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Estimated Reading Time:9 minutes
After a marathon of a season, it’s becoming a sprint to the finish line as the top teams vie for playoff positioning — while squads that have been eliminated will look to play spoiler.
Every year, we see rookies make big impacts toward these goals, and this week we’re going to look at the best at each position from a chaotic Week 15. A reminder that in order to qualify for this list, a player must have played at least 10 snaps.
Quarterback: Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints – 80.6
Back-to-back weeks of Shough and the Saints playing spoiler to the top teams in the NFC South. Last week it was the Buccaneers, this week it was the Panthers getting torched by the former second-rounder out of Louisville. Shough completed 27-of-36 passes for 290 yards and a score while adding a big-time throw. He also recorded 32 yards with his legs while forcing a missed tackle in the process.
Running Back: TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots – 83.3
While the Patriots’ 10-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the division rival Bills, TreVeyon Henderson may have had his best performance of the season. Henderson carried the ball 14 times for 148 yards and two scores, both of which came on runs over 50 yards.
Wide Receiver: Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 82.4
Thursday night was a tough loss for the Buccaneers, as they squandered a huge opportunity to take control of the division with their last-second defeat to the Falcons. Still, Emeka Egbuka continued to plead his case for Offensive Rookie of the Year. All four of his receptions resulted in first downs while contributing 64 yards through the air.
Wide Receiver: Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers – 82.2
It’s been an inconsistent start to Golden’s rookie season, but when he’s been on, he’s been tough to guard. Against the Broncos, Golden caught three of his four targets, all resulting in first downs, for 55 yards and a 79.5 PFF receiving grade — the second-highest of his career.
Wide Receiver: Darius Cooper, Philadelphia Eagles – 77.8
Cooper is an undrafted rookie out of Tarleton State that has managed to carve out a small role in the Eagles’ offense as the season has gone along. Sunday’s blowout win over the Raiders was his best showing by far, blowing away his previous career high in PFF receiving grade with a 77.7 figure. Both of Cooper’s receptions resulted in first downs on 29 yards.
Tight End: Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers – 90.7
The former fifth-rounder out of Syracuse has been one of the steals of the draft, as Gadsden posted his third game grade above an 80.0 mark in the Chargers’ win over the Chiefs. His 90.2 PFF receiving grade was a career-high, as he caught four passes for 61 yards — including a contested snag.
It wasn’t just his receiving ability that factored into the win: He was also stellar as a blocker. Gadsden set career high grades as both a pass-blocker (74.1) and as a run-blocker (72.3).
Offensive Tackle: Brandon Crenshaw-Dixon, TennesseeTitans – 82.0
Crenshaw-Dixon has struggled to see the field this season as an undrafted rookie out of Florida. Then 10 snaps he played against the 49ers make up 56% of the plays he’s seen on offense all season.
Almost exclusively lining up as an extra lineman in heavier formations, Crenshaw-Dixon did make the most of his limited opportunities in the loss, posting identical PFF pass-blocking and run-blocking grades of 73.7.
Offensive Tackle: Aireontae Ersery, HoustonTexans – 80.0
The Texans dominated the Cardinals on Sunday in what wound up being a huge boost to their playoff chances, and Ersery’s improvement throughout the season has gone a long way toward that. Ersery was particularly dominant as a run-blocker, as his 83.4 grade is easily a career high.
He was particularly dominant on outside zone runs, carrying a 92.5 grade. Four of his nine outside zone blocks received a positive grade.
Interior Offensive Line: Wyatt Milum, Jacksonville Jaguars – 70.2
Like Crenshaw-Dixon, Milum saw limited action on Sunday, with a good chunk of his snaps coming as an extra blocker. But he made them count, posting a 66.3 PFF pass-blocking grade and a 67.8 PFF run-blocking grade.
Interior Offensive Line: Garrett Dellinger, Cleveland Browns – 67.0
One of the last picks in this year’s draft, Dellinger made his season debut against the Bears and managed to hold his own, particularly as a pass-blocker. He only allowed one pressure on 23 pass-blocking snaps for a 73.3 grade in that field.
Interior Offensive Line: Tyler Booker, Dallas Cowboys – 65.7
The Cowboys couldn’t squeeze out the win on Sunday Night Football, but Booker had a strong showing as a run-blocker. He was particularly good on inside zone (70.4 PFF run-blocking grade) and counter (76.2) runs, constituting five of his six positively-graded run blocks.
Edge Defender: Abdul Carter, New York Giants – 91.3
The former third overall pick out of Penn State has endured an inconsistent rookie year, but the highs have been very high — with Sunday’s performance against the Commanders perhaps being his very best. Carter posted an elite 90.6 PFF pass-rushing grade, his second time this season going over 90.0, after recording four pressures and converting one of them into a sack.
Edge Defender: Josaiah Stewart, Los Angeles Rams – 82.6
Stewart played a career-low 12 snaps on Sunday against the Lions; however, he made the most of his opportunity, as his 82.6 PFF grade is the third-best of his career. Stewart posted a 20% pass-rush win rate, with a quarter of his run-defense snaps receiving a positive grade.
Defensive Interior: Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, MinnesotaVikings – 73.7
Ingram-Dawkins cracks the list for the second week in a row, this time with a dominant pass-rushing performance. He only rushed the passer five times — but on his one pressure, he thoroughly abused the tight end trying to block him and forced Dak Prescott to throw the ball out the back of the end zone.
Defensive Interior: Mason Graham, Cleveland Browns – 60.7
It was a tough day all around for the Browns, but Graham was one of their steadier contributors, particularly in run defense. His 69.1 grade in that field is his second-highest on the season, as 18.2% of these snaps received a positive grade — which included a stop.
Linebacker: Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns – 76.5
A regular on this list, Schwesinger has now made it three consecutive games with a PFF grade of at least 75.0 and four consecutive with a PFF run-defense grade of at least 74.0. On the season, Schwesinger carries an 81.4 run-defense grade — which not only leads all rookies, but ranks 16th among 88 qualifying linebackers throughout the league.
Linebacker: Teddye Buchanan, Baltimore Ravens– 74.5
Unfortunately for the league, and fans of good football, Buchanan tore his ACL early in the Ravens’ win over the Bengals. He did play enough snaps to qualify for this list, though, and had been playing very well prior to the injury. He posted a 69.8 PFF run-defense grade, right around his 70.8 season-long grade while also just allowing one catch for six yards into his coverage.
Cornerback: Jahdae Barron, Denver Broncos – 73.3
Winners of 11 straight, the Broncos are the hottest team in football — and that’s despite their top draft pick not seeing the field on a consistent basis. While he only played 15 snaps in their win over the Packers, Barron continued to perform well when given an opportunity, as he wasn’t targeted a single time on 11 coverage snaps.
Cornerback: Quincy Riley, New Orleans Saints – 72.4
The Saints are quietly rounding into shape as a football team as the season nears its close, and perhaps nobody embodies this surreptitious success like their former fourth-rounder out of Louisville in Riley. While he did allow a touchdown into his coverage, it did appear that the receiver pushed off as the ball was arriving.
Cornerback: Upton Stout, San Francisco49ers– 69.3
The 100th overall pick has been up-and-down in his rookie season, but he was a key contributor in the 49ers’ win over the Titans. While he did permit five receptions into his coverage, none of them did a lot of harm, as Stout only surrendered 29 yards on those plays. This is a big reason he managed to post a very solid 70.7 PFF coverage grade, the third time in his last four games with that grade going over 70.0.
Safety: Malachi Moore, New York Jets– 78.6
Despite getting blown out by the Jaguars, Malachi Moore continues to look like a steal out of the fourth round for the Jets. On 23 run-defense snaps, Moore put up a career-high 83.0 PFF run-defense grade from his safety position, earning a positive grade on 13% of such snaps with zero negatively-graded plays — including a stop.
Safety: Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks – 77.3
Emmanwori has been a Swiss army knife for the Seahawks’ defense, and Sunday’s win over the Colts was another strong showing for the former second-rounder out of South Carolina. Emmanwori allowed just two receptions into his coverage for three yards while also recording four stops and a forced incompletion for an 83.2 PFF coverage grade.