Cardinals Patrick Peterson, Chandler Jones make PFF All-Decade squad
May 12, 2020, 3:15 PM | Updated: 3:21 pm
Arizona Cardinals' Patrick Peterson, right, celebrates forcing a fumble with Chandler Jones (55) during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
(AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
The Arizona Cardinals’ top two defensive players made Pro Football Focus’ All-Decade team, but you could argue that they won’t agree with where they landed on the list of the best 101 players from the 2010s.
Cornerback Patrick Peterson came in at 54th overall, while outside linebacker Chandler Jones was ranked 80th on the list determined by overall PFF grade.
Bro.. get out my mentions https://t.co/TRZSKPLEwJ
— ♛Chandler Jones (@chanjones55) May 11, 2020
Those rankings may seem a bit low for players among the best at their positions — and premium positions at that. Both of them appeared in the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team of 55 players that was released last month.
In Peterson’s case, there’s a good reason why his grade ended up lower than his reputation.
As a rarely gifted corner, Patrick Peterson was regularly given assignments that were much tougher than the ones most corners were given, which had the knock-on effect of dragging down his PFF grade compared to some players. Granted, there was also some ugly play in there, but for the entire decade, Peterson allowed just 55% of passes thrown his way to be caught, and he would regularly track receivers all over the field, including into the slot.
Jones has averaged 12 sacks per season in a combined four years with the New England Patriots and four more with Arizona.
His grade, however, takes a hit based on the PFF grading system factoring in single-play win rates.
He trails only Von Miller in official NFL sacks, and only four players took down the quarterback more times (half sacks are the discrepancy) over the course of the decade. He has always had a knack for decisive pass-rushing wins, whether it was in New England or in Arizona, but when you quantify every pass-rushing snap, there are other players who begin to leap over Jones in terms of how often they win. That ability to finish plays consistently is what propels him onto this list, though.
A former Cardinal who appeared from 50-101 on the PFF list was defensive back Tyrann Mathieu (66th), who played with Arizona from 2013-17.
Pro Football Focus is set to release the players ranked from 25-49 on Wednesday and those in the top-24 Thursday.
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