NFL1000: Rookie Review from Week 8

Doug FarrarNov 4, 2016

This week's Rookie Review is a good insight into our process, and you may need that kind of transparency when you look at our list and wonder how on earth we ranked a kicker (Wil Lutz of the New Orleans Saints) over Ezekiel Elliott, the Dallas Cowboys star running back who riddled the Philadelphia Eagles defense for 96 rushing yards (148 total) on Sunday night.

When we assemble our rankings for all players, we take positional importance seriously—we don't rank every player the same. In our total scores, kickers have a positional importance metric of three, while running backs have a positional importance metric of six. When a kicker bulls his way into the top of our rankings despite that handicap, we take notice and audit the overall score.

In this case, I looked at Chuck Zodda's grade and felt that it was well founded—Lutz connected on all four of his field-goal attempts, including two over 40 yards and one over 50. The Saints wouldn't have beaten the Seattle Seahawks without him. Elliott was our second-ranked running back behind Jonathan Stewart of the Carolina Panthers. Though he had a very good game, it was not his best, which speaks to the high standards he's set.

Beyond the positional importance score, we don't place extra barriers on kickers, punters or other "less important" players to make their way onto the top 50 of the NFL1000 Rookie Review list. There are kickers who help win games just as there are running backs who do so.

There's also the fact that in a climate that makes things harder for kickers than ever before, we have a player in Lutz who came into his starting role as a last-minute waiver pickup for the Saints and has shown continued improvement. That's a story no matter what his position is.

There are many familiar names atop this week's Rookie Review, but keep an eye on a couple of rising players.

Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Shaq Lawson looks fully recovered from his offseason shoulder surgery and could be a big factor in Buffalo's already estimable front seven.

New England inside linebacker Elandon Roberts continued his strong play in limited snaps—and with the Patriots' trade of Jamie Collins, we'll soon see if that transfers into a true starting role.

The Chicago Bears may have their answer for the future at running back in Jordan Howard. He certainly looked the part in a dominant performance against the Minnesota Vikings.

It was a great week for many of the NFL's first-year players. Here's how we saw their performances in Week 8.

Biggest Movers Heading into Week 9

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Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

How do you quantify the effect of the low-drafted or undrafted star? How do you chart the progress of those rookies who are struggling to make their way regardless of draft position? With the weekly NFL1000 Rookie Review, we'll look to do both while keeping track of the stars of the 2016 draft. Part of that process is to align players with their draft positions relative to their on-field performance.

It's what NFL teams do, and it's what we'll do.

Our Week 8 Rookie Review reveals a number of players who have taken major steps forward in their professional development.

1. Wil Lutz, K, New Orleans Saints

2016 Draft Position: UDFA

Rank Last Week: NR

Rank This Week: 15

What Happened: The top-ranked overall kicker in this week's NFL1000, Lutz was a last-minute add for the Saints off the Baltimore Ravens' waiver wire to start the season. He's performed well this season. His game against the Seahawks on Sunday brought him to a new level—the Georgia State alum accurately booted all four of his field-goal attempts, including one from 41 yards and another from 53. As kickers all over the league find trouble this season, the Saints have found an unheralded gem in Lutz.

2. Elandon Roberts, ILB, New England Patriots

2016 Draft Position: 214th (sixth round, 39th pick)

Rank Last Week: NR

Rank This Week: 15

What Happened: There's no way the Patriots would have traded Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns, no matter how much money he may have wanted, if they weren't fully confident in the Houston rookie. Roberts has been rising in our ranks throughout the season. Though he didn't show up as obviously two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Roberts was back to his old self when the Patriots took on the Bills on Sunday. He had five tackles and two stops in just 28 snaps. If he can continue to improve his coverage ability, he'll become a three-down starter in no time.

3. Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago Bears

2016 Draft Position: 150th (fifth round, 11th pick)

Rank Last Week: 45

Rank This Week: 4

What Happened: Howard had his third 100-yard game of the season in Chicago's Monday night upset of the Vikings, and his latest game was his most impressive yet. Against one of the NFL's better defenses, he rolled with a 69-yard run on the Bears' first drive and ended his night with 153 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, adding four receptions for 49 yards. This team is still putting everything together, but it looks like it has a bell-cow back in the Indiana rookie.

4. C.J. Prosise, RB, Seattle Seahawks

2016 Draft Position: 90th (third round, 27th pick)

Rank Last Week: NR

Rank This Week: 26

What Happened: Prosise had been hampered by injury and obscured on Seattle's depth chart by Christine Michael. He may lose footing when Thomas Rawls returns, but he showed what he could do in Seattle's Sunday loss to the Saints. At Notre Dame, Prosise was renowned for his ability to make plays from anywhere in the formation, and he was that versatile for the Seahawks—catching four passes for 80 yards and gaining 23 yards on the ground on just four carries. With perhaps the league's worst offensive line, Seattle would do well to give Prosise more snaps, because he's a good player outside the formation.

5. Shaq Lawson, OLB, Buffalo Bills

2016 Draft Position: 19th (first round, 19th pick)

Rank Last Week: NR

Rank This Week: 28

What Happened: Sunday's game against the Patriots marked Lawson's second NFL game after he finally recovered from offseason shoulder surgery, and it was his first game as a serious contributor. He's going to be on a pitch count for a while, but in just 37 snaps against New England, Lawson had a sack and four total pressures. Buffalo's defense has turned a corner this season. With Lawson now on board, more improvement could be seen.

Top 50 Rookies Overall from Week 8

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Elsa/Getty Images

Our Week 8 Top 50 rookie rankings are based on game-tape evaluation, and we can now see how they shake out against preseason grades and expectations. Here's how things stand for the 2016 rookie class this week.

Top 50 Rankings
Rank	Player	Pos.	Team	Pick	NFL1000 Score	LW	Moving
1	Wil Lutz	K	NO	UDFA	80	39	↑
2	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	DAL	4	79	NR	↑
3	Su'a Cravens	ILB	WAS	53	78	11	↑
4	Jordan Howard	RB	CHI	150	77	45	↑
5	Jack Conklin	OT	TEN	8	77	12	↑
6	Leonard Floyd	OLB	CHI	9	76	21	↑
7	Keanu Neal	SS	ATL	17	76	2	↓
8	Derrick Henry	RB	TEN	45	75	NR	↑
9	Derek Watt	FB	SD	198	75	25	↑
10	Taylor Decker	OT	DET	16	75	3	↓
11	Deion Jones	ILB	ATL	52	75	24	↑
12	Kevin Byard	FS	TEN	64	75	34	↑
13	Jatavis Brown	ILB	SD	175	74	32	↑
14	Josh Perry	ILB	SD	102	74	NR	↑
15	Elandon Roberts	ILB	NE	214	74	NR	↑
16	Karl Joseph	SS	OAK	14	74	16	-
17	Andy Janovich	FB	DEN	176	73	5	↓
18	Halapoulivaati Vaitai	OT	PHI	164	73	37	↑
19	Joey Bosa	DE	SD	3	73	8	↓
20	Noah Spence	DE	TB	39	73	35	↑
21	Justin Simmons	FS	DEN	98	73	NR	↑
22	Devontae Booker	RB	DEN	136	72	9	↓
23	Vonn Bell	FS	NO	61	72	30	↑
24	Jayron Kearse	SS	MIN	244	72	27	↑
25	Riley Dixon	P	DEN	228	72	NR	↑
26	C.J. Prosise	RB	SEA	90	71	NR	↑
27	Ryan Kelly	C	IND	18	71	18	↓
28	Shaq Lawson	OLB	BUF	19	71	NR	↑
29	Kentrell Brice	FS	GB	UDFA	71	23	↓
30	Derrick Kindred	SS	CLE	129	71	38	↑
31	Will Parks	SS	DEN	219	71	13	↓
32	Jalen Richard	RB	OAK	UDFA	70	48	↑
33	Michael Thomas	WR	NO	47	70	26	↓
34	Joe Thuney	OG	NE	78	70	4	↓
35	Emmanuel Ogbah	DE	CLE	32	70	40	↑
36	DeAndre Washington	RB	OAK	143	69	NR	↑
37	Joe Haeg	OG	IND	155	69	41	↑
38	Kenny Clark	DT	GB	27	69	15	↓
39	De'Vondre Campbell	OLB	ATL	115	69	17	↓
40	T.J. Green	FS	IND	57	69	50	↑
41	Will Fuller V	WR	HOU	21	69	NR	↑
42	Tyler Boyd	WR	CIN	55	68	NR	↑
43	Robert Nkemdiche	DE	ARI	29	68	NR	↑
44	Joe Schobert	OLB	CLE	99	68	NR	↑
45	Blake Martinez	ILB	GB	131	68	1	↓
46	Brian Poole	CB	ATL	UDFA	68	22	↓
47	Tyreek Hill	WR	KC	165	67	46	↓
48	Germain Ifedi	OG	SEA	31	67	NR	↑
49	Cody Whitehair	C	CHI	56	67	14	↓
50	Chris Jones	DE	KC	37	67	NR	↑

Quarterbacks

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Tom Pennington/Getty Images

All eyes were on Sunday Night Football this week as Dak Prescott's Cowboys overcame Carson Wentz's Eagles in overtime. Prescott threw the game-ending touchdown but didn't play well. He was lucky not to come away with multiple interceptions and missed too many throws that forced the Cowboys to need to make a comeback.

Had Wentz not endured a historically conservative night, the Eagles would have run out comfortable winners. Wentz is the only quarterback in the history of the NFL to complete 70-plus percent of 40-plus attempts while averaging fewer than five yards per attempt. Part of that is the offense he is running, and part of it is Wentz's ability at this point in his career. He is Alex Smith, which is fine when the defense is dominant but concerning when you get involved in a shootout.

The Cowboys clamped down on the bubble screens and play-action throws early, and the Eagles offense never got going from that point. Although it must be noted that Wentz's receivers played poorly, dropping a number of passes, his ball placement throughout was also problematic. He had a number of inaccurate throws that were caught. Two notable ones were the long screen play to Darren Sproles and a late screen to Jordan Matthews where Wentz's ball placement didn't prevent a reception but did prevent a first down.

Grading Scale

Acc.—Accuracy (Graded out of 25)
Arm—Arm Strength (Graded out of 25)
Press—Pressure/Run Threat (Graded out of 20)
Dec.—Decision-Making (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie QB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Acc.	Arm	Press	Dec.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Carson Wentz	PHI	15	17	12	11	10	65	2	↑
2	Dak Prescott	DAL	13	18	14	10	10	65	NR	↑

Notable Omissions

Cody Kessler—insufficient snaps
Kevin Hogan—insufficient snaps

Notable Performances

Carson Wentz

Week 8 Stats: 32-of-43 for 202 yards, 1 TD

Wentz showed off erratic ball placement while not being asked to make difficult throws. The offense is extremely conservative, and considering how little he is asked to do, he should be performing at a higher level. Even as a rookie.

Dak Prescott

Week 8 Stats: 19-of-39 for 287 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

For a rookie, this game had positives and negatives. If evaluating Prescott with the same standards as every other quarterback in the league, this was a bad game. He made plays late when his team needed him, but his decision-making left a lot to be desired.

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Running Backs

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Tom Pennington/Getty Images

We can officially call Ezekiel Elliott a star NFL player. He was awesome Sunday night against the Eagles, running through defenders all night long. He has completely changed the Cowboys offense from a year ago and continues to live up to the hype as every game passes.

Chicago's Howard also had a star-like performance against Minnesota, one of the better defenses in the NFL. Howard ran right through potential tacklers all night, amassing 153 yards and adding a touchdown. He is playing like he plans on being the Bears' starting running back for years to come.

The Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry was very good against a lifeless Jacksonville team Thursday, getting his most carries in weeks and producing at a high level.

Devontae Booker is now officially the Broncos starter, but he has a serious fumbling issue. This will need to be corrected if they plan on repeating as Super Bowl champions.

Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington both added big plays for the Raiders in a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will be counted on more each game.

Grading Scale

In—Inside Running (Graded out of 25)
Out—Outside Running (Graded out of 25)
Rec.—Receiving (Graded out of 20)
Blk.—Blocking (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie RB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	In	Out	Rec.	Blk.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	19	18	18	18	6	79	NR	↑
2	Jordan Howard	CHI	19	17	18	17	6	77	2	-
3	Derrick Henry	TEN	19	16	18	16	6	75	NR	↑
4	Devontae Booker	DEN	18	16	16	16	6	72	1	↓
5	C.J. Prosise	SEA	15	17	18	15	6	71	NR	↑
6	Jalen Richard	OAK	18	16	15	15	6	70	3	↓
7	DeAndre Washington	OAK	18	15	15	15	6	69	6	↓
8	Daniel Lasco	NO	16	14	15	16	6	67	NR	↑

Notable Omissions

Alex Collins—insufficient snaps
Paul Perkins—bye week
Wendell Smallwood—insufficient snaps
Kenneth Dixon—bye week
Jonathan Williams—inactive

Notable Performances

Jordan Howard

Week 8 Stats: 26 carries, 153 yards, 1 TD; 4 receptions, 49 yards

Howard's best game as a pro came in the biggest win of the Bears' season. He dominated Monday night against the Vikings, displaying it all. Inside the tackles, Howard ran with a purpose and a physical nature. He had multiple explosive plays and broke arm tackles all night long. He was also excellent in the passing game.

Ezekiel Elliott

Week 8 Stats: 22 carries, 96 yards; 4 receptions, 52 yards

Elliott was awesome again on Sunday Night Football. The Eagles have a very good defense and Elliott ran right through them. He broke arm tackles and ran with a physical nature. For a young back, he just gets stronger as the game goes on, which is a very impressive characteristic.

Fullbacks

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Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

Both rookie fullbacks continue to be two of the better first-year players. Derek Watt had an explosive catch down the sideline and also was productive in the running game. He brings a physical element the Chargers have missed in the running game for years.

Andy Janovich was also good Sunday. He clears holes just about every play and is consistent in pass protection.

Grading Scale

Blk.—Blocking (Graded out of 50)
Run—Running (Graded out of 25)
Rec.—Receiving (Graded out of 15)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie FB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Blk.	Run	Rec.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Derek Watt	SD	44	16	11	4	75	2	↑
2	Andy Janovich	DEN	45	15	9	4	73	1	↓

Notable Performances

Derek Watt

Week 8 Stats: 0 carries; 1 reception, 53 yards

The San Diego Charger had the longest catch of his career against the Broncos, showing excellent play speed. He has improved every game and was very good in the run game against an athletic front.

Wide Receivers

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Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

With the New York Giants on a bye week, the Saints' Michael Thomas had the spotlight on him among NFC rookie receivers. Thomas continued his strong rookie campaign, catching six passes for 63 yards.

With injuries mounting for the Packers, Trevor Davis and Geronimo Allison both saw significant action, with both rookies catching a touchdown pass.

The Texans' Braxton Miller quietly had one of his best days so far as a pro. After barely playing in last week's game against Denver, Miller caught three passes for 18 yards and generally had a solid all-around day. Meanwhile, his teammate and fellow rookie Will Fuller has struggled to overcome a leg injury. He had a single catch Sunday against Detroit.

Grading Scale

Rte.—Route Running (Graded out of 25)
Hds.—Hands (Graded out of 25)
YAC—Run-After-Catch ability (Graded Out of 20)
Blk.—Blocking (Graded Out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie WR Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Rte.	Hds.	YAC	Blk.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Michael Thomas	NO	19	18	12	12	9	70	1	-
2	Will Fuller V	HOU	19	18	11	11	9	68	5	↑
3	Tyler Boyd	CIN	19	17	12	11	9	68	7	↑
4	Tyreek Hill	KC	17	17	14	10	9	67	3	↓
5	Tajae Sharpe	TEN	17	17	13	10	9	66	2	↓
6	Trevor Davis	GB	16	17	11	12	9	65	14	↑
7	Geronimo Allison	GB	16	16	12	11	9	64	NR	↑
8	Ricardo Louis	CLE	18	16	11	10	9	64	10	↑
9	Braxton Miller	HOU	15	16	12	10	9	62	16	↑
10	Rashard Higgins	CLE	15	17	11	10	9	62	4	↓
11	Jordan Payton	CLE	15	15	10	11	9	60	NR	↑
12	Charone Peake	NYJ	15	15	11	10	9	60	13	↑

Notable Omissions

Corey Coleman—injured
Laquon Treadwell—insufficient snaps
Josh Doctson—injured
Sterling Shepard—bye week
Pharoh Cooper—bye week
Mike Thomas—bye week
Aaron Burbridge—bye week

Notable Performances

Michael Thomas

Week 8 Stats: 6 receptions, 63 yards

Thomas remains impressive for the Saints and is a very effective route-runner for head coach Sean Payton's offense. He can get open against both press and off coverage, and he was able to find separation against the Seahawks' Richard Sherman on a few plays.

Trevor Davis

Week 8 Stats: 3 receptions, 24 yards, 1 TD

Davis saw significant action for the Packers and caught a touchdown on a play where he made a very good adjustment to a low throw.

Geronimo Allison

Week 8 Stats: 2 receptions, 21 yards, 1 TD

The Packers' Allison also caught a touchdown pass, working open on the scramble drill and showing good field awareness.

Tyreek Hill

Week 8 Stats: 5 receptions, 98 yards, 1 TD; 1 carry, 7 yards

It was another encouraging day for the Kansas City Chiefs rookie as he made the most of another opportunity. Hill turned heads in the past with his speed, but with the way the Indianapolis Colts secondary left him open down the sideline Sunday, he could've jogged to the end zone.

Will Fuller V

Week 8 Stats: 1 reception, 23 yards

The Texans' Fuller continues to be nagged by the leg injury he suffered earlier this year, and he left the game against the Lions in the second half after bringing in a single reception.

Tight Ends

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Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

After Jacob Tamme suffered an injury early in the game, Austin Hooper saw the bulk of action for Atlanta and caught five passes on five targets.

Nick Vannett saw his first significant action for the Seahawks with one catch for seven yards. On Monday night, Harvard product Ben Braunecker saw limited action for the Bears—and his first NFL reception.

Grading Scale

Rte.—Route Running (Graded out of 25)
Hds.—Hands (Graded out of 25)
YAC—Run-After-Catch Ability (Graded out of 20)
Blk.—Blocking (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie TE Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Rte.	Hds.	YAC	Blk.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Austin Hooper	ATL	14	16	12	17	6	65	3	↑
2	Hunter Henry	SD	14	17	11	17	6	65	1	↓
3	Ben Braunecker	CHI	12	15	11	16	6	60	NR	↑
4	Nick Vannett	SEA	12	14	11	16	6	59	NR	↑

Notable Omissions

Tyler Higbee—bye week
Temarrick Hemingway—bye week
Jerell Adams—bye week

Notable Performances

Austin Hooper

Week 8 Stats: 5 receptions, 41 yards

Jacob Tamme suffered an early injury, so Hooper saw the bulk of work for the Falcons at tight end. He caught five passes and was effective underneath. As a blocker, Hooper continues to be solid on the edges in both zone and power schemes.

Hunter Henry

Week 8 Stats: 2 receptions, 14 yards

After a hot start to the season, the Chargers' Henry has slowed down a bit, mostly due to the improved play of the future Hall of Famer he's playing with, Antonio Gates.

Offensive Tackles

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Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Taylor Decker of the Lions notched his eighth straight start and continues to show consistency anchoring the left side of the offensive line. I cannot express enough the steady progress Decker continues make in all aspects of his game.

George Fant of the Seahawks saw his first significant regular-season action, starting in place of Bradley Sowell. Fant, a former tight end, went undrafted out of Western Kentucky and is still learning the nuances of one of the most difficult positions in all of football, left tackle.

Jack Conklin notched his eighth start for the Tennessee Titans. Conklin has been solid all season, but against the Jacksonville Jaguars he was absolutely impressive, showing tremendous strength, power and physicality in the run game. He was stout in pass protection by picking his spots closely to set and pass protect aggressively.

The Eagles' Halapoulivaati Vaitai saw his third straight start in place of the suspended Lane Johnson and continues to show improvement in pass protection, specifically anchoring.

Joe Haeg started at left guard but moved to right tackle late in the game for the Colts after Joe Reitz was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

There will come a point for every rookie offensive tackle where things get tough. When it hits the fan, there better be a "toolbox" of fundamentals they can instantly pull from and lean on to get them through.

Grading Scale

OT—Left or Right Tackle Designation
Pass—Pass Protection (Graded out of 25)
Run—Run Blocking (Graded out of 25)
Pwr.—Power (Graded out of 20)
Agl.—Agility (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie OT Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	OT	Pass	Run	Pwr.	Agl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Jack Conklin	TEN	RT	19	20	16	15	7	77	2	↑
2	Taylor Decker	DET	LT	18	18	16	15	8	75	1	↓
3	Halapoulivaati Vaitai	PHI	RT	18	17	16	15	7	73	4	↑
4	George Fant	SEA	LT	16	16	12	13	8	65	NR	↑

Notable Omissions

Ronnie Stanley—bye
Alex Lewis—bye

Notable Performances

Taylor Decker

Week 8 Stats: 61 snaps, 3 pressures allowed

Decker was responsible for three pressures on 47 pass attempts. To put this in perspective, the Lions were playing from behind most of the game and found themselves in many obvious pass situations. Faced against the talented pass-rushers of the Texans, Decker held up nicely and surrendered no sacks.

George Fant

Week 8 Stats: 55 snaps, 3 QB hurries, 1 QB hit allowed

Fant's first start had its rough spots. It was obvious the rookie was still getting his bearings in terms of sets and landmarks in pass protection. If there was a positive takeaway from Fant's performance, it was that he did not surrender a sack. In many aspects, Fant showed enough against New Orleans to keep him slotted at left tackle for the remainder of the season, which may prove to be an upgrade.

Jack Conklin

Week 8 Stats: 67 snaps, 0 sacks, 0 pressures allowed

Conklin was absolutely impressive at right tackle for the Titans against the Jaguars. Conklin may have had his best game as a pro finishing defenders both in pass protection and in the run game. Tennessee had been doing a great job scheming help for Conklin in pass protection, but the rookie from Michigan State anchored the edge multiple times on his own island.

Offensive Guards

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Some of the more highly touted rookie guards were on bye this week, but there was still a lot to see from our young guards as six made starts this week.

Unfortunately there weren't many good performances, but there was still a lot to learn nonetheless.

Grading Scale

Pass—Pass Protection (Graded out of 25)
Run—Run Blocking (Graded out of 25)
Pwr.—Power (Graded out of 20)
Agl.—Agility (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie OG Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Pwr.	Agl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Joe Thuney	NE	16	14	15	18	7	70	1	-
2	Joe Haeg	IND	16	14	15	17	7	69	5	↑
3	Germain Ifedi	SEA	13	17	17	13	7	67	8	↑
4	Spencer Drango	CLE	14	15	15	15	7	66	6	↑
5	Parker Ehinger	KC	14	15	16	13	7	65	4	↓
6	Graham Glasgow	DET	12	15	16	14	7	64	3	↓

Notable Omissions

Laremy Tunsil—bye week
Cole Toner—inactive
Ted Karras—insufficient snaps
Joshua Garnett—bye week

Notable Performances

Germain Ifedi

Week 8 Stats: 55 snaps, 0 sacks, 0 QB hurries allowed

While this week wasn't as bad as last (it would have been hard to be worse), Ifedi still has some clear limitations in pass protection. The Seahawks coaching staff and play-calling aren't helping Ifedi much, putting him in a bad position several times this weekend by asking him to find defenders in space.

Parker Ehinger

Week 8 Stats: 42 snaps, 0 sacks, 0 QB hurries allowed

Ehinger is having the same problems he had in college—he just can't stay healthy--He was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday. Ehinger always had impressive anchor at the University of Cincinnati, and I continue to see glimpses of that for the Chiefs. But the fact is it's very hard to keep NFL defensive linemen at bay if you are athletically limited and can't stay healthy on top of that, especially as a rookie.

Graham Glasgow

Week 8 Stats: 61 snaps, 5 QB hurries allowed

I was impressed with the Lions' Glasgow the last couple of weeks, but he really struggled with his footwork against Houston. He needs to pick it up if he wants to hold off Laken Tomlinson for the left guard job.

Centers

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Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Our dynamic center duo held up OK but for the third week in a row swapped places with each other.

Grading Scale

Rookie C Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Pwr.	Agl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Ryan Kelly	IND	17	16	16	16	6	71	2	↑
2	Cody Whitehair	CHI	16	14	15	16	6	67	1	↓

Notable Performances

Ryan Kelly

Week 8 Stats: 66 snaps, 2 QB hurries allowed

Ryan Kelly has become the stalwart of the Colts offensive line and has been the one consistent performer among injuries up front.

Cody Whitehair

Week 8 Stats: 61 snaps, 1 QB hurry allowed

The Bears' Whitehair was without Josh Sitton and Kyle Long against a very good Vikings front, and it showed this week. Whitehair struggled to open holes and find work in the second level in the running game with a new guard duo beside him, which put a lot pressure on running back Jordan Howard.

3-4 Defensive Ends

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Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

We're halfway through the 2016 season, and it appears the rookies are starting to adjust and look like real NFL players.

The Chargers' Joey Bosa has been nothing short of amazing, and the Browns' Emmanuel Ogbah has turned in a couple of good performances of late, but now we're seeing increased snaps for the Chiefs' Chris Jones, the Bills' Adolphus Washington and the rest of the class.

They all seem to be picking it up and getting better with each passing week.

Grading Scale

Exp.—Snap Explosion (Graded out of 15)
Pass—Pass Rush (Graded out of 25)
Run—Run Defense (Graded out of 30)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie 3-4 DE Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Exp.	Pass	Run	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Joey Bosa	SD	14	17	21	14	7	73	1	-
2	Emmanuel Ogbah	CLE	12	14	22	15	7	70	NR	↑
3	Robert Nkemdiche	ARI	13	16	18	14	7	68	NR	↑
4	Chris Jones	KC	12	18	17	13	7	67	3	↓
5	Adolphus Washington	BUF	10	14	20	14	7	65	6	↑
6	Carl Nassib	CLE	12	17	17	12	7	65	7	↑
7	Jonathan Bullard	CHI	12	15	17	14	7	65	5	↓

Notable Omissions

DeForest Buckner—bye week

Notable Performances

Chris Jones

Week 8 Stats: 1 sack

Chris Jones made his second start of the season and responded with a sack after beating the Colts right guard with power. He's shown his first-step quickness all year and is starting to display his hands and strength as the season goes on.

Adolphus Washington

Week 8 Stats: 3 tackles

Washington has been steadily improving every week. At first it was just as a pass-rusher, but now he's showing up more against the run.

Joey Bosa

Week 8 Stats: 2 tackles, 6 pressures

Bosa continues to flash and, at times, look dominant. He's just good.

Emmanuel Ogbah

Week 8 Stats: 3 tackles, 3 pressures

Ogbah is playing more defensive end in the Browns' base defense. With his increased opportunities, he's disrupting plays against the run and pass.

4-3 Defensive Ends

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Don Juan Moore/Getty Images

Unless someone breaks out relatively quickly, the NFL's three most influential rookie 4-3 defensive ends are going to be Jacksonville's Yannick Ngakoue and Tampa Bay's Noah Spence and DaVonte Lambert.

Spence registered a sack against the Raiders, his second in two games, which puts him just one sack behind Ngakoue and Bosa for the lead in the draft class.

Lambert had previously been a starter for the Buccaneers but was stripped of that job when Robert Ayers returned from injury. Ngakoue, like the rest of Jacksonville's defensive line, had an off game against the Titans on Thursday Night Football.

Grading Scale

Pass—Pass Rush (Graded out of 30)
Run—Run Defense (Graded out of 20)
Exp.—Snap Explosion (Graded out of 20)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie 4-3 DE Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Exp.	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Noah Spence	TB	22	12	16	15	8	73	1	-
2	DaVonte Lambert	TB	18	11	14	14	8	65	5	↑
3	Yannick Ngakoue	JAX	15	11	13	12	8	59	3	-

Notable Performances

Noah Spence

Week 8 Stats: 3 tackles, 1 sack

You would think a rookie's breakout might be stalled when a starter returns to the rotation at his position, but the complete opposite has happened with Spence. Now that Ayers is back, Spence has been more effective in his nickel pass-rushing role. Against Oakland, he recorded three tackles, matching his season total up until that point, and he notched another sack. He's clearly the best pass-rushing rookie in the NFC.

Defensive Tackles

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Dylan Buell/Getty Images

This past week was a bit shaky for the rookie defensive tackle class, but the Packers' Kenny Clark had a nice game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Patriots' Vincent Valentine played limited snaps in his return from a back injury and didn't look as explosive as earlier in the season.

The Colts' Hassan Ridgeway and Cowboys' Maliek Collins also had decent outings against the Chiefs and Eagles, respectively.

Grading Scale

Rookie DT Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Exp.	Pass	Run	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Kenny Clark	GB	17	16	16	13	7	69	2	↑
2	Hassan Ridgeway	IND	17	15	15	12	7	66	5	↑
3	Maliek Collins	DAL	16	14	16	12	7	65	NR	↑
4	A'Shawn Robinson	DET	15	16	16	11	7	65	7	↑
5	Vincent Valentine	NE	17	15	14	12	7	65	NR	↑
6	Jarran Reed	SEA	15	14	15	12	7	63	3	↓
7	Darius Latham	OAK	14	12	16	12	7	61	9	↑
8	Jihad Ward	OAK	13	12	15	10	7	57	6	↓
9	D.J. Reader	HOU	15	11	14	10	7	57	8	↓
10	Destiny Vaeao	PHI	12	12	10	9	7	50	NR	↑

Notable Omissions

Vernon Butler—injured
Austin Johnson—inactive
Michael Pierce—bye week
Javon Hargrave—bye week
Adam Gotsis—insufficient snaps
Sheldon Day—insufficient snaps

Notable Performances

Kenny Clark

Week 8 Stats: 1 tackle

Clark played well in the Packers loss to the Falcons. Most of Atlanta's rushing production came outside of the box as he and Letroy Guion played well on the interior. Clark routinely shows great athleticism and phenomenal hustle for a 314-pound defensive tackle.

3-4 Outside Linebackers

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Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Two of the highest-drafted pass-rushers in the rookie class highlighted Week 8.

Ninth overall pick Leonard Floyd was a menacing edge presence during the Bears' upset win over the Vikings, while Shaq Lawson—the 19th overall pick—registered his first NFL sack for the Bills against Tom Brady and the Patriots. Both rookies look like they have the potential to be consistent playmakers.

Fellow rookies Joe Schobert, Kyler Fackrell, Aaron Wallace and Dadi Nicolas did little in situational roles. Finally, Browns rookie Emmanuel Ogbah was moved to 3-4 defensive end, where he's played the majority of his snaps over the last few weeks.

Grading Scale

Pass—Pass Rush (Graded out of 30)
Run—Run Defense (Graded out of 20)
Cov.—Coverage (Graded Out of 15)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 25)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie 3-4 OLB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Cov.	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Leonard Floyd	CHI	24	16	10	18	8	76	1	-
2	Shaq Lawson	BUF	23	13	10	17	8	71	NR	↑
3	Joe Schobert	CLE	19	13	10	18	8	68	NR	↑
4	Kyler Fackrell	GB	20	10	9	16	8	63	5	↑
5	Aaron Wallace	TEN	19	10	9	16	8	62	NR	↑
6	Dadi Nicolas	KC	19	10	9	15	8	61	NR	↑

Notable Omissions

Matt Judon—bye week
Kevin Dodd—injured
Curt Maggitt—inactive

Notable Performances

Leonard Floyd

Week 8 Stats: 2 tackles, 1 sack

Floyd has turned in impressive games in back-to-back weeks since returning from a calf injury. Chicago's first-round pick made himself a frequent visitor to the Vikings' backfield Monday night. Not only did he beat left tackle Jake Long with power to sack quarterback Sam Bradford, but he also drew a holding penalty and provided pressure on several other dropbacks. After a frustrating start to the season, Floyd has come on for the Bears.

Shaq Lawson

Week 8 Stats: 3 tackles, 1 sack

After spending much of his NFL debut as a down lineman, Lawson was sent to the edge against New England to help fill in for the loss of Lorenzo Alexander to injury. He produced some disruptive moments rushing the passer. In the second half, Lawson beat an attempted chop block and sacked Brady. The Bills also manufactured pressure by sending him inside on stunts. However, Lawson's roughing-the-passer penalty on third down tainted the overall performance.

4-3 Outside Linebackers

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Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Atlanta's De'Vondre Campbell stole the show again. He was a bit better last week, but Campbell still played a quality game this week. Now only two weeks removed from injury recovery, it's likely that Campbell still has room to grow this season. He'll need to clean up some mental mistakes in the run game and react a bit faster, but he's shown he can be a solid piece for the Falcons.

For the other rookies, it was much of the same. The New York Jets' Jordan Jenkins put together another stable performance through smart, fundamental play. Detroit's Antwione Williams looked a bit slow, as usual, but he avoided major mistakes that could have severely hurt his team.

The most frustrating, still, is Jacksonville's Myles Jack. Jack was an excellent prospect coming out of UCLA, but the Jaguars have miscast him. It's been said before, but Jack is a weak-side or a middle linebacker. Either way, he needs to consistently be off the ball, not down near the line as a strong-side linebacker like he is now. It's fair to begin questioning Jack, but he's not been put in good position to succeed thus far. Hopefully the Jaguars—or Jack—figure it out soon.

Grading Scale

Cov.—Coverage (Graded out of 25)
Run—Run Defense (Graded out of 25)
Pass—Pass Rush (Graded Out of 15)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 25)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie 4-3 OLB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Cov.	Run	Pass	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	De'Vondre Campbell	ATL	19	17	9	18	6	69	1	-
2	Jordan Jenkins	NYJ	18	16	8	15	6	63	2	-
3	Antwione Williams	DET	16	16	7	16	6	61	4	↑
4	Myles Jack	JAX	17	13	7	15	6	58	3	↓

Notable Omissions

Jaylon Smith—injury
Darron Lee—injury

Notable Performances

De'Vondre Campbell

Week 8 Stats: 5 tackles

Campbell has been productive when healthy. He's still got kinks to work out, but he's showing good signs every week, including two straight with at least one tackle for loss.

Antwione Williams

Week 8 Stats: 4 tackles

Despite finding himself around the ball often, Williams tends to be late to plays. He doesn't have the athleticism to make a ton of plays near the line of scrimmage, but he does have rare moments of great foresight that allow him to stop plays early.

Myles Jack

Week 8 Stats: None

The Jaguars defense as a whole was a mess. Jack didn't see too many snaps and wasn't able to make any plays when he did see the field.

Inside Linebackers

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Brian Blanco/Getty Images

Jatavis Brown was highlighted in our Scouting Notebook last week, and he backed up that ranking by showing impressive cover skills and aggressiveness in the run game against the Denver Broncos.

Unfortunately, Brown was injured in the fourth quarter of the Chargers’ loss to and will likely miss a week or two, per Michael Gehlkin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Elandon Roberts is officially a starter for the Patriots. Roberts has continually showed a hard-hitting and relentless hustle that surely has New England encouraged about his potential development. I discussed the trade in this week’s Scouting Notebook.

The rookie rankings are topped by Washington’s Su’a Cravens and the Falcons' Deion Jones after impressive performances Sunday. Cravens saw fewer snaps than Jones but managed to make an impact and continue to demonstrate top-tier coverage skills in the middle of the field. Additionally, the Redskins used Cravens as an extra pass-rusher often, and he showed a knack for working through space and putting pressure on Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

Jones was solid in a win over the Packers, especially in coverage and in the red zone. The lack of a running game for Green Bay was beneficial for Jones, an undersized linebacker with coverage skills that are currently ahead of his ability to stop the run. Nonetheless, Jones was prepared for the challenge of a Green Bay offense getting back on track. He earns an above-average grade for his work in Week 8.

Grading Scale

Cov.—Coverage (Graded out of 25)
Run—Run Defense (Graded out of 35)
Pass—Pass Rush (Graded Out of 15)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 15)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie ILB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Cov.	Run	Pass	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Su'a Cravens	WAS	22	26	13	11	6	78	2	↑
2	Deion Jones	ATL	22	26	9	12	6	75	3	↑
3	Jatavis Brown	SD	22	27	9	10	6	74	4	↑
4	Josh Perry	SD	18	30	9	11	6	74	NR	↑
5	Elandon Roberts	NE	18	29	9	12	6	74	NR	↑
6	Blake Martinez	GB	18	26	8	10	6	68	1	↓

Notable Omissions

Josh Forrest—bye week
Tyler Matakevich—bye week
Nick Kwiatkoski—insufficient snaps
Antonio Morrison—insufficient snaps
Cory James—insufficient snaps

Notable Performances

Su'a Cravens

Week 8 Stats: 2 tackles, 1 sack

Cravens is continuing to improve after a nasty concussion a few weeks ago and looks to have regained top form. He was all over the field against the Bengals and is proving to be an instinctual do-it-all player for the Redskins. Two tackles don't stand out, but Cravens was disruptive in limited snaps.

Josh Perry

Week 8 Stats: 2 tackles

Perry is the other rookie linebacker in San Diego and may now have an opportunity to cement his own status as an up-and-comer. He was relatively quiet against the Broncos on Sunday but he showed a willingness to fill downhill against top competition. This is a sign of good things to come for the Chargers.

Elandon Roberts

Week 8 Stats: 5 tackles

Roberts has done enough this season to earn himself a starting spot on a Super Bowl-contending team. His progress will be worth watching to see if Bill Belichick made the right move in sending Collins to Cleveland. In Week 8, Roberts flashed with strength and speed at the line of scrimmage, with a couple of Vine-worthy tackles.

Cornerbacks

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Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Either Oakland came into Sunday’s matchup thinking it was going to attack the first-rounder out of Florida or it just so happened to work out like that.

Either way, the Buccaneers' Vernon Hargreaves was targeted a ridiculous 15 times and gave up 10 catches that went for a total of 173 yards. Three missed tackles helped that yardage total, but Hargreaves wasn’t in great position most of the day. He was beaten seven times, allowed six first downs and gave up four plays over 20 yards. This will be a day to forget for the Bucs' young corner.

The roller coaster continues for Washington’s Kendall Fuller. Not only did he give up three catches in five targets that went for two first downs, but his poor tackling showed up Sunday.

What were high hopes after a couple good early-season outings have all but diminished for Philly’s Jalen Mills. The team move him inside and out and played him in both man and zone coverage Sunday against Dallas. He was targeted four times and gave up three catches that all went for first downs. Worse yet, he wasn’t in position to make a play on either of those throws. One of those plays went over 20 yards, and Mills had a missed tackle and a penalty to top things off.

Grading Scale

Cov.—Coverage (Graded out of 30)
Rec.—Reaction/Recovery (Graded out of 30)
Slot—Slot performance (Graded Out of 20)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 10)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie CB Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Cov.	Rec.	Slot	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Brian Poole	ATL	18	17	16	8	9	68	3	↑
2	Jalen Ramsey	JAX	17	18	16	6	9	66	1	↓
3	Daryl Worley	CAR	15	16	14	7	9	61	NR	↑
4	Kendall Fuller	WAS	15	16	15	4	9	59	10	↑
5	Cre'Von LeBlanc	CHI	15	14	15	5	9	58	NR	↑
6	Jalen Mills	PHI	14	14	14	5	9	56	NR	↑
7	Vernon Hargreaves	TB	13	12	14	3	9	51	2	↓

Notable Omissions

Tavon Young—bye week
Eli Apple—bye week
Rashard Robinson—bye week
Artie Burns—bye week

Notable Performances

Brian Poole

Week 8 Stats: 5 tackles

The highest-graded rookie corner of the week continues to play at a high level. He is one of the more aggressive tackling corners I have seen, and that didn't change as he picked up a stop as well as a tackle for loss. The Atlanta cornerback has the perfect mentality for a slot corner.

Free Safeties

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Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Vonn Bell had a solid, if unspectacular, week for the Saints against the Seahawks. He did a good job staying on top of routes as the deep safety, especially on play-action passes by Seattle. He made sure not to bite on a bootleg fake and stayed over the top of Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse down the field on one play. The Seahawks even tried a double-pass trick play, but Bell didn't bite and stuck to his assignment, staying on top of a deep route down the middle of the field and taking it away. He's been undisciplined at times this year, so it's good to see him not falling for play-action fakes.

With Rashad Johnson inactive this week, Kevin Byard saw more snaps than usual. The Titans like to rotate their top four safeties in and out depending on situations, so Byard normally averages around 30 snaps anyway. But this week, Byard played a career-high 64 snaps and put in a solid performance, albeit against the Jaguars.

The Jaguars only tested him with three deep shots, two to Allen Robinson and one to Allen Hurns. Byard stayed over the top of all of them. On the first, he was in position to drive down and contest the catch, but the ball was well off-target. While he was slightly late to break on the second deep shot, he still managed to get over the top of it and force Hurns out of bounds to restrict the gain. He also helped secure the tackle on the third deep ball, ensuring no extra yards after the catch.

Grading Scale

Cov.—Coverage (Graded out of 30)
Rec.—Reaction/Recovery (Graded out of 30)
Slot—Slot Performance (Graded Out of 10)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 20)
Pos —Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie FS Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Cov.	Rec.	Slot	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Kevin Byard	TEN	22	23	6	16	8	75	3	↑
2	Justin Simmons	DEN	22	21	6	16	8	73	NR	↑
3	Vonn Bell	NO	21	21	6	16	8	72	2	↓
4	Kentrell Brice	GB	21	21	5	16	8	71	1	↓
5	T.J. Green	IND	19	22	5	15	8	69	4	↓

Notable Performances

Justin Simmons

Week 8 Stats: 1 tackle, 1 sack

The Broncos' Simmons saw significant snaps for the first time since Week 2. He got off to a rough start in the second quarter when he was caught off-guard by the snap. He was receiving instructions from a teammate behind him and not looking when the ball was snapped. He was slow to realize the ball had been snapped and left his receiver wide open over the middle, but the ball was thrown elsewhere.

When he was paying attention, he was solid in coverage. He broke well on a post route in the end zone in the third quarter, taking it away and forcing Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers to make a much tougher throw to the back of the end zone. In the fourth quarter, he registered a sack on a delayed safety blitz. It took a while for him to get there, but he eventually came in unblocked and took down Rivers.

T.J. Green

Week 8 Stats: 4 tackles, 1 pass breakup

The Colts' Green had a tough battle against Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. He lost the first matchup after getting caught in traffic on a crossing route, surrendering not only a catch but multiple yards after the catch that resulted in a first down.

Later on, Green stuck tightly to Kelce on a spot route, taking it away from the quarterback, who had to look elsewhere. The quarterback's throw was then deflected and Green nearly reacted quickly enough to get an interception. But when the Chiefs went back to Kelce on a corner route in the end zone, Green allowed Kelce to cut across his face and would likely have given up a touchdown on a better throw.

Strong Safeties

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Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

With Andrew Sendejo down again this week, Jayron Kearse was given his chance to make his claim for more reps with the Vikings starters. He started off poorly, taking a poor pursuit angle coming from deep on a run play. He was nowhere near where he should have been and let the running back run past him for 69 yards as a result.

He did, however, perform well in coverage. He allowed a Bears tight end to cross his face on a third-down pass, but he recovered by undercutting the route. The ball from Jay Cutler was well off-target, but Kearse was in position to contest the catch. Later on, Chicago attempted a play-action bootleg near the end zone. Kearse read the play well and stayed over the top of the tight end on a corner route to the back of the end zone, taking it away.

Every week, a safety gets fooled by the classic stick-and-nod route by a tight end. It's a double move by the tight end, designed to look like a stick route. The tight end sells the fake with a head nod towards the sideline, getting the safety to bite on the stick route before accelerating back down the seam. This week, Lions rookie Miles Killebrew was the victim of the stick-and-nod, getting beaten by it on a third and eight pass that surrendered a first down. It clearly had an effect on him, as he was hesitant and late to break on a stick route from the tight end later on in the game and gave up another first down catch.

Grading Scale

Cov.—Coverage (Graded out of 25)
Rec.—Reaction/Recovery (Graded out of 25)
Slot—Slot Performance (Graded Out of 20)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 20)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie SS Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Cov.	Rec.	Slot	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Keanu Neal	ATL	20	20	15	15	6	76	1	-
2	Karl Joseph	OAK	19	18	15	16	6	74	3	↑
3	Jayron Kearse	MIN	18	19	14	15	6	72	4	↑
4	Derrick Kindred	CLE	16	19	15	15	6	71	5	↑
5	Will Parks	DEN	17	18	14	16	6	71	2	↓
6	Miles Killebrew	DET	15	16	14	15	6	66	6	-

Notable Performances

Keanu Neal

Week 8 Stats: 8 tackles, 1 forced fumble

The Falcons' Neal continues to impress with his awareness in coverage. He initially looked to be at fault on a deep pass to Jordy Nelson early in the game after he was the man trailing Nelson when the catch was made. But upon review, the Falcons appeared to be playing Cover 3, with Neal assigned to an underneath hook zone. Neal was the only defender to spot the threat of Nelson's deep crossing route and broke away from his assignment to try to stay on top of Nelson.

He couldn't accelerate fast enough to stay with Nelson, but the play displayed great instincts in coverage. When the Packers came back to the play late in the game, Neal recognized it quickly and managed to stay on top of the route, contesting the catch point and ensuring it fell incomplete.

Karl Joseph

Week 8 Stats: 7 tackles, 2 pass breakups

Joseph is clearly more comfortable in underneath zone coverage than man coverage. The Raiders like to mix between multiple coverages, and Joseph has had to move around within those coverage schemes. He gave up a catch in man coverage against a tight end dig route on one play and later got completely turned around on a deep ball while matched up against the slot receiver.

When he's allowed to play to his strengths and sit in underneath zones, he's been solid. He read a crossing route from the far side of the field in the third quarter and drove on it. The ball was poorly thrown, but he would have contested the catch point. A few plays later, he read another crossing route and took it away, forcing the quarterback to go elsewhere. The Raiders should consider trying to carve out a specific role for him going forward.

Special Teams

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Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Wil Lutz was the star of Week 8, putting together a perfect performance. It was one that will likely be in the top 10 kicking performances of the year. Lutz is still raw and developing consistency, but this is a huge step forward for him, especially given the struggles he showed early in the year. He needs to show this type of skill over a longer time period, but he has talent, and the Saints may have found a diamond in the rough.

The Bucs' Roberto Aguayo continues to show maddening inconsistency. The culprit here? Another miss to the left, as the rookie has been prone to do this year because of imprecise timing on his follow-through. Aguayo is uber-talented but has struggled with this timing all year, and it is something I noted in my predraft report on him as a potential flaw.

I did not expect it to be this big of an issue. While I have urged patience with Aguayo, the it's time for him to show progress.

Kicker Grading Scale

Pwr.—Kick Power (Graded out of 40)
Acc.—Kick Accuracy (Graded out of 40)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 10)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week

Rookie Kicker Rankings Week 8
Rank	Player	Team	Pwr.	Acc.	Tkl.	Pos.	OVR	LW	Trend
1	Wil Lutz	NO	33	38	6	3	80	1	-
2	Roberto Aguayo	TB	30	21	5	3	59	2	-

Notable Performances

Wil Lutz

Week 8 Stats: 4-4 FG, 1-1 XP

Same big leg, great consistency here. Breakout performance, but needs to build on it going forward.

Roberto Aguayo

Week 8 Stats: 1-1 FG, 1-2 XP

Misses to the left again because of skip-step inconsistency. Same problem. Needs to show he can work through it.

Denver's Riley Dixon turned in a top-five performance, continuing the roller-coaster ride of his rookie season. He displayed strong distance and directional ability this week, with average hang time, though he has yet to show he can do this on a regular basis.

Dixon likely has a ceiling as a slightly above-average punter, but he does not possess top-end ability as his directional game needs a lot of refinement.

The Chargers' Drew Kaser had one of his best weeks as a professional in terms of distance and hang time, but he was middling with his ball placement, having two touchbacks and also not moving the ball as well as he can from sideline to sideline. Kaser is showing improvement after a rough start to the year. He is the most talented punter of this group, but he still needs to work on translating his skills into game action.

The Jets' Lachlan Edwards continues his midseason funk, with below-average marks in all phases of the game. Edwards had shown a couple of strong performances to start the year, but this is the punter I expected to see initially. This version is the one the Jets are likely going to see on a regular basis going forward.

Punter Grading Scale

Dist.—Kick Distance (Graded out of 20)
Hang—Kick Hang Time (Graded out of 20)
Acc.—Kick Accuracy (Graded Out of 45)
Tkl.—Tackling (Graded Out of 5)
Pos.—Positional Value (Graded out of 10)
Overall—Top Possible Score of 100
LW—Rank Last Week