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PFF Rankings of Ohio State & Alabama

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Buckeye_Wizard's picture
January 6, 2021 at 8:15pm
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These types of comparisons always are interesting. Just below are the PFF's overall rankings, by position, for the starting lineups for each team.  If you are not familiar with PFF, the rankings are based on the on-field performance of the player for the 2020 football season.  PFF analyzes every player and every play of every FBS game in the 2020 NCAA season.  There are 130 FBS teams. The "rank" value requires a minimum number of snaps played.  For example, a player is not ranked because the player is a new starter due to an injury and has not played enough snaps.

The rankings are grouped by position groups like "Safeties."  This poses a little bit of a problem because Alabama has a FS and a SS while Ohio State uses a single safety.  PFF rates them all under "Safeties."  It is a little more confusing when one attempts to equate defensive linemen rankings.  Ohio State has two DT's and two DE's.  Alabama uses two DT's, a NG and an OLB as an edge defender.  The rankings listed in the tables are based on the position groupings of PFF. 

Each ranking is given like the following example: 5/235.  That is, the listed player is the 5th highest rated player out of 235 rated players in the position group.  You should be able to determine in which position group PFF has placed the player based on the total number of players ranked.  Note: by coincidence, there is the same number of players ranked (366) in the "Linebacker" group and the "Edge Defender" group.

Near as I can tell, the rankings confirm some things I believe we already know.

See for yourself:

Ohio State Offense vs Alabama Defense
Rank Position Name   Rank Position Name
3/138 QB J. Fields   1/392 CB P. Surtain II
18/205 RB T. Sermon   31/392 CB J. Jobe
52/191 TE J. Ruckert   19/392 STAR M. Moore
62/191 TE L. Farrell   307/350 FS D. Wright
22/436 WR C. Olave   16/350 SS J. Battle
41/436 WR G. Wilson   5/323 DE C. Barmore
7/297 T T. Munford   253/323 NG DJ Dale
96/293 G W. Davis   297/366 DE J. Eboigbe
66/138 C J. Myers   242/366 ILB D. Moses 
268/293 G H. Miller   180/366 ILB C. Harris
32/297 T N. Petit-Frere   29/366 OLB/DE W. Anderson Jr.

 

Now the other way.

Alabama Offense vs Ohio State Defense
Rank Position Name   Rank Position Name
1/138 QB M. Jones   146/392 CB S. Banks
11/205 RB N. Harris   189/392 CB S. Wade
57/191 TE M. Forristall   348/392 CB M. Williamson
1/436 WR D. Smith   86/350 S J. Proctor
93/436 WR J. Metchie   5/366 DE J. Cooper
19/436 WR J. Waddle   60/366 DE T. Smith
46/297 T A. Leatherwood   1/323 DT H. Garrett
164/293 G D. Brown   9/323 DT T. Togiai
NR/138 C C. Owens   239/366 LB P. Werner
30/293 G E. Ekiyor   192/366 LB T. Borland
25/297 T E. Neal   81/366 LB B. Browning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: There seems to be a number of questions regarding PFF grades.  You can read about their criteria and methods here: https://www.pff.com/grades

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

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