Cardinals' PFF Grades for Hall of Fame Game
photo from nfl.com
By Walter Mitchell
The PFF grades have been posted. Here they are:
Cardinals' Starters on Offense HOF Game:
QB Beck 91.7
RB Knight 66.4
TE Fairweather 65.9
WR Brooks 91.4
WR Virgil 80.3
WR Wallace III 76.4
LT J. Williams 76.8
LG H. Conner 69.5
C Jon Gaines II 81.9
RG Bisontis 85.2
RT Fryar 55.8 (who had been playing LT all camp and should improve with more snaps at RT)
Kudos to HC Mike LaFleur, OC Nathaniel Hackett, QBC Matt Schaub, OLC Justin Frye and entire staff
Cardinals' Grades for Defensive Starters HOF Game
SOLB Leota 41.0
DE J. Williams 42.7
NT Billings 68.8
DE Zach Carter 81.5 (4 plays before injury)
WOLB Ojulari 52.6
MILB Keys 72.2
WILB Pappoe 69.2
LCB Clark 61.0
SS Taylor-Demerson 66.2
FS Crawford 75.0
RCB King 60.2
NCB Newsome 77.0
PFF must have whiffed badly on Elijah Jones HOF game grade. Jones made 3 tackles one big-hit 3rd down stop and missed 1 tackle. He was by far the Cardinals' best CB in pass coverage, giving up 3 catches on 7 targets for 42.9% for a mere 17 yards (5.7yds per catch), O TDs and a stellar 50.3 QB-RTG. Remember how he blanketed the fade pass to the right corner of the end zone with 6 seconds left in the game? Yet their grade was 42.7. I am going to reach out to them to get an accurate grade. All of his numbers suggest a grade in the low 80s to high 70s.
Second Half Offense:
QB Slovis 92.5
RB Kiner 65.4
RB Hull 81.7
TE Yeboah 47.0
TE Geers 56.1
WR Green 66.1
WR Fehoko 65.9
WR Weaver 60.2
T Jacobs 61,7
G Senn 63.9
C Decambra 89.0
G Udon 73.4
T Pryor 51.9
Second Half Defense
CB Culp 66.6 (74.7 in coverage, 78.8 in tackling)
OLB Robertson 66.3
LB Sharar 63.7
FS W. Williams Jr. 62.9
OLB Brown 58.1
DT Horsley 57.8
DT. D. Williams 56.7
SS Oliver 51.2
DT Martin 42.3
Team Grades
OVERALL: 80.5
OFF: 91.0
PASS 93.6
PBLK 65.1
RECV 79.4
RUN 77.3
RBLK 81.5
DEF: 61.0
RDEF 60.1
TACK 71.5
PRSH 64.2
COV 58.4
SPEC 65.2
Red Rain Blog Question:
Can you name risers and fallers for the Cardinals with regard to the game? We wanted to leave this part up to you and will chime in on your choices.
Next Game: Thursday August 13 at Las Vegas, Cardinals versus Raiders
Could it be QB Carson Beck taking on QB Fernando Mendoza in a rematch of the NCASA Championship Game?
Red Rain Podcast
Saguaro Sam
Will return on Monday with the plan of taping on Mondays from now on until the end of the 2026 season.
This week's topics:
1. CAR 33 ARI 30 Game review
2. Players Cardinals should trade
3. Updated 53-Man Roster Projection
4. Preview of ARI vs LV
Any other suggestions?
Risers: Beck, Virgil, Brooks
ReplyDeleteFallers: Clark, Weaver, Rallis. Actually, Rallis might be gone before the end of this season if there's no improvement from last year's defensive issues.
Goners: Ojulari, Benson
Walt, I would appreciate a breakdown of the performance from the rookie class, particularly Bisontis and Jayden Williams. Keep up the great work.
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DeleteLike. Your wish is Red Rain's command.
DeleteI am much higher on this defence than most. Two years ago it had made huge improvements and in the first few games last year, they got a lot of hands on balls until the injuries piled up. Walter, I know you had mentioned the 'same starters the whole year' stat a few times now. I think it does not take into account the 'preferred' starters who were injured at the start of the year, the impact a few of the missing starters had throughout the year such as Williams and MWS, or the impact the injuries on the offensive side of the ball (and especially special teams) had on the defence.
DeleteI think there is a good reason why they keep Rallis and I also think we will all see it early in the season when he gets his numbers ones out there who are capable of executing his diverse schemes. This defence is more likely to build on 2024, and not continue what we seen at the end of our injury riddled 2025.
I was especially happy with the WR play. The team was lacking in reliable bench WRs with Dortch gone so hopefully Brooks/Virgil can solve that problem.
ReplyDeleteI thought the OL showed lots of promise as well. If a couple of those guys get a chance to start some games and play well then MOs drafting looks much better instantly.
Obviously Beck was excellent.
The defense is just depressing. I feel like this offense could be top 10 and the team will still struggle to win many games.
One topic I'd like to see, not necessarily this week but before the season starts, is what constitutes a successful performance by LaFleur in year 1? It's easy for people to just say having a winning record or making the playoffs but I don't think that's actually realistic personally, given the state of the defense, which is largely out of his control. What I want are a list of things in his control that will be a basis for saying he's either doing a good job or a poor job as a head coach.
ReplyDeleteI think a top half offense would be a good barometer to look at from the numbers.
DeleteWhat I would be looking for though is innovative playcalling that puts his best players (Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr) in positions to succeed. The offense they ran in LA wouldn't maximize those players skillsets, so he should make changes and grow in that respect
One of his 'best' players could be Love.
DeleteSome real growth form Beck would certainly be a barometer as well.
Brooks and Virgil both having good nights should be an indicator of what this offensive scheme can do. Really like to see what Beck can do with the starters at some point. Offense was steady and productive with a mix of players and QB. McFluer has a sense of urgency to everything he does.Defensively Billings was about the only high light. Rallis seems to be running the same scheme mostly. That's not going to bode well for his future.
ReplyDeleteGlad Owen Pappoe got the highest grade on defense. This is a big opportunity for him this year!!
ReplyDeleteLooking at the snaps, it would indicate it will be either him or Sharar for the last ILB spot.
DeleteAlso the Rabbit clearly should be part of the starting 11 this year. Possibly playing the slot like Walter has suggested many times before
ReplyDeleteLafleur is the biggest riser from this game IMO. He created a lot of space for a lot of players and very quickly turned the narrative of a 3rd round pick around to where many pundits and fans are suggesting him to start week 1. It's early, but he appears to be an offensive mind that - when paired with the right QB (Beck perhaps!?) - could offer this organization the kind of long term stability we rarely see.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people are saying that Billings is a riser, which I agree with. But I was more impressed with Carter. He caught my eye last year after playing well in a few games and looked strong for his couple snaps before injury in this game. He was the one that pretty much wiped out the entire interior offensive line - and damn near got Pickett himself - to allow Billings the clear lane to a Pickett trying to avoid Carter.
Adams has to get a bump as well. I know he didn't play but I was very impressed with Bisontis in this game (who I think has a good chance to be the best guard in this draft). If Adams is able to hold off this kid from taking his job, then he must have taken a tremendous jump in development. Kudos to him for that.
I love JB, but he has his work cut out for him now. There can be no slip ups or even a single bad night. This organization doesn't need to much 'evidence' to give the fans and pundits what they want.
Gaines looked great and Virgil looks to be a late round gem. Crawford is going to make this team. And it was nice to see all the young bucks on the O-line holding off the seasoned vets who seem to have been brought in to push them.
If Slovis has another game or two like the one he just played, we are going to need a new practice squad QB because he won't be available.
As for fallers, I was really expecting a big year for Ojulari, but he did not look anything like he did his rookie year. His injury must have had a tremendous impact on his long term development. I would like to know his playing weight because he looks small and certainly played like it. Also expected Christian Jones to surprise this year so it is disappointing to see him so far down the depth chart.
E. Jones played more snaps then I would have liked to see him play. I have concerns for his place on the depth chart after he played nearly the whole game. I would have pulled him far sooner.
As for trade chips, There are several that I don't believe will make this team that could be worth a late round pick or pick swap such as Brooks, Benson, Ojulari, potential Slovis or one of the vet O-linemen such as Pryor or Udoh if they are comfortable with the younger guys. But the two that could be worth the most is Froholdt and Minshew.
Froholdt is very interesting to me. And to be clear, I would not trade him. But in this current center market, he is very much under paid right now and is in the last year of his contract. With all of the talk of the Cardinals and extensions with JB, PJJ, Wilson and others, he is the one that I think has the strongest case for an extension right now with all the big money center contracts that have been paid out recently. In fact, he should be holding in IMO until he gets his 40M, 3yr contract extension. With that, if the Cardinals think that Gaines is ready and they are comfortable with another center backup, he would be their biggest trade chip. Especially if it saves them exposing a young lineman such as Connor or DeCambra to cuts because of numbers. It would also save almost 6M to the cap and the cost of the extension that Froholdt certainly deserves. Also, Hjalte is pronounce Yell - DUH. Think the legend of Zelda but with a Y instead of the Z - Yelda.
When the Cardinals signed Minshew, my guess is he was signed to be back up and to help develop a young QB if they happen to get one in the draft. They did get one and he looked pretty good in this past game. If they are comfortable with Beck installing weekly offensive packages and being the primary back up (and it sure looks like they should be), the Cardinals are a Justin Fields injury away from Minshew being a valuable trade chip!
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