DMN Blog: PFW releases its annual player rankings

[WoodysGirl]

10:55 AM Fri, Jun 13, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Albert Breer http://www.***BANNED-URL***/blogs/images/email-icon.jpg E-mail http://www.***BANNED-URL***/blogs/images/email-icon.jpg News tips

There are already a slew of preview magazines out, and one annual feature that always distinguishes itself is Pro Football Weekly's player rankings. The list is compiled based on polling of scouts, coaches and executives across the league.

Five Cowboys made the Top 50 overall -- DeMarcus Ware (6th), Terrell Owens (8th), Tony Romo (18th), Terence Newman (36th) and Marion Barber (44th). By comparison, the Chargers (Tomlinson, Merriman, Gates, Cromartie), Colts (Manning, Sanders, Wayne, Freeney) and Seahawks (Jones, Hasselbeck, Trufant, Tatupu) had four each, while the Patriots had two (Brady, Moss) and the Giants had one (Umenyiora).

Here's the rundown of teams with multiple Top 50 players ...

Five: Cowboys
Four: Chargers, Colts, Seahawks
Three: Bears, Eagles, Texans, Vikings
Two: Bengals, Browns, Chiefs, Patriots

Follow the jump to see where some of the Cowboys' players ranked at their positions.


Quarterback: Tony Romo came in sixth with a 4.3 (blue chip) ranking, behind, in order, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees.

Running Back: Marion Barber checks in at sixth with a 4.0 (blue chip) rating. LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, Adrian Peterson, Steven Jackson and Larry Johnson are in front of him, while he beat out Joseph Addai, Willie Parker, Fred Taylor and Willis McGahee, among others.

Tight end: Jason Witten is fourth with a 3.9 (red chip) ranking, and behind Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow. Feel free to argue this one.

Wide Receiver: T.O. comes in second, behind only Randy Moss, and no other Cowboy is among the 33 listed at this spot. Owens has a 4.45 (blue chip) rating.

Center: Andre Gurode is tops at center, but only carries a red chip rating of 3.8. He edged out Jeff Saturday for the No. 1 spot.

Guard: Timmy Tabloid's favorite player, Leonard Davis, is second here, with a 4.0 (blue chip) rating, behind only Philly's Shawn Andrews. Kyle Kosier wasn't among the 24 guards listed.

Tackle: Flozell Adams is third, behind Seattle's Walter Jones and Buffalo's Jason Peters, and garnered a 4.0 (blue chip) rating. Marc Colombo came in 23rd with a 3.2 (red chip) rating.

Defensive End: Chris Canty had a 3.2 (red chip) rating, and was 31st out of 31 players listed. Marcus Spears was not listed.

Defensive Tackle: Twenty-seven players were listed. Jay Ratliff wasn't, though he appeared in the "Top Veteran Prospects" category. Ratliff probably could have a beef here.

Inside Linebacker: Zach Thomas comes in eighth with a 3.6 (red chip) rating, and is sandwiched between Jon Beason and Kirk Morrison. Bradie James has an argument here, not being listed among the Top 24 at the position.

Outside Linebacker: Ware's first, beating out Shawne Merriman, with a 4.45 (blue chip) rating. Like I've maintained for a long time, PFW believes he's the best player on the roster. Greg Ellis is 16th at the position with a 3.4 (red chip) rating.

Cornerback: Newman comes in fifth, with a 4.05 (blue chip) rating, behind Champ Bailey, Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Marcus Trufant. Newman did beat out Antonio Cromartie. No other Cowboy made the list of 27 at this position, though Pacman wasn't factored in.

Safety: Ken Hamlin drew a 3.65 (red chip) rating and was sixth, behind Bob Sanders, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes. Roy Williams was 17 at the position. with a 3.3 (red chip) rating.

Return Specialists: No Cowboys, though Pacman and Felix Jones, neither of whom were eligible for this list, could change that.

Kicker: Nick Folk isn't among the five kickers listed.

Punter: Mat McBriar got screwed! Five punters listed. No McBriar.

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/images/ice3/icons/blog.gif Comments (4) Leave comment | http://www.***BANNED-URL***/blogs/images/email-icon.jpg E-mail entry

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WG: Can someone post what red chip/blue chip means? Thanks

 

[bayeslife]

I don't see how Witten doesn't get the number one spot. They must only be looking for pure receiving tight ends. That's bull.

And I don't see how Newman doesn't get 2 or 3. How in the world do they figure one dimensional players like Samuel and Trufant are better? I'm pretty sure last year was the first good year Trufant has had.

 

[speedkilz88]

The fact that Witten didn't make the top 50 and was considered only a red chip player there are a lot of scouts, coaches, and gms in the league who shouldn't have a job.

 

[theogt]

Trufant and Samuel over Newman? Winslow over Witten? Oh, the lulz.

 

[AbeBeta]

Safety: Ken Hamlin drew a 3.65 (red chip) rating and was sixth, behind Bob Sanders, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes. Roy Williams was 17 at the position. with a 3.3 (red chip) rating.

PFW must be eating up those myths.

 

[pugilist]

no mcbriar???

epic lulz

 

[Disturbed]

Tight end: Jason Witten is fourth with a 3.9 (red chip) ranking, and behind Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow. Feel free to argue this one.

Center: Andre Gurode is tops at center, but only carries a red chip rating of 3.8. He edged out Jeff Saturday for the No. 1 spot.

Safety: Ken Hamlin drew a 3.65 (red chip) rating and was sixth, behind Bob Sanders, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes. Roy Williams was 17 at the position. with a 3.3 (red chip) rating.

Jason Witten is better than all those guys. In addition, he is young and continues to get even better -- scary.

I am shocked to find Gurode as the best center when he can't even snap the ball properly in shotgun formation. As center you should not hear his name called, but he was constantly screwing up last year. Wow.

If Roy truely ranks 17, then we should trade him quickly to anyone who believes this BS. So if I understand this - he ranked 17 out of 64 in the league. Trade him before they come to their senses...

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Punter: Mat McBriar got screwed! Five punters listed. No McBriar.

What? Explain to me how you can leave this guy off any punter listing?

 

[EMMITTnROY]

PFW must be eating up those myths.

actually, that means that of the 64 starting safeties in the NFL, they think that Roy is still in the top 25%.. so all this talk and debate over a guy that scouts feel is in the top 25% at his position..

also, concerning Newman, technically, his score was rated as the same as Samuel and Trufant and scorewise, they were all tied for 3rd.. of course, i wouldn't trade any CB out there for him..

the only ones that absolutely shocked me were Witten and McBriar..

 

[baj1dallas]

I am shocked to find Gurode as the best center when he can't even snap the ball properly in shotgun formation. As center you should not hear his name called, but he was constantly screwing up last year. Wow.

it wasn't constantly, iirc most of the bad snaps came within 3 games. the rest of the time he was pretty dominant. there's more to playing center than snapping the ball.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Now you know why the pro bowl voting looks so screwed up sometimes.

 

[Chuck 54]

Punter: Mat McBriar got screwed! Five punters listed. No McBriar.

What? Explain to me how you can leave this guy off any punter listing?

Probably going on last season alone rather than the previous year...he had an off year last season, I think.

 

[Disturbed]

it wasn't constantly, iirc most of the bad snaps came within 3 games. the rest of the time he was pretty dominant. there's more to playing center than snapping the ball.

I would hazard to guess that one of the reasons is that Dallas had to limit shotgun formations due to his inability to snap the ball properly. Snapping the ball properly is center 101 stuff.... If you are not technically sound then I have a hard time viewing you as #1 in the league.

 

[AbeBeta]

actually, that means that of the 64 starting safeties in the NFL, they think that Roy is still in the top 25%.. so all this talk and debate over a guy that scouts feel is in the top 25% at his position..

That suggests also that they think his probowl appearances are undeserved.

top 25% doesn't go to the probowl

 

[tomson75]

That suggests also that they think his probowl appearances are undeserved.

top 25% doesn't go to the probowl

Depends on if 20% of the safeties are Free Safeties.

At this point in time, I'd wager that FS's are generally given more credit for their play. Roy only deserves his Pro Bowls because there aren't very many good SS's in the league right now...especially in the NFC. I think this will be changing soon as teams start utilizing coverage safeties rather than box guys. It's a transition, and Roy is the odd man out.

 

[kTXe]

Anyone have the complete top 50 list?

 

[AbeBeta]

Depends on if 20% of the safeties are Free Safeties.

At this point in time, I'd wager that FS's are generally given more credit for their play. Roy only deserves his Pro Bowls because there aren't very many good SS's in the league right now...especially in the NFC. I think this will be changing soon as teams start utilizing coverage safeties rather than box guys. It's a transition, and Roy is the odd man out.

of course, there were only 3 FS on the probowl roster last year -- Hamlin, Ed Reed, and Sean Taylor. Whereas there were 6 SS selected Sharper, Sanders, Polamalu, Lynch, Bethea, and Roy.

So that suggests that SS are given more credit for their play.

 

[WoodysGirl]

What?! Three TEs better than Jason Witten?

12:22 PM Fri, Jun 13, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips

Coach Albert "Einstein" Breer expressed the proper outrage at Mat McBriar not being included among the NFL's top five punters, per a Pro Football Weekly poll of scouts, coaches and executives across the league. But Breer fell short by simply telling you folks to feel free to argue Jason Witten being ranked No. 4 among tight ends.

There is not a better all-around tight end in football. None of the other elite receiving tight ends are in Witten's class as a blocker. And there are precious few tight ends in his class as a receiver.

Matter of fact, according to footballoutsiders.com's Defense-adjusted Points Above Replacement statistical formula, Witten and San Diego's Antonio Gates are in a class of their own. Gates led TEs with a DPAR of 33.7 last season. Witten was second at 31.7. And there's a big drop-off after that.

Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez was third at 23.9. Cleveland's Kellen Winslow Jr., the other TE considered better than Witten by the PFW poll participants, was fifth at 19.9. Winslow's catch percentage (55 percent) was the lowest of any TE who had at least 50 balls thrown his way.

You can debate whether Gates is such a versatile threat as a receiver that he helps the Chargers' running game as much as Witten does the Cowboys'. But the NFL's top tier of tight ends consists of those two guys.

 

[tomson75]

of course, there were only 3 FS on the probowl roster last year -- Hamlin, Ed Reed, and Sean Taylor. Whereas there were 6 SS selected Sharper, Sanders, Polamalu, Lynch, Bethea, and Roy.

So that suggests that SS are given more credit for their play.

Ummm.....Lynch and Bethea are free safeties. Polomalu, Bethea, Sanders, and Lynch are in the AFC.

What was your point again?

 

[AbeBeta]

Ummm.....Lynch and Bethea are free safeties. Polomalu, Bethea, Sanders, and Lynch are in the AFC.

What was your point again?

Not according to the pro bowl roster they aren't (FS that is)

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8053b226&template=without-video&confirm=true

And the point was that SS are getting more credit if you go by the position listings for the probowl