Five Clemson pros tabbed as franchise players by PFF |
Five Clemson pros are regarded as franchise players for NFL teams
by Pro Football Focus.
The analytics-geared site ranked the top-3 players for each NFL team, and as stated above, five former Tigers made the cut and four more were in those considered. That quintet is DeAndre Hopkins (Arizona Cardinals), AJ Terrell (Atlanta Falcons), Grady Jarrett (Falcons), Tee Higgins (Cincinnati Bengals) and Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars). "Lawrence’s inclusion is based largely on who he was as a prospect coming out of Clemson and the glimpses shown as a rookie. The disastrous environment he was thrown into last season takes much of the blame for his 59.6 PFF grade as a rookie," said PFF's Ben Linsey. "Terrell and (Kyle) Pitts give Atlanta one foundational piece to build around on each side of the ball. Terrell is coming off a 2021 season in which he allowed just under two receptions and 12.5 receiving yards per game, and Pitts showed that he belongs in the rare tier of tight ends that can have success against press coverage when lined up as a receiver. "Jarrett doesn’t quite fit that same timeline as one of the few players on the roster who dates back to Atlanta's Super Bowl team, but he’s still one of its defensive cornerstones. Jarrett earned 80.0-plus PFF grades in every season from 2017 to 2020 before a slight dip last year (67.6)." "Ja'Marr Chase and Higgins both finished the 2021 season as top-10 wide receivers in PFF grade. It was clear that those two, along with Tyler Boyd, played a big role in Burrow’s second-year jump." In the next tier, Deshaun Watson, suprisingly, is not regarded among the top-3 players on the Cleveland Browns yet but was among those considered. Also in the next tier of players considered was DJ Reader (Bengals), Christian Wilkins (Miami Dolphins) and Dexter Lawrence (New York Giants).
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