While the Falcons didn’t play their best football this season, three players still played well enough to make Pro Football Focus’ Top 101 players of 2020.
Sam Monson ranked each player, regardless of their position, based on their performance last season. This ranking doesn’t account for prior or future seasons. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley, quarterback Matt Ryan and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett were the three Falcons to make the cut.
Ridley, the highest rated of the three, came in at No. 56 after his breakout campaign. The third-year wide receiver finished with 1,374 yards, which tied him with Packers receiver Davante Adams for fifth in the NFL. Ridley is PFF’s No. 11 receiver.
“The biggest endorsement of Calvin Ridley’s season is that Julio Jones played just nine games, and every time he was missing, Ridley seemed to step up and fill the void with similar levels of production. Despite nine drops, Ridley still racked up almost 1,400 yards from 137 targets, generating a 102.3 passer rating for Matt Ryan when throwing the ball his way. Ridley also forced 12 missed tackles after the catch.”
When a team goes 4-12, oftentimes the quarterback is the first player in question. Ryan willingly shouldered much of the blame for the Falcons’ underwhelming season. Was it entirely his fault? Absolutely not, but Ryan was far from perfect in 2020.
On the other hand, he got very little help from his offensive line. Ryan was sacked 41 times last year, the third consecutive season of being sacked 40 or more times. PFF ranked Ryan as the No. 11 QB on the top 101.
“Atlanta’s season was ugly this year, but Matt Ryan still played at a high level. Missing top receiver Julio Jones for much of the year, Ryan had 31 big-time throws and a PFF grade of 93.0 from a clean pocket. Ryan is still capable of playing high-level football, even if many are busy writing his eulogy in Atlanta as the team looks to potentially rebuild.”
Undoubtedly the best defensive asset for the Falcons, Jarrett was ranked at No. 89, and was PFF’s seventh-best interior defensive lineman. Jarrett’s 2020 season was nearly identical to his 2018 campaign where he amassed the same amount of tackles and tackles for a loss.
Jarrett wasn’t perfect, although he had very little help along the defensive line. This made it easier for opposing teams to game-plan around him since there weren’t any other consistent threats up front. Monson argues that Jarrett wasn’t as stout against the run as he’s been in previous years.
“After back-to-back seasons with a PFF grade above 90.0, Grady Jarrett took a step back this season but still finished the year with a grade north of 80.0 in another impressive year. Jarrett had 57 total pressures, actually 11 more than a season ago, and his pass-rushing was still very much on-point. The difference between this year and the previous two was his run defense, which wasn’t as effective.”
It’s hard to say anyone was snubbed when the team won just four games, but Falcons LB Foye Oluokun had a really good season in his first year as a starter.
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