New York Jets Week Five: Pro Football Focus Gradebook

Sep 22, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson (91) reacts after sacking Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel (3) during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

On the back of the Jets’ upset win over the Falcons on Monday Night Football, let’s go back and see how the players performed. Let’s look at the grades (overall), courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

We start with the defense, seeing is how the dominated the line of scrimmage for most of the game on Monday night:

DEFENSIVE LINE:

Muhammad Wilkerson: 4.6

Damon Harrison: 2.6

Sheldon Richardson: 2.2

LINEBACKERS:

Calvin Pace: -1.3

David Harris: -5.4

Demario Davis: -0.5

Quinton Coples: -4.4

DEFENSIVE BACKS: 

Darrin Walls: -1.1

Dawan Landry: -0.8

Jaiquawn Jarrett: -0.2

Antonio Cromartie: -1.6

Linebacker Garrett McIntyre added a 3.2 off the bench, with a 2.2 on the pass rush, his first positive pass rush game of the year.

The grades on the defensive line were no surprise.  The Falcons continuously tried to run on that group, to no avail.  I thought the linebackers would have posted grades a bit higher, as they looked good on the field.

Now, let’s get to the offensive grades:

QUARTERBACK: 

Geno Smith: 1.5 (Will look more in-depth at Geno’s performance later on today)

RUNNING BACKS:

Chris Ivory: 0.2

Bilal Powell: -0.3

Mike Goodson: 0.9

WIDE RECEIVERS:

David Nelson: -0.2

Clyde Gates: -0.5

Jeremy Kerley: 1.7

Stephen Hill: 0.4

TIGHT ENDS:

Jeff Cumberland: 2.4

Kellen Winslow: -0.4

OFFENSIVE LINE:

D’Brickashaw Ferguson: 0.3

Brian Winters: -1.6

Nick Mangold: 0.1

Willie Colon: 0.9

Austin Howard: 1.3

All in all it was a good outing all around.  Brian Winters, not surprisingly, in his NFL debut as a starter, posted the lowest grade along the line.  However, a -1.6 isn’t bad for the first game.  He held his own, other than one particular sack where he was beaten cleanly in a one-on-one situation.

After being off the football field for the first four weeks of the season, to post a 0.9 grade is an excellent job by Mike Goodson.  Expect him to see more playing time, and be rotated into the offense more often.

Clyde Gates made one catch, but he still stinks, his-0.5 is evidence of that.

What do you guys take, if anything, from these grades?