NFL1000: Ranking the Top 1,000 Players from Week 13

The primary participants in Denver's "No-Fly Zone" secondary—cornerbacks Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr., and Bradley Roby as well as safeties Darian Stewart and T.J Ward—have been frequent guests at the top of their positional charts all season in the NFL1000 rankings. The offense was hardly stellar in Denver's 20-10 win over the Jaguars on Sunday, but the defense, as usual, was on point. Roby had a pick-six of Blake Bortles to fill out the highlight reel, but Harris took the crown in our rankings, and he's the top cat among all players in the Week 13 edition of the NFL1000.

As usual, Harris was outstanding in coverage, both outside and in the slot. When Harris covered inside, Bortles targeted him five times, and he allowed only three receptions for 25 yards. Outside, Bortles found nothing when targeting Harris, as he completed zero passes on four targets. Allen Robinson's inability to hold onto the ball on a deep boundary route helped keep that tally clean, but Harris snapped the ball away from Robinson late in the first half. The undrafted Kansas alum has turned himself into one of the game's great pass-defenders over the years. From multi-positional coverage to route-reading to run defense, there isn't anything he can't do at a high level.

Roby, who faces a ton of targets for a third cornerback because quarterbacks would prefer to avoid Talib and Harris, ranked 45th overall this week and allowed one catch for 12 yards on five targets, as well as the aforementioned pick-six. Halfway through the third quarter, he did a great job of establishing inside position on a short drag route, and when Bortles missed the read under pressure, Roby was on his way for the 51-yard score.

The Broncos are still trying to figure out their quarterback situation, but Wade Phillips has their defense playing at the same Super Bowl-caliber level it did in 2015. Most impressive is how new defenders keep popping up and excelling. This week, our top inside linebacker is Denver's Todd Davis, who has jumped from going undrafted in 2014 to his current role as a key part of the front seven. Davis looked great no matter his assignment—he run-blitzed with aplomb, sifted through blockers to bring down Jacksonville's running backs, and looked agile and rangy in coverage. He finished his day with five tackles, five stops and one quarterback hurry.

It's a tribute to Denver's defensive coaching staff that so many unheralded players have become stars in this system.

Part of Bleacher Report's NFL1000 player rating methodology 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 what's going on out there.

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 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, Marcus Mosher, 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 13 of the 2016 NFL season.

All advanced stats are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

Methodology

Elsa/Getty Images

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 were given specific positional assignments based on their proven fields of expertise. 

• Doug Farrar: Lead scout
• Cian Fahey: Quarterbacks
• John Middlekauff: Running backs/fullbacks
• Marcus Mosher: Wide receivers/tight ends
• Mark Schofield: Wide receivers/tight ends
• Duke Manyweather: Offensive tackles
• Ethan Young: Offensive guards/centers
• 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

Every NFL player with snaps in offensive and defensive roles is observed and graded 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 to 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 like J.J. Watt and Michael Bennett on the defensive line—how they seamlessly switch from gap to gap. Or how cornerbacks such as Chris Harris and Tyrann Mathieu dominate outside and in the slot. Or how receivers such as Doug Baldwin and Larry Fitzgerald bedevil 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 it needs to be graded 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 work to make it as definitive as possible.

Top 50 Overall from Week 13

Ralph Freso/Getty Images

After Chris Harris, quarterbacks round out the top of this week's rankings. Andrew Luck didn't face a lot of resistance against the Jets' disinterested defense on Monday Night Football, but that shouldn't take away from the excellence of his performance.

Luck made several ridiculous throws from multiple platforms and tossed four touchdowns, re-establishing himself as one of the league's great young stars. If anything, the Jets' dismal defensive showing displayed what Luck could do week-to-week had general manager Ryan Grigson's personnel missteps not left him scrambling to win, literally and figuratively, over the last couple of years. 

Cincinnati's Andy Dalton, who finished 885th in our overall rankings last week, bumped himself up to third with his two-touchdown performance against the Eagles, and Carson Palmer had a blast from the past performance-wise in Arizona's win over the Redskins.

But the Cardinals' real star these days is running back David Johnson, who bashed Washington's defense for 84 rushing yards on 18 carries and 91 receiving yards on nine catches. Johnson is now 296 receiving yards away from becoming the third back in NFL history to gain at least 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in a season. He would join Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk, and he'd do it in just his second season.

"If he doesn't get hurt, David Johnson is going to surpass a lot of NFL records by the time he's done playing football," Cardinals running backs coach Stump Mitchell recently told B/R's Lars Anderson. "It's unreal, the amount of total yards he's capable of putting up in our offense. He'll blow records out of the water. ... David can do it all: He's elusive, he's explosive and he's powerful. And he has great hands. Plus, he's getting better every single day."

It's hard to argue with any of that.

Top 50 Overall from Week 13

Rank	Player	Pos.	Team	NFL1000 Score	LW	Moving
1	Chris Harris Jr.	CB	DEN	87	17	↑
2	Andrew Luck	QB	IND	83	NR	↑
3	Andy Dalton	QB	CIN	82	885	↑
4	Carson Palmer	QB	ARI	82	113	↑
5	Le'Veon Bell	RB	PIT	81	20	↑
6	Tyron Smith	LT	DAL	81	4	↓
7	David Johnson	RB	ARI	81	27	↑
8	Eric Berry	SS	KC	80	106	↑
9	Casey Hayward	CB	SD	80	100	↑
10	LeSean McCoy	RB	BUF	80	16	↑
11	Aaron Donald	DT	LA	79	9	↓
12	Travis Kelce	TE	KC	79	38	↑
13	Glover Quin	FS	DET	79	152	↑
14	Cordy Glenn	LT	BUF	79	34	↑
15	Aaron Rodgers	QB	GB	79	13	↓
16	Mike Mitchell	FS	PIT	79	52	↑
17	Johnny Hekker	P	LA	79	377	↑
18	Marcus Gilbert	RT	PIT	78	643	↑
19	Khalil Mack	4-3 DE	OAK	78	1	↓
20	Matthew Stafford	QB	DET	78	72	↑
21	Todd Davis	ILB	DEN	78	842	↑
22	Julio Jones	WR	ATL	78	316	↑
23	James Harrison	3-4 OLB	PIT	78	291	↑
24	Golden Tate	WR	DET	78	319	↑
25	Donald Penn	LT	OAK	78	59	↑
26	Sam Bradford	QB	MIN	78	440	↑
27	Byron Jones	FS	DAL	78	151	↑
28	Jalen Ramsey	CB	JAX	78	946	↑
29	Earl Thomas	FS	SEA	78	NR	↑
30	Mark Glowinski	OG	SEA	77	615	↑
31	Gerald McCoy	DT	TB	77	40	↑
32	Joe Thomas	ILB	GB	77	NR	↑
33	Melvin Gordon	RB	SD	77	78	↑
34	Patrick Peterson	CB	ARI	77	422	↑
35	Bryan Bulaga	RT	GB	77	30	↓
36	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	DAL	77	25	↓
37	Joe Flacco	QB	BAL	77	585	↑
38	Tavon Young	CB	BAL	77	748	↑
39	T.Y. Hilton	WR	IND	77	532	↑
40	Devonta Freeman	RB	ATL	77	163	↑
41	Lardarius Webb	FS	BAL	77	69	↑
42	Jake Matthews	LT	ATL	77	49	↑
43	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	FS	GB	77	28	↓
44	Sean Davis	SS	PIT	77	372	↑
45	Bradley Roby	CB	DEN	77	707	↑
46	Quintin Demps	SS	HOU	77	512	↑
47	Harrison Smith	FS	MIN	77	44	↓
48	Dez Bryant	WR	DAL	76	165	↑
49	Duane Brown	LT	HOU	76	60	↑
50	Maurkice Pouncey	C	PIT	76	474	↑

Quarterbacks

Norm Hall/Getty Images

Todd Bowles' New York Jets offered no resistance to Andrew Luck on Monday night. Luck's performance was at times easy, but he made all of the routine plays and added in some spectacular ones. One of his touchdown passes to Dwayne Allen was spectacular, as he hit his tight end on a back-shoulder throw down the seam against tight coverage. Luck had been threatening to have that kind of game this year before he suffered a concussion two weeks ago. Andy Dalton, on the other hand came, out of nowhere. 

The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has never had a better first half than the one he had against the Philadelphia Eagles. Dalton's career has been defined by his inability to throw receivers open or react competently to pressure.

Against Philadelphia, however, he repeatedly delivered perfect passes to tightly covered receivers downfield despite facing pressure in the pocket. Dalton missed a couple of easier plays and didn't have to do much in the second half. Had he continued to play the way he did in the first half, he would have comfortably been the league's top-ranked quarterback this week.

Carson Palmer was just as impressive as Dalton with similar problems coming from his supporting cast. Palmer has gotten little protection from his offensive line this year, while J.J. Nelson and Michael Floyd have repeatedly sabotaged some of his better throws. Floyd and Nelson had their issues in this game, but both caught touchdowns thanks to perfect passes from Palmer. First, Palmer fit the ball to Floyd between two defenders when the coverage suggested he shouldn't have attempted the throw. The second throw was a deep shot to Nelson where Palmer placed the ball perfectly for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

On the other end of the spectrum, Paxton Lynch and Blake Bortles combined to create one of the worst quarterbacked games you're likely to see. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a similar game before Bryce Petty came in to replace him. Petty somehow managed to look even worse than Fitzpatrick, as he repeatedly threw the ball to Colts defensive backs. Petty is going to start the Jets' last four games of the season, but if this game is any indication, he won't be competing for the starting spot entering the offseason.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Acc	Arm	Press	Dec	Pos	Ovr
1	Andrew Luck	IND	21	23	14	15	10	83
2	Andy Dalton	CIN	21	21	15	15	10	82
3	Carson Palmer	ARI	21	22	15	14	10	82
4	Aaron Rodgers	GB	19	22	14	14	10	79
5	Matthew Stafford	DET	16	22	15	15	10	78
6	Sam Bradford	MIN	19	21	15	13	10	78
7	Joe Flacco	BAL	17	20	15	15	10	77
8	Derek Carr	OAK	17	22	12	15	10	76
9	Dak Prescott	DAL	17	20	14	14	10	75
10	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	17	21	14	13	10	75
11	Tom Brady	NE	16	18	14	14	10	72
12	Philip Rivers	SD	15	19	15	13	10	72
13	Jameis Winston	TB	15	20	15	12	10	72
14	Drew Brees	NO	16	20	12	12	10	70
15	Ryan Tannehill	MIA	15	19	13	13	10	70
16	Russell Wilson	SEA	18	20	11	11	10	70
17	Alex Smith	KC	16	18	13	13	10	70
18	Eli Manning	NYG	15	18	14	12	10	69
19	Kirk Cousins	WAS	15	19	11	13	10	68
20	Tyrod Taylor	BUF	14	19	12	13	10	68
21	Matt Barkley	CHI	15	18	12	13	10	68
22	Cam Newton	CAR	14	22	12	10	10	68
23	Matt Ryan	ATL	15	18	13	10	10	66
24	Brock Osweiler	HOU	13	17	11	12	10	63
25	Trevone Boykin	SEA	15	18	10	10	10	63
26	Jared Goff	LA	14	16	12	11	10	63
27	Ryan Mallett	BAL	14	18	10	10	10	62
28	Colin Kaepernick	SF	13	17	11	10	10	61
29	Blake Bortles	JAX	11	17	13	10	10	61
30	Paxton Lynch	DEN	9	16	11	12	10	58
31	Blaine Gabbert	SF	12	16	10	10	10	58
32	Ryan Fitzpatrick	NYJ	12	16	10	9	10	57
33	Carson Wentz	PHI	10	16	9	9	10	54
34	Bryce Petty	NYJ	10	16	10	8	10	54

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Robert Griffin III—bye
• Cody Kessler—bye
• Marcus Mariota—bye
• Josh McCown--bye

Running Backs

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers are right in the mix for the AFC North, and Le'Veon Bell is a major reason why. He is having a fantastic season, showing the ability to do it all on a weekly basis. Bell was dominant against the New York Giants Sunday, destroying them on the ground and lighting them up in the passing game.

His unique, patient mindset combined with his short-area burst and vision exposed defenders all game. Bell's ability to run routes gave linebackers major trouble because they had no chance to cover him. It was perhaps his best game of the season, which speaks volumes. If the Steelers get back to the playoffs, it will be Bell carrying them, not Ben Roethlisberger. 

While their running styles are different, Arizona's David Johnson dominated like Bell. He was relentless and explosive against the Redskins, wearing them out inside the tackles and down the middle of the defense. He also ran routes as though he were a wide receiver, finishing with nine catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Johnson and Bell have established themselves as the two best running backs in the NFL.

Buffalo's LeSean McCoy might not be in their category, but he isn't far behind. He was dominant against the Raiders and is playing as fast as he ever has. San Diego's Melvin Gordon got back on track with a strong, physical game against the Texans, as did Atlanta's Devonta Freeman against the Chiefs. Freeman might be one of the league's most underrated players, as his power, quickness and versatility have mostly flown under the national radar.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	In	Out	Rec	Blk	Pos	Ovr
1	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	20	21	17	17	6	81
2	David Johnson	ARI	21	20	17	17	6	81
3	LeSean McCoy	BUF	21	19	18	16	6	80
4	Melvin Gordon	SD	19	18	17	17	6	77
5	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	20	18	16	17	6	77
6	Devonta Freeman	ATL	19	18	18	16	6	77
7	Thomas Rawls	SEA	19	17	17	16	6	75
8	LeGarrette Blount	NE	18	19	16	16	6	75
9	Jordan Howard	CHI	19	18	16	16	6	75
10	Jay Ajayi	MIA	19	17	17	16	6	75
11	Carlos Hyde	SF	19	18	16	16	6	75
12	Spencer Ware	KC	19	18	16	16	6	75
13	Ty Montgomery	GB	18	17	17	16	6	74
14	Mark Ingram	NO	16	18	17	17	6	74
15	Latavius Murray	OAK	19	17	16	16	6	74
16	Terrance West	BAL	17	18	16	16	6	73
17	Kenneth Dixon	BLT	18	17	16	16	6	73
18	Dion Lewis	NE	17	17	17	16	6	73
19	Theo Riddick	DET	16	17	17	16	6	72
20	Mike Gillislee	BUF	18	17	16	15	6	72
21	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	18	16	15	17	6	72
22	Jerick McKinnon	MIN	18	17	16	15	6	72
23	Jeremy Hill	CIN	18	16	16	16	6	72
24	Jalen Richard	OAK	18	17	16	15	6	72
25	Zach Zenner	DET	17	16	15	17	6	71
26	T.J. Yeldon	JAX	16	16	17	16	6	71
27	Matt Asiata	MIN	18	16	15	16	6	71
28	Kapri Bibbs	DEN	17	17	15	16	6	71
29	James White	NE	16	18	16	15	6	71
30	Jacquizz Rodgers	TB	17	16	16	16	6	71
31	Frank Gore	IND	17	15	16	17	6	71
32	Matt Forte	NYJ	16	16	17	16	6	71
33	Rex Burkhead	CIN	17	15	16	16	6	70
34	Alfred Blue	HOU	17	16	15	16	6	70
35	Robert Kelley	WAS	18	16	14	16	6	70
36	Tevin Coleman	ATL	18	16	15	15	6	70
37	Rashad Jennings	NYG	15	14	17	17	6	69
38	Paul Perkins	NYG	17	17	15	14	6	69
39	Jonathan Grimes	HOU	16	16	15	16	6	69
40	Chris Thompson	WAS	15	17	16	15	6	69
41	Shaun Draughn	SF	15	15	16	16	6	68
42	Lamar Miller	HOU	17	15	15	15	6	68
43	Darren Sproles	PHI	15	14	17	16	6	68
44	Travaris Cadet	NO	14	15	17	15	6	67
45	Todd Gurley	LA	17	14	15	15	6	67
46	Ka'Deem Carey	CHI	16	15	16	14	6	67
47	Jeremy Langford	CHI	16	15	15	15	6	67
48	Dwayne Washington	DET	16	14	15	16	6	67
49	Doug Martin	TB	16	14	15	16	6	67
50	Denard Robinson	JAX	14	17	16	14	6	67
51	Christine Michael	GB	16	14	15	16	6	67
52	Damien Williams	MIA	16	15	15	15	6	67
53	Bilal Powell	NYJ	15	15	16	15	6	67
54	Kenneth Farrow	SD	16	14	15	15	6	66
55	Josh Ferguson	IND	14	16	15	15	6	66
56	Devontae Booker	DEN	16	14	15	15	6	66
57	Andre Ellington	ARI	15	14	16	15	6	66
58	Robert Turbin	IND	16	14	15	15	6	66
59	Tim Hightower	NO	14	14	15	16	6	65
60	James Starks	GB	15	14	14	16	6	65
61	Fozzy Whittaker	CAR	14	15	15	15	6	65
62	Benny Cunningham	LA	15	14	15	15	6	65
63	Peyton Barber	TB	15	15	14	15	6	65
64	Charcandrick West	KC	15	14	15	15	6	65
65	Wendell Smallwood	PHI	15	14	15	14	6	64

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Adrian Peterson—injury
• Ameer Abdullah—injury
• C.J. Anderson—injury
• Charles Sims—injury
• Danny Woodhead—injury
• Chris Ivory—injury
• DeMarco Murray—bye
• Isaiah Crowell—bye
• Giovani Bernard—injury
• Derrick Henry--Bye
• Duke Johnson--Bye
• Dwayne Washington--Bye

Fullbacks

Elsa/Getty Images

The Green Bay Packers have rattled off two straight wins, and fullback Aaron Ripkowski has played well during that stretch, running the ball efficiently and also operating as a lead blocker. Against Houston, he scored a touchdown on a physical run at the goal line, which gave him his second score in two weeks.

Baltimore's Kyle Juszczyk continues to be elite, helping the Ravens running game get going and giving the offense good balance. He was great in pass protection against the Dolphins, keeping Joe Flacco clean in an easy win. 

New England's James Develin and Buffalo's Jerome Felton were both physical as lead blockers for their respective running attacks. Felton was excellent against the Raiders, taking advantage of their average linebackers in space and to help get LeSean McCoy going. Oakland's Jamize Olawale received limited playing time because Derek Carr's finger injury restricted him from going under center, yet Olawale was still productive in a reduced role. He helped the Raiders score a touchdown in a unique pistol formation they had never used.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Blk	Run	Rec	Pos	Ovr
1	Aaron Ripkowski	GB	44	18	9	4	75
2	Kyle Juszczyk	BAL	44	17	9	4	74
3	John Kuhn	NO	44	17	9	4	74
4	James Develin	NE	45	15	9	4	73
5	Jamize Olawale	OAK	44	15	10	4	73
6	Jerome Felton	BUF	43	16	9	4	72
7	Patrick DiMarco	ATL	44	15	9	4	72
8	Paul Lasike	CHI	44	14	9	4	71
9	Jay Prosch	HOU	43	15	9	4	71
10	Zach Line	MIN	43	15	9	4	71
11	Derek Watt	SD	44	15	8	4	71
12	Mike Tolbert	CAR	43	15	8	4	70
13	Michael Burton	DET	43	14	9	4	70
14	Anthony Sherman	KC	43	14	9	4	70
15	Andy Janovich	DEN	43	14	8	4	69
16	Will Tukuafu	SEA	42	15	8	4	69

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• None

Wide Receivers

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Atlanta's Julio Jones was a monster against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, catching passes on the first three plays of the game (for 11, 16 and 17 yards). He finished the day with seven receptions for 113 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter with turf toe. Dallas' Dez Bryant, meanwhile, looks to be back to his uber-efficient self, as he saw four catchable targets and caught all four for 84 yards and a score against one of the league's stingiest defenses. 

Tied for the best grade in the NFC, Golden Tate had one of his best performances of the season against New Orleans. He caught eight passes for 145 yards and a score, but he was even better than the stats indicate. The Saints rolled coverage to him, but Tate was able to get deep multiple times against them.

On the AFC side, T.Y. Hilton enjoyed a big night against the New York Jets on Monday, catching nine passes for 146 yards. The Jets secondary often left him alone, as Darrelle Revis spent most of the night matched up against Donte Moncrief. New England's Julian Edelman also built upon his hot play of late, notching eight receptions for 101 yards on a number of different pass patterns. The veteran receiver continues to be a security blanket for Tom Brady in an offense operating without Rob Gronkowski, as he's open on most of his pass patterns.

Speaking of receivers who are usually open, Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree continue to impress for the resurgent Oakland Raiders. Both players caught touchdowns Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, and their numbers would have been higher if not for some issues with drops. Crabtree in particular dropped what would have been a touchdown, but he made up for it later in the contest with some good catches, including on his three-yard score.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Route	Hands	YAC	Blk	Pos	Ovr
1	Julio Jones	ATL	20	20	16	13	9	78
2	Golden Tate	DET	21	19	17	12	9	78
3	T.Y. Hilton	IND	20	19	16	13	9	77
4	Dez Bryant	DAL	20	21	14	12	9	76
5	Jordy Nelson	GB	20	18	16	12	9	75
6	Ted Ginn Jr.	CAR	20	18	16	10	9	73
7	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	20	19	12	12	9	72
8	Julian Edelman	NE	20	19	12	12	9	72
9	Steve Smith Sr.	BAL	18	19	13	12	9	71
10	Cameron Meredith	CHI	19	17	14	12	9	71
11	Brandon LaFell	CIN	18	19	12	13	9	71
12	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG	19	19	13	11	9	71
13	Antonio Brown	PIT	18	19	13	12	9	71
14	Sammy Watkins	BUF	19	18	12	12	9	70
15	Ty Montgomery	GB	18	14	17	12	9	70
16	Jarvis Landry	MIA	18	18	11	14	9	70
17	Doug Baldwin	SEA	18	18	13	12	9	70
18	Mike Wallace	BAL	18	18	12	12	9	69
19	Cole Beasley	DAL	18	16	16	10	9	69
20	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	19	18	12	11	9	69
21	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	18	18	12	12	9	69
22	Randall Cobb	GB	18	18	13	11	9	69
23	Stefon Diggs	MIN	18	20	11	11	9	69
24	Amari Cooper	OAK	19	17	12	12	9	69
25	Michael Crabtree	OAK	18	17	13	12	9	69
26	Tyler Lockett	SEA	17	17	15	11	9	69
27	Mike Evans	TB	18	18	13	11	9	69
28	Pierre Garcon	WAS	18	17	14	11	9	69
29	Devin Funchess	CAR	17	16	14	12	9	68
30	Tyler Boyd	CIN	18	19	11	11	9	68
31	Anquan Boldin	DET	18	17	12	12	9	68
32	T.J. Jones	DET	17	18	13	11	9	68
33	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	17	17	13	12	9	68
34	Tyreek Hill	KC	17	17	14	11	9	68
35	Albert Wilson	KC	17	17	12	13	9	68
36	Brian Quick	LA	17	17	13	12	9	68
37	Brandin Cooks	NO	18	18	12	11	9	68
38	Michael Thomas	NO	17	17	13	12	9	68
39	Dontrelle Inman	SD	17	18	11	13	9	68
40	Freddie Martino	TB	18	17	13	11	9	68
41	Michael Floyd	ARI	17	18	12	11	9	67
42	Breshad Perriman	BAL	16	17	13	12	9	67
43	Marquise Goodwin	BUF	18	17	11	12	9	67
44	Will Fuller	HOU	16	17	12	13	9	67
45	DeVante Parker	MIA	17	19	11	11	9	67
46	Malcolm Mitchell	NE	17	16	13	12	9	67
47	Robby Anderson	NYJ	17	17	13	11	9	67
48	Paul Turner	PHI	16	17	15	10	9	67
49	Tyrell Williams	SD	17	18	11	12	9	67
50	Jermaine Kearse	SEA	16	16	15	11	9	67
51	Jamison Crowder	WAS	16	17	15	10	9	67
52	J.J. Nelson	ARI	18	17	12	10	9	66
53	Taylor Gabriel	ATL	16	16	15	10	9	66
54	Donte Moncrief	IND	18	17	11	11	9	66
55	Kenny Britt	LA	17	15	13	12	9	66
56	Kenny Stills	MIA	17	17	11	12	9	66
57	Brandon Marshall	NYJ	17	17	12	11	9	66
58	Seth Roberts	OAK	16	16	11	14	9	66
59	Dorial Green-Beckham	PHI	17	15	14	11	9	66
60	DeSean Jackson	WAS	16	16	15	10	9	66
61	Kamar Aiken	BAL	17	17	11	11	9	65
62	Justin Hunter	BUF	17	16	11	12	9	65
63	Deonte Thompson	CHI	16	15	14	11	9	65
64	Cody Core	CIN	16	17	11	12	9	65
65	Andre Roberts	DET	16	17	12	11	9	65
66	Marqise Lee	JAX	17	16	11	12	9	65
67	Adam Thielen	MIN	16	16	13	11	9	65
68	Willie Snead	NO	17	15	13	11	9	65
69	Cobi Hamilton	PIT	16	16	11	13	9	65
70	Russell Shepard	TB	16	17	12	11	9	65
71	Josh Bellamy	CHI	19	11	14	11	9	64
72	Allen Robinson	JAX	16	15	11	13	9	64
73	Chris Hogan	NE	16	16	11	12	9	64
74	Quincy Enunwa	NYJ	16	16	11	12	9	64
75	Nelson Agholor	PHI	16	16	12	11	9	64
76	Jeremy Kerley	SF	16	15	13	11	9	64
77	Adam Humphries	TB	16	16	12	11	9	64
78	James Wright	CIN	16	16	11	11	9	63
79	Danny Amendola	NE	16	16	11	11	9	63
80	Sterling Shepard	NYG	15	16	12	11	9	63
81	Eli Rogers	PIT	16	15	11	12	9	63
82	Aldrick Robinson	ATL	15	15	12	11	9	62
83	Davante Adams	GB	16	15	11	11	9	62
84	Braxton Miller	HOU	15	14	11	13	9	62
85	Bryan Walters	JAX	16	16	11	10	9	62
86	Chris Conley	KC	16	14	11	12	9	62
87	Leonte Carroo	MIA	16	14	11	12	9	62
88	Cordarrelle Patterson	MIN	13	12	15	13	9	62
89	Mohamed Sanu	ATL	15	14	12	11	9	61
90	Alex Erickson	CIN	15	15	11	11	9	61
91	Cody Latimer	DEN	15	15	11	11	9	61
92	Keith Mumphery	HOU	14	14	11	13	9	61
93	Phillip Dorsett	IND	15	14	11	12	9	61
94	Travis Benjamin	SD	15	13	11	13	9	61
95	Brandon Tate	BUF	15	14	11	11	9	60
96	Dezmin Lewis	BUF	14	14	11	12	9	60
97	Jordan Norwood	DEN	15	14	11	11	9	60
98	Charone Peake	NYJ	15	14	11	11	9	60
99	Andre Holmes	OAK	14	14	11	12	9	60
100	Chris Moore	BAL	14	14	11	11	9	59
101	Jordan Taylor	DEN	14	14	11	11	9	59
102	Chester Rogers	IND	14	14	11	11	9	59
103	Shane Wynn	JAX	14	14	12	10	9	59
104	Chris Harper	SF	14	14	10	12	9	59
105	Arrelious Benn	JAX	14	14	11	10	9	58
106	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	13	13	10	12	9	57
107	Terrance Williams	DAL	12	12	10	13	9	56
108	Justin Hardy	ATL	12	12	12	10	9	55
109	Charles Johnson	MIN	12	12	10	12	9	55
110	Tanner McEvoy	SEA	12	12	10	12	9	55
111	Brice Butler	DAL	12	12	10	11	9	54
112	Lucky Whitehead	DAL	12	12	10	11	9	54
113	Pharoh Cooper	LA	12	12	10	11	9	54
114	Laquon Treadwell	MIN	11	11	10	13	9	54
115	Brandon Coleman	NO	12	12	10	11	9	54
116	Victor Cruz	NYG	13	12	10	10	9	54
117	Torrey Smith	SF	12	12	10	11	9	54
118	Quinton Patton	SF	12	12	10	11	9	54
119	John Brown	ARI	12	12	10	10	9	53
120	Philly Brown	CAR	12	12	10	10	9	53
121	Bradley Marquez	LA	12	12	10	10	9	53
122	Roger Lewis	NYG	12	12	10	10	9	53
123	Rod Streater	SF	12	12	10	10	9	53

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Alshon Jeffery—suspension
• Robert Woods—injury
• Kevin White—injury
• A.J. Green—injury
• Jeremy Maclin—injury
• Jalin Marshall—injury
• Darrius Heyward-Bey—injury
• Markus Wheaton—injury
• Keenan Allen—injury
• Vincent Jackson—injury
• Josh Doctson—injury
• Eric Decker—injury
• Marvin Jones—injury
• Percy Harvin—injury
• Eddie Royal—injury
• Tavon Austin—injury
• Terrelle Pryor Sr.—bye
• Andrew Hawkins—bye
• Tajae Sharpe—bye
• Rishard Matthews—bye
• Kendall Wright—bye

Tight Ends

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Tight ends had a quiet week in the NFC, as Washington's Jordan Reed was inactive, and Dallas' Jason Witten franchise-record catch streak ended at 130 games. Tampa Bay's Cameron Brate continued his breakout campaign, catching six passes for 86 yards against the San Diego Chargers, including a nice touchdown grab in traffic that put Tampa Bay in the lead in the fourth quarter. Brate's ability to win in contested areas of the field is why he's becoming a favorite of quarterback Jameis Winston. 

In the AFC, three players enjoyed career games. Pittsburgh's Ladarius Green caught six passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, with the score coming on a well-designed fake screen where Green deked the safety on his route with a fake block. Dwayne Allen caught three touchdown passes for the Colts in their big Monday night victory over the Jets, but the seemingly confused New York secondary left him wide open on his first two scoring plays.

Kansas City's Travis Kelce continued his great run, gaining over 100 yards for the third straight game. Kelce caught all eight passes thrown his way against Atlanta, displaying great route running and ability after the catch. His subtle out-and-up move against rookie Keanu Neal early in the game set the tone for his big afternoon.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Route	Hands	YAC	Blk	Pos	Ovr
1	Travis Kelce	KC	16	22	16	19	6	79
2	Dwayne Allen	IND	14	20	14	19	6	73
3	Ladarius Green	PIT	14	19	14	19	6	72
4	Jimmy Graham	SEA	16	17	14	18	6	71
5	Cameron Brate	TB	16	19	13	17	6	71
6	Dennis Pitta	BAL	14	19	12	19	6	70
7	C.J. Fiedorowicz	HOU	14	19	12	19	6	70
8	Trey Burton	PHI	17	17	15	15	6	70
9	Eric Ebron	DET	17	17	13	16	6	69
10	Antonio Gates	SD	13	19	13	18	6	69
11	Levine Toilolo	ATL	15	15	14	18	6	68
12	Greg Olsen	CAR	15	17	13	17	6	68
13	Tyler Eifert	CIN	14	18	11	19	6	68
14	Jared Cook	GB	15	17	13	17	6	68
15	Ryan Griffin	HOU	13	18	14	17	6	68
16	Jack Doyle	IND	13	18	12	19	6	68
17	Coby Fleener	NO	16	17	13	16	6	68
18	Will Tye	NYG	16	18	13	15	6	68
19	Zach Ertz	PHI	16	17	13	16	6	68
20	Jermaine Gresham	ARI	15	17	13	16	6	67
21	Richard Rodgers	GB	14	18	13	16	6	67
22	Neal Sterling	JAX	14	18	13	16	6	67
23	Jesse James	PIT	13	17	12	19	6	67
24	Lance Kendricks	LA	15	16	12	17	6	66
25	Kyle Rudolph	MIN	14	16	12	18	6	66
26	Nick Vannett	SEA	14	16	14	16	6	66
27	Vernon Davis	WAS	15	15	13	17	6	66
28	Austin Seferian-Jenkins	NYJ	13	16	12	18	6	65
29	Mychal Rivera	OAK	13	16	12	18	6	65
30	Nick Boyle	BAL	13	15	11	19	6	64
31	Nick O'Leary	BUF	12	15	11	20	6	64
32	Demetrius Harris	KC	12	15	13	18	6	64
33	Dion Sims	MIA	13	16	11	18	6	64
34	Jerell Adams	NYG	15	16	12	15	6	64
35	Clive Walford	OAK	12	15	12	19	6	64
36	Hunter Henry	SD	12	15	12	19	6	64
37	A.J. Derby	DEN	12	15	11	19	6	63
38	Ben Koyack	JAX	12	15	11	19	6	63
39	Martellus Bennett	NE	13	15	11	18	6	63
40	Brandon Bostick	NYJ	12	15	11	19	6	63
41	Vance MacDonald	SF	13	14	13	17	6	63
42	Darren Fells	ARI	13	15	12	16	6	62
43	Darren Waller	BAL	12	15	11	18	6	62
44	Gerald Christian	BUF	12	15	11	18	6	62
45	Virgil Green	DEN	12	14	11	19	6	62
46	Erik Swoopes	IND	12	15	11	18	6	62
47	Daniel Brown	CHI	13	15	11	16	6	61
48	Ryan Hewitt	CIN	11	14	11	19	6	61
49	Tyler Kroft	CIN	11	14	11	18	6	60
50	Alex Ellis	JAX	11	14	11	18	6	60
51	Eric Tomlinson	NYJ	11	14	11	18	6	60
52	David Johnson	PIT	11	14	11	18	6	60
53	Derek Carrier	WAS	12	14	11	17	6	60
54	Tyler Higbee	LA	11	14	12	16	6	59
55	Rhett Ellison	MIN	13	12	12	16	6	59
56	Jason Witten	DAL	14	13	10	15	6	58
57	Jeff Heuerman	DEN	11	14	11	16	6	58
58	Matt Lengel	NE	11	14	11	16	6	58
59	Sean McGrath	SD	11	14	11	16	6	58
60	Stephen Anderson	HOU	11	14	11	15	6	57
61	Garrett Celek	SF	12	12	10	17	6	57
62	Logan Paulsen	CHI	11	12	10	17	6	56
63	Matthew Mulligan	DET	11	12	10	17	6	56
64	Brent Celek	PHI	11	12	10	17	6	56
65	Austin Hooper	ATL	10	12	10	17	6	55
66	John Phillips	NO	11	12	10	16	6	55
67	Brandon Myers	TB	11	12	10	16	6	55
68	Ed Dickson	CAR	10	12	10	16	6	54
69	Ben Braunecker	CHI	11	12	10	15	6	54
70	Gavin Escobar	DAL	10	12	10	11	6	49

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Crockett Gillmore—injury
• Maxx Williams—injury
• Jordan Cameron—injury
• Josh Hill—injury
• Troy Niklas—injury
• Jacob Tamme—injury
• Zach Miller—injury
• Marcedes Lewis—injury
• Rob Gronkowski—injury
• Charles Clay—injury
• Julius Thomas—injury
• Luke Willson—injury
• Jordan Reed—injury
• Gary Barnidge—bye
• Anthony Fasano—bye
• Delanie Walker--bye

Left Tackles

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Once again, Tyron Smith of the Dallas Cowboys was the NFL's top left tackle in Week 13. The All-Pro was dominant against an explosive Vikings pass rush, surrendering only three pressures and no sacks in the Cowboys' 52 plays. He also finished blocks off with violence in pass protection and in the running game.

If you are a fan of tough, physical, smashmouth football, you will love the performances of our No. 2-ranked right tackle, Buffalo's Cordy Glenn, and our No. 3-ranked right tackle, Oakland's Donald Penn. The Bills-Raiders matchup was an old-fashioned slugfest on the line of scrimmage.

Penn was dominant as a run-blocker and effective in pass protection despite going head-to-head with Lorenzo Alexander, who is third in the NFL in sacks. It doesn't always look pretty, but it's fun to watch him get after it. Penn has a unique story, as he went undrafted in 2006 out of Utah State. Ever since, he has started 152 games, was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl and has four career touchdowns in 11 seasons.

Glenn is developing into an all-around dominant left tackle, as he's big, strong, agile and technically sound. His ability to recover when moved off his spot in pass protection is particularly impressive. Glenn also displays physical dominance as a run-blocker, especially on combo blocks, angle-drive blocks and collapsing and widening the point of attack on down blocks. 

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Tyron Smith	DAL	19	20	17	17	8	81
2	Cordy Glenn	BUF	20	20	16	15	8	79
3	Donald Penn	OAK	19	21	16	14	8	78
4	Jake Matthews	ATL	20	19	15	15	8	77
5	Duane Brown	HOU	18	20	16	14	8	76
6	Jason Peters	PHI	19	19	15	15	8	76
7	David Bakhtiari	GB	19	19	15	15	8	76
8	Andrew Whitworth	CIN	20	19	14	14	8	75
9	Nate Solder	NE	20	18	14	15	8	75
10	Anthony Castonzo	IND	19	19	15	14	8	75
11	Ty Nsekhe	WAS	19	19	14	15	8	75
12	Taylor Decker	DET	19	18	14	15	8	74
13	Ronnie Stanley	BAL	18	18	14	16	8	74
14	Joe Staley	SF	19	19	15	13	8	74
15	Eric Fisher	KC	19	19	15	13	8	74
16	King Dunlap	SD	18	19	14	14	8	73
17	Charles Leno Jr.	CHI	18	17	14	16	8	73
18	Mike Remmers	CAR	17	19	15	14	8	73
19	Andrus Peat	NO	17	20	15	13	8	73
20	Branden Albert	MIA	19	17	13	15	8	72
21	Russell Okung	DEN	18	18	14	14	8	72
22	Alejandro Villanueva	PIT	17	19	14	14	8	72
23	Tom Compton	ATL	17	18	14	14	8	71
24	Donovan Smith	TB	17	18	16	12	8	71
25	Kelvin Beachum	JAX	17	19	13	13	8	70
26	D.J. Humphries	ARI	17	17	14	13	8	69
27	Greg Robinson	LA	16	18	13	13	8	68
28	George Fant	SEA	16	17	12	15	8	68
29	T.J. Clemmings	MIN	15	19	14	12	8	68
30	Ben Ijalana	NYJ	16	16	14	12	8	66
31	Ereck Flowers	NYG	15	17	13	12	8	65

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Luke Joeckel—injury
• Matt Kalil—injury
• Michael Oher—injury
• Terron Armstead—injury
• Taylor Lewan—bye
• Joe Thomas—bye
• Trent Williams—suspension

Right Tackles

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Pittsburgh's Marcus Gilbert claimed our top ranking among right tackles in Week 13. Gilbert showed tremendous strength, power and explosion at the point of attack against New York, and he demonstrated great agility and patience in pass protection, too. After having a breakout season in 2015, Gilbert is establishing himself as a premier offensive tackle in 2016.

Green Bay's Bryan Bulaga was our No. 2-ranked right tackle in Week 13 and has been outstanding all season. He was strong in pass protection and as a run-blocker against Houston. Bulaga's performance this year ranks among the best offensive tackles in the NFL regardless of left or right designation.

New Orleans' Zach Strief grabbed our No. 3 ranking in Week 13. Strief has been steady as a pass protector all year, surrendering just one sack to date. Strief gets after it as a run-blocker and plays with edge and the intent to finish every block, giving defenders an added oomph at the end of each play. 

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Marcus Gilbert	PIT	20	20	16	15	7	78
2	Bryan Bulaga	GB	21	19	15	15	7	77
3	Zach Strief	NO	19	21	15	14	7	76
4	Demar Dotson	TB	20	19	13	16	7	75
5	Marcus Cannon	NE	19	20	15	14	7	75
6	Mitchell Schwartz	KC	18	20	15	15	7	75
7	Ryan Schraeder	ATL	18	20	15	14	7	74
8	Ricky Wagner	BAL	18	21	15	13	7	74
9	Austin Howard	OAK	19	20	15	13	7	74
10	Bobby Massie	CHI	18	19	14	15	7	73
11	Bobby Hart	NYG	19	19	13	15	7	73
12	Morgan Moses	WAS	18	20	15	13	7	73
13	Riley Reiff	DET	17	20	15	13	7	72
14	Donald Stephenson	DEN	17	18	15	15	7	72
15	Joe Barksdale	SD	17	20	14	14	7	72
16	Doug Free	DAL	17	20	14	13	7	71
17	Trai Turner	CAR	17	19	15	13	7	71
18	Allen Barbre	PHI	17	19	14	14	7	71
19	Jermey Parnell	JAX	17	18	15	14	7	71
20	Trenton Brown	SF	17	19	15	12	7	70
21	Joe Reitz	IND	17	19	14	13	7	70
22	Ja'Wuan James	MIA	17	19	14	13	7	70
23	Eric Winston	CIN	18	17	14	13	7	69
24	Jordan Mills	BUF	16	19	14	13	7	69
25	Bradley Sowell	SEA	16	19	13	13	7	68
26	Jeremiah Sirles	MIN	16	18	13	13	7	67
27	Chris Clark	HOU	16	18	13	12	7	66
28	Ulrick John	ARI	16	18	13	12	7	66
29	Joe Haeg	IND	16	18	13	12	7	66
30	Breno Giacomini	NYJ	16	17	14	12	7	66
31	Rob Havenstein	LA	15	17	13	12	7	64
32	Cedric Ogbuehi	CIN	16	16	12	12	7	63

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Daryl Williams—injury
• Halapoulivaati Vaitai—injury
• Andre Smith Jr.—injury
• Garry Gilliam—inactive
• Derek Newton—injury
• Jack Conklin—bye
• Austin Pasztor—bye
• Lane Johnson—suspension

Offensive Guards

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

San Diego's Orlando Franklin has been one of the league's most inconsistent guards this year, but after a couple of weeks of poor play, he bounced back up near the top of this week's grades. Franklin is a huge reason why Melvin Gordon enjoyed early success this season, and when he is on, he's a force to be reckoned with in the run game.

His inconsistency likely boils down to wear and tear. Franklin has a lengthy injury record, and if some of those injuries still bother him from time to time, it would explain the stark difference in his week-to-week play.

Franklin is a hulk of a man who relies on power to win, and when he isn't feeling right, it would make sense that his footwork, which is not his strength, would suffer to the point where it becomes a problem for him in pass protection.

Franklin will always be strong enough to hold up in a straight line, even if he is banged up. But when he is able to move better, the Chargers can pull and get him to the second level where he can decimate smaller linebackers and defensive backs. He also has enough lateral agility and hip smoothness these days to handle stunts and quicker pass-rushers opposing teams throw his way to try to expose him. 

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Mark Glowinski	SEA	16	20	18	16	7	77
2	Zack Martin	DAL	19	18	17	15	7	76
3	Marshal Yanda	BAL	19	17	18	14	7	75
4	Andy Levitre	ATL	17	19	18	14	7	75
5	Ali Marpet	TB	18	16	17	16	7	74
6	Orlando Franklin	SD	17	18	18	14	7	74
7	Richie Incognito	BUF	17	18	18	14	7	74
8	Germain Ifedi	SEA	15	19	18	14	7	73
9	Andrew Norwell	CAR	15	18	18	15	7	73
10	Graham Glasgow	DET	19	16	17	14	7	73
11	Lane Taylor	GB	19	14	16	17	7	73
12	Shaq Mason	NE	16	17	17	15	7	72
13	David DeCastro	PIT	17	16	16	16	7	72
14	Zach Fulton	KC	18	16	17	14	7	72
15	Kelechi Osemele	OAK	16	18	18	13	7	72
16	Joe Haeg	IND	16	17	16	16	7	72
17	Jahri Evans	NO	19	14	17	14	7	71
18	Ronald Leary	DAL	15	18	17	14	7	71
19	Marshall Newhouse	NYG	18	16	16	14	7	71
20	Jason Spriggs	GB	18	15	15	16	7	71
21	Eric Kush	CHI	15	18	17	14	7	71
22	Chris Scott	CAR	18	15	17	14	7	71
23	John Miller	BUF	16	17	17	14	7	71
24	Mike Iupati	ARI	17	16	16	15	7	71
25	Kevin Zeitler	CIN	17	15	17	14	7	70
26	Alex Boone	MIN	15	17	16	15	7	70
27	Xavier Su'a-Filo	HOU	14	18	16	14	7	69
28	Jermon Bushrod	MIA	16	15	16	15	7	69
29	Max Garcia	DEN	15	17	17	13	7	69
30	Ted Larsen	CHI	16	17	16	13	7	69
31	Larry Warford	DET	15	16	17	14	7	69
32	Kevin Pamphile	TB	15	17	16	14	7	69
33	Brandon Scherff	WAS	16	15	16	15	7	69
34	Gabe Jackson	OAK	15	16	17	14	7	69
35	Jack Mewhort	IND	16	15	16	15	7	69
36	Zane Beadles	SF	15	16	16	14	7	68
37	Ramon Foster	PIT	15	16	16	14	7	68
38	Vladimir Ducasse	BAL	15	16	17	13	7	68
39	Laremy Tunsil	MIA	16	15	15	14	7	67
40	Isaac Seumalo	PHI	14	15	17	14	7	67
41	John Jerry	NYG	14	16	16	14	7	67
42	Cody Wichmann	LA	16	14	15	15	7	67
43	Laurent Duvernay-Tardif	KC	17	13	14	15	7	66
44	Senio Kelemete	NO	14	15	16	14	7	66
45	Clint Boling	CIN	16	14	15	14	7	66
46	Shawn Lauvao	WAS	13	16	16	14	7	66
47	Denzelle Good	IND	15	15	16	13	7	66
48	Chris Reed	JAX	14	16	15	13	7	65
49	Chris Chester	ATL	13	17	16	12	7	65
50	Joshua Garnett	SF	13	15	17	13	7	65
51	Brian Winters	NYJ	14	15	15	14	7	65
52	A.J. Cann	JAX	13	16	16	12	7	64
53	Jamon Brown	LA	14	13	16	14	7	64
54	John Wetzel	ARI	15	13	14	15	7	64
55	James Carpenter	NYJ	13	16	16	12	7	64
56	Stefen Wisniewski	PHI	14	13	15	14	7	63
57	Joe Thuney	NE	14	12	14	16	7	63
58	Brandon Fusco	MIN	12	15	15	13	7	62
59	Michael Schofield	DEN	13	12	13	15	7	60
60	Jeff Allen	HOU	12	14	15	12	7	60
61	D.J. Fluker	SD	12	12	15	13	7	59

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• John Greco—injury
• Spencer Drango—bye
• Quinton Spain—bye
• Josh Kline—bye
• Alvin Bailey—bye
• Kyle Long—injury
• T.J. Lang—injury
• La'el Collins—injury
• Evan Mathis—injury
• Justin Pugh—injury
• Joel Bitonio—injury
• Kraig Urbik—insufficient snaps
• Laken Tomlinson—insufficient snaps
• Denver Kirkland—insufficient snaps
• Brandon Brooks—insufficient snaps
• Don Barclay—insufficient snaps
• Josh Sitton—insufficient snaps
• Jonotthan Harrison—insufficient snaps
• Patrick Omameh—insufficient snaps
• Oday Aboushi—insufficient snaps

Centers

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

There was some good center play in Week 13. Two of the more interesting matchups to watch were Travis Frederick on Linval Joseph and Alex Mack on Dontari Poe and the rest of the Chiefs front. Frederick held Joseph at bay all night and had a couple of explosive reps where he dictated Joseph at the line and opened up big holes for Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys running game.

Mack was especially fun to watch, as he made the Falcons offensive line scheme click. The left side of Mack and Andy Levitre was exceptional, and they complement each other well. Mack’s athleticism and ability to quickly read defenders' movements does so much for Atlanta’s offense, creating giant holes and spacing for Devonta Freeman on the ground. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's zone-blocking scheme is beautiful to watch when executed correctly, and this veteran offensive led by Mack knows it 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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Power	Agl	Pos	Ovr
1	Maurkice Pouncey	PIT	18	19	17	16	6	76
2	Travis Frederick	DAL	18	20	18	14	6	76
3	Travis Swanson	DET	19	17	18	15	6	75
4	Alex Mack	ATL	18	18	17	16	6	75
5	Cody Whitehair	CHI	16	17	16	17	6	72
6	Mitch Morse	KC	19	16	15	16	6	72
7	Rodney Hudson	OAK	19	16	16	15	6	72
8	Ryan Groy	BUF	18	17	16	14	6	71
9	Weston Richburg	NYG	16	18	16	15	6	71
10	Jeremy Zuttah	BAL	18	16	17	14	6	71
11	Corey Linsley	GB	19	14	16	15	6	70
12	Max Unger	NO	17	15	16	16	6	70
13	Matt Slauson	SD	18	16	16	14	6	70
14	Ryan Kelly	IND	16	16	15	17	6	70
15	Greg Mancz	HOU	16	17	17	14	6	70
16	David Andrews	NE	16	17	17	13	6	69
17	John Sullivan	WAS	14	18	17	14	6	69
18	Russell Bodine	CIN	16	16	17	14	6	69
19	Justin Britt	SEA	15	17	15	15	6	68
20	A.Q. Shipley	ARI	17	15	15	15	6	68
21	Tyler Larsen	CAR	18	15	14	15	6	68
22	Brandon Linder	JAX	17	17	12	15	6	67
23	Matt Paradis	DEN	17	14	17	13	6	67
24	Jason Kelce	PHI	15	14	15	16	6	66
25	Nick Mangold	NYJ	16	14	16	14	6	66
26	Spencer Long	WAS	15	14	16	14	6	65
27	Joe Hawley	TB	16	13	16	14	6	65
28	Nick Easton	MIN	13	17	13	16	6	65
29	Daniel Kilgore	SF	11	16	17	14	6	64
30	Anthony Steen	MIA	14	14	15	14	6	63
31	Tim Barnes	LA	14	13	15	14	6	62

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Ben Jones—bye
• Cameron Erving—bye
• John Greco—injury
• Gino Gradkowski—injury
• Mike Pouncey—injury
• Ryan Kalil—injury
• Eric Wood—injury
• JC Tretter—injury
• Jonotthan Harrison—insufficient snaps
• Ted Larsen—insufficient snaps
• Kraig Urbik—insufficient snaps

3-4 Defensive Ends

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

The combined run-defense performances of Denver's Jared Crick and Derek Wolfe stood out this week. They dominated the Jaguars offensive line, and both guys made it difficult to find any room. This wasn't just a case of clogging up running lanes; this duo was defeating blocks and tackling well.

Besides them, we get the usual suspects in DeForest Buckner, Akiem Hicks and Chris Baker. Watching these big guys defend the run is a pleasure, but Baker and Hicks are difference-makers for their added ability to rush the passer. 

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Snap	Rush	Run	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	DeForest Buckner	SF	13	16	22	17	7	75
2	Akiem Hicks	CHI	13	18	21	15	7	74
3	Jared Crick	DEN	12	16	22	16	7	73
4	Derek Wolfe	DEN	13	14	24	14	7	72
5	Chris Baker	WAS	13	18	20	14	7	72
6	Ricky Jean-Francois	WAS	12	16	22	15	7	72
7	Calais Campbell	ARI	12	17	21	14	7	71
8	Ziggy Hood	WAS	13	16	20	15	7	71
9	Corey Liuget	SD	12	13	24	14	7	70
10	Mike Daniels	GB	13	16	20	14	7	70
11	Frostee Rucker	ARI	12	16	20	14	7	69
12	Dean Lowry	GB	12	18	17	15	7	69
13	Josh Mauro	ARI	12	16	19	14	7	68
14	Mitch Unrein	CHI	13	16	19	13	7	68
15	Denico Autry	OAK	12	16	19	13	7	67
16	Joey Bosa	SD	13	14	19	14	7	67
17	Cornelius Washington	CHI	12	16	18	14	7	67
18	Quinton Dial	SF	12	15	19	14	7	67
19	Chris Jones	KC	13	16	18	13	7	67
20	Timmy Jernigan	BAL	12	13	21	13	7	66
21	Ronald Blair	SF	12	15	19	13	7	66
22	Brent Urban	BAL	11	16	17	13	7	64
23	Antonio Smith	HOU	11	15	19	12	7	64
24	Stephon Tuitt	PIT	12	14	19	12	7	64
25	Billy Winn	DEN	10	14	18	14	7	63
26	Rakeem Nunez-Roches	KC	12	13	18	13	7	63
27	Kendall Reyes	KC	11	13	19	13	7	63
28	Ricardo Mathews	PIT	11	14	17	13	7	62
29	Lawrence Guy	BAL	11	12	18	12	7	60
30	Darius Philon	SD	10	12	20	12	7	61
31	Leger Douzable	BUF	10	12	19	12	7	60
32	Arthur Jones	IND	9	12	19	13	7	60
33	Henry Anderson	IND	10	13	17	12	7	59
34	Christian Covington	HOU	8	12	18	12	7	57

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Emmanuel Ogbah—bye
• Carl Nassib—bye
• Xavier Cooper—bye
• Jamie Meder—bye
• Jurrell Casey—bye
• Karl Klug—bye
• DaQuan Jones—bye
• Cameron Heyward—injury
• Arik Armstead—injury

4-3 Defensive Ends

Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

The top five names in the league this week at the 4-3 defensive end position should come to no surprise. Khalil Mack of Oakland is on his way to a potential Defensive Player of the Year season in his third year in the league, while Carlos Dunlap of the Cincinnati Bengals once again has proved he is the second-best pass-rushing defensive end in the AFC when he's at his best.

In the NFC, two of the top three pass-rushers hailed from Minnesota, as the Vikings pass rush almost single-handedly kept the team in a close game against the Dallas Cowboys. Everson Griffen is a known commodity, but Danielle Hunter, a second-year 22-year-old, now has 9.5 sacks on the year. The superathlete only posted 4.5 sacks in his entire college career at LSU.

Athleticism matters, as is proved by the second-half bounce-back year by Cameron Jordan, who was struggling early on with the New Orleans Saints, and Brandon Graham, who is on pace for a career year as a 28-year-old end.

Kerry Hyder of Detroit and Vic Beasley of Atlanta, the two soaring stars of this year's NFL at the position, continued their dominant 2016. And Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks returned to the field in the first time in over a month. 

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Rush	Run	Snap	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Khalil Mack	OAK	23	15	16	16	8	78
2	Carlos Dunlap	CIN	26	15	14	13	8	76
3	Danielle Hunter	MIN	21	15	16	16	8	76
4	Cameron Jordan	NO	22	14	16	15	8	75
5	Everson Griffen	MIN	20	14	16	16	8	74
6	Brandon Graham	PHI	21	14	15	15	8	73
7	Kerry Hyder	DET	21	13	15	15	8	72
8	Michael Bennett	SEA	20	14	15	15	8	72
9	Vic Beasley	ATL	21	13	15	14	8	71
10	Kony Ealy	CAR	21	13	14	15	8	71
11	Olivier Vernon	NYG	22	13	14	14	8	71
12	Cliff Avril	SEA	21	13	16	13	8	71
13	Frank Clark	SEA	21	13	15	14	8	71
14	Noah Spence	TB	20	13	16	14	8	71
15	Cameron Wake	MIA	20	14	15	13	8	70
16	Dwight Freeney	ATL	20	13	15	14	8	70
17	Ezekiel Ansah	DET	21	13	15	13	8	70
18	Brian Robison	MIN	20	13	15	14	8	70
19	Darryl Tapp	NO	19	13	15	15	8	70
20	Jason Pierre-Paul	NYG	20	13	15	14	8	70
21	Ryan Delaire	CAR	18	14	15	14	8	69
22	Benson Mayowa	DAL	20	13	14	14	8	69
23	DeMarcus Lawrence	DAL	20	12	15	14	8	69
24	Muhammad Wilkerson	NYJ	18	16	13	14	8	69
25	Devin Taylor	DET	19	14	14	14	8	69
26	William Hayes	LA	20	13	14	14	8	69
27	Cassius Marsh	SEA	20	13	14	14	8	69
28	Jabaal Sheard	NE	20	13	12	15	8	68
29	Chris Long	NE	22	12	13	13	8	68
30	Wes Horton	CAR	18	13	14	15	8	68
31	David Irving	DAL	19	13	14	14	8	68
32	Armonty Bryant	DET	19	13	14	14	8	68
33	Romeo Okwara	NYG	19	13	14	14	8	68
34	William Gholston	TB	19	12	14	15	8	68
35	Trey Flowers	NE	19	15	12	13	8	67
36	Connor Barwin	PHI	19	13	14	13	8	67
37	Marcus Smith	PHI	19	13	14	13	8	67
38	Vinny Curry	PHI	18	13	14	14	8	67
39	Robert Ayers	TB	19	12	14	14	8	67
40	Margus Hunt	CIN	19	15	12	12	8	66
41	Will Clarke	CIN	19	14	13	12	8	66
42	Dante Fowler	JAX	17	16	13	12	8	66
43	Andre Branch	MIA	18	14	13	13	8	66
44	Brooks Reed	ATL	19	11	14	14	8	66
45	Charles Johnson	CAR	19	12	14	13	8	66
46	Matt Longacre	LA	19	13	13	13	8	66
47	Ryan Russell	TB	18	13	13	14	8	66
48	Jack Crawford	DAL	17	13	14	13	8	65
49	Anthony Zettel	DET	18	13	14	12	8	65
50	Ethan Westbrooks	LA	20	11	14	12	8	65
51	Paul Kruger	NO	19	12	12	14	8	65
52	Kerry Wynn	NYG	18	12	13	14	8	65
53	Ben Garland	ATL	18	12	13	13	8	64
54	Eugene Sims	LA	19	11	13	13	8	64
55	Tyrone Crawford	DAL	18	12	13	12	8	63
56	Michael Johnson	CIN	18	13	12	11	8	62
57	Mario Williams	MIA	16	14	11	12	8	61
58	Sheldon Richardson	NYJ	17	12	11	10	8	58

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Yannick Ngakoue—insufficient snaps
• Jared Odrick—inactive
• Lorenzo Mauldin—injury
• Adrian Clayborn—injury
• Robert Quinn—injury
• Mario Addison—injury

Defensive Tackles

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Aaron Donald finishes at the top of the defensive tackle rankings once again. He didn't blow up the stat sheet this week, but he had another dominant showing versus the Patriots offensive line. He was getting pressure in the short passing game, disrupting longer pass drops and routinely showing strong gap discipline. Donald has been one of the most consistently great players in the NFL this year, and this week was no different.

Marcell Dareus had one hell of a game against a tough Raiders offensive line. Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson can be overwhelming at times, yet Dareus was consistently able to control the line of scrimmage versus the run. Dareus is at the top of his game now; he and Kyle Williams aren't at fault for the Bills' current defensive woes. 

Gerald McCoy and Malik Jackson had excellent games rushing the passer this week. McCoy made D.J. Fluker look silly on a handful of occasions, including a devastating spin move that led to an incomplete pass. Jackson had his way with a weak Broncos interior this week. He was a menace as a pass-rusher, moving Paxton Lynch off his spot and making life difficult for the rookie. He's turning into the impact interior pass-rusher the Jaguars expected him to be when they signed him in August.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Snap	Rush	Run	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Aaron Donald	LA	20	18	20	14	7	79
2	Gerald McCoy	TB	19	19	20	12	7	77
3	Marcell Dareus	BUF	17	15	22	13	7	74
4	Geno Atkins	CIN	19	17	18	12	7	73
5	Malik Jackson	JAX	18	19	17	12	7	73
6	Malcom Brown	NE	17	16	20	11	7	71
7	Nick Fairley	NO	17	17	18	12	7	71
8	Leonard Williams	NYJ	18	18	16	12	7	71
9	Sheldon Rankins	NO	16	16	18	13	7	70
10	Fletcher Cox	PHI	18	14	19	12	7	70
11	Kyle Williams	BUF	17	15	19	11	7	69
12	Sen'Derrick Marks	JAX	17	16	17	12	7	69
13	Damon Harrison	NYG	16	14	20	12	7	69
14	Linval Joseph	MIN	16	15	18	12	7	68
15	Brandon Williams	BAL	16	14	18	12	7	67
16	Star Lotulelei	CAR	17	16	16	11	7	67
17	Terrell McClain	DAL	16	15	17	12	7	67
18	Michael Brockers	LA	16	15	17	12	7	67
19	Alan Branch	NE	16	14	19	11	7	67
20	Johnathan Hankins	NYG	17	15	16	12	7	67
21	Jarran Reed	SEA	16	15	18	11	7	67
22	Vernon Butler	CAR	15	15	17	12	7	66
23	T.Y. McGill	IND	16	15	16	12	7	66
24	Dominique Easley	LA	17	17	14	11	7	66
25	Ndamukong Suh	MIA	17	15	16	11	7	66
26	Vincent Valentine	NE	15	16	17	11	7	66
27	Deon Simon	NYJ	17	16	15	11	7	66
28	Cullen Jenkins	WAS	16	15	16	12	7	66
29	Grady Jarrett	ATL	17	14	16	11	7	65
30	Kawann Short	CAR	16	15	15	12	7	65
31	Letroy Guion	GB	16	14	16	12	7	65
32	Javon Hargrave	PIT	17	13	16	12	7	65
33	Corey Peters	ARI	14	16	16	11	7	64
34	Eddie Goldman	CHI	16	15	15	11	7	64
35	Haloti Ngata	DET	15	15	16	11	7	64
36	Tyrunn Walker	DET	15	15	16	11	7	64
37	Hassan Ridgeway	IND	15	14	16	12	7	64
38	Abry Jones	JAX	16	14	16	11	7	64
39	Jordan Hill	JAX	16	14	16	11	7	64
40	Bennie Logan	PHI	16	13	17	11	7	64
41	Ahtyba Rubin	SEA	15	15	16	11	7	64
42	Michael Pierce	BAL	16	11	17	12	7	63
43	Maliek Collins	DAL	15	16	14	11	7	63
44	Zach Kerr	IND	16	14	15	11	7	63
45	Cam Thomas	LA	14	13	17	12	7	63
46	David Onyemata	NO	14	15	16	11	7	63
47	Beau Allen	PHI	15	14	16	11	7	63
48	Clinton McDonald	TB	16	14	15	11	7	63
49	DeShawn Williams	CIN	16	16	13	10	7	62
50	Cedric Thornton	DAL	14	14	15	12	7	62
51	D.J. Reader	HOU	15	11	17	12	7	62
52	Tony McDaniel	SEA	14	15	16	10	7	62
53	Akeem Spence	TB	14	14	16	11	7	62
54	Jonathan Babineaux	ATL	14	15	15	10	7	61
55	Sylvester Williams	DEN	15	14	14	11	7	61
56	Khyri Thornton	DET	16	14	13	11	7	61
57	Domata Peko	CIN	14	13	15	11	7	60
58	Dontari Poe	KC	15	14	13	11	7	60
59	Earl Mitchell	MIA	15	14	14	10	7	60
60	Tom Johnson	MIN	14	15	13	11	7	60
61	Tyeler Davison	NO	13	12	16	12	7	60
62	Destiny Vaeao	PHI	14	12	15	12	7	60
63	Pat Sims	CIN	13	14	14	11	7	59
64	Rakeem Nunez-Roches	KC	14	15	12	11	7	59
65	Jay Bromley	NYG	14	13	14	11	7	59
66	Courtney Upshaw	ATL	13	12	15	10	7	57
67	Kyle Love	CAR	14	13	13	10	7	57
68	A'Shawn Robinson	DET	14	13	13	10	7	57
69	Vince Wilfork	HOU	13	11	15	11	7	57
70	Jordan Phillips	MIA	13	12	14	11	7	57
71	Tyson Jackson	ATL	13	12	13	11	7	56
72	Rodney Gunter	ARI	13	11	14	10	7	55
73	Shamar Stephens	MIN	13	13	12	10	7	55
74	Dan Williams	OAK	13	14	11	10	7	55
75	Ra'Shede Hageman	ATL	12	11	14	10	7	54
76	Adam Gotsis	DEN	13	13	11	10	7	54
77	Jihad Ward	OAK	14	12	11	10	7	54
78	Glenn Dorsey	SF	14	13	11	9	7	54
79	David Parry	IND	11	13	12	10	7	53
80	Justin Ellis	OAK	13	13	10	10	7	53
81	Damion Square	SD	12	10	14	10	7	53

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Danny Shelton—bye
• Al Woods—bye
• Sharrif Floyd—injury
• Darius Latham—injjury
• Stacy McGee—injury
• Will Sutton—injury
• Steve McLendon—injury
• Paul Soliai—inactive
• Mike Purcell—insufficient snaps
• Kenny Clark—insufficient snaps
• John Jenkins—inactive

3-4 Outside Linebackers

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Week 13 was a good reminder that age is just a number. Older 3-4 outside linebackers littered the top of the week's rankings.

James Harrison (age 38) was dominant against the Giants; Tamba Hali (33) produced one of his top pass-rushing grades of the season; Trent Cole (34) looked disruptive in his return from injured reserve; Terrell Suggs (34) was unblockable for long stretches against the Dolphins; and Julius Peppers (36) tallied a sack for the third straight game. The calendar says December, but these veterans are showing no signs of slowing down to end the season. 

Among the other standouts in Week 13 were Whitney Mercilus, who beat Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari for a sack and two important third-down run stops; and Shane Ray, who enjoyed one of his best all-around games of the year during the Broncos' win over the Jaguars.

Ryan Kerrigan had the top pass-rushing grade of the week, while rookie Leonard Floyd tied for the NFL lead in sacks in Week 13 with two, including one that resulted in a safety.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Rush	Run	Cvg	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	James Harrison	PIT	26	13	12	19	8	78
2	Whitney Mercilus	HOU	23	15	9	21	8	76
3	Shane Ray	DEN	22	14	10	21	8	75
4	Tamba Hali	KC	26	12	9	20	8	75
5	Ryan Kerrigan	WAS	27	12	10	18	8	75
6	Von Miller	DEN	22	13	10	20	8	73
7	Trent Cole	IND	21	15	10	19	8	73
8	Melvin Ingram	SD	24	13	10	18	8	73
9	Terrell Suggs	BAL	26	12	9	17	8	72
10	Leonard Floyd	CHI	25	11	9	19	8	72
11	Justin Houston	KC	22	12	9	20	8	71
12	Julius Peppers	GB	23	14	8	18	8	71
13	Shaq Lawson	BUF	20	15	9	19	8	71
14	Lorenzo Alexander	BUF	21	14	9	18	8	70
15	Shaquil Barrett	DEN	19	15	9	19	8	70
16	Chandler Jones	ARI	23	11	10	18	8	70
17	Markus Golden	ARI	22	12	9	19	8	70
18	Trent Murphy	WAS	23	11	10	18	8	70
19	Datone Jones	GB	20	15	9	17	8	69
20	Nick Perry	GB	18	15	9	19	8	69
21	Matt Judon	BAL	22	12	9	18	8	69
22	Ahmad Brooks	SF	22	11	10	18	8	69
23	DeMarcus Ware	DEN	21	12	9	18	8	68
24	Kyle Emanuel	SD	19	13	10	17	8	67
25	Ufomba Kamalu	HOU	19	13	9	17	8	66
26	Jerry Hughes	BUF	20	12	9	16	8	65
27	Clay Matthews	GB	20	11	9	17	8	65
28	Za'Darius Smith	BAL	21	11	9	16	8	65
29	Willie Young	CHI	20	12	9	16	8	65
30	Anthony Chickillo	PIT	19	12	9	17	8	65
31	Pernell McPhee	CHI	19	12	9	17	8	65
32	Erik Walden	IND	20	12	9	16	8	65
33	Frank Zombo	KC	19	11	10	17	8	65
34	Chris Landrum	SD	20	12	9	16	8	65
35	Preston Smith	WAS	19	12	9	17	8	65
36	Elvis Dumervil	BAL	20	11	9	16	8	64
37	Dee Ford	KC	18	11	10	17	8	64
38	Alex Okafor	ARI	20	10	9	16	8	63
39	Jarvis Jones	PIT	17	11	9	18	8	63
40	Akeem Ayers	IND	16	11	10	16	8	61
41	Jayrone Elliott	GB	17	11	8	17	8	61
42	Albert McClellan	BAL	17	10	10	16	8	61
43	Akeem Dent	HOU	16	12	9	16	8	61
44	Eli Harold	SF	18	9	10	15	8	60
45	Bud Dupree	PIT	15	11	9	16	8	59
46	Tank Carradine	SF	17	9	9	15	8	58
47	Curt Maggitt	IND	14	10	9	15	8	56

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Sam Acho—insufficient snaps
• Joe Schobert—bye
• Jamie Collins—bye
• Corey Lemonier—bye
• Cam Johnson—bye
• John Simon—injury
• Jadeveon Clowney—injury
• Robert Mathis—injury
• Lavar Edwards—injury
• Arthur Moats—insufficient snaps
• Aaron Lynch—injury
• Derrick Morgan—bye
• Brian Orakpo—bye
• David Bass—bye
• Kevin Dodd—bye
• Aaron Wallace—bye

4-3 Outside Linebackers

Steve Dykes/Getty Images

There is a familiar name at the top of this week's rankings. Seahawks stud K.J. Wright put on a show against the Panthers on Sunday Night Football.

Wright is the unheralded star of the Seahawks defense. On Sunday night, the sixth-year veteran did it all. He was stout against the Panthers' rushing attack. The Panthers linemen could not properly deal with how quickly and violently Wright attacked the line of scrimmage. He shined in pass coverage, too, and did not allow anyone in his vicinity to get open. Above all else, Wright forced a fumble early on in the game that further built on the interception fellow linebacker Mike Morgan had on the first play of the game.

Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr and Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David both failed to play to their talent levels, but aside from those two, most of what happened this week has been seen plenty of times before.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	Run	Rush	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	K.J. Wright	SEA	21	20	7	21	6	75
2	Bruce Irvin	OAK	18	19	11	20	6	74
3	Nigel Bradham	PHI	19	20	7	20	6	72
4	Vontaze Burfict	CIN	21	20	7	18	6	72
5	Thomas Davis	CAR	17	19	7	21	6	70
6	Telvin Smith	JAX	18	18	10	18	6	70
7	Vincent Rey	CIN	19	19	7	18	6	69
8	Mike Morgan	SEA	20	17	7	18	6	68
9	Sean Lee	DAL	18	17	9	16	6	66
10	Damien Wilson	DAL	16	19	7	18	6	66
11	Jonathan Casillas	NYG	16	19	7	18	6	66
12	Karlos Dansby	CIN	17	17	7	18	6	65
13	Josh Bynes	DET	17	16	7	19	6	65
14	Myles Jack	JAX	17	17	7	18	6	65
15	Anthony Barr	MIN	18	17	9	15	6	65
16	Dannell Ellerbe	NO	16	17	9	17	6	65
17	Lavonte David	TB	17	18	7	17	6	65
18	De'Vondre Campbell	ATL	14	17	7	19	6	63
19	Kyle Van Noy	NE	17	15	9	16	6	63
20	Cory Littleton	LA	15	16	7	19	6	63
21	Devon Kennard	NYG	14	17	8	17	6	62
22	Antwione Williams	DET	16	15	7	17	6	61
23	Rob Ninkovich	NE	15	16	9	15	6	61
24	Craig Robertson	NO	17	15	8	15	6	61
25	Jordan Jenkins	NYJ	16	16	7	16	6	61
26	Malcolm Smith	OAK	15	16	7	17	6	61
27	Philip Wheeler	ATL	15	16	7	16	6	60
28	Shaq Thompson	CAR	14	16	7	17	6	60
29	Dan Skuta	JAX	15	16	7	16	6	60
30	Neville Hewitt	MIA	16	16	7	15	6	60
31	Shea McClellin	NE	16	15	7	16	6	60
32	Mike Catapano	NYJ	14	16	8	16	6	60
33	Mychal Kendricks	PHI	16	16	7	15	6	60
34	Spencer Paysinger	MIA	16	16	8	14	6	60
35	Keenan Robinson	NYG	14	15	7	17	6	59
36	Mark Barron	LA	15	13	7	17	6	58
37	Darron Lee	NYJ	12	15	7	18	6	58
38	Chad Greenway	MIN	16	12	7	16	6	57
39	Stephone Anthony	NO	13	16	7	15	6	57

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Paul Worrilow—insufficient snaps
• Sean Weatherspoon—insufficient snaps
• Justin Durant—insufficient snaps
• DeAndre Levy—injury
• Koa Misi—insufficient snaps
• Jelani Jenkins—insufficient snaps
• Donald Butler—insufficient snaps
• Jonathan Freeny—insufficient snaps
• Daryl Smith—insufficient snaps
• Jaylon Smith—injury
• Josh Forrest—injury

Inside Linebackers

Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Luke Kuechly is still dealing with the effects of a concussion that has forced him out of action in recent weeks. With him gone, there isn't a bona fide star at linebacker in the league. The inside linebackers who fall just behind Kuechly each show inconsistencies in their games, and when they do, you'll see surprising performances and shakeups.

That's the case for Week 13, as a couple of young inside linebackers find themselves atop the board for their performances Sunday. Denver Broncos linebacker Todd Davis has had an up-and-down season but was a player I was excited about in the preseason. On Sunday, against a poor Jaguars team, Davis looked explosive and aggressive. 

Joe Thomas, who began the season as Green Bay's coverage backer, had his best game Sunday as well against the Houston Texans. He rushed the passer with aggression, showed better mental processing skills versus the run and was able to use his athleticism in coverage at all levels of the field. The Packers are in the hunt for a playoff spot, and performances like the one from Thomas are surely welcome.

Anthony Hitchens might be the surprise performer of the week. Hitchens isn't known for his coverage, yet he was highly effective on Thursday Night Football. The Cowboys defense has played much better than many expected, and Hitchens' performance is another example of a team that's outperforming expectations.

I was excited about Ramik Wilson's play for the Chiefs over the last month-and-a-half. We may have to pump the brakes on that one. Wilson has struggled mightily for multiple weeks, lacking any of the downhill aggression, closing speed or hand usage that made him an immediate upgrade inside. The Chiefs can't make a switch now, but Wilson is close to spending his January exposed in the playoffs.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Pass	Run	Rush	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Todd Davis	DEN	21	29	11	11	6	78
2	Joe Thomas	GB	20	29	11	11	6	77
3	Lawrence Timmons	PIT	21	27	10	11	6	75
4	Anthony Hitchens	DAL	20	28	11	10	6	75
5	Brandon Marshall	DEN	20	27	10	11	6	74
6	Edwin Jackson	IND	18	29	10	11	6	74
7	Nick Kwiatkoski	CHI	18	28	11	11	6	74
8	Jordan Hicks	PHI	18	29	10	10	6	73
9	Paul Posluszny	JAX	17	29	10	11	6	73
10	Brian Cushing	HOU	17	29	9	11	6	72
11	Bobby Wagner	SEA	18	27	10	10	6	71
12	Eric Kendricks	MIN	17	28	9	11	6	71
13	Dont'a Hightower	NE	17	27	10	11	6	71
14	Jake Ryan	GB	17	27	10	11	6	71
15	C.J. Mosley	BAL	16	27	11	10	6	70
16	Korey Toomer	SD	16	27	10	11	6	70
17	Derrick O. Johnson	KC	18	27	9	10	6	70
18	D'Qwell Jackson	IND	17	26	10	11	6	70
19	Mike Hull	MIA	17	25	10	11	6	69
20	Zach Orr	BAL	16	28	10	9	6	69
21	Benardrick McKinney	HOU	16	26	11	10	6	69
22	Will Compton	WAS	17	27	9	10	6	69
23	Corey Nelson	DEN	18	24	9	11	6	68
24	Preston Brown	BUF	17	26	8	11	6	68
25	Su'a Cravens	WAS	16	26	10	10	6	68
26	Ryan Shazier	PIT	17	26	10	9	6	68
27	Antonio Morrison	IND	16	25	9	11	6	67
28	Nick Bellore	SF	17	25	8	11	6	67
29	Kevin Minter	ARI	16	25	11	9	6	67
30	John Timu	CHI	15	26	9	11	6	67
31	Kelvin Sheppard	NYG	15	26	8	11	6	66
32	Deion Jones	ATL	17	24	9	10	6	66
33	Perry Riley	OAK	17	25	8	10	6	66
34	Rey Maualuga	CIN	15	24	9	11	6	65
35	Mason Foster	WAS	17	25	9	8	6	65
36	Max Bullough	HOU	16	24	9	10	6	65
37	Deone Bucannon	ARI	15	24	10	9	6	64
38	Kwon Alexander	TB	17	24	10	7	6	64
39	Gerald Hodges	SF	16	24	8	10	6	64
40	Denzel Perryman	SD	14	25	9	10	6	64
41	David Harris	NYJ	15	24	8	10	6	63
42	A.J. Klein	CAR	18	22	8	9	6	63
43	Michael Wilhoite	SF	16	22	8	10	6	62
44	Zach Brown	BUF	16	21	8	10	6	61
45	Kiko Alonso	MIA	15	21	8	9	6	59
46	Alec Ogletree	LA	16	20	9	8	6	59
47	Ramik Wilson	KC	14	22	8	6	6	56

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Chris Kirksey—bye
• Demario Davis—bye
• Avery Williamson—bye
• Wesley Woodyard—bye
• Sean Spence—bye
• Luke Kuechly—injury
• Danny Trevathan—injury
• Blake Martinez—injury
• Jatavis Brown—injury
• Tahir Whitehead—insufficient snaps
• Nate Stupar—insufficient snaps
• Cory James—insufficient snaps
• Stephen Tulloch—insufficient snaps
• Joshua Perry—insufficient snaps
• Jerrell Freeman—suspension

Cornerbacks

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Denver's Chris Harris Jr. is the cream of the crop. He's patient, he's feisty, he's aware, and when they throw it his way, he finds a way to force an incompletion. Harris allowed three catches on nine targets for 25 yards. He also broke up a pass, intercepted another and had two run stops. Hands down, Denver has the best group of corners in the league.

Malcolm Butler gave up a long pass on a double move once the game was decided, but before that, he was having a fantastic day in coverage. For a corner under 6'0", he is one of the most physical guys I have seen this year. The Patriots mix up their coverages quite a bit, and Butler can lay the wood.

The Chiefs got Marcus Peters back, and his presence was felt. The difference when he matched up against Julio Jones was apparent. In one coverage, had the ball not been tipped, Peters jumped Jones' route and likely would've had an interception. He jumped another post route from Atlanta's receivers but dropped the interception. On the day, Peters gave up three of six catches for 46 yards.

Darrelle Revis doesn't have explosiveness or lateral quickness these days. Sean Smith of the Raiders looks like a box safety playing corner and moves like one too. He was targeted six times and gave up four catches, all going for first downs.

Patrick Peterson and Josh Norman were tasked with covering a talented corps of receivers. Peterson was one of the most successful cornerbacks this week despite Washington's impressive depth, as he limited Kirk Cousins' success to just one completion on four targets. The cherry on top for Peterson was an interception in the second half that ended the Redskins' comeback bid.

Norman shadowed Larry Fitzgerald more in the second half than earlier in the game, but he split time all over the field. As usual, he competed with a high motor and showed great physicality in coverage. He was not only beaten several times in coverage, but he was also run over once by Jermaine Gresham on a tackle attempt and another time in the run game by Cardinals guard Mike Iupati.

Cowboys corner Brandon Carr had played well in relief of Mo Claiborne as the defense's No. 1 corner until Week 13. In 45 coverage snaps versus Minnesota, Carr allowed nine of 12 targets to be completed for eight first downs. He was credited with three blown coverages, second behind Tramaine Brock of the 49ers for the most this week.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	React	Slot	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Chris Harris Jr.	DEN	26	26	18	8	9	87
2	Casey Hayward	SD	24	25	16	6	9	80
3	Jalen Ramsey	JAX	23	24	16	6	9	78
4	Patrick Peterson	ARI	22	21	18	7	9	77
5	Tavon Young	BAL	23	22	16	7	9	77
6	Bradley Roby	DEN	22	23	17	6	9	77
7	Aqib Talib	DEN	22	23	16	6	9	76
8	Johnathan Joseph	HOU	23	22	16	6	9	76
9	Malcolm Butler	NE	23	21	17	6	9	76
10	Marcus Peters	KC	20	24	16	6	9	75
11	T.J. Carrie	OAK	21	22	17	6	9	75
12	Darius Slay	DET	21	20	18	6	9	74
13	Eric Rowe	NE	22	21	16	6	9	74
14	Eli Apple	NYG	20	21	18	6	9	74
15	Jimmy Smith	BAL	22	21	16	5	9	73
16	Stephon Gilmore	BUF	22	21	15	6	9	73
17	Richard Sherman	SEA	20	20	18	6	9	73
18	A.J. Bouye	HOU	22	22	16	4	9	73
19	Logan Ryan	NE	21	20	16	7	9	73
20	Ross Cockrell	PIT	22	20	16	6	9	73
21	Artie Burns	PIT	21	21	16	6	9	73
22	Darryl Morris	IND	20	22	16	5	9	72
23	William Gay	PIT	21	20	16	6	9	72
24	Josh Shaw	CIN	20	21	16	5	9	71
25	Terrance Mitchell	KC	20	21	16	5	9	71
26	Byron Maxwell	MIA	20	21	16	5	9	71
27	Josh Norman	WAS	19	21	18	4	9	71
28	Dre Kirkpatrick	CIN	21	20	16	4	9	70
29	Trumaine Johnson	LA	18	19	17	6	9	69
30	Xavier Rhodes	MIN	19	19	17	5	9	69
31	DeShawn Shead	SEA	18	18	16	7	9	68
32	Adam Jones	CIN	21	19	15	4	9	68
33	Cyrus Jones	NE	18	20	15	5	9	67
34	Janoris Jenkins	NYG	17	18	17	5	9	66
35	Darqueze Dennard	CIN	17	18	14	7	9	65
36	Rashaan Melvin	IND	18	18	15	5	9	65
37	Vontae Davis	IND	18	18	15	5	9	65
38	Bashaud Breeland	WAS	17	18	16	5	9	65
39	Jalen Collins	ATL	18	17	15	5	9	64
40	Tracy Porter	CHI	16	17	17	5	9	64
41	Nevin Lawson	DET	17	17	16	5	9	64
42	Aaron Colvin	JAX	17	17	16	5	9	64
43	Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie	NYG	18	17	15	5	9	64
44	Bryce Callahan	CHI	16	16	17	5	9	63
45	Delvin Breaux	NO	16	17	16	5	9	63
46	Tyvon Branch	ARI	16	15	17	5	9	62
47	Chris Milton	IND	17	16	15	5	9	62
48	Daryl Worley	CAR	16	16	15	5	9	61
49	Lamarcus Joyner	LA	16	15	16	5	9	61
50	Kendall Fuller	WAS	15	16	16	5	9	61
51	Vernon Hargreaves	TB	15	15	16	6	9	61
52	Robert Alford	ATL	15	16	14	6	9	60
53	Captain Munnerlyn	MIN	14	16	16	5	9	60
54	Brent Grimes	TB	15	14	16	5	9	59
55	Darrelle Revis	NYJ	16	15	15	4	9	59
56	Shareece Wright	BAL	14	15	15	5	9	58
57	Jerraud Powers	BAL	16	14	15	4	9	58
58	Nickell Robey-Coleman	BUF	15	15	15	4	9	58
59	James Bradberry	CAR	13	15	15	6	9	58
60	Jeremy Lane	SEA	15	14	15	5	9	58
61	Ladarius Gunter	GB	15	14	15	5	9	58
62	Trae Waynes	MIN	15	14	15	5	9	58
63	Sterling Moore	NO	14	14	15	6	9	58
64	Alterraun Verner	TB	14	15	14	6	9	58
65	Buster Skrine	NYJ	15	14	15	5	9	58
66	Quinton Dunbar	WAS	15	15	14	5	9	58
67	Orlando Scandrick	DAL	14	15	14	5	9	57
68	Quandre Diggs	DET	14	15	14	5	9	57
69	Leonard Johnson	CAR	14	14	15	5	9	57
70	Rashard Robinson	SF	14	14	13	7	9	57
71	Daryl Roberts	NYJ	14	14	15	5	9	57
72	Nolan Carroll	PHI	14	15	14	5	9	57
73	Robert McCain	CAR	13	15	14	5	9	56
74	Quinten Rollins	GB	13	15	13	6	9	56
75	Prince Amukamara	JAX	13	14	15	5	9	56
76	David Amerson	OAK	13	15	14	4	9	55
77	Brian Poole	ATL	13	13	14	5	9	54
78	Anthony Brown	DAL	14	13	13	5	9	54
79	Damarious Randall	GB	12	14	14	5	9	54
80	Kareem Jackson	HOU	13	15	14	3	9	54
81	Steven Nelson	KC	13	14	13	5	9	54
82	Sean Smith	OAK	12	14	14	5	9	54
83	Marcus Cooper	ARI	12	13	14	5	9	53
84	Trevor Williams	SD	12	13	14	5	9	53
85	Mike Jordan	LA	12	14	13	5	9	53
86	Bobby McCain	MIA	12	13	14	5	9	53
87	Cre'von LeBlanc	CHI	13	13	13	4	9	52
88	Jimmie Ward	SF	12	12	13	5	9	51
89	Jalen Mills	PHI	12	13	13	4	9	51
90	Leodis McKelvin	PHI	12	11	14	5	9	51
91	Kevon Seymour	BUF	12	11	13	5	9	50
92	Brandon Carr	DAL	12	11	13	5	9	50
93	Tony Lippett	MIA	12	11	13	5	9	50
94	Craig Mager	SD	12	11	12	5	9	49
95	Charles James	HOU	11	10	13	5	9	48
96	E.J. Gaines	LA	11	11	12	5	9	48
97	Tramaine Brock	SF	10	10	13	5	9	47
98	B.W. Webb	NO	10	11	12	5	9	47

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Jason McCourty—bye
• Perrish Cox—bye
• Brice McCain—bye
• Joe Haden—bye
• Jamar Taylor—bye
• Tramon Williams—bye
• Briean Boddy-Calhoun—bye
• Desmond Trufant—injury
• Terence Newman—insufficient snaps
• Sam Shields—injury
• Morris Claiborne—injury
• Jason Verrett—injury
• Brandon Flowers—injury

Free Safeties

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Lions safety Glover Quin is the surprise name at the top of the free safety rankings this week. Against a potent Saints passing attack, Quin was all over the field making plays. He started well in the first quarter, buzzing down to a spot route, taking it away from Drew Brees and forcing him to check down to the flat.

Later on, Quin read a tight end running down the seam perfectly. He broke down on the route and landed a big hit as the ball arrived, forcing it out and breaking up the pass. On a deep shot to Brandin Cooks, Quin looked beaten but managed to recover and dived at full stretch to get his hand on the ball and break up the pass. A few series later, he made a great read on a deep ball to Cooks, intercepting the pass.

Mike Mitchell of the Steelers also had a strong week facing a tough Giants passing attack. While he had a quiet start to the game, he did a good job of staying on top of Odell Beckham Jr. and negating much of his threat. In the second half, the Giants began to force the ball to Beckham, but Mitchell didn't back down.

In the third quarter, he read a crossing route from Beckham perfectly. In the fourth quarter, Mitchell had another pass breakup. Once again, he read a route from Beckham, driving down from his deep zone and arriving just before the ball. A few series later, he nearly had an interception, once again breaking down on a crossing route to Beckham.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	Rec	Slot	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Glover Quin	DET	25	25	5	16	8	79
2	Mike Mitchell	PIT	25	25	6	15	8	79
3	Byron Jones	DAL	25	24	6	15	8	78
4	Earl Thomas	SEA	25	25	5	15	8	78
5	Lardarius Webb	BAL	24	24	5	16	8	77
6	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	GB	24	23	6	16	8	77
7	Harrison Smith	MIN	23	24	6	16	8	77
8	George Iloka	CIN	24	23	5	16	8	76
9	Steven Terrell	SEA	24	24	4	15	8	75
10	D.J. Swearinger	ARI	23	22	6	15	8	74
11	Tre Boston	CAR	23	23	4	16	8	74
12	Darian Stewart	DEN	23	23	5	15	8	74
13	Darius Butler	IND	23	22	5	16	8	74
14	Devin McCourty	NE	22	23	5	16	8	74
15	Marcus Gilchrist	NYJ	23	21	5	16	8	73
16	Ricardo Allen	ATL	21	23	5	15	8	72
17	Corey Graham	BUF	22	21	6	15	8	72
18	Jairus Byrd	NO	23	21	5	15	8	72
19	T.J. Green	IND	22	22	4	15	8	71
20	Ron Parker	KC	22	21	5	15	8	71
21	Deon Bush	CHI	21	20	5	16	8	70
22	Jeff Heath	DAL	21	20	5	16	8	70
23	Duron Harmon	NE	21	22	4	15	8	70
24	Reggie Nelson	OAK	21	20	5	15	8	69
25	Justin Simmons	DEN	19	19	6	16	8	68
26	Rodney McLeod	PHI	18	21	6	15	8	68
27	Dwight Lowery	SD	20	20	5	15	8	68
28	Tashaun Gipson	JAX	20	19	5	15	8	67
29	Will Blackmon	WAS	19	19	5	16	8	67
30	Maurice Alexander	LA	20	19	5	14	8	66
31	Michael Thomas	MIA	19	18	6	15	8	66
32	Vonn Bell	NO	20	19	5	14	8	66
33	Antoine Bethea	SF	18	19	6	15	8	66
34	Isa-Abdul Quddus	MIA	18	19	5	15	8	65
35	Bradley McDougald	TB	18	19	5	15	8	65
36	Andrew Adams	NYG	19	19	4	14	8	64
37	Corey Moore	HOU	18	17	4	15	8	62

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Ibraheim Campbell—bye
• Rashad Johnson—bye
• Kevin Byard—bye
• Adrian Amos—inactive
• Clayton Geathers—inactive
• Nat Berhe—inactive
• Kentrell Brice—insufficient snaps
• Andre Hal—insufficient snaps

Strong Safeties

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Chiefs star safety Eric Berry was born in Atlanta and spent much of his time there while undergoing cancer treatment a few years ago. He returned there this weekend and put on a strong performance against the Falcons. His play over the course of the game was solid, but he had two highlight plays that put him over the top. Both were interceptions, with the first coming in the second quarter.

He was playing in a deep zone while reading a deep over route from Falcons receiver Taylor Gabriel. Berry read the route and spotted quarterback Matt Ryan beginning his throwing motion. He jumped the route and made the interception in front of Gabriel. But he wasn't content with just the pick. He eluded tacklers and worked through traffic to return it for a touchdown.

Berry's second interception was just as important. Late in the fourth quarter, the Falcons scored a touchdown and were looking to convert a two-point attempt to put them up by three. Berry read a crossing route from the far side of the field and got his eyes in the backfield. As soon as Ryan released the ball, Berry jumped it and made the pick. Just like before, Berry wasn't content with the stop and had a free run all the way back, turning the interception into two points, which eventually became the game-winning ones.

The Giants' Landon Collins continued his impressive sophomore season this week. A Steelers offense that contains Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown can put a lot of stress on a safety, but Collins stood up to the test for the most part. He had a couple of pass breakups, the first coming on a crossing route by Steelers wide receiver Eli Rogers. Collins broke down quickly from his deep zone and landed a hit as the ball arrived. The hit caused Rogers to drop the pass and allowed Collins to get the Giants off the field on third down.

Similarly, Collins broke down on a crossing route from a tight end in the second quarter. This time, he was closer to the play and managed to undercut the route, getting his hand on the ball to break up the pass. Collins did have one mistake in coverage, however. Late in the third quarter, he bit down on a fake bubble screen, allowing a tight end to run past him in the process. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is too good to miss out on that type of opportunity and threw the ball over Collins to the tight end for a touchdown.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Cvg	Rec	Slot	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Eric Berry	KC	22	22	15	15	6	80
2	Sean Davis	PIT	20	20	16	15	6	77
3	Quintin Demps	HOU	20	19	16	16	6	77
4	Landon Collins	NYG	19	20	16	15	6	76
5	Barry Church	DAL	19	19	16	16	6	76
6	Keith Tandy	TB	21	19	15	15	6	76
7	T.J. Ward	DEN	19	19	15	16	6	75
8	Jahleel Addae	SD	19	19	15	15	6	74
9	Kam Chancellor	SEA	18	18	16	16	6	74
10	Morgan Burnett	GB	18	18	16	15	6	73
11	Andrew Sendejo	MIN	18	18	16	15	6	73
12	Harold Jones-Quartey	CHI	18	17	15	16	6	72
13	Shawn Williams	CIN	18	18	15	15	6	72
14	Mike Adams	IND	18	17	15	16	6	72
15	Tony Jefferson	ARI	17	18	15	15	6	71
16	Karl Joseph	OAK	17	17	15	16	6	71
17	James Ihedigbo	BUF	16	17	15	16	6	70
18	Jaylen Watkins	PHI	16	17	15	16	6	70
19	Corey White	BUF	17	16	15	15	6	69
20	Daniel Sorensen	KC	16	17	15	15	6	69
21	T.J. McDonald	LA	17	17	14	15	6	69
22	Bacarri Rambo	MIA	17	17	14	15	6	69
23	Kenny Vaccaro	NO	17	17	14	15	6	69
24	Eric Weddle	BAL	17	16	14	15	6	68
25	Tavon Wilson	DET	17	16	14	15	6	68
26	Johnathan Cyprien	JAX	17	16	14	15	6	68
27	Patrick Chung	NE	16	17	14	15	6	68
28	Keanu Neal	ATL	16	16	14	15	6	67
29	Will Parks	DEN	16	15	14	16	6	67
30	Miles Killebrew	DET	16	16	14	15	6	67
31	Rontez Miles	NYJ	16	16	14	15	6	67
32	Malcolm Jenkins	PHI	16	16	14	15	6	67
33	Adrian Phillips	SD	16	16	14	15	6	67
34	Duke Ihenacho	WAS	16	16	15	14	6	67
35	Eddie Pleasant	HOU	16	15	14	15	6	66
36	Nate Allen	OAK	16	15	14	15	6	66
37	Jaquiski Tartt	SF	15	16	14	15	6	66
38	Clayton Fejedelem	CIN	14	15	14	16	6	65
39	Rafael Bush	DET	15	15	14	15	6	65
40	Donte Whitner	WAS	15	15	14	15	6	65
41	Michael Griffin	CAR	13	15	12	14	6	60

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Derrick Kindred—bye
• Da'Norris Searcy—bye
• Daimion Stafford—bye
• Kurt Coleman—inactive
• J.J. Wilcox—inactive
• Calvin Pryor—inactive
• Chris Conte—inactive
• Robert Golden—insufficient snaps

Kickers

Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

While Stephen Gostkowski has struggled at times this year, his Week 13 effort was one of his strongest of the season, though it still does not match the heights seen by Dan Bailey in Week 1 or Justin Tucker in Week 12. Gostkowski was perfect on the day, including connections on two 45-yard attempts and a 48-yarder en route to a New England victory over the Rams.

Gostkowski's primary issue this year has been inconsistent balance and a flatter swing plane, but he appears to be showing a more upright motion that benefited him this week. Repetition will be key as he looks to build momentum for a deep playoff run. 

Matt Prater had another strong week for the Lions in what is his best season as a pro to date. He has been consistent this year and has made clutch kicks in several games as well.

Oakland's Sebastian Janikowski, Washington's Dustin Hopkins and Seattle's Steven Hauschka join Prater and Gostkowski atop the leaderboard. Janikowski has been below average for much of the year, and Hopkins has struggled in recent weeks as well. But both turned in performances with strikes from distance, with Janikowski making three from 40-49 yards and Hopkins drilling a 53-yarder. Hauschka is having one of the best years of his career and was perfect for the week, though he didn't have any long-distance attempts to challenge him.

Houston's Nick Novak had the toughest week of any kicker, slipping and missing an extra point due to cold and slick conditions. While conditions must be taken into account in grading, players must also account for them in order to adjust their technique or equipment to overcome issues, especially on kicks such as this. Novak is in line with his career accuracy numbers at this point, so he'll likely return to the middle of the pack in the future.

Kansas City's Cairo Santos, Philadelphia's Caleb Sturgis, San Diego's Josh Lambo and Tampa Bay rookie Roberto Aguayo also struggled this week. The three veterans have been strong this year, though I noted several weeks ago that Sturgis was due for a regression, which is begining to happen.

Aguayo is the most concerning. After three weeks without any misses, he once again missed in back-to-back weeks and is not putting up the numbers required by NFL kickers in today's game. While rookie struggles can happen, Aguayo's 31-yard miss against the Chargers is the kind that will leave significant questions he will need to address in the final four weeks of the season. Otherwise, he will likely face competition in camp next summer.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Pwr	Acc	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	32	38	3	3	76
2	Matt Prater	DET	34	35	3	3	75
3	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	32	37	3	3	75
4	Dustin Hopkins	WAS	33	36	3	3	75
5	Steven Hauschka	SEA	31	38	3	3	75
6	Adam Vinatieri	IND	32	37	3	3	75
7	Matt Bryant	ATL	34	34	3	3	74
8	Justin Tucker	BAL	33	34	3	3	73
9	Randy Bullock	PIT	31	33	3	3	70
10	Brandon McManus	DEN	31	32	3	3	69
11	Wil Lutz	NO	31	31	3	3	68
12	Dan Carpenter	BUF	31	31	3	3	68
13	Connor Barth	CHI	30	32	3	3	68
14	Jason Myers	JAX	32	30	3	3	68
15	Dan Bailey	DAL	31	30	3	3	67
16	Greg Zuerlein	LA	31	30	3	3	67
17	Kai Forbath	MIN	28	33	3	3	67
18	Andrew Franks	MIA	31	29	3	3	66
19	Phil Dawson	SF	30	30	3	3	66
20	Nick Folk	NYJ	31	29	3	3	66
21	Mike Nugent	CIN	30	27	5	3	65
22	Mason Crosby	GB	31	28	3	3	65
23	Robbie Gould	NYG	30	28	3	3	64
24	Graham Gano	CAR	31	27	3	3	64
25	Chandler Catanzaro	ARI	29	26	3	3	61
26	Roberto Aguayo	TB	31	23	3	3	60
27	Josh Lambo	SD	30	23	3	3	59
28	Caleb Sturgis	PHI	30	22	3	3	58
29	Cairo Santos	KC	31	20	3	3	57
30	Nick Novak	HOU	29	18	3	3	53

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Chris Boswell—injury
• Cody Parkey—bye
• Ryan Succop—bye

Punters

Michael Thomas/Getty Images

Punting superstar Johnny Hekker is the best punter for Week 13, with booming distance and outstanding ball placement carrying him to the top spot. Hekker has been one of the NFL's top punters for the last several years, and weeks like this are common for him, as he features every attribute a coach desires at the position. He is one of the elite punters in the NFL and put up a strong performance this past week.

Tampa Bay's Bryan Anger occupies the second spot, as his strong leg vaults him near the top in power categories, though his directional abilities continue to be just slightly above average. Anger likely has the strongest and most consistent leg in the league, but he does lack the top-end accuracy of punters such as Hekker, Indianapolis' Pat McAfee and Oakland's Marquette King. This is still one of the strongest years of his career, and he contniues to have a good season heading into the final quarter. Rounding out the top five are Carolina's Michael Palardy—who is filling in capably for Andy Lee—Dallas' Chris Jones and Kansas City's Dustin Colquitt.

However, this week was not so much about what happened at the top, but rather how the bottom fell out for many NFL punters. Ten punters scored below 60—the highest number this year, including two below 50—in performances that would not have been acceptable at the college level, let alone in the NFL. The Bears' Pat O'Donnell occupies the bottom spot, as tough conditions in Chicago led to a difficult outing for a punter who has established himself as a capable NFL starter. O'Donnell will likely return to form next week, but this was a challenging week for him.

Jeff Locke of the Vikings, who had shown stronger-than-expected leg strength throughout much of the year, struggled in Week 13, as did rookie Lachlan Edwards, who continues to lack consistency and is likely not a long-term solution for the Jets.

Brad Wing also had a rare down week in 2016 for the Giants, and Buffalo's Colton Schmidt and San Diego's Drew Kaser continued up-and-down years as they look to gain some consistency heading into Week 14.

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 13

Rank	Player	Team	Dist	Hang	Acc	Tkl	Pos	Ovr
1	Johnny Hekker	LA	20	15	38	3	3	79
2	Bryan Anger	TB	18	18	31	3	3	73
3	Michael Palardy	CAR	14	14	38	3	3	72
4	Chris Jones	DAL	12	20	33	3	3	71
5	Dustin Colquitt	KC	17	18	30	3	3	71
6	Matt Bosher	ATL	13	18	32	3	3	69
7	Shane Lechler	HOU	17	12	33	4	3	69
8	Pat McAfee	IND	17	16	30	3	3	69
9	Riley Dixon	DEN	15	15	32	3	3	68
10	Tress Way	WAS	15	18	29	3	3	68
11	Kevin Huber	CIN	15	15	29	3	3	65
12	Sam Martin	DET	14	15	30	3	3	65
13	Jacob Schum	GB	12	13	34	3	3	65
14	Jon Ryan	SEA	10	17	32	3	3	65
15	Brad Nortman	JAX	15	15	28	3	3	64
16	Thomas Morstead	NO	7	14	36	3	3	63
17	Jordan Berry	PIT	7	14	36	3	3	63
18	Matt Darr	MIA	10	13	33	3	3	62
19	Marquette King	OAK	10	16	29	3	3	61
20	Sam Koch	BAL	8	13	33	3	3	60
21	Bradley Pinion	SF	7	15	29	3	3	57
22	Drew Butler	ARI	6	16	28	3	3	56
23	Donnie Jones	PHI	6	11	33	3	3	56
24	Ryan Allen	NE	10	12	27	3	3	55
25	Drew Kaser	SD	8	9	31	3	3	54
26	Colton Schmidt	BUF	6	10	30	3	3	52
27	Brad Wing	NYG	11	12	23	3	3	52
28	Lachlan Edwards	NYJ	12	11	21	3	3	50
29	Jeff Locke	MIN	2	13	28	3	3	49
30	Pat O'Donnell	CHI	4	11	26	3	3	47

Notable Omissions/Not Graded This Week

• Brett Kern—bye
• Britton Colquitt—bye
• Andy Lee—injury