otball Focus Stitched J.J. Jansen Jersey , here is how the defensive mainstays fared in 2018"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomFinal 2018 ratings for all Panthers defensive players, per Pro Football FocusNew,41commentsWith public data available from Pro Football Focus, here is how the defensive mainstays fared in 2018ESTShareTweetShareShareFinal 2018 ratings for all Panthers defensive players, per Pro Football FocusBill Streicher-USA TODAY SportsThe good people at Pro Football Focus spend enormous amounts of time breaking down every player’s performance on every individual play throughout the season. In the end, players can then be given a final rating somewhere between zero (poor) and 100 (elite). If you want to learn more about their methodology, you can read PFF’s Player Grade overview.What I have always appreciated about PFF is that while no player evaluation system is perfect, at least PFF is consistent. Players are graded by the same criteria which enables them to be given one of seven grades based on their rating and position rank:EliteHigh QualityGoodAbove AverageAverageBelow AveragePoorBased on free, public information available at PFF’s Carolina Panthers page after Week 17, here are the final 2018 ratings, grades, and position rankings for each of the Panthers starters and regular contributors on defense. (Note Youth Mario Addison Jersey , I did the same write-up last year and here’s the link.)Grades and Ranks After Week 17, per PFFNamePosOverallGradePosition RankNamePosOverallGradePosition RankDefensive MVPs1 - Luke Kuechly: 90.7 rating, No. 2 linebacker. Luke will go down as one of the best linebackers in NFL history, health permitting. No surprises here and no need to explain any further. 2 - Kawann Short: 85.7 rating, No. 14 interior defensive lineman. KK had another solid season. Despite missing two games, his 12 tackles for loss dwarfed the combined totals of Dontari Poe (four), Kyle Love (zero), and Vernon Butler (zero), per Football Reference. 3 - Kyle Love: 76.8 rating, No. 32 interior defensive lineman. This one’s a surprise, but PFF loved Kyle Love. He registered just 19 tackles, 1.5 sacks Stitched Mario Addison Jersey , four quarterback hits, and zero tackles for loss. But some of the value of interior defensive linemen doesn’t show up on the stat sheet (e.g. eating blockers) so PFF saw something special with what Love was doing.Defensive LVPs1 - Wes Horton: 42.4 rating, No. 107 edge rusher. The Panthers struggled all year to get pressure on the quarterback coming from the edge and Horton was part of the problem. Despite playing 537 snaps, Horton registered just 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hits. 2 - Mike Adams: 51.4 rating, No. 83 safety. Adams really struggled this year, especially in coverage. In my weekly “Plays to Love/Hate” column he tied for the defensive lead for the most “Plays to Hate” on the season, meaning his gaffes significantly impacted multiple games this year. 3 - Captain Munnerlyn: 61.6 rating, No. 84 cornerback. This one passes the eye test. Captain was either too slow, too short, or too out of position to consistently make plays. With the lack of a pass rush this year Captain was left on an island too often and the outcome usually wasn’t good. Additional observationsRespecting our elders: Major props to Julius Peppers (75.9 PFF grade, No. 23 defensive end) and Thomas Davis (74.2, No. 17 linebacker) for terrific seasons. Carolina should seriously consider bringing both of them back next year if they can work out team-friendly deals. Eric Reid’s production: Eric Reid’s (66.5 Youth Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey , No. 53 safety) performance significantly exceeded his cap hit. Carolina signed him after Week 3 on a $1.4 million deal and he immediately delivered an “above average” season at a position of serious need. Turning the corner: Both James Bradberry (66.4, No. 59 cornerback) and Donte Jackson (65.0, No. 64 cornerback)were given “above average” grades this year. Hopefully they both continue to improve as they play on rookie deals for the next few years. Dontari Poe above average?: Color me surprised by this one. He seemed invisible to me so PFF must have seen him doing things like eating double teams that I missed. If “meh” was a grade, that’s the one I’d use. Again, what I appreciate about PFF is that so much of what happens in football cannot be measured by simple statistics. Their system isn’t perfect (none are), but at least it’s consistent.With that, props to Luke Kuechly, Kawann Short, and Kyle Love – the Carolina Panthers 2018 PFF Defensive MVPs. Here’s a final ranking of the top 50 players heading into the 2019 NFL Draft, broken down into tiers."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomPanthers 2019 NFL DraftThe top 50 players in the 2019 NFL Draft, rankedNew,44commentsHere’s a final ranking of the top 50 players heading into the 2019 NFL Draft Stitched Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey , broken down into tiers.EDTShareTweetShareShareThe top 50 players in the 2019 NFL Draft, rankedMatthew Emmons-USA TODAY SportsDraft week is finally upon us. The NFL Draft is one of my favorite sporting events of the year. I enjoy the process of watching, analyzing, and projecting as many college prospects as I can. My evaluations aren’t better than anyone else, but I am confident in my process that leads to my rankings. I scouted around 100 players this season. The goal is to watch at least three games of a prospect. Athletic testing and analytics are also factored into the evaluation. I grouped each player into tiers this year. The cut off for first round talents is after Tier 2. Without further ado, here are my top 50 players in this year’s draft. Tier 1 (future All-Pro)1. Quinnen Williams2. Ed Oliver3. Nick BosaTier 2 (Pro Bowl potential)4. Josh Allen5. Jonah Williams6. Montez Sweat7. Dwayne Haskins8. Brian Burns9. Andre Dillard10. Kyler Murray11. Noah Fant12. Devin Bush13. Jeffery Simmons14. Byron Murphy15. Devin White16. T.J Hockenson17. DK Metcalf 18. Juan Thornhill19. Jawaan Taylor20. Christian WilkinsTier 3 (Day 1 starter)21. Dexter Lawrence22. Jerry Tillery23. Cody Ford24. Deandre Baker25. Darnell Savage26. Marquise Brown27. Clelin Ferrell28. Nasir Adderley29. Chase Winovich30. Chauncey Gardner Johnson31. Ben Banogu32. Garrett Bradburry33. Drew Lock34. Greg Little35. Julian Love36. Greedy Williams37. Erik McCoy38. Taylor Rapp39. Hakeem Butler40. Darrell Henderson41. Elgton Jenkins42. Justin Layne43. Amani Hooker44. Chris Lindstrom45. A.J Brown46. Kaleb McGary47. Anthony Nelson48. Dalton Risner49. Parris Campbell50. Amani Oruwariye Now, please go ahead and tell me how dumb I am and that I should stick to my day job. Thanks for following along this draft season. Let’s pray the Panthers make wise decisions this weekend.
