Pro Football Focus's Top Graded NFL Players: Week One (Defense)

I've made it no secret that I'm a huge fan of the website ProFootballFocus.com. For those of you unfamiliar with PFF, it's hands down the best website to go to for advanced stats as far as it pertains to the game of football. These guys spend countless hours watching tape and keeping track of every single stat under the sun. It's hands down one of the best resources to go to for any football fan.

Oh, so you think "Tight End #87" is a great player just because he catches TD passes every week? What you might not know about "Tight End #87" is that he's a horrible blocker, doesn't see that many snaps, and is ineffective running the majority of his routes. Had you known this information, you would probably consider "Tight End #87" a "less than average" player instead of an "above average" player. What the average NFL fan sees, these guys might see something different and that's why I love them. They really give you the full meal deal of NFL stats and it's unfortunate that they are getting rid of their subscription based stats, because a lot of NFL writers currently use them to back up their arguments (you tend to read something like "Romo graded out positively with a +5.6 according to ProFootballFocus.com" in a lot of columns these days), but that's a complaint for a different day.

Every week here at THE Ultimate Sports Blog, you will see Pro Football Focus's top graded players for the week, broken into different categories. That's how much we love you guys. Want to win an NFL argument with a friend? Bookmark these columns. Trust me, it will help.

*Snap count is taken into consideration when doing the rankings

Top Graded 4-3 Defensive Ends:

1. Robert Ayers (New York Giants)

2. Cameron Jordan (New Orleans Saints)

3. Robert Quinn (St. Louis Rams)

4. Cliff Avril (Seattle Seahawks)

5. Carlos Dunlap (Cincinnati Bengals)

Worst Graded 4-3 Defensive Ends:

1. Everson Griffen (Minnesota Vikings)

2. Cullen Jenkins (New York Giants)

3. Jared Odrick (Jacksonville Jaguars)

4. Rob Ninkovich (New England Patriots)

5. Jerry Hughes (Buffalo Bills)

Top Graded 3-4 Defensive Ends:

1. Justin Tuck (Oakland Raiders)

2. J.J. Watt (Houston Texans)

3. Muhammad Wilkerson (New York Jets)

4. Jason Hatcher (Washington Redskins)

5. Fletcher Cox (Philadelphia Eagles)

Worst Graded 3-4 Defensive Ends:

1. Stacy McGee (Oakland Raiders)

2. Denico Autry (Oakland Raiders)

3. Jared Crick (Houston Texans)

4. Frostee Rucker (Arizona Cardinals)

5. Cedric Thornton (Philadelphia Eagles)

Top Graded 4-3 Outside Linebackers:

1. Koa Misi (Miami Dolphins)

2. Bruce Irvin (Seattle Seahawks)

3. Thomas Davis (Carolina Panthers)

4. Dan Skuta (Jacksonville Jaguars)

5. Anthony Barr (Minnesota Vikings)

Worst Graded 4-3 Outside Linebackers:

1. Justin Durant (Atlanta Falcons)

2. Lavonte David (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

3. Chad Greenway (Minnesota Vikings)

4. Telvin Smith (Jacksonville Jaguars)

5. Jelani Jenkins (Miami Dolphins)

Top Graded 3-4 Outside Linebackers:

1. DeMarcus Ware (Denver Broncos)

2. Von Miller (Denver Broncos)

3. Justin Houston (Kansas City Chiefs)

4. Julius Peppers (Green Bay Packers)

5. Ryan Kerrigan (Washington Redskins)

Worst Graded 3-4 Outside Linebackers:

1. Ray-Ray Armstrong (Oakland Raiders)

2. Alex Okafor (Arizona Cardinals)

3. Erik Walden (Indianapolis Colts)

4. Calvin Pace (New York Jets)

5. Tamba Hali (Kansas City Chiefs)

Top Graded Defensive Tackles:

1. Aaron Donald (St. Louis Rams)

2. Geno Atkins (Cincinnati Bengals)

3. Brandon Williams (Baltimore Ravens)

4. Bennie Logan (Philadelphia Eagles)

5. B.J. Raji (Green Bay Packers)

Worst Graded Defensive Tackles:

1. Earl Mitchell (Miami Dolphins)

2. Dwan Edwards (Carolina Panthers)

3. Vince Wilfork (Houston Texans)

4. Brandon Mebane (Seattle Seahawks)

5. Danny Shelton (Cleveland Browns)

Top Graded Inside Linebackers:

1. Brandon Marshall (Denver Broncos)

2. NaVorro Bowman (San Francisco 49ers)

3. Derrick Johnson (Kansas City Chiefs)

4. Zach Brown (Tennessee Titans)

5. C.J. Mosley (Baltimore Ravens)

Worst Graded Inside Linebackers:

1. Uani' Unga (New York Giants)

2. Kwon Alexander (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

3. Bobby Wagner (Seattle Seahawks)

4. Demario Davis (New York Jets)

5. Lawrence Timmons (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Top Graded Cornerbacks:

1. Tyrann Mathieu (Arizona Cardinals)

2. Adam Jones (Cincinnati Bengals)

3. Stephon Gilmore (Buffalo Bills)

4. Jimmy Smith (Baltimore Ravens)

5. Coty Sensabaugh (Tennessee Titans)

Worst Graded Cornerbacks:

1. Malcolm Butler (New England Patriots)

2. D.J. Hayden (Oakland Raiders)

3. Darius Butler (Indianapolis Colts)

4. Byron Maxwell (Philadelphia Eagles)

5. Sam Shields (Green Bay Packers)

Top Graded Safeties:

1. Will Hill (Baltimore Ravens)

2. Darian Stewart (Denver Broncos)

3. J.J. Wilcox (Dallas Cowboys)

4. Calvin Pryor (New York Jets)

5. Husain Abdullah (Kansas City Chiefs)

Worst Graded Safeties:

1. William Moore (Atlanta Falcons)

2. James Ihedigbo (Detroit Lions)

3. Deone Bucannon (Arizona Cardinals)

4. John Cyprien (Jacksonville Jaguars)

5. Trenton Robinson (Washington Redskins)