NFL Player Grades: What defenders passed the test?

The NFL preseason is now halfway through. Between training camp and two preseason games most NFL teams now have a pretty good idea of what they have to work with on their roster. While there is no such thing as a perfect evaluation system, the good people at Pro Football Focus run what is widely considered to be the go to website for NFL player evaluation.

While there is no substitute for watching a player yourself and forming your own opinion, most of us don’t have the time to watch and grade every player on every team on every snap. That’s exactly what Pro Football Focus does, even in the preseason. In this writer’s humble opinion, the minimal cost of their yearly subscription is well worth it if you enjoy football analysis. So which players are getting high marks this preseason? Which players are struggling out of the gate?

That’s what you’re about to find out.

Today you’ll see some noteworthy players at each of the key defensive positions. For each position you’ll see two players that PFF has given good marks to and two players that are near the bottom of the league at their position. Are these grades the be all, end all of player evaluation? No. Do preseason grades 100% predict regular season success? No. That having been said, every fan, player, and coach out there would rather have success in the preseason than not. So without further ado, here are some defensive player standouts at the midway point of the NFL preseason.