Pro Football Network ranks Grady Jarrett 68th in PFN Top 100

In their annual player rankings, Pro Football Network ranked Grady Jarrett as the 68th-best player in the league — regardless of position. This is 23 spots lower than he was in PFN’s 2020 top 100, which is head-scratching.

No. 68 on the #PFNTop100 – Atlanta #Falcons DT Grady Jarrett

The 2017 postseason leader in sacks (!!) – Jarrett has recorded 25.5 sacks since being selected in the fifth round in 2015. He's recorded a pressure rate of 8.1% in four of his last five seasons. pic.twitter.com/AgtoKoiUVf

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) July 7, 2021

The list is still being revealed, but as of right now, Fletcher Cox is the only interior defender ranked ahead of Jarrett — something that will surely change. It doesn’t matter who is ranked ahead of him; there is a select few better than him at his position. He’s invaluable to the front seven as he commands so much attention but still consistently applied pressure among the best interior defenders.

According to ESPN Analytics, Jarrett ranked third (19%) in pass-rush win-rate among interior defenders behind Chris Jones (20%) and Aaron Donald (24%) and ahead of guys like Fletcher Cox, Kenny Clark, Cameron Heyward, and DeForest Buckner. Some might point towards their ability to defend the run as to why Cox, Clark, Heyward, and Buckner could be ranked higher than Jarrett, but the analytics wouldn’t corroborate that notion. The former Clemson Tiger ranks eighth (39%) in run-stop win-rate among interior defenders — ahead of every single aforementioned interior defender, including Jones and Donald.

Here is PFN’s reasoning:

“There is a reason the Atlanta Falcons want to keep Grady Jarrett around during their rebuild. He’s been one of the league’s premier interior pass rushers for the past few seasons. Unfortunately for him, what was a dominating performance in 2020 was overshadowed by a poor defensive backfield. Nevertheless, Jarrett continued to get to the quarterback despite the poor team performance.”

Grady Jarrett is an elite player in this league and one of the very best at his position. No disrespect to Fletcher Cox, but the veteran member of the Eagles is aging, and Jarrett is in his prime. It’s crazy the lack of acknowledgment Jarrett gets for being on a poor Falcons defense.