NFL1000: Ranking the Top 1,000 Players from Week 9

In 2015, the San Diego Chargers went 4-12—a disastrous season that was an all-around disappointment. Perhaps no player was more of a letdown than first-round rookie running back Melvin Gordon, who amazed the NCAA in 2014 with 2,740 yards from scrimmage and 32 total touchdowns.

But his transition to the NFL was a rough one. In Gordon's rookie campaign, pro-strength defenses frequently looked like they overpowered him, and he gained just 641 rushing yards on 184 carries. That 3.5 yards-per-carry average was far more pedestrian than expected.

2016, therefore, has been a revelation for those watching the Wisconsin alum. Gordon has already beaten his 2015 rushing total with 768 yards in nine games, and he leads the league in carries (193) and rushing touchdowns (nine). He’s showing more power and acceleration to and through the hole, looking far less tentative in space and finally helping to define the offense in the way the Chargers intended. His 32-carry, 196-yard performance against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday placed him fourth overall in Week 9's NFL1000 rankings.

Gordon’s improvement has had a positive effect on quarterback Philip Rivers, who has shown he can be transcendent even when he has little help around him. Rivers completed 24 of 33 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans, a highly efficient performance that put him at No. 2 behind Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald in our rankings. The Chargers are now 4-5 and looking up at three great teams in the AFC West after a series of heartbreaking last-second losses.

Why was Donald our top man? Because as great as he’s been since he came into the NFL in 2014, his performance against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday was even better. Donald was a one-man wrecking crew with two sacks and seven quarterback hurries. The 6'1", 285-pound tackle used his finely honed attributes—peerless strength, acceleration through gaps and the ability to split double-teams with hand moves—to reassert his status as the best defensive lineman in the league, regardless of position.

Part of Bleacher Report's NFL1000 player rating methodology that matters is the ability to look at our grades from week to week (as you, dear reader, can) and suss out which patterns are turning into trends and which are flukes in the relatively small sample size of an NFL season.

There are many ways to dissect and learn from what the NFL presents on the field every week, and the NFL1000 goes as deep as any to tell you just what's going on.

With a 17-person crew of experienced evaluators, we'll comb through the game tape each week to bring you concise, clear evaluations of every player in the NFL. We'll tell you which rookies are rising and which undrafted players are coming out of nowhere to make an impact. We'll tell you which players are rising and falling in performance and why.

There is no predetermined narrative with these grades. No mysterious clutch factor. No tweaked-out quarterback ratings that defy explanation. Our grades are based on pure scouting—and lots of it. We grade the key criteria for each position based on a series of attributes and add in a score for positional importance.

In the case of a tie, our scouts ask, "Which player would I want on my team?" and adjust accordingly.

Is it a subjective process? Of course—that's what scouting is. And as we like to say, ties are no fun.

Each player is evaluated and graded by our crack team of scouts, who possess more than 100 combined years of experience in playing, front-office work, coaching and media. Cian Fahey, John Middlekauff, Alex Kirby, Mark Schofield, Duke Manyweather, Ethan Young, Joe Goodberry, Justis Mosqueda, Charles McDonald, Zach Kruse, Derrik Klassen, Jerod Brown, Ian Wharton, Kyle Posey, Mark Bullock, Chuck Zodda and Doug Farrar have watched tape for months to bring you these grades, and we'll be bringing you player grades based on the game action every week.

Here are the NFL1000 player grades for Week 9 of the 2016 NFL season.

All advanced stats are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

All cornerback statistics obtained through self-charting by Wharton and Posey.

Methodology

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL1000 team of scouts was given a series of important attributes to grade for every player in their positional review. Using a grading scale starting at 0 and going up to anywhere from 10 to 50 based on the position and the attribute, our scouts have graded each player based on their own expertise and countless hours of tape review over the years. Our evaluators received specific positional assignments based on their proven fields of expertise.

• Doug Farrar: Lead scout/centers
• Cian Fahey: Quarterbacks
• John Middlekauff: Running backs/fullbacks
• Alex Kirby: Wide receivers/tight ends
• Mark Schofield: Wide receivers/tight ends
• Duke Manyweather: Offensive tackles
• Ethan Young: Offensive guards
• Joe Goodberry: AFC defensive ends
• Justis Mosqueda: NFC defensive ends
• Charles McDonald: Defensive tackles
• Zach Kruse: 3-4 outside linebackers
• Derrik Klassen: 4-3 outside linebackers
• Jerod Brown: Inside linebackers
• Kyle Posey: Cornerbacks
• Ian Wharton: Cornerbacks
• Mark Bullock: Safeties
• Chuck Zodda: Special teams

We observe and grade every NFL player with snaps in offensive and defensive roles based on a multitiered process that marks specific attributes per position. As we're combing through All-22 footage to assess each performance, there are additional factors we consider.

We'll adjust for opponent based on the obvious notion that the cornerback we're grading is doing a better job if he's shutting down Antonio Brown than if he's negating the efforts of a seventh-round rookie receiver.

We'll also adjust for players with multiple responsibilities in the course of a game and over the course of time. Think of guys such as J.J. Watt and Michael Bennett on the defensive line and how they seamlessly switch from gap to gap. Or how cornerbacks such as Chris Harris Jr. and Tyrann Mathieu dominate outside and in the slot. Or how receivers such as Doug Baldwin and Larry Fitzgerald bedevil those cornerbacks from multiple field positions.

That's more important than ever in today's NFL, and we pay attention to it.

We will not adjust for injuries. If a player is underperforming because of an injury, that's part of his performance, fair or unfair, and we'll grade him accordingly.

Grading any player is a subjective process, but with a series of attributes per position and a specific direction as to what to grade and how, we'll make it as definitive as possible.

Top 50 Overall from Week 9

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve already talked about three of the four top players in this week’s NFL1000, but how great was it to see Carolina outside linebacker Thomas Davis, an 11-year veteran who’s come back from multiple ACL injuries, play some of his best football at age 33?

Against the Rams on Sunday, Davis was his usual brilliant self. He had an awesome strip-sack in the second quarter with a perfectly timed blitz in which he demolished running back Benny Cunningham, and he grabbed an interception of a Case Keenum pass late in the third quarter. It was an errant throw and a bad read by Keenum, but Davis played his role perfectly, following the tight end up the seam and dropping off into zone coverage. Davis should be an inspiration to everyone on his team.

Dallas Cowboys tackle Tyron Smith should come as no surprise as our fifth-ranked player. He’s been blowing up defensive ends and linebackers all season, and he was as advertised Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, allowing no sacks, hits or hurries on 69 snaps and run-blocking with his usual combination of power and agility.

It was a bit surprising to see Russell Wilson work his way to the sixth overall position in this week’s rankings, but the Seattle Seahawks quarterback earned it with his performance Monday against the Buffalo Bills. Over the last month, Seattle’s offense had been conservative with the big play, preferring quick drops and shorter passes to mitigate its league-worst offensive line.

Not that the line was any better against the Bills (see: the second play of the first drive, when left tackle George Fant blew two blocks—a singularly awful achievement), but offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell finally took the training wheels off and let Wilson throw deep. As a result, Wilson—who had just two throws of 20 yards or more in the previous four weeks—had four such throws against Buffalo, and tight end Jimmy Graham caught 17- and 18-yard touchdown passes.

And when Wilson throws deep, he shows a touch and velocity that few NFL quarterbacks possess.

Here, without further ado, is the top 50 for Week 9's NFL1000.

Top 50 Overall from Week 9

Rank	Player	Pos.	Team	NFL1000 Score	LW	Moving
1	Aaron Donald	DT	LA	87	NR	↑
2	Philip Rivers	QB	SD	84	411	↑
3	Thomas Davis	4-3 OLB	CAR	83	82	↑
4	Melvin Gordon	RB	SD	82	102	↑
5	Tyron Smith	LT	DAL	82	1	↓
6	Russell Wilson	QB	SEA	82	519	↑
7	Lorenzo Alexander	3-4 OLB	BUF	81	504	↑
8	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	FS	GB	81	64	↑
9	Tyrod Taylor	QB	BUF	81	298	↑
10	James Harrison	3-4 OLB	PIT	81	NR	↑
11	Bryan Bulaga	RT	GB	81	21	↑
12	Joe Thomas	LT	CLE	80	12	↔
13	Ramik Wilson	ILB	KC	80	401	↑
14	Janoris Jenkins	CB	NYG	80	NR	↑
15	Jimmy Graham	TE	SEA	80	482	↑
16	Jason Peters	LT	PHI	80	6	↓
17	Luke Kuechly	ILB	CAR	80	28	↑
18	Cordy Glenn	LT	BUF	80	30	↑
19	Zach Strief	RT	NO	80	36	↑
20	Richie Incognito	OG	BUF	79	141	↑
21	Cameron Wake	4-3 DE	MIA	79	NR	↑
22	Kenny Vaccaro	SS	NO	79	245	↑
23	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	DAL	79	24	↑
24	Byron Jones	FS	DAL	79	89	↑
25	Jason Witten	TE	DAL	79	701	↑
26	David Bakhtiari	LT	GB	79	9	↓
27	Darius Butler	FS	IND	79	646	↑
28	Marcus Gilbert	RT	PIT	79	NR	↑
29	Paul Posluszny	ILB	JAX	79	720	↑
30	Earl Thomas	FS	SEA	79	92	↑
31	Matthew Stafford	QB	DET	78	560	↑
32	Brandon Linder	C	JAX	78	437	↑
33	Leonard Williams	DT	NYJ	78	191	↑
34	Khalil Mack	4-3 DE	OAK	78	4	↓
35	Latavius Murray	RB	OAK	78	166	↑
36	Trumaine Johnson	CB	LA	78	NR	↑
37	Aaron Rodgers	QB	GB	78	8	↓
38	Brandon Flowers	CB	SD	78	87	↑
39	LeSean McCoy	RB	BUF	78	NR	↑
40	Mike Evans	WR	TB	78	526	↑
41	Donald Penn	LT	OAK	78	74	↑
42	Bobby Wagner	ILB	SEA	78	14	↓
43	Andrew Adams	FS	NYG	78	NR	↑
44	Julio Jones	WR	ATL	77	473	↑
45	Brett Jones	OG	NYG	77	NR	↑
46	Max Unger	C	NO	77	325	↑
47	Clayton Geathers	SS	IND	77	198	↑
48	Matt Prater	K	DET	77	728	↑
49	Jerry Hughes	3-4 OLB	BUF	77	339	↑
50	Sam Martin	P	DET	77	850	↑

Quarterbacks

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Russell Wilson looked like the caliber of quarterback we're used to seeing him be Monday night. He didn't run for big gains or scramble regularly, but he was more comfortable with his mobility and planted his feet to deliver accurate passes downfield. 

Both of Wilson's touchdown connections with Jimmy Graham were perfectly placed throws into the end zone that led the tight end to space. Graham made tough catches, but Wilson put the ball where it needed to be. The Seahawks quarterback had another precise deep throw to Jermaine Kearse the receiver couldn't control, while Doug Baldwin drew multiple pass-interference penalties downfield on good throws.

Seattle may have outlasted Tyrod Taylor's Bills, but the Buffalo quarterback was just as impressive as Wilson. Taylor showed off great arm strength and precision throwing into windows downfield while also escaping pressure repeatedly.

Detroit Lions signal-caller Matthew Stafford led a game-tying (then game-winning) drive against the Minnesota Vikings. Stafford's ability to perform against pressure and fit the ball into tight windows with his arm strength allowed the Lions offense to function in difficult situations, but the consistency of his ball placement remains a concern. He had an off-target throw that led to an interception in Detroit territory.

At the bottom of the rankings, Blake Bortles once again failed to execute his offense. He repeatedly missed open Jacksonville Jaguars receivers and ran himself into pressure. He had one awful interception deep in his own territory but was fortunate to escape three more interceptions with errant throws. One of those errant throws was a pass he threw into the stomach of a defender after breaking the pocket. The Jaguars should consider benching Bortles to give sixth-round pick Brandon Allen a chance.

Nick Foles played in the same game and was similarly unimpressive. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback overshot a deep ball early that went straight to a Jaguars defender before another knocked the ball loose from his grasp. Head coach Andy Reid's offense limits the quarterback's impact, so Foles rarely had to make difficult plays. Had Foles been in a tougher offense, his opponent would have taken advantage of his lack of arm strength and accuracy.

Grading Scale

Acc: Accuracy (Graded out of 25)

Arm: Arm Strength (Graded out of 25)

Press: Pressure/Run Threat (Graded out of 20) (pressure weighted at 15, run threat at 5)

Dec: Decision-Making (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Quarterback Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Acc	Arm	Press	Dec	Pos	Ovr
1	Philip Rivers	SD	20	20	17	17	10	84
2	Russell Wilson	SEA	20	23	14	15	10	82
3	Tyrod Taylor	BUF	20	23	15	13	10	81
4	Matthew Stafford	DET	17	22	15	14	10	78
5	Aaron Rodgers	GB	17	23	15	13	10	78
6	Drew Brees	NO	17	20	15	15	10	77
7	Matt Ryan	ATL	19	20	12	16	10	77
8	Dak Prescott	DAL	17	19	15	16	10	77
9	Eli Manning	NYG	16	22	14	14	10	76
10	Ryan Tannehill	MIA	17	19	16	14	10	76
11	Andrew Luck	IND	20	22	14	10	10	76
12	Derek Carr	OAK	16	20	14	14	10	74
13	Cam Newton	CAR	14	21	14	14	10	73
14	Sam Bradford	MIN	16	19	14	14	10	73
15	Trevor Siemian	DEN	14	19	12	13	10	68
16	Jameis Winston	TB	13	18	12	14	10	67
17	Marcus Mariota	TEN	15	19	13	10	10	67
18	Cody Kessler	CLE	16	17	10	13	10	66
19	Colin Kaepernick	SF	14	18	12	12	10	66
20	Carson Wentz	PHI	11	20	13	11	10	65
21	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	14	20	12	9	10	65
22	Mike Glennon	TB	16	17	10	10	10	63
23	Joe Flacco	BAL	13	17	11	10	10	61
24	Case Keenum	LA	13	17	11	10	10	61
25	Ryan Fitzpatrick	NYJ	12	16	12	11	10	61
26	Nick Foles	KC	12	15	10	12	10	59
27	Blake Bortles	JAX	11	17	11	9	10	58

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Tom Brady—bye
• Kirk Cousins—bye
• Jay Cutler—bye
• Andy Dalton—bye
• Brock Osweiler—bye
• Carson Palmer—bye

Running Backs

Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

As mentioned earlier, despite having a terrible rookie season, San Diego's Melvin Gordon has rebounded in a big way during his sophomore campaign. Gordon, the highest-graded running back of Week 9, dominated by having his most consistent performance of his career Sunday against the Titans.

He’s turned into an excellent inside runner and is excelling in short-yardage goal-line situations. He has done a much better job of playing low, breaking tackles and getting downhill quickly. In 2015, he often danced instead of getting north and south. This season, he has played violently, making defenders pay when they attempt to tackle him. He has a chance to be a big-time player. 

In arguably the biggest game of his career, Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray picked a good night to be on. It was easily his most physical performance over three NFL seasons. He excelled in the red zone, scoring three touchdowns and diving over defenders like Marcus Allen used to. If the Raiders are going to win the AFC West, they need Murray to play at a Pro Bowl level. On Sunday, he showed he is up for the task.

After missing last week with an injury, Buffalo's LeSean McCoy looked healthy against a great Seattle defense Monday night. His short-area burst and ability to make defenders miss in space are still elite. McCoy needs to lead the charge in November and December for Buffalo to think playoffs.

The Atlanta Falcons' Devonta Freeman ran through a bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense like Swiss cheese in an easy victory Thursday night. Jay Ajayi had another big game against the New York Jets, rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown, while his offensive line continues to dominate up front. After starting 1-4, the Miami Dolphins have turned around their season, and Ajayi is a major reason.

While Matthew Stafford is having an MVP-caliber season, the Lions play better when running back Theo Riddick is rolling. He is a big-play threat even against top fronts like the Vikings. New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram embarrassed a terrible San Francisco 49ers defense for a 75-yard touchdown, the longest run of Week 9 and his NFL career.

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)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Running Back Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	In	Out	Rec	Blk	Pos	Ovr
1	Melvin Gordon	SD	22	19	18	17	6	82
2	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	19	20	16	18	6	79
3	Latavius Murray	OAK	19	19	17	17	6	78
4	LeSean McCoy	BUF	18	20	17	17	6	78
5	Devonta Freeman	ATL	19	18	17	16	6	76
6	Jay Ajayi	MIA	19	18	17	16	6	76
7	Theo Riddick	DET	18	18	17	16	6	75
8	Mark Ingram	NO	20	17	16	16	6	75
9	Bilal Powell	NYJ	17	18	17	17	6	75
10	Ty Montgomery	GB	19	17	18	15	6	75
11	Todd Gurley	LA	18	17	17	16	6	74
12	T.J. Yeldon	JAX	17	18	17	16	6	74
13	Chris Ivory	JAX	18	18	15	17	6	74
14	Matt Forte	NYJ	18	17	17	16	6	74
15	Darren Sproles	PHI	18	17	16	17	6	74
16	DeMarco Murray	TEN	18	16	17	17	6	74
17	Frank Gore	IND	18	16	17	17	6	74
18	Ben Cunningham	LA	16	17	18	16	6	73
19	Jalen Richard	OAK	19	17	16	15	6	73
20	DuJuan Harris	SF	18	16	17	16	6	73
21	Mike Gillislee	BUF	17	17	15	16	6	71
22	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	18	16	15	16	6	71
23	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	17	16	16	16	6	71
24	Damien Williams	MIA	17	17	16	15	6	71
25	DeAndre Washington	OAK	17	16	16	16	6	71
26	Duke Johnson	CLE	15	17	17	15	6	70
27	Tim Hightower	NO	17	16	16	15	6	70
28	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	16	14	17	17	6	70
29	Christine Michael	SEA	15	17	15	17	6	70
30	Charcandrick West	KC	15	15	17	16	6	69
31	Fozzy Whittaker	CAR	15	17	15	15	6	68
32	Kapri Bibbs	DEN	16	14	17	15	6	68
33	Kenyan Drake	MIA	14	16	16	16	6	68
34	Ryan Mathews	PHI	17	15	15	15	6	68
35	Wendell Smallwood	PHI	17	15	15	15	6	68
36	Peyton Barber	TB	15	16	16	15	6	68
37	Terrance West	BAL	17	15	14	15	6	67
38	Matt Asiata	MIN	16	14	15	16	6	67
39	Paul Perkins	NYG	16	14	16	15	6	67
40	Antone Smith	TB	16	14	15	16	6	67
41	Robert Turbin	IND	16	14	16	15	6	67
42	Terron Ward	ATL	16	15	15	14	6	66
43	Alfred Morris	DAL	15	14	16	15	6	66
44	Ronnie Hillman	MIN	14	16	15	15	6	66
45	Rashad Jennings	NYG	15	14	16	15	6	66
46	Kenneth Farrow	SD	16	14	15	15	6	66
47	C.J. Prosise	SEA	15	14	16	15	6	66
48	Kenneth Dixon	BAL	15	14	14	16	6	65
49	Knile Davis	KC	15	14	15	15	6	65
50	DeAngelo Williams	PIT	15	14	15	15	6	65
51	Travaris Cadet	NO	15	14	15	15	6	65
52	Dwayne Washington	DET	15	14	14	15	6	64
53	Devontae Booker	DEN	15	14	14	14	6	63
54	Don Jackson	GB	15	13	14	15	6	63

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Doug Martin—injury
• Thomas Rawls—injury
• Carlos Hyde—injury
• Danny Woodhead—injury
• Shane Vereen—injury
• LeGarrette Blount—injury
• Adrian Peterson—injury
• Jamaal Charles—injury
• Ameer Abdullah—injury
• C.J. Anderson—injury
• Matt Jones—bye
• Jeremy Hill—bye
• David Johnson—bye

Fullbacks

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t a big stat weekend for the NFL fullbacks, but they remain a staple on good teams.

Oakland's Jamize Olawale might be the most unknown good player in the league. He was excellent Sunday night against the Denver Broncos. Not known as a physical blocker, Olawale brought it in isolation blocking situations. He handled an athletic Denver linebacking unit, and his ability to move bodies helped the Raiders have a breakout running performance. 

Falcons fullback Patrick DiMarco was very good against a bad Tampa Bay defense, helping Freeman explode on limited carries.

New Orleans' John Kuhn and Carolina's Mike Tolbert have only gotten stronger as the season has progressed. Both players have helped resurrect running games the last several weeks.

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)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Fullback Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Blk	Run	Rec	Pos	Ovr
1	Jamize Olawale	OAK	46	16	10	4	76
2	Kyle Juszczyk	BAL	45	14	11	4	74
3	Patrick DiMarco	ATL	44	15	11	4	74
4	Zach Line	MIN	44	16	10	4	74
5	John Kuhn	NO	44	15	10	4	73
6	Derek Watt	SD	45	16	8	4	73
7	Mike Tolbert	CAR	45	15	9	4	73
8	Aaron Ripkowski	GB	44	16	9	4	73
9	Jerome Felton	BUF	44	14	9	4	71
10	Keith Smith	DAL	43	14	9	4	70
11	Michael Burton	DET	43	15	8	4	70
12	Jalston Fowler	TEN	44	14	8	4	70
13	Andy Janovich	DEN	42	15	8	4	69
14	Will Tukuafu	SEA	43	14	8	4	69
15	Anthony Sherman	KC	42	14	8	4	68

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Jay Prosch—bye
• James Develin—bye

Wide Receivers

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta's Julio Jones dominated the Tampa Bay secondary Thursday night, bringing in eight catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. In Minnesota, Golden Tate was all over the field for Detroit against a tough defense. He made an incredible catch-and-run in overtime to hand the Vikings their third straight loss. 

Buffalo's Robert Woods had a big night against some tough competition Monday's game against the Seahawks, catching 10 passes for 162 yards. He was impressive on his routes and after the catch, but he also played a role as a blocker.

In his team's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Wallace of the Baltimore Ravens had a big touchdown that showed some speed and strength after the catch, which helped boost his grade this week.

San Diego's Tyrell Williams and Oakland's Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree all turned in good performances, displaying that the AFC West not only has veteran talent, but some young talent at the wide receiver position as well.

Grading Scale

Route: Route Running (Graded out of 25)

Hands: Hands (Graded out of 25)

YAC: Yards After Catch (Graded out of 20)

Blk: Blocking (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Wide Receiver Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Route	Hands	YAC	Blk	Pos	Ovr
1	Mike Evans	TB	22	21	14	12	9	78
2	Julio Jones	ATL	22	22	14	10	9	77
3	Golden Tate	DET	21	22	14	10	9	76
4	Odell Beckham	NYG	20	21	16	10	9	76
5	Robert Woods	BUF	20	20	14	12	9	75
6	Jordy Nelson	GB	20	19	15	11	9	74
7	Stefon Diggs	MIN	20	20	13	11	9	73
8	Mohamed Sanu	ATL	21	20	13	9	9	72
9	Doug Baldwin	SEA	20	20	12	11	9	72
10	Taylor Gabriel	ATL	19	18	15	10	9	71
11	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	20	19	12	11	9	71
12	Amari Cooper	OAK	19	18	12	13	9	71
13	Mike Wallace	BAL	17	19	14	11	9	70
14	Terrelle Pryor Sr.	CLE	19	18	11	13	9	70
15	Cole Beasley	DAL	19	19	13	10	9	70
16	Cordarrelle Patterson	MIN	18	16	15	12	9	70
17	Michael Crabtree	OAK	18	17	13	13	9	70
18	Antonio Brown	PIT	19	18	13	11	9	70
19	Tyrell Williams	SD	19	19	11	12	9	70
20	Quinton Patton	SF	20	18	13	10	9	70
21	Marquise Goodwin	BUF	18	18	11	13	9	69
22	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	18	19	11	12	9	69
23	Allen Robinson	JAX	19	18	12	11	9	69
24	Brian Quick	LA	19	18	13	10	9	69
25	Adam Thielen	MIN	20	18	12	10	9	69
26	Brandin Cooks	NO	19	19	12	10	9	69
27	Brandon Marshall	NYJ	18	18	12	12	9	69
28	Dontrelle Inman	SD	18	18	12	12	9	69
29	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	18	18	11	12	9	68
30	Marqise Lee	JAX	18	18	12	11	9	68
31	Jarvis Landry	MIA	17	18	12	12	9	68
32	Michael Thomas	NO	19	19	11	10	9	68
33	Eli Rogers	PIT	18	19	11	11	9	68
34	Jermaine Kearse	SEA	19	17	12	11	9	68
35	Adam Humphries	TB	19	17	13	10	9	68
36	Steve Smith Sr.	BAL	17	18	11	12	9	67
37	Ted Ginn Jr.	CAR	19	18	11	10	9	67
38	T.Y. Hilton	IND	18	17	11	12	9	67
39	Quincy Enunwa	NYJ	17	17	11	13	9	67
40	Robby Anderson	NYJ	17	19	11	11	9	67
41	Dez Bryant	DAL	19	17	11	10	9	66
42	Randall Cobb	GB	17	17	13	10	9	66
43	Albert Wilson	KC	17	17	11	12	9	66
44	Kenny Britt	LA	19	17	11	10	9	66
45	Sterling Shepard	NYG	18	17	12	10	9	66
46	Victor Cruz	NYG	18	17	12	10	9	66
47	Jalin Marshall	NYJ	17	18	11	11	9	66
48	Nelson Agholor	PHI	18	17	12	10	9	66
49	Tajae Sharpe	TEN	18	17	11	11	9	66
50	Rishard Matthews	TEN	17	17	11	12	9	66
51	Kamar Aiken	BAL	16	17	11	12	9	65
52	Chris Conley	KC	16	16	11	13	9	65
53	Charles Johnson	MIN	17	15	11	13	9	65
54	Willie Snead	NO	18	16	12	10	9	65
55	Seth Roberts	OAK	17	17	11	11	9	65
56	Jeremy Kerley	SF	18	17	11	10	9	65
57	Walter Powell	BUF	15	16	11	13	9	64
58	Devin Funchess	CAR	18	15	12	10	9	64
59	Corey Coleman	CLE	16	16	11	12	9	64
60	Terrance Williams	DAL	17	17	10	11	9	64
61	Jordan Norwood	DEN	16	17	11	11	9	64
62	Donte Moncrief	IND	16	16	11	12	9	64
63	Andre Holmes	OAK	15	16	11	13	9	64
64	Torrey Smith	SF	18	16	11	10	9	64
65	Anquan Boldin	DET	18	16	10	10	9	63
66	Davante Adams	GB	16	17	11	10	9	63
67	Phillip Dorsett	IND	16	15	11	12	9	63
68	Tyreek Hill	KC	15	16	12	11	9	63
69	Tavon Austin	LA	17	16	11	10	9	63
70	Brandon Coleman	NO	17	16	11	10	9	63
71	Roger Lewis	NYG	18	16	10	10	9	63
72	Harry Douglas	TEN	16	16	11	11	9	63
73	Andrew Hawkins	CLE	14	16	11	12	9	62
74	Marvin Jones	DET	16	15	11	11	9	62
75	Allen Hurns	JAX	16	14	11	12	9	62
76	DeVante Parker	MIA	15	15	11	12	9	62
77	Dorial Green-Beckham	PHI	18	14	11	10	9	62
78	Bryce Treggs	PHI	16	16	11	10	9	62
79	Griff Whalen	SD	16	14	11	12	9	62
80	Cecil Shorts	TB	16	15	11	11	9	62
81	Kendall Wright	TEN	16	16	11	10	9	62
82	Breshad Perriman	BAL	15	15	11	11	9	61
83	Justin Hunter	BUF	14	15	11	12	9	61
84	Jordan Taylor	DEN	15	15	11	11	9	61
85	Tyler Lockett	SEA	16	15	11	10	9	61
86	Brice Butler	DAL	15	15	11	10	9	60
87	Arrelious Benn	JAX	15	14	11	11	9	60
88	Pharoh Cooper	LA	15	15	11	10	9	60
89	Jordan Matthews	PHI	16	14	11	10	9	60
90	Philly Brown	CAR	15	14	11	10	9	59
91	Bennie Fowler III	DEN	14	14	11	11	9	59
92	De'Anthony Thomas	KC	14	14	11	11	9	59
93	Kenny Stills	MIA	14	14	11	11	9	59
94	Leonte Carroo	MIA	14	14	11	11	9	59
95	Charone Peake	NYJ	14	14	11	11	9	59
96	Sammie Coates	PIT	15	13	11	11	9	59
97	Darrius Heyward-Bey	PIT	14	14	11	11	9	59
98	Cobi Hamilton	PIT	14	14	11	11	9	59
99	Travis Benjamin	SD	14	14	11	11	9	59
100	Jeremy Butler	SD	14	14	11	11	9	59
101	Paul Richardson	SEA	15	15	10	10	9	59
102	Geronimo Allison	GB	14	14	11	10	9	58
103	Lucky Whitehead	DAL	13	13	11	11	9	57
104	Andre Roberts	DET	14	14	10	10	9	57
105	Trevor Davis	GB	14	14	10	10	9	57
106	Laquon Treadwell	MIN	14	14	10	10	9	57
107	Dwayne Harris	NYG	14	14	10	10	9	57
108	Aaron Burbridge	SF	14	13	10	10	9	56
109	Rod Streater	SF	13	13	10	10	9	55
110	Freddie Martino	TB	13	13	10	10	9	55

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Andre Johnson—retired
• Sammy Watkins—injury
• Eric Decker—injury
• Keenan Allen—injury
• Vincent Jackson—injury
• Larry Fitzgerald—bye
• Michael Floyd—bye
• John Brown—bye
• Alshon Jeffery—bye
• Eddie Royal—bye
• A.J. Green—bye
• Brandon LaFell—bye
• DeAndre Hopkins—bye
• Will Fuller V—bye
• Julian Edelman—bye
• Danny Amendola—bye
• DeSean Jackson—bye
• Pierre Garcon—bye
• Jamison Crowder—bye

Tight Ends

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

In case you didn’t know, Jimmy Graham is back. 

The 29-year-old looked exactly like the guy the Seahawks were expecting when they traded for him in 2015. On Monday night, he tore the Buffalo secondary to shreds, hauling in eight receptions on eight targets for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, while Golden Tate got a lot of coverage for his game-winner at Minnesota, Lions tight end Eric Ebron contributed a lot to the victory, giving Stafford a big target (6'4", 265 lbs) in the middle of the field. He hauled in seven catches for 92 yards.

The 36-year-old Antonio Gates continues to chug along at this point of his career, catching five passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in the Chargers' victory over the Titans.

Kansas City's Travis Kelce was on track for a big day, and his numbers likely would have been higher had he not thrown a towel at an official and been ejected. 

Jack Doyle played a big role for the Indianapolis Colts in their road victory over the Green Bay Packers, as did Clive Walford for the Raiders in their AFC West showdown with the Broncos.

Grading Scale

Route: Route Running (Graded out of 20)

Hands: Hands (Graded out of 25)

YAC: Yards After Catch (Graded out of 20)

Blk: Blocking (Graded out of 25)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Tight End Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Route	Hands	YAC	Blk	Pos	Ovr
1	Jimmy Graham	SEA	18	23	16	17	6	80
2	Jason Witten	DAL	16	20	16	21	6	79
3	Zach Ertz	PHI	18	21	14	18	6	77
4	Antonio Gates	SD	15	19	14	20	6	74
5	Eric Ebron	DET	17	18	14	18	6	73
6	Richard Rodgers	GB	19	21	11	16	6	73
7	Travis Kelce	KC	15	19	14	19	6	73
8	Lance Kendricks	LA	16	20	12	18	6	72
9	Greg Olsen	CAR	16	20	12	17	6	71
10	Jack Doyle	IND	13	18	13	19	6	69
11	Coby Fleener	NO	15	17	12	18	6	68
12	Trey Burton	PHI	15	18	12	17	6	68
13	Will Tye	NYG	14	18	12	17	6	67
14	Austin Hooper	ATL	13	16	11	20	6	66
15	Virgil Green	DEN	13	16	13	18	6	66
16	Vance McDonald	SF	14	17	13	16	6	66
17	Garrett Celek	SF	14	17	12	17	6	66
18	Jerell Adams	NYG	14	17	12	16	6	65
19	Clive Walford	OAK	12	15	13	19	6	65
20	Brandon Williams	SEA	13	17	11	18	6	65
21	Delanie Walker	TEN	14	17	11	17	6	65
22	Charles Clay	BUF	13	16	12	17	6	64
23	Ed Dickson	CAR	13	17	11	17	6	64
24	Gary Barnidge	CLE	13	15	11	19	6	64
25	Geoff Swaim	DAL	12	14	10	22	6	64
26	MarQueis Gray	MIA	13	16	11	18	6	64
27	Josh Hill	NO	14	14	11	19	6	64
28	Marcedes Lewis	JAX	12	15	12	18	6	63
29	Julius Thomas	JAX	12	15	12	18	6	63
30	Kyle Rudolph	MIN	12	15	10	20	6	63
31	Cameron Brate	TB	13	15	12	17	6	63
32	Tyler Higbee	LA	12	15	12	17	6	62
33	Dominique Jones	MIA	13	15	11	17	6	62
34	Rhett Ellison	MIN	12	15	11	18	6	62
35	Jesse James	PIT	12	15	11	18	6	62
36	Anthony Fasano	TEN	12	15	11	18	6	62
37	Nick O'Leary	BUF	11	14	11	19	6	61
38	Dwayne Allen	IND	12	15	11	17	6	61
39	Ben Koyack	JAX	11	14	11	19	6	61
40	James O'Shaughnessy	KC	11	15	11	18	6	61
41	Xavier Grimble	PIT	12	15	11	17	6	61
42	Levine Toilolo	ATL	10	13	10	21	6	60
43	Demetrius Harris	KC	11	14	11	18	6	60
44	Austin Seferian-Jenkins	NYJ	11	14	11	18	6	60
45	David Johnson	PIT	12	15	11	16	6	60
46	Mychal Rivera	OAK	11	14	11	17	6	59
47	Dennis Pitta	BAL	13	16	11	12	6	58
48	Jeff Heuerman	DEN	11	14	11	16	6	58
49	Erik Swoopes	IND	11	14	11	16	6	58
50	Brandon Bostick	NYJ	11	14	11	16	6	58
51	Sean McGrath	SD	11	14	11	16	6	58
52	Nick Vannett	SEA	11	14	10	17	6	58
53	Darren Waller	BAL	12	15	11	13	6	57
54	Randall Telfer	CLE	11	14	11	15	6	57
55	Seth DeValve	CLE	11	14	11	15	6	57
56	A.J. Derby	DEN	11	14	11	15	6	57
57	Justin Perillo	GB	12	15	11	13	6	57
58	Phillip Supernaw	TEN	11	14	11	15	6	57
59	Asante Cleveland	SD	11	4	11	14	6	56
60	Luke Stocker	TB	10	13	10	16	6	55
61	Brandon Myers	TB	10	13	10	14	6	53

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Nick Boyle—suspension
• Jordan Cameron—injury
• Dion Sims—injury
• Crockett Gillmore—injury
• Maxx Williams—injury
• Hunter Henry—injury
• Jacob Tamme—inactive
• Jermaine Gresham—bye
• Zach Miller—bye
• Tyler Eifert—bye
• C.J. Fiedorowicz—bye
• Rob Gronkowski—bye
• Martellus Bennett—bye
• Jordan Reed—bye
• Vernon Davis—bye

Left Tackles

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Once again, Tyron Smith was the top performer at left tackle in Week 9. The Cowboys All-Pro tackle played as close as a player can get to a flawless game, surrendering no sacks and no pressures in 69 snaps as Dallas cruised to a 35-10 victory over the Browns.

Perennial Pro Bowler and future Hall of Fame tackle Joe Thomas turned in a terrific performance for Cleveland. Thomas was as smooth as ever in pass protection, surrendering only one pressure in 44 snaps when he failed to mirror and post down inside on a late inside spin move. The Browns could not manage to establish the running game, but it wasn't Thomas' fault.

For the second consecutive week, the Philadelphia Eagles' Jason Peters grabbed the third slot in our rankings with his performance against the New York Giants. Peters was faced with the task of bookending against the likes of Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon, and he did not disappoint.

PFF credited Peters with surrendering a quarterback hit, but on film, the hit appeared to be the result of a weakness in the protection scheme and not a missed assignment by Peters. The Eagles tackle was also stout in the running game, helping pave the way for close to 100 yards on the ground.

If you are a fan of tough, physical smashmouth football, go study Oakland's Donald Penn against the Broncos. Penn was dominant as a run-blocker and highly effective in pass protection. It doesn't always look pretty, but it's fun to watch him get after it. He has a unique story, as he went undrafted in 2006 out of Utah State. But since, he has started 149 games, been selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl and has four career touchdowns. 

Grading Scale

Pass: Pass Protection (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Blocking (Graded out of 25)

Power: Power (Graded out of 20)

Agl: Agility (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Left Tackle Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Tyron Smith	DAL	21	20	17	16	8	82
2	Joe Thomas	CLE	21	17	16	18	8	80
3	Jason Peters	PHI	19	21	16	16	8	80
4	Cordy Glenn	BUF	21	18	17	16	8	80
5	David Bakhtiari	GB	20	18	16	17	8	79
6	Donald Penn	OAK	18	21	17	14	8	78
7	Eric Fisher	KC	20	17	16	15	8	76
8	Jake Matthews	ATL	19	17	16	15	8	75
9	Andrus Peat	NO	18	18	16	14	8	74
10	Anthony Castonzo	IND	18	18	15	15	8	74
11	Taylor Lewan	TEN	18	17	15	15	8	73
12	Taylor Decker	DET	17	19	14	15	8	73
13	Kelvin Beachum	JAX	18	17	15	14	8	72
14	Ereck Flowers	NYG	17	17	15	15	8	72
15	King Dunlap	SD	17	18	14	15	8	72
16	Joe Staley	SF	17	17	15	14	8	71
17	Branden Albert	MIA	17	18	14	14	8	71
18	Mike Remmers	CAR	17	17	14	14	8	70
19	Jake Long	MIN	18	15	14	14	8	69
20	Greg Robinson	LA	16	16	16	13	8	69
21	Ben Ijalana	NYJ	15	18	14	13	8	68
22	Alejandro Villanueva	PIT	18	16	13	13	8	68
23	Russell Okung	DEN	16	16	14	13	8	67
24	Ronnie Stanley	BAL	16	16	13	13	8	66
25	Donovan Smith	TB	14	14	15	12	8	63
26	George Fant	SEA	13	15	10	14	8	60

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Bradley Sowell—injury
• Matt Kalil—injury
• Luke Joeckel—injury
• Michael Oher—injury
• Trent Williams—bye/suspension
• Jared Veldheer—bye/injury
• Charles Leno Jr.—bye
• Ty Nsekhe—bye
• Andrew Whitworth—bye
• Duane Brown—bye
• Nate Solder—bye

Right Tackles

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Green Bay's Bryan Bulaga was the top performer at right tackle in Week 9. As mentioned in last week's installment, Bulaga has remained healthy and has been fantastic, which should put the seventh-year man out of Iowa in strong consideration for the players' vote for the Pro Bowl. There has not been a more consistent right tackle through the first nine weeks.

New Orleans' Zach Strief continues to turn in solid yet gritty performances, this time against San Francisco. For the second week in a row, Strief is second in our rankings.     

Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Marcus Gilbert returned to action after missing several weeks to face AFC North rival Baltimore. Gilbert showed no signs of rust or injury and flashed moments of physical dominance both in pass protection and in the running game. 

Dallas' Doug Free is often the forgotten man on the Cowboys' outstanding offensive line, but he turned in a solid performance against Cleveland, especially in the running game. 

Breno Giacomini, whom the Jets activated from the PUP list prior to Week 8's contest, was in the starting lineup again after seeing limited time in his 2016 regular-season debut. He had a rough game against Miami. It is evident, especially in pass protection, that he is still a ways from getting back to being even consistently serviceable.

Grading Scale

Pass: Pass Protection (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Blocking (Graded out of 25)

Power: Power (Graded out of 20)

Agl: Agility (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Right Tackle Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Bryan Bulaga	GB	21	19	17	17	7	81
2	Zach Strief	NO	20	21	17	15	7	80
3	Marcus Gilbert	PIT	19	19	17	17	7	79
4	Ryan Schraeder	ATL	18	19	16	16	7	76
5	Doug Free	DAL	19	19	16	14	7	75
6	Mitchell Schwartz	KC	18	19	16	15	7	75
7	Trenton Brown	SF	18	19	16	14	7	74
8	Demar Dotson	TB	18	18	14	17	7	74
9	Ricky Wagner	BAL	19	18	15	15	7	74
10	Halapoulivaati Vaitai	PHI	18	18	15	15	7	73
11	Jack Conklin	TEN	17	18	16	14	7	72
12	Daryl Williams	CAR	18	17	15	13	7	70
13	Austin Pasztor	CLE	17	17	15	15	7	71
14	T.J. Clemmings	MIN	16	18	14	15	7	70
15	Joe Haeg	IND	17	16	14	15	7	69
16	Joe Barksdale	SD	16	18	14	14	7	69
17	Rob Havenstein	LA	16	16	15	14	7	68
18	Jermey Parnell	JAX	15	17	14	14	7	67
19	Austin Howard	OAK	15	18	15	12	7	67
20	Corey Robinson	DET	16	18	13	12	7	66
21	Garry Gilliam	SEA	15	16	13	15	7	66
22	Donald Stephenson	DEN	14	14	15	14	7	64

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Riley Reiff—inactive
• Andre Smith Jr.—injury
• Derek Newton—injury
• Joe Reitz—injury
• Marshall Newhouse—insufficient snaps
• Menelik Watson—insufficient snaps
• Lane Johnson—suspension
• Marcus Cannon—bye
• Cedric Ogbuehi—bye
• Bobby Massie—bye
• Morgan Moses—bye
• D.J. Humphries—bye
• Chris Clark—bye

Offensive Guards

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The story of the week at guard had to be the play of the Giants' Brett Jones after Justin Pugh got hurt in the first quarter against the Eagles.

Jones, who played in the Canadian Football League before signing with the Giants, was a menace up front. His physicality didn't do much to spring the Giants' running game, though, which continues to struggle largely because of bad play design and poorly designed run-blocking schemes.

But without him, New York may have had a worse day on the ground. Considering it only averaged 2.3 yards per carry this week, that is saying something.

Grading Scale

Pass: Pass Protection (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run-Blocking (Graded out of 25)

Power: Power (Graded out of 20)

Agl: Agility (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Offensive Guard Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Richie Incognito	BUF	20	19	18	15	7	79
2	Brett Jones	NYG	20	18	18	14	7	77
3	Andy Levitre	ATL	17	19	18	15	7	76
4	David DeCastro	PIT	19	16	17	17	7	76
5	Brandon Brooks	PHI	19	16	17	16	7	75
6	Alex Lewis	BAL	19	17	16	16	7	75
7	Graham Glasgow	DET	19	17	16	16	7	75
8	Marshal Yanda	BAL	16	19	18	15	7	75
9	John Miller	BUF	16	19	17	15	7	74
10	Josh Kline	TEN	18	19	17	13	7	74
11	Orlando Franklin	SD	17	19	18	13	7	74
12	Kelechi Osemele	OAK	16	19	17	14	7	73
13	T.J. Lang	GB	19	16	16	15	7	73
14	Laremy Tunsil	MIA	16	18	16	16	7	73
15	Ronald Leary	DAL	17	18	17	14	7	73
16	Ali Marpet	TB	17	16	16	17	7	73
17	Zane Beadles	SF	15	18	16	16	7	72
18	Lane Taylor	GB	16	18	15	16	7	72
19	Zack Martin	DAL	17	16	17	15	7	72
20	Denzelle Good	IND	16	18	17	14	7	72
21	Mark Glowinski	SEA	17	15	16	16	7	71
22	D.J. Fluker	SD	16	18	17	13	7	71
23	Chris Chester	ATL	17	16	17	14	7	71
24	Spencer Drango	CLE	16	17	17	14	7	71
25	Max Garcia	DEN	17	17	17	13	7	71
26	A.J. Cann	JAX	15	19	17	13	7	71
27	Brian Winters	NYJ	17	14	16	16	7	70
28	Denver Kirkland	OAK	15	18	17	13	7	70
29	Jeremiah Sirles	MIN	16	15	16	16	7	70
30	Stefen Wisniewski	PHI	18	17	16	12	7	70
31	Gabe Jackson	OAK	15	18	17	13	7	70
32	Jermon Bushrod	MIA	15	17	16	14	7	69
33	Jahri Evans	NO	15	18	17	12	7	69
34	James Carpenter	NYJ	17	16	17	12	7	69
35	Larry Warford	DET	17	15	16	14	7	69
36	Brian Schwenke	TEN	16	17	16	13	7	69
37	Zach Fulton	KC	15	17	16	14	7	69
38	Ramon Foster	PIT	15	16	17	13	7	68
39	Joshua Garnett	SF	16	16	16	13	7	68
40	Senio Kelemete	NO	16	17	16	12	7	68
41	Patrick Omameh	JAX	16	16	16	13	7	68
42	Jonotthan Harrison	IND	15	17	16	13	7	68
43	John Jerry	NYG	16	14	16	14	7	67
44	Laurent Duvernay-Tardif	KC	13	15	15	17	7	67
45	Kevin Pamphile	TB	16	15	16	13	7	67
46	Brandon Fusco	MIN	16	14	16	13	7	66
47	Andrew Norwell	CAR	14	14	16	14	7	65
48	Michael Schofield	DEN	16	13	14	15	7	65
49	Cody Wichmann	LA	13	15	13	15	7	63
50	Germain Ifedi	SEA	13	14	15	13	7	62
51	Trai Turner	CAR	14	11	16	12	7	60
52	Alvin Bailey	CLE	11	13	15	13	7	59
53	Rodger Saffold	LA	12	12	15	12	7	58

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Justin Pugh—insufficient snaps
• Brandon Scherff—bye
• Shawn Lauvao—bye
• Joe Thuney—bye
• Shaq Mason—bye
• Clint Boling—bye
• Kevin Zeitler—bye
• Jeff Allen—bye
• Xavier Su'a-Filo—bye
• Ted Larsen—bye
• Eric Kush—bye
• Earl Watford—bye
• Mike Iupati—bye
• Kyle Long—DNP
• Josh Sitton—DNP
• La'el Collins—DNP

Centers

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Injuries are starting to pile up at center. The Panthers felt the brunt of that this week with Ryan Kalil out. Last week, Gino Gradkowski filled in pretty nicely for Kalil, particularly in the ground game, where he was a stabilizing force on the second level.

He didn't fare well against Aaron Donald and the Rams defensive line, though. Gradkowski failed to establish any sort of anchor in pass protection. The offensive line felt the missing leadership and communication Kalil provides as well. 

Grading Scale:

Pass: Pass Protection (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Blocking (Graded out of 25)

Power: Power (Graded out of 20)

Agl: Agility (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Center Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Brandon Linder	JAX	19	19	18	16	6	78
2	Max Unger	NO	19	20	17	15	6	77
3	Rodney Hudson	OAK	16	19	18	17	6	76
4	Eric Wood	BUF	19	18	18	14	6	75
5	Ryan Kelly	IND	18	16	17	17	6	74
6	Mitch Morse	KC	16	18	16	17	6	73
7	Alex Mack	ATL	16	18	17	16	6	73
8	Weston Richburg	NYG	19	16	18	14	6	73
9	Matt Paradis	DEN	18	16	18	14	6	72
10	Travis Frederick	DAL	17	17	17	14	6	71
11	Maurkice Pouncey	PIT	17	16	17	15	6	71
12	Wesley Johnson	NYJ	18	16	17	13	6	70
13	Corey Linsley	GB	17	16	15	16	6	70
14	Joe Berger	MIN	17	15	17	14	6	69
15	B.J. Finney	PIT	18	14	16	15	6	69
16	Matt Slauson	SD	15	17	16	15	6	69
17	Jason Kelce	PHI	16	15	15	16	6	68
18	Daniel Kilgore	SF	15	16	16	15	6	68
19	Ryan Groy	BUF	15	18	17	12	6	68
20	John Greco	CLE	17	15	16	13	6	67
21	Travis Swanson	DET	17	14	16	14	6	67
22	Ben Jones	TEN	16	14	14	16	6	66
23	Jeremy Zuttah	BAL	17	13	14	15	6	65
24	Evan Smith	TB	16	14	15	14	6	65
25	Justin Britt	SEA	14	15	16	14	6	65
26	Mike Pouncey	MIA	16	13	14	15	6	64
27	Tim Barnes	LA	15	14	16	13	6	64
28	Joe Hawley	TB	15	14	15	13	6	63
29	Gino Gradkowski	CAR	13	14	15	13	6	61

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Cody Whitehair—bye
• Russell Bodine—bye
• Greg Mancz—bye
• A.Q. Shipley—bye
• Spencer Long—bye
• David Andrews—bye
• Cameron Erving—insufficient snaps
• JC Tretter—DNP
• Nick Mangold—DNP
• Ryan Kalil—DNP

3-4 Defensive Ends

The Post-Crescent-USA TODAY Sports

When Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and the Arizona Cardinals' Calais Campbell are on bye weeks, this position group loses two of its top performers.

Luckily, Packers defensive end Mike Daniels was a human wrecking ball, and the Titans' Jurrell Casey put together another well-rounded effort. We also may have lost the Broncos' Derek Wolfe from the 3-4 elite, as he suffered an injury Monday night and has told reporters he could miss up to four weeks.

If you're looking for Joey Bosa, the Chargers moved him around a bit more this week and used him as a stand-up rusher. You'll find him listed as a 3-4 outside linebacker. 

Grading Scale

Snap: Snap Explosion (Graded out of 15)

Rush: 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)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

3-4 Defensive End Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Snap	Rush	Run	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Mike Daniels	GB	13	19	20	14	7	73
2	Jurrell Casey	TEN	12	16	21	14	7	70
3	DeForest Buckner	SF	13	16	19	15	7	70
4	Quinton Dial	SF	13	16	20	14	7	70
5	Stephon Tuitt	PIT	11	16	22	13	7	69
6	Emmanuel Ogbah	CLE	12	13	20	16	7	68
7	Jaye Howard	KC	10	14	23	14	7	68
8	Timmy Jernigan	BAL	11	16	20	13	7	67
9	Chris Jones	KC	11	15	20	14	7	67
10	Denico Autry	OAK	11	14	21	13	7	66
11	DaQuan Jones	TEN	10	15	19	15	7	66
12	Tony Jerod-Eddie	SF	11	15	18	14	7	65
13	Ronald Blair	SF	11	14	18	15	7	65
14	Corey Liuget	SD	10	14	19	14	7	64
15	Derek Wolfe	DEN	11	14	18	13	7	63
16	Carl Nassib	CLE	12	13	17	12	7	61
17	Cameron Heyward	PIT	9	13	19	13	7	61
18	Lawrence Guy	BAL	9	13	18	13	7	60
19	Karl Klug	TEN	11	14	15	13	7	60
20	Mike Pennel	GB	10	13	16	14	7	60
21	Kendall Reyes	KC	8	12	17	15	7	59
22	Leger Douzable	BUF	10	12	18	12	7	59
23	Brent Urban	BAL	9	12	19	12	7	59
24	Adolphus Washington	BUF	11	12	17	12	7	59
25	Billy Winn	DEN	9	12	17	12	7	57
26	Xavier Cooper	CLE	9	12	16	12	7	56
27	Angelo Blackson	TEN	8	12	17	12	7	56
28	Jamie Meder	CLE	7	11	17	13	7	55
29	Jared Crick	DEN	9	12	14	13	7	55
30	Zach Kerr	IND	8	12	16	12	7	55

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• J.J. Watt—bye/injury
• Jadeveon Clowney—bye
• Christian Covington—bye
• Chris Baker—bye
• Ziggy Hood—bye
• Calais Campbell—bye
• Robert Nkemdiche—bye
• Akiem Hicks—bye
• Arik Armstead—insufficient snaps

4-3 Defensive Ends

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

After a slow statistical start to his season, Oakland's Khalil Mack is heating up with five sacks over the last three weeks. That story is reflective to the league as a whole, as pass-rushers are finally catching up with their name brands.

For example, Miami's Cameron Wake, a 34-year-old, had zero starts and one sack in his first five games this year. Wake has since added four sacks in three starts in the last month.

Emerging pass-rushers such as Atlanta's Vic Beasley, Minnesota's Danielle Hunter and Philadelphia's Brandon Graham again head the list, while Minnesota, Seattle, Philadelphia and Atlanta each had a pair of defensive ends in our top 14 this past week. 

Grading Scale

Rush: Pass Rush (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Defense (Graded out of 25)

Snap: Snap Explosion (Graded out of 20)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

4-3 Defensive End Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Rush	Run	Snap	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Cameron Wake	MIA	23	13	18	17	8	79
2	Khalil Mack	OAK	23	15	16	16	8	78
3	Vic Beasley	ATL	22	13	18	14	8	75
4	Danielle Hunter	MIN	23	13	15	16	8	75
5	Lorenzo Mauldin	NYJ	22	14	15	15	8	74
6	Everson Griffen	MIN	22	13	17	14	8	74
7	Jason Pierre-Paul	NYG	21	14	16	15	8	74
8	Brandon Graham	PHI	22	14	16	14	8	74
9	Cliff Avril	SEA	24	13	16	14	8	75
10	Adrian Clayborn	ATL	21	14	16	13	8	72
11	Dante Fowler	JAX	18	13	15	17	8	71
12	Connor Barwin	PHI	21	13	15	14	8	71
13	Noah Spence	TB	20	13	15	15	8	71
14	Frank Clark	SEA	21	13	15	14	8	71
15	Yannick Ngakoue	JAX	21	12	15	14	8	70
16	Kerry Hyder	DET	21	13	14	14	8	70
17	Ezekiel Ansah	DET	19	13	14	16	8	70
18	William Hayes	LA	20	12	15	15	8	70
19	Robert Quinn	LA	20	13	15	14	8	70
20	Brian Robison	MIN	20	12	15	15	8	70
21	Cameron Jordan	NO	22	12	14	14	8	70
22	Vinny Curry	PHI	20	13	15	14	8	70
23	Cassius Marsh	SEA	21	13	14	14	8	70
24	Charles Johnson	CAR	20	13	14	14	8	69
25	DeMarcus Lawrence	DAL	19	13	14	15	8	69
26	Olivier Vernon	NYG	20	13	14	14	8	69
27	Brooks Reed	ATL	19	13	14	14	8	68
28	Wes Horton	CAR	20	12	15	13	8	68
29	Kony Ealy	CAR	19	13	14	14	8	68
30	Jack Crawford	DAL	19	13	14	14	8	68
31	Benson Mayowa	DAL	19	13	14	14	8	68
32	Eugene Sims	LA	20	12	14	14	8	68
33	William Gholston	TB	21	12	14	13	8	68
34	Damontre Moore	SEA	20	13	13	14	8	68
35	Andre Branch	MIA	21	12	15	11	8	67
36	Mario Addison	CAR	19	13	14	13	8	67
37	Tyrone Crawford	DAL	19	12	15	13	8	67
38	Brandon Copeland	DET	18	13	14	14	8	67
39	Devin Taylor	DET	19	12	14	14	8	67
40	Ethan Westbrooks	LA	19	12	14	14	8	67
41	Darryl Tapp	NO	19	13	13	14	8	67
42	Marcus Smith	PHI	19	13	13	13	8	66
43	Robert Ayers	TB	19	12	14	13	8	66
44	Romeo Okwara	NYG	18	13	13	13	8	65
45	Muhammad Wilkerson	NYJ	18	14	11	14	8	65
46	Sheldon Richardson	NYJ	20	13	10	14	8	65
47	Kasim Edebali	NO	19	12	13	13	8	65
48	Davonte Lambert	TB	18	12	13	13	8	64
49	Mario Williams	MIA	18	12	11	13	8	62
50	Jason Jones	MIA	17	12	10	15	8	62
51	Anthony Zettel	DET	17	12	13	12	8	62
52	Paul Kruger	NO	21	10	13	10	8	62

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Carlos Dunlap—bye
• Margus Hunt—bye
• Michael Johnson—bye
• Will Clarke—bye
• Wallace Gilberry—bye
• Jabaal Sheard—bye
• Chris Long—bye
• Trey Flowers—bye
• Jared Odrick—inactive
• David Irving—ejected
• Owa Odighizuwa—insufficient snaps
• Michael Bennett—injury
• Dwight Freeney—injury
• Armonty Bryant—suspension
• Randy Gregory—suspension

Defensive Tackles

William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Donald had his best game of the season against the Panthers. He routinely annihilated Carolina's interior on his way to four tackles, two sacks and seven hurries. Donald also caused a pressure that allowed his teammate Cam Thomas to notch his first sack of the season.

On the other side of the field, the Panthers' Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei had strong games, as they shut down the Rams running game, allowing just 3.5 yards per carry.

Shutting down Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell isn't an easy task, but Baltimore's Brandon Williams and Michael Pierce continued their strong seasons against the run as they played a key part in Bell's lackluster performance. These two are performing at a level reminiscent of Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa when the Ravens won their first Super Bowl in 2001. They routinely build a wall at the line of scrimmage and have bullied opposing offensive lines all season; Sunday's game against the Steelers was no different.

The game between the Giants and the Eagles had two strong performances in the defensive trenches. The Eagles' Fletcher Cox and the Giants' Damon Harrison overwhelmed the opposing offensive linemen. Cox danced around John Jerry in his pass rush and had a few impressive plays versus the run. Harrison made life hell for Eagles center Jason Kelce as he bulldozed through the offensive line multiple times. So far, Harrison has been the imposing force the Giants surely expected when they signed him from the Jets in the offseason.

Leonard Williams of the Jets looks like an emerging star. He plays with consistent leverage and hand technique, and he always knows where the ball is. When the Jets line up in their "Bear" front with Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson at the 3-techniques and Williams at the nose, Williams has free rein to beat down the center. The 22-year-old gave Mike Pouncey all he could handle and looked like the top-10 pick the Jets expected him to be when they drafted him last year. 

Grading Scale

Snap: Snap Explosion (Graded out of 25)

Rush: Pass Rush (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Defense (Graded out of 25)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 15)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Defensive Tackle Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Snap	Rush	Run	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Aaron Donald	LA	22	23	22	13	7	87
2	Leonard Williams	NYJ	19	18	21	13	7	78
3	Gerald McCoy	TB	19	18	19	13	7	76
4	Ndamukong Suh	MIA	19	19	18	12	7	75
5	Brandon Williams	BAL	17	15	22	13	7	74
6	Fletcher Cox	PHI	18	18	19	12	7	74
7	Kyle Williams	BUF	18	17	19	12	7	73
8	Damon Harrison	NYG	17	17	20	12	7	73
9	Kawann Short	CAR	17	16	20	11	7	71
10	Linval Joseph	MIN	17	14	20	13	7	71
11	Grady Jarrett	ATL	16	16	19	13	7	71
12	Michael Pierce	BAL	17	14	20	13	7	71
13	Star Lotulelei	CAR	16	17	19	12	7	71
14	Maliek Collins	DAL	17	16	17	13	7	70
15	Malik Jackson	JAX	17	17	16	13	7	70
16	Jordan Phillips	MIA	17	18	16	11	7	69
17	Johnathan Hankins	NYG	17	16	18	11	7	69
18	Michael Brockers	LA	16	16	19	11	7	69
19	Cam Thomas	LA	16	17	16	13	7	69
20	Terrell McClain	DAL	15	15	18	13	7	68
21	Jerel Worthy	BUF	16	15	17	12	7	67
22	Darius Latham	OAK	15	12	19	14	7	67
23	Brandon Mebane	SD	17	13	17	13	7	67
24	Cedric Thornton	DAL	16	13	17	13	7	66
25	Tyson Alualu	JAX	15	16	15	13	7	66
26	Sen'Derrick Marks	JAX	18	16	14	11	7	66
27	Javon Hargrave	PIT	16	13	18	12	7	66
28	Kyle Love	CAR	16	13	17	12	7	65
29	Khyri Thornton	DET	16	13	17	12	7	65
30	Dominique Easley	LA	17	14	16	11	7	65
31	Tom Johnson	MIN	16	14	16	12	7	65
32	Nick Fairley	NO	16	15	15	12	7	65
33	Sheldon Rankins	NO	16	16	15	11	7	65
34	Justin Ellis	OAK	15	13	17	13	7	65
35	Tyrunn Walker	DET	15	14	16	12	7	64
36	Steve McLendon	NYJ	15	16	14	12	7	64
37	Jarvis Jenkins	NYJ	14	15	16	12	7	64
38	Jarran Reed	SEA	15	14	16	12	7	64
39	Jonathan Babineaux	ATL	15	13	16	12	7	63
40	Kenny Clark	GB	16	14	14	12	7	63
41	Dontari Poe	KC	17	15	14	10	7	63
42	Jay Bromley	NYG	14	15	15	12	7	63
43	David Onyemata	NO	14	13	16	12	7	62
44	Dan Williams	OAK	13	11	18	13	7	62
45	Beau Allen	PHI	14	13	16	12	7	62
46	Stefan Charles	DET	16	13	15	10	7	61
47	Abry Jones	JAX	14	12	16	12	7	61
48	Jihad Ward	OAK	14	13	16	11	7	61
49	Tony McDaniel	SEA	14	13	15	12	7	61
50	Akeem Spence	TB	14	13	14	13	7	61
51	Courtney Upshaw	ATL	14	15	13	11	7	60
52	Paul Soliai	CAR	14	12	16	11	7	60
53	Haloti Ngata	DET	14	13	15	11	7	60
54	A'Shawn Robinson	DET	14	12	15	11	7	59
55	Hassan Ridgeway	IND	15	13	14	10	7	59
56	Sheldon Day	JAX	13	13	14	12	7	59
57	Tyeler Davison	NO	13	14	14	11	7	59
58	Tyson Jackson	ATL	12	14	15	10	7	58
59	Letroy Guion	GB	13	12	14	12	7	58
60	Shamar Stephens	MIN	13	13	14	11	7	58
61	Ahtyba Rubin	SEA	13	14	13	11	7	58
62	Glenn Dorsey	SF	15	14	12	10	7	58
63	Leon Orr	MIA	14	12	13	11	7	57
64	Destiny Vaeao	PHI	13	12	14	10	7	56
65	T.Y. McGill	IND	13	12	13	10	7	55
66	Sylvester Williams	DEN	14	11	12	10	7	54
67	Mike Purcell	SF	14	12	11	10	7	54
68	Danny Shelton	CLE	13	12	11	10	7	53
69	Al Woods	TEN	14	12	11	9	7	53
70	Adam Gotsis	DEN	13	12	11	9	7	52
71	John Hughes	TB	11	13	12	9	7	52
72	Sealver Siliga	SEA	12	11	12	9	7	51
73	David Parry	IND	11	9	10	9	7	46

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Bennie Logan—injury
• Caraun Reid—injury
• Clinton McDonald—injury
• Marcell Dareus—injury
• Corbin Bryant—injury
• Vernon Butler—injury
• Earl Mitchell—injury
• Sharrif Floyd—injury
• Ra'Shede Hageman—inactive
• Stephen Paea—inactive
• John Jenkins—inactive
• Stacy McGee—inactive
• Geno Atkins—bye
• Vince Wilfork—bye
• Malcom Brown—bye

3-4 Outside Linebackers

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Of all the impressive games breakout star Lorenzo Alexander played this season, Monday night's was probably his best. The NFL's sack leader added to his tally with a takedown of Russell Wilson, giving him 10 sacks this season and at least half a sack in eight of nine games in 2016. He consistently pressured Wilson, and his toughness on the edge played a big part in the Bills shutting down the Seahawks running game. For his efforts, Alexander earned the top grade at 3-4 outside linebacker this week. 

The ageless wonder that is James Harrison joined Alexander at the top. Even at 38 years old, Harrison remains a handful on the edge. He sacked Joe Flacco twice (including a strip-sack) and made four tackles near the line of scrimmage against the run.

Other standouts from Week 9 include Jerry Hughes, who had a sack and a blocked punt against the Seahawks; and Kansas City's Dee Ford, who tied Alexander for the top pass-rushing score after he terrorized Blake Bortles for two sacks, three hits and four hurries. Meanwhile, five crushing tackles from Jarvis Jones helped him earn the week's highest tackling grade.

The week's top rookies were Shaq Lawson and Matt Judon, who both produced third-down sacks.

Grading Scale

Rush: Pass Rush (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Defense (Graded out of 25)

Cvg: Coverage (Graded out of 15)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 25)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

3-4 Outside Linebacker Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Rush	Run	Cvg	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Lorenzo Alexander	BUF	27	17	10	19	8	81
2	James Harrison	PIT	26	18	9	20	8	81
3	Jerry Hughes	BUF	26	14	10	19	8	77
4	Von Miller	DEN	25	15	9	18	8	75
5	Dee Ford	KC	27	13	9	18	8	75
6	Jarvis Jones	PIT	18	15	9	23	8	73
7	Tamba Hali	KC	23	14	9	18	8	72
8	Nick Perry	GB	23	13	9	18	8	71
9	Eli Harold	SF	20	15	9	19	8	71
10	Brian Orakpo	TEN	20	14	9	19	8	70
11	Terrell Suggs	BAL	21	15	9	17	8	70
12	Shaq Lawson	BUF	22	14	10	16	8	70
13	Jamie Collins	CLE	18	15	9	19	8	69
14	Anthony Chickillo	PIT	18	14	11	18	8	69
15	Shaquil Barrett	DEN	19	13	9	19	8	68
16	Albert McClellan	BAL	16	13	11	18	8	66
17	Derrick Morgan	TEN	20	13	8	18	8	67
18	DeMarcus Ware	DEN	21	12	9	17	8	67
19	Matt Judon	BAL	21	11	10	17	8	67
20	Za'Darius Smith	BAL	17	14	9	18	8	66
21	Arthur Moats	PIT	16	15	10	17	8	66
22	Erik Walden	IND	21	12	8	17	8	66
23	Lavar Edwards	IND	21	11	9	17	8	66
24	Joey Bosa	SD	19	12	9	17	8	65
25	Akeem Ayers	IND	19	12	10	16	8	65
26	Shane Ray	DEN	20	11	9	16	8	64
27	Melvin Ingram	SD	16	13	10	17	8	64
28	Cam Johnson	CLE	19	10	8	18	8	63
29	Datone Jones	GB	18	11	9	17	8	63
30	Frank Zombo	KC	16	14	10	15	8	63
31	Tank Carradine	SF	17	11	9	17	8	62
32	Tourek Williams	SD	15	12	10	17	8	62
33	Julius Peppers	GB	17	11	9	16	8	61
34	Kyler Fackrell	GB	18	11	8	16	8	61
35	Robert Mathis	IND	18	11	8	16	8	61
36	Joe Schobert	CLE	16	14	10	12	8	60
37	David Bass	TEN	15	12	9	15	8	59
38	Ahmad Brooks	SF	15	11	8	16	8	58
39	Kevin Dodd	TEN	16	11	8	15	8	58
40	Chris Landrum	SD	15	11	9	15	8	58

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Corey Lemonier—inactive
• Aaron Wallace—inactive
• Clay Matthews—injury
• Justin Houston—injury
• Jerry Attaochu—injury
• Aaron Lynch—injury
• Markus Golden—bye
• Chandler Jones—bye
• Alex Okafor—bye
• Elvis Dumervil—injury
• Leonard Floyd—bye
• Pernell McPhee—bye
• Willie Young—bye
• Sam Acho—bye
• Whitney Mercilus—bye
• John Simon—bye
• Ryan Kerrigan—bye
• Preston Smith—bye
• Trent Murphy—bye

4-3 Outside Linebackers

Harry How/Getty Images

Thomas Davis (right)

Thomas Davis is officially back. After a roller-coaster start to the season, he topped off a quality stretch of play with a stunning performance. He was far and away the best linebacker in Week 9. 

Davis was the catalyst to Carolina's defensive performance. Players such as Luke Kuechly and Kawann Short had excellent showings as well, but Davis was a dominant force in all phases of the game. In coverage and as a pass-rusher, he made quarterback Case Keenum's day a nightmare. Not only did Davis have an acrobatic interception, but he had a strip-sack on a fiery blitz.

Davis' performance blended efficiency with spurts of game-changing plays, such as the turnovers and the plays at or behind the line of scrimmage in the running game. By all accounts, he was transcendent Sunday.

The top 10 of this week's list had a handful of unfamiliar names in the mix: Josh Bynes of the Lions at No. 5, Chad Greenway of the Vikings at No. 6 and Keenan Robinson of the Giants at No. 7. None of those players had a boisterous impact in any one area, but all three of them had well-rounded performances in which they were net positives across the board. They played sound assignment football and kept big plays from happening. As quiet as their performances were, they were effective.

Grading Scale

Cvg: Coverage (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Defense (Graded out of 25)

Rush: Pass Rush (Graded out of 15)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 25)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

4-3 Outside Linebacker Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	Run	Rush	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Thomas Davis	CAR	21	21	13	22	6	83
2	Bruce Irvin	OAK	16	20	13	20	6	75
3	Sean Lee	DAL	18	20	8	21	6	73
4	Nigel Bradham	PHI	19	20	8	20	6	73
5	Josh Bynes	DET	17	19	9	19	6	70
6	Chad Greenway	MIN	19	18	7	20	6	70
7	Keenan Robinson	NYG	17	18	7	20	6	68
8	K.J. Wright	SEA	15	18	8	21	6	68
9	Devon Kennard	NYG	16	19	8	18	6	67
10	Damien Wilson	DAL	16	17	10	17	6	66
11	Mark Barron	LA	15	17	10	18	6	66
12	De'Vondre Campbell	ATL	15	16	8	20	6	65
13	Anthony Barr	MIN	13	19	8	19	6	65
14	Malcolm Smith	OAK	15	18	7	19	6	65
15	Telvin Smith	JAX	14	17	7	19	6	63
16	Jonathan Casillas	NYG	16	16	7	18	6	63
17	Brock Coyle	SEA	16	13	8	20	6	63
18	Justin Durant	DAL	16	16	9	15	6	62
19	Daryl Smith	TB	14	16	10	16	6	62
20	Antwione Williams	DET	15	16	9	15	6	61
21	Dan Skuta	JAX	15	16	7	17	6	61
22	Emmanuel Lamur	MIN	16	16	8	15	6	61
23	Craig Robertson	NO	20	13	8	14	6	61
24	Philip Wheeler	ATL	15	16	7	16	6	60
25	AJ Klein	CAR	14	17	7	16	6	60
26	Mike Catapano	NYJ	14	15	8	16	6	59
27	Mychal Kendricks	PHI	16	15	7	15	6	59
28	Spencer Paysinger	MIA	14	14	9	15	6	58
29	Josh Forrest	LA	16	14	7	15	6	58
30	Myles Jack	JAX	15	14	7	15	6	57
31	Jordan Jenkins	NYJ	14	14	8	15	6	57
32	Lavonte David	TB	12	13	7	17	6	55
33	Donald Butler	MIA	15	13	7	14	6	55
34	Jelani Jenkins	MIA	13	15	7	14	6	55

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Darron Lee—injury
• Jaylon Smith—injury
• DeAndre Levy—injury
• Vincent Rey—bye
• Karlos Dansby—bye
• Shea McClellin--bye
• Rob Ninkovich--bye

Inside Linebackers

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Once again, Luke Kuechly is at the top of the list. However, he’s joined by a second-year player who continues to impress. Ramik Wilson was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, and they’re quickly seeing a return on the investment. Wilson was the second-string linebacker behind starter Justin March-Lillard to begin the year, but March-Lillard was placed on injured reserve in Week 6. Wilson became the replacement and might have taken the job for years to come. 

He was an integral part of the Chiefs defense during Sunday's win over Jacksonville, finishing with five tackles and an interception. Wilson has graded highly each week that he’s played, showing versatility as an athlete and high-level aggressiveness that flashes in run support. As he begins to become more comfortable with the mental processing necessary to play inside linebacker, he’ll improve. The growth of Wilson will be worth watching as the Chiefs attempt to make a run in a loaded AFC West division.

Other standouts include Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny, who was active all day Sunday and made an impact as a run defender, in coverage and as a pass-rusher. The Jaguars defense is still maturing, but the unit has a great leader in the middle with the veteran.

Los Angeles Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree cracks the top 10 for the first time this season after looking interested in playing the run against the Carolina Panthers. Ogletree’s performance may be a fluke, but if the Rams defender can continue to play with intensity, the defense should only continue to improve.

Grading Scale

Pass: Pass Defense (Graded out of 25)

Run: Run Defense (Graded out of 35)

Rush: Pass Rush (Graded out of 15)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 15)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Inside Linebacker Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Rush	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Ramik Wilson	KC	21	31	10	12	6	80
2	Luke Kuechly	CAR	20	31	10	13	6	80
3	Paul Posluszny	JAX	19	31	11	12	6	79
4	Bobby Wagner	SEA	19	31	12	10	6	78
5	C.J. Mosley	BAL	22	27	10	12	6	77
6	Deion Jones	ATL	20	30	9	12	6	77
7	Alec Ogletree	LA	17	31	10	12	6	76
8	Ryan Shazier	PIT	17	31	10	11	6	75
9	Zach Brown	BUF	19	29	10	11	6	75
10	Preston Brown	BUF	18	28	11	11	6	74
11	Jake Ryan	GB	17	29	11	10	6	73
12	Derrick O. Johnson	KC	19	26	10	12	6	73
13	Blake Martinez	GB	17	27	11	11	6	72
14	Anthony Hitchens	DAL	17	27	10	12	6	72
15	Perry Riley	OAK	18	26	10	11	6	71
16	Chris Kirksey	CLE	17	27	9	12	6	71
17	Todd Davis	DEN	18	26	10	11	6	71
18	Jordan Hicks	PHI	18	26	9	11	6	70
19	Korey Toomer	SD	19	27	8	10	6	70
20	Brandon M. Marshall	DEN	18	25	9	12	6	70
21	Zach Orr	BAL	16	26	10	11	6	69
22	Adarius Glanton	TB	18	26	8	11	6	69
23	Lawrence Timmons	PIT	15	27	9	12	6	69
24	Joe Thomas	GB	18	24	9	11	6	68
25	Kwon Alexander	TB	17	26	8	11	6	68
26	Kelvin Sheppard	NYG	17	25	9	11	6	68
27	Edwin Jackson	IND	17	25	9	11	6	68
28	Gerald Hodges	SF	17	24	10	10	6	67
29	Corey Nelson	DEN	19	22	9	11	6	67
30	D'Qwell Jackson	IND	18	25	9	9	6	67
31	Avery Williamson	TEN	17	24	9	11	6	67
32	Joshua Perry	SD	17	24	8	11	6	66
33	Nate Stupar	NO	17	26	9	8	6	66
34	Kyle Emanuel	SD	17	22	9	11	6	65
35	Tahir Whitehead	DET	16	24	9	10	6	65
36	Demario Davis	CLE	15	24	8	11	6	64
37	David Harris	NYJ	16	21	10	11	6	64
38	Wesley Woodyard	TEN	15	22	11	9	6	63
39	Julian Stanford	NYJ	15	24	9	9	6	63
40	Kiko Alonso	MIA	17	23	8	9	6	63
41	Sean Spence	TEN	15	23	8	10	6	62
42	Audie Cole	MIN	16	22	8	10	6	62
43	Michael Wilhoite	SF	16	20	9	10	6	61
44	Nick Bellore	SF	16	17	8	10	6	57

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Kevin Minter—bye
• Deone Bucannon—bye
• Jerrell Freeman—bye
• Danny Trevathan—bye
• Nick Kwiatkoski—bye
• Rey Maualuga—bye
• Benardrick McKinney—bye
• Brian Cushing—bye
• Dont'a Hightower—bye
• Elandon Roberts—bye
• Su'a Cravens—bye
• Will Compton—bye
• Mason Foster—bye
• Eric Kendricks—injury
• Denzel Perryman—injury
• Jatavis Brown—injury
• James Laurinaitis—insufficient snaps
• Antonio Morrison—insufficient snaps
• Josh Forrest—insufficient snaps
• Cory James—insufficient snaps

Cornerbacks

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Week 9 went well for some of the highest-priced cornerbacks in the NFC. With stars like Patrick Peterson and Josh Norman on their bye week, the onus was on other familiar faces to represent the position well. Among our top NFC scores were three veteran NFC East cornerbacks. 

The New York Giants duo of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins was fantastic against the Philadelphia Eagles. Rodgers-Cromartie shadowed Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews throughout the game, logging 23 boundary snaps and 16 slot snaps. He allowed just two receptions on seven targets, shutting down three of those targets with perfect coverage. His versatility has been a key factor for the improvement of this secondary.

Jenkins was also dominant against the Eagles. He gave up just one reception on five targets while in press coverage, showing terrific fluidity and coverage skills. He has continued to show growth and live up to his big free-agent contract (five years, $62.5 million).

In Mo Claiborne’s absence, Dallas Cowboys corner Brandon Carr was tasked with facing Browns star wideout Terrelle Pryor for much of Sunday. Carr, despite being four inches and 13 pounds smaller, helped hold Pryor to one of his least productive games of the year. Carr allowed just one reception on four targets and broke up one pass.

Your natural reaction is to think Bobby McCain from the Dolphins had a terrible outing because he gave up the touchdown at the end of the game. What if I told you that in 28 coverage snaps that was the only time he was beaten? Sure, the touchdown is a big deal, but McCain also blitzed and had a big QB hit as well as an interception. His reaction time was impressive in coverage, and that went a long way in giving the Jets receivers fits all afternoon.

Usually when you’re targeted 13 times, it’s not a good thing. In this case, it was no different for the Chiefs' Phillip Gaines. He gave up six catches and five first downs; he was beaten on six different occasions, and one of those catches went for more than 20 yards.

It was a day to forget for him.

That sentiment for Gaines extends to Bradley Roby of the Broncos, who was targeted 12 times. Though he gave up only six catches, Roby was beaten seven times, gave up four first downs, missed two tackles and had two penalties. With Aqib Talib out, Roby followed Amari Cooper around and just could not hang with him at the line of scrimmage. Of the six catches, Roby was only in position to make a play on one of those passes.

Brandon Flowers had an active day as well. Targeted nine times in coverage, he gave up four catches. One went for a touchdown, while he allowed a couple of other big plays. Flowers also had an interception that he took to the house to seal the game and was the best run-defending corner in the AFC. He had a few big plays at or near the line of scrimmage and also had a big tackle to keep a receiver in bounds near the end of the half. When you add in a pass deflection, San Diego will trade off a couple of mishaps for how Flowers performed Sunday.

Grading Scale

Cvg: Coverage (Graded out of 30)

React: Reaction/Recovery (Graded out of 30)

Slot: Slot (Graded out of 20)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 10)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Cornerback Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	React	Slot	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Janoris Jenkins	NYG	24	24	18	5	9	80
2	Trumaine Johnson	LA	23	22	18	6	9	78
3	Brandon Flowers	SD	21	24	16	8	9	78
4	Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie	NYG	22	23	18	5	9	77
5	Darrelle Revis	NYJ	23	22	16	5	9	75
6	Tavon Young	BAL	21	23	16	5	9	74
7	Bobby McCain	MIA	21	22	16	6	9	74
8	Buster Skrine	NYJ	22	21	17	5	9	74
9	Steven Nelson	KC	20	22	17	5	9	73
10	Jimmy Smith	BAL	22	20	16	5	9	72
11	Richard Sherman	SEA	20	20	17	6	9	72
12	Jalen Ramsey	JAX	20	19	16	6	9	70
13	James Bradberry	CAR	18	19	17	6	9	69
14	Nevin Lawson	DET	18	19	16	6	9	68
15	Ross Cockrell	PIT	19	19	16	5	9	68
16	Brandon Carr	DAL	19	18	17	4	9	67
17	Casey Hayward	SD	19	18	16	4	9	66
18	Chris Harris Jr.	DEN	17	19	15	5	9	65
19	Aaron Colvin	JAX	17	17	16	6	9	65
20	Trae Waynes	MIN	17	17	15	6	9	64
21	Desmond Trufant	ATL	17	17	15	5	9	63
22	Vontae Davis	IND	17	16	15	6	9	63
23	Xavier Rhodes	MIN	16	18	15	5	9	63
24	Delvin Breaux	NO	17	17	15	5	9	63
25	William Gay	PIT	17	17	15	5	9	63
26	Tramaine Brock	SF	17	16	16	5	9	63
27	Brent Grimes	TB	18	16	16	4	9	63
28	Lamarcus Joyner	LA	16	16	16	5	9	62
29	Tony Lippett	MIA	17	16	15	5	9	62
30	Brice McCain	TEN	16	16	16	5	9	62
31	Brian Poole	ATL	16	15	16	5	9	61
32	Orlando Scandrick	DAL	15	16	16	5	9	61
33	David Amerson	OAK	16	15	15	6	9	61
34	Jimmie Ward	SF	16	15	16	5	9	61
35	Jalen Collins	ATL	15	16	15	5	9	60
36	Joe Haden	CLE	16	15	15	5	9	60
37	Quandre Diggs	DET	16	14	16	5	9	60
38	Micah Hyde	GB	15	15	16	5	9	60
39	Prince Amukamara	JAX	15	16	15	5	9	60
40	Terence Newman	MIN	15	16	16	4	9	60
41	Jerraud Powers	BAL	14	15	15	6	9	59
42	Sterling Moore	NO	14	15	16	5	9	59
43	Eli Apple	NYG	14	16	14	6	9	59
44	TJ Carrie	OAK	15	15	15	5	9	59
45	Jalen Mills	PHI	16	14	15	5	9	59
46	Nolan Carroll	PHI	15	15	14	6	9	59
47	DeShawn Shead	SEA	14	16	14	6	9	59
48	Kevon Seymour	BUF	14	15	15	5	9	58
49	Quinten Rollins	GB	14	14	15	6	9	58
50	Mackensie Alexander	MIN	14	15	15	5	9	58
51	Trevin Wade	NYG	15	14	15	5	9	58
52	Trevor Williams	SD	14	15	15	5	9	58
53	Keith Reiser	SF	14	16	15	4	9	58
54	Perrish Cox	TEN	14	15	15	5	9	58
55	Stephon Gilmore	BUF	15	14	14	5	9	57
56	Corey White	BUF	15	14	14	5	9	57
57	Marcus Peters	KC	16	14	15	3	9	57
58	Daryl Roberts	NYJ	14	14	15	5	9	57
59	Jason McCourty	TEN	14	15	14	5	9	57
60	Rashaan Melvin	IND	15	13	15	4	9	56
61	E.J. Gaines	LA	15	13	14	5	9	56
62	Jeremy Lane	SEA	14	14	14	5	9	56
63	Robert Alford	ATL	14	13	14	5	9	55
64	Nickell Robey-Coleman	BUF	13	13	15	5	9	55
65	Jamar Taylor	CLE	13	13	15	5	9	55
66	Briean Boddy-Calhoun	CLE	13	14	14	5	9	55
67	Bradley Roby	DEN	15	13	15	3	9	55
68	Patrick Robinson	IND	14	13	15	4	9	55
69	Artie Burns	PIT	14	13	14	5	9	55
70	Vernon Hargreaves	TB	14	13	14	5	9	55
71	Daryl Worley	CAR	13	13	14	5	9	54
72	Tramon Williams	CLE	13	12	15	5	9	54
73	D.J. Hayden	OAK	14	13	13	5	9	54
74	Ronald Darby	BUF	13	12	14	5	9	53
75	Byron Maxwell	MIA	13	12	14	5	9	53
76	Stevie Williams	SD	12	13	14	5	9	53
77	Jude Adjei-Barimah	TB	12	13	13	5	9	52
78	Anthony Brown	DAL	12	13	12	5	9	51
79	Lorenzo Doss	DEN	12	12	13	5	9	51
80	LaDarius Gunter	GB	12	11	14	5	9	51
81	Johnson Bademosi	DET	12	11	13	5	9	50
82	Phillip Gaines	KC	13	10	13	5	9	50
83	B.W. Webb	NO	12	12	13	4	9	50
84	Adairius Barnes	DET	11	11	12	5	9	48
85	Leodis McKelvin	PHI	10	10	11	4	9	44

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Alterraun Verner—injury
• Rashard Robinson—injury
• Captain Munnerlyn—injury
• Morris Claiborne—injury
• Darius Slay—injury
• Josh Norman—bye
• Patrick Peterson—bye
• Tyrann Mathieu—bye
• A.J. Bouye--bye
• Kareem Jackson--bye
• Malcolm Butler--bye
• Logan Ryan--bye
• Adam Jones--bye
• Dre Kirkpatrick--bye

Free Safeties

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

With strong safety Mike Adams inactive due to injury this week, the Colts had to do some shuffling around in the secondary. Free safety Clayton Geathers moved to strong safety to fill Adams' spot, while cornerback Darius Butler filled in at free safety. After Butler had a strong performance, I wonder if the Colts are considering keeping him there. Butler finished the game with a 79 overall grade, ranking third among all free safeties this week and well above his 65.8 average for the season at corner. 

Butler was tested early and often, but he didn't fall for any of the typical traps a converted corner might. He didn't bite on a play-action pass, staying on top of the crossing route, ready to break and make a tackle before the ball was dropped.

On Jordy Nelson's first-quarter touchdown, Butler was playing a deep-half zone. The Packers sent two receivers on go routes to his side of the field. Butler read it perfectly, staying on top of both routes and breaking on the throw to Nelson on the outside. He took a perfect route to the ball and jumped in front of Nelson as the ball arrived. However, Nelson managed to fight for the ball at the catch point and come away with the touchdown reception. On another day or against another receiver, Butler probably comes away with the interception.

Butler made up for the play later on with an outstanding interception. The Colts showed two deep safeties before the snap but rotated to Cover 1 Robber. Butler rotated down from his deep-half look to his robber position in the middle of the field after the snap and quickly followed Aaron Rodgers' eyes to an in-breaking route from the far side. Butler broke quickly on the throw and dove at full stretch to cap off a fantastic interception.

Butler and Geathers looked to be a more solid partnership than Geathers and Adams had been so far this season. If the Colts can handle the loss of Butler at corner, they may benefit more from keeping him at safety going forward.

Grading Scale

Cvg: Coverage (Graded out of 30)

Rec: Recovery (Graded out of 30)

Slot: Slot/LB (Graded out of 10)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Free Safety Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	Rec	Slot	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	GB	26	25	6	16	8	81
2	Byron Jones	DAL	24	24	7	16	8	79
3	Darius Butler	IND	24	25	6	16	8	79
4	Earl Thomas	SEA	24	25	6	16	8	79
5	Andrew Adams	NYG	23	24	7	16	8	78
6	Lardarius Webb	BAL	24	24	5	16	8	77
7	Glover Quin	DET	24	23	6	16	8	77
8	Darian Stewart	DEN	23	23	6	16	8	76
9	Reggie Nelson	OAK	24	23	5	16	8	76
10	Rodney McLeod	PHI	23	25	5	15	8	76
11	Ricardo Allen	ATL	23	24	5	15	8	75
12	Corey Graham	BUF	23	22	6	16	8	75
13	Harrison Smith	MIN	22	24	6	15	8	75
14	Eric Reid	SF	22	23	6	16	8	75
15	Kevin Byard	TEN	23	23	6	15	8	75
16	Tre Boston	CAR	24	23	5	14	8	74
17	Isa Abdul-Quddus	MIA	23	23	5	15	8	74
18	Marcus Gilchrist	NYJ	24	22	5	15	8	74
19	Dwight Lowery	SD	23	22	6	15	8	74
20	Ibraheim Campbell	CLE	21	22	6	16	8	73
21	Ed Reynolds	CLE	23	21	5	15	8	72
22	Michael Griffin	CAR	21	21	6	15	8	71
23	Justin Simmons	DEN	21	20	6	16	8	71
24	Dexter McCoil	SD	21	21	6	15	8	71
25	Kentrell Brice	GB	20	20	6	16	8	70
26	Maurice Alexander	LA	21	20	5	15	8	69
27	Robert Blanton	BUF	19	18	5	16	8	66
28	Ron Parker	KC	20	19	5	14	8	66
29	Jairus Byrd	NO	21	19	4	14	8	66
30	Vonn Bell	NO	19	20	5	14	8	66
31	Mike Mitchell	PIT	21	20	4	13	8	66
32	Bradley McDougald	TB	18	19	6	15	8	66
33	T.J. Green	IND	18	19	5	15	8	65
34	Tashaun Gipson	JAX	19	18	5	15	8	65

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• D.J. Swearinger—bye
• George Iloka—bye
• Andre Hal—bye
• Devin McCourty—bye
• Duron Harmon—bye
• Rashad Johnson—inactive
• Darian Thompson—inactive
• Nat Berhe—insufficient snaps

Strong Safeties

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Kenny Vaccaro's role with the Saints constantly changes. He started the season as an in-the-box strong safety, but once the team determined rookie Vonn Bell was ready to play, he shifted to slot corner. Then the team suffered injuries at linebacker, and Vaccaro filled in there too. Now, he's playing a combination of all three spots.

With the constant changes, his performance level has suffered, but this week, he topped the strong safety group. He was particularly impressive against the run, especially on read-option plays. He read quarterback keeps well and often made tackles to keep 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to two yards or fewer on runs.

He made one strong play in the second quarter on a speed-option play. Vaccaro took position on the edge, ready to play the running back on the pitch option, but once Kaepernick faked the pitch and tucked the ball to run himself, Vaccaro burst back inside and made the tackle at the line of scrimmage. He also had two big plays in the fourth quarter, recovering one fumble and ripping the ball out to create another later on.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins struggled this week. He's been outstanding at strong safety this season, but thanks to injuries, he's being asked to play as the slot corner in nickel and dime packages. While he covered the slot well at times earlier in the year, he struggled against the Giants. In the third quarter, rookie receiver Sterling Shepard beat him on a corner route. Jenkins was forced to try to hold Shepard to save the play, drawing a penalty call, but it was declined because Shepard still made the catch and scored a touchdown.

Later in the fourth quarter, Jenkins got beat again by Shepard and looked lost, but he got bailed out by an inaccurate throw from Eli Manning. The Eagles will be hoping they can get healthy in the secondary and allow Jenkins to move back to strong safety, where he was graded as one of the top 10 in the league after eight games.

Grading Scale

Cvg: Coverage (Graded out of 25)

Rec: Recovery (Graded out of 25)

Slot: Slot/LB (Graded out of 20)

Tkl: Tackling (Graded out of 20)

Pos: Positional Value (Graded out of 10)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Strong Safety Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	Rec	Slot	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Kenny Vaccaro	NO	21	20	16	16	6	79
2	Clayton Geathers	IND	20	20	16	15	6	77
3	Eric Berry	KC	21	21	14	15	6	77
4	Keanu Neal	ATL	19	19	16	16	6	76
5	T.J. Ward	DEN	20	20	15	15	6	76
6	Eric Weddle	BAL	20	18	15	16	6	75
7	Morgan Burnett	GB	19	19	15	16	6	75
8	Landon Collins	NYG	20	19	15	15	6	75
9	Adrian Phillips	SD	19	19	15	16	6	75
10	Rafael Bush	DET	19	18	16	15	6	74
11	Kelcie McCray	SEA	19	19	15	15	6	74
12	Derrick Kindred	CLE	19	18	15	15	6	73
13	Andrew Sendejo	MIN	18	18	15	16	6	73
14	Calvin Pryor	NYJ	19	17	15	16	6	73
15	Sean Davis	PIT	18	18	15	16	6	73
16	Tavon Wilson	DET	18	17	15	16	6	72
17	Karl Joseph	OAK	18	17	15	16	6	72
18	Jaylen Watkins	PHI	18	17	15	16	6	72
19	Robert Golden	PIT	17	18	15	16	6	72
20	Jaquiski Tartt	SF	18	18	14	16	6	72
21	Da'Norris Searcy	TEN	18	18	15	15	6	72
22	J.J. Wilcox	DAL	18	18	14	15	6	71
23	Will Parks	DEN	17	18	14	16	6	71
24	John Cyprien	JAX	18	17	15	15	6	71
25	Antoine Bethea	SF	18	17	15	15	6	71
26	Chris Conte	TB	18	17	14	16	6	71
27	Bacarri Rambo	MIA	17	17	15	15	6	70
28	Daniel Sorensen	KC	17	17	14	15	6	69
29	Malcolm Jenkins	PHI	16	17	14	16	6	69
30	Kurt Coleman	CAR	17	16	14	15	6	68
31	Rontez Miles	NYJ	16	16	14	15	6	67
32	Daimion Stafford	TEN	16	17	14	14	6	67
33	Michael Thomas	MIA	16	16	14	14	6	66
34	T.J. McDonald	LA	15	15	14	14	6	64
35	Tracy Howard	CLE	15	15	13	14	6	63

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Tony Jefferson—bye
• Shawn Williams—bye
• Quintin Demps—bye
• Patrick Chung—bye
• Barry Church—inactive
• Mike Adams—inactive
• Jahleel Addae—inactive
• Kam Chancellor—inactive

Kickers

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Prater plowed into the top spot, courtesy of a perfect day and a pair of 50-plus-yard field goals, including a 58-yarder to send the game to overtime. Prater has been average for much of the year, but he is capable of this type of performance on a regular basis.

His 58-yarder showed he has the leg to make any kick necessary, but his technique has been somewhat sloppy at times this year. This was a big week for him, and hopefully he can use it as a launching pad for the second half of the season. 

Matt Bryant finished in the second spot, and the veteran has had a strong year thus far, grading out sixth overall in our midseason report card. Bryant has missed just one kick on the year, though he only has six attempts from over 40 yards.

Also in the top five were Cairo Santos, Phil Dawson and Brandon McManus. Santos' sidewinding style has created some accuracy issues, while Dawson has shown good accuracy, but he no longer possesses one of the stronger legs in the NFL. McManus is turning in an average season, though this week's showing is reminiscent of what he did throughout all of 2015.

After being perfect through the first eight weeks of the year, Greg Zuerlein found himself at the bottom this week, largely due to two misses on 50-plus-yard attempts. Usage has been a major issue for Zuerlein in his career, with Jeff Fisher trotting him out for 50-plus-yard attempts far more frequently than the average kicker, and it came back to bite him this week. Zuerlein has a great leg, but the stress of those attempts on a regular basis can hurt a kicker's psyche in the long term.

The remainder of the bottom five have shown inconsistency throughout the year. Blair Walsh, Jason Myers, Dan Carpenter and Mason Crosby have average accuracy. Walsh had been better since starting the season 3-of-6, but Carpenter has ongoing questions about his ability to adjust to the longer extra points.

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)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Kicker Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Pwr	Acc	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Matt Prater	DET	34	37	3	3	77
2	Matt Bryant	ATL	32	38	3	3	76
3	Cairo Santos	KC	33	37	3	3	76
4	Phil Dawson	SF	31	37	3	3	74
5	Brandon McManus	DEN	33	35	3	3	74
6	Justin Tucker	BAL	32	33	3	3	71
7	Steven Hauschka	SEA	32	33	3	3	71
8	Andrew Franks	MIA	31	33	3	3	70
9	Nick Folk	NYJ	30	34	3	3	70
10	Dan Bailey	DAL	31	31	3	3	68
11	Adam Vinatieri	IND	30	32	3	3	68
12	Ryan Succop	TEN	31	31	3	3	68
13	Robbie Gould	NYG	31	30	3	3	67
14	Caleb Sturgis	PHI	30	31	3	3	67
15	Wil Lutz	NO	30	30	3	3	66
16	Chris Boswell	PIT	31	28	3	3	65
17	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	31	28	3	3	65
18	Roberto Aguayo	TB	30	28	3	3	64
19	Josh Lambo	SD	30	27	3	3	63
20	Graham Gano	CAR	30	24	3	3	60
21	Cody Parkey	CLE	31	22	3	3	59
22	Mason Crosby	GB	30	23	3	3	59
23	Dan Carpenter	BUF	29	24	3	3	59
24	Jason Myers	JAX	30	22	3	3	58
25	Blair Walsh	MIN	30	16	3	3	52
26	Greg Zuerlein	LA	27	17	3	3	50

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Chandler Catanzaro—bye
• Connor Barth—bye
• Mike Nugent—bye
• Nick Novak—bye
• Stephen Gostkowski—bye
• Dustin Hopkins—bye

Punters

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The top punters for Week 9 have a number of frequent visitors to this part of the rankings. Detroit's Sam Martin took home top honors, with a well-roudned performance that featured above-average grades in all three key areas. Martin has been a little below his own high expectations this year, coming in at the 10th spot in the midseason rankings, but this was a strong performance he is capable of duplicating in the future. 

The next three names are familiar to anyone who enjoys great punting: Sam Koch, Thomas Morstead and Pat McAfee, respectively. Baltimore's Koch had one of the best directional performances of the year against the Steelers but was slightly below-average in distance and hang time, which kept him out of the top spot. Morstead showed an outstanding leg this week, while McAfee had a balanced array of punts that gave him the fourth spot.

Brad Wing came in fifth, as the Giants punter has been stronger than expected this year. In seventh place, Oakland's Marquette King fell outside of the top five, and the Rams' Johnny Hekker was just behind him in eighth.

San Diego's Drew Kaser made an unfortunate return to the bottom of the rankings, with below-average grades across the board, as the rookie continues to struggle to find consistency. While Kaser has immense potential, he needs to start showing he can perform every game—the quality of his punts has varied greatly from week to week.

Fellow rookie Lachlan Edwards of the Jets ended up in the bottom five as well, joining veterans Matt Darr, Brad Nortman and Colton Schmidt. Schmidt and Darr have been volatile. Their highs and lows have evened them out to average punters over the course of the year. Nortman's big leg comes and goes from week to week as well, with this week unfortunately representing a downturn for him.

There are no major surprises at the bottom this week, as many of the top punters played up to their talent levels. But Cleveland's Britton Colquitt had an off week as far as hang time and distance were concerned, finishing in the 18th spot.

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)

Ovr: Top Possible Score of 100

Punter Rankings Week 9

Rank	Player	Team	Dist	Hang	Acc	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Sam Martin	DET	17	16	38	3	3	77
2	Sam Koch	BAL	13	13	44	3	3	76
3	Thomas Morstead	NO	19	19	31	3	3	75
4	Pat McAfee	IND	19	15	33	3	3	73
5	Brad Wing	NYG	14	14	38	3	3	72
6	Jacob Schum	GB	15	16	34	3	3	71
7	Marquette King	OAK	18	13	33	3	3	70
8	Johnny Hekker	LA	18	17	27	3	3	68
9	Bryan Anger	TB	15	19	28	3	3	68
10	Brett Kern	TEN	12	16	34	3	3	68
11	Riley Dixon	DEN	13	13	36	3	3	68
12	Chris Jones	DAL	14	17	29	3	3	66
13	Dustin Colquitt	KC	16	17	27	3	3	66
14	Jon Ryan	SEA	14	16	29	3	3	65
15	Jordan Berry	PIT	14	13	30	3	3	63
16	Bradley Pinion	SF	10	12	35	3	3	63
17	Andy Lee	CAR	17	12	27	3	3	62
18	Britton Colquitt	CLE	10	12	32	3	3	60
19	Donnie Jones	PHI	13	7	31	3	3	57
20	Jeff Locke	MIN	9	17	24	3	3	56
21	Matt Darr	MIA	14	8	27	3	3	55
22	Lachlan Edwards	NYJ	6	12	31	3	3	55
23	Brad Nortman	JAX	11	12	22	3	3	51
24	Colton Schmidt	BUF	2	11	31	3	3	50
25	Drew Kaser	SD	9	9	25	3	3	49

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Matt Bosher—no punts attempted
• Ryan Quigley—bye
• Pat O'Donnell—bye
• Kevin Huber—bye
• Shane Lechler—bye
• Ryan Allen—bye
• Tress Way—bye