Zeke’s PFF Grade Explained

[aria]

Yes he had more carries but also was the #1 thing defenses tried to stop. Our oline was good but not great. Few rb's would be better with this team. Winning the rushing tittle isn't the most important thing but doing it in almost back to back years tells you this guy should at least be in the conversation of who is the best.

He’s definitely top 3-4 but I don’t think he’s the best and people constantly using “winning the rushing record” is deceiving and therefore annoying. The Gnats didn’t have OBJ for something like 6-8 games this season, you don’t think SB wasn’t the number one thing defenses tried to stop against them? Especially after we got Coop, Zeke had a much bigger advantage. As I said, our O line wasn’t great but was still very good, top ten last time I checked towards the end of the season. That’s much better than Barkley and other RB’s had.

Again, no doubt Zeke is very, very good but I personally don’t think he’s the best and I don’t think any RB is irreplaceable in today’s league (especially with a good to very good O line).

 

[kskboys]

That was one of the most mind numblingly dummm articles I've ever read. You guys do realize they only use one factor to rate RB's, right?

There's an argument to be made as to just how good Zeke is. However, he's far higher than 31st. That's beyond stupid.

 

[blumayne38]

Charron, if defenses are "gearing up for Zeke", then why dont they load the box against him? Zeke sees a league average % of Carries against loaded boxes.

In theory you'd think that Zeke sees more, but in actuality he doesnt. Gurley doesnt see the least amount of loaded boxes because he's the worst RB in the league, schemes dictate how many men in the box not RBs.

And if our offense goes through Zeke, and he didnt play the Giants like you said why did we do sooo much better without him offensively?

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

Aikman and others refer to that as being "patient".

I'm really surprised they still grade the O-line that high, even in run blocking. You'd think if they were that good, Zeke wouldn't need to be so "patient". I could be remembering incorrectly, but I could swear that in his first 2 seasons, Zeke was getting to the 2nd level untouched considerably more often.

RWB, we were so spoiled while Tyron, Fred, and Martin didn't miss any time.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

I can put it into simpler terms if need be

 

[Plumfool]

You have to look at what offense this team runs. I believe Zeke this past season was at least 36% of this teams offense. Have a hard time believing that many other backs can handle that. Zeke seems to be exceptional in that he can handle such a large workload. At least up to this point it seems. I don’t believe any other RB could handle that.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Fumbling is a valid criticism.

The way they weigh the OL is nonsense, feeding back other ratings into Zeke's. Approximating using approximations compounds error.

Using his usage as a negative ignores an obvious trend. There is an obvious inverse correlation between usage and efficiency. It's why players like Joe Randle were very efficient and Curtis Martin not.

Insisting on their premium stats is the type of fluff statmaking that I hate.

How all of that is fed into their +/-3 aggregate rating system speaks to how flawed their opinion polling is.

 

[stilltheguru]

He shouldn't get a second contract with us.

What rb deserves a second contract if not him?

 

[T-RO]

PFF is a bunch of dudes who have never played football grading people who play football... Not my cup of tea but hey to each their own.

That’s exactly what old-school baseball folks said when Billy Beane started his revolution. 10 years later there are hundreds of calculator-touting guys in front offices...and the old school guys who haven’t embraced analytics have lost their job.

The same analytics are taking over basketball and football.

 

[T-RO]

What rb deserves a second contract if not him?

At premium prices virtually no running back deserves a second contract. After five years they are on the downhill sliding fast.

 

[InTheZone]

According to NextGenStats, Zeke ranked 13th in % of stacked boxes faced, out of the 32 players with the most rushing attempts.

1 Blount 39.0
2 Chubb 34.4
3 Hyde 34.3
4 Henry 32.1
5 Conner 27.9
6 Murray 27.9
7 Michel 26.8
8 Crowell 26.6
9 Lewis 25.8
10 Coleman 25.8
11 Gordon 25.7
12 Breida 25.5
13 Elliott 24.7

32 Gurley 8.2

Zeke ranks that high because we don't run out of "11" personnel nearly as much as we should. (See Gurley's ranking)

I wonder when this changed because with only 2 or 3 games left in the season I checked the stats out and the clear #1 was Zeke, followed by Barkley. Gurley was near the bottom before the season ended and at least that looks consistent.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I don't like conclusion of article. Article is stupid. Does not try to discredit article in anyway.

/Zeke fans

As many have stated Zeke lost an extra gear between 2016 and the two season since. Other than volume and elite run blocking he's not shown himself to be special the last two years.

And as I said during Zeke's suspension last year and was proven right.... That'd we'd run the ball just fine...and we did.... Is evidence enough that we should never have drafted him and we should not resign him.

Sure would be nice to have Ramsey.... As we get ready to pay Jones big dollars.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

PFF's raw data is the best. Their player grades are utterly worthless.

I bet if you were to grade every position and stack your list up against theirs it'd be highly correlated.

Are you both worthless?

 

[beware_d-ware]

Volume vs efficiency is the biggest argument I'd make against this list.

Looking it up, the most heavily used backs in the league this year were Zeke, Barkley, McCaffrey, Gurley, Joe Mixon, David Johnson, Joe Mixon, and Kamara. According to the PFF article, they ranked #35, #8, #26, #33, not listed, not listed (both outside the top 10) and #31 in that order. So we all know Saquon's a beast, but otherwise that's 6/7 guys outside the top 10 and at least 4/7 outside the top 30.

And that correlation makes sense. More heavily used backs are pretty much by definition going to get more carries in sub-optimal situations. An example would be a 3rd and 1 into a loaded box or on the goal line, where they don't really have a prayer of breaking a tackle. Or in clock-killing situations, where they're not even trying to break a tackle, they're just trying to hang on to the ball. A 2 yard rush in any of those situations kills your per-touch efficiency stats, but helps your team win football games.

The fact that Zeke was able to churn out 4.7 YPC on the heaviest workload in the league, with a middling passing game, an injured OL, and an inept OC all working against him speaks more to his talent than his PFF grade does for me.

 

[Bullflop]

I think Zeke has been hampered to a great extent by an OL that has had health issues, bad offensive coaching and poor management. Ongoing play calling predictability, a constant overdependency upon his use and lingering health concerns on the OL are all contributing factors that have sorely inhibited Zeke's effectiveness.

 

[stilltheguru]

At premium prices virtually no running back deserves a second contract. After five years they are on the downhill sliding fast.

I asked @mattjames2010 because he’s a disingenuous comedian regarding Zeke all the way back to 2016. Just want him to keep exposing himself.

 

[Hadenough]

He shouldn't get a second contract with us.

I agree! This is exactly why you dont take a RB with the 4th overall pick in the draft. Zeke is good but not great. Garrett is using him too much like a battering ram and they really should of brought in a complimentary RB to put less wear and tear on their golden goose.

 

[Hadenough]

Same for Barkley - no one is fearing Eli these days, yet Barkley scored and would have topped Zeke in yards if he had similar carries and did top Zeke in TDs despite having far less touches than Zeke on the year.

These excuses for Zeke are lame - he's a really good/great player, but he's simply not a special back unless he has the durability of Smith. That's to be seen. The fact he's already lost a step isn't a good sign.

Barkley is elite. His offensive line was horrendous and yet he still was productive. He is faster, stronger and catches the ball better and doesnt get tired. The only knock I have on Barkley is he needs to run north and south more and take whats there instead of looking for the home run all the time. That will come through time.
Zeke should be looking at Barkley being a workout warrior and realize he should lose a few lbs, hit that weight room and treadmill and get a dietician!

 

[DallasDW00ds0n]

Zeke stuffed us in his backpack and carried us to a divisional game. PFF can go kick rocks

 

[StuckMojo]

Some on here think Barkley is a god