest score in run blocking at 81.4, edging out the 49ers (81.0) and Colts (78.8). In pass protection, Cleveland blew away the competition. The Browns’ 86.4 grade was well above the Packers (79.9) and Football Team (76.6).

One interesting gleaning from the rankings: the top five teams in pass protection grades from PFF all made the postseason. The Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears were the only teams in the bottom 12 in pass blocking to make the postseason.

[lawrence-related id=57318]

Baker Mayfield was the NFL’s best QB in opening drives in 2019

Mayfield didn’t have a good year but it wasn’t all bad

[jwplayer HKl1OpGJ]

It can be hard to recall real bright spots in the 2019 season from Baker Mayfield. The Browns quarterback did not have a great follow-up season to his record-setting rookie campaign in 2018. His numbers were worse across the board under rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens, with one notable exception.

Mayfield was outstanding on the opening drives of games. Really. In fact, nobody in the NFL was better.

Pro Football Focus broke it down for every quarterback on the first possession for his team in all the 2019 games. And sure enough, Mayfield edged out Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees with the highest PFF grade on those initial possessions.

Interestingly, Mayfield wasn’t statistically at his best in the first quarter of games. He had a higher QB Rating and better TD/INT ratio and yards per attempt in the second and third quarters. Perhaps new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski can help Mayfield fill in those gaps with more consistent play from No. 6 in 2020.

[lawrence-related id=50816]

PFF: Julio Jones is highest-graded WR of decade in postseason

Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is the last guy that will care about being the third-ranked receiver on NFL Network’s countdown of the top 100 players.

Still, it seems as if the media is consta

Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is the last guy that will care about being the third-ranked receiver on the NFL Network’s countdown of the top 100 players.

Still, it seems as if the media is constantly looking for someone else to declare as the NFL’s top wideout. Whether it’s Dez Bryant, Odell Beckham Jr., Antonio Brown or Michael Thomas, Jones always seems to get brushed aside for the more dramatic players at his position.

The writers over at Pro Football Focus tend to look past those non-football factors and just focus on production, which unsurprisingly shows Jones ranked as the league’s highest-graded receiver over the last decade in the playoffs.

His postseason grade of 91.7 is over four points higher than any other WR, including Julian Edelman (83.4), Davante Adams (85.0) and Doug Baldwin (84.7) since 2010.

Jones has played in eight career playoff games, racking up 61 catches, 834 receiving yards and six touchdowns since 2010.

There are some great receivers in this league but until No. 11 hangs up his cleats, he’s the best in the game.

[lawrence-related id=55552,55776,55770,55742]

[vertical-gallery id=55755]

Jermaine Whitehead was the worst-tackling safety in the NFL in 2019

The Browns cut Whitehead during the season

Jermaine Whitehead did not have a good 2019 season. After starting the season as one of the starting safeties for the Cleveland Browns, Whitehead ended the season unemployed and disgraced.

The Browns dumped Whitehead in November after he made racist and violent threats against fans and a reporter on social media following a Browns loss to the Broncos where he badly whiffed on a tackle. Missing tackles was a recurring theme for Whitehead in his eight games with the Browns in 2019.

From Pro Football Focus and its signature stats service,

Cleveland Browns’ Jermaine Whitehead recorded the lowest PFF tackling efficiency of any qualifying safety in 2019. He missed 12 tackles across just 59 total tackle attempts en route to a 4.2 tackling efficiency.

The terrible tackling might explain why Whitehead remains on the street as a free agent. Teams can forgive a bad social media post, but combined with unacceptable tackling, there are too many other fish in the ocean at safety.