Malcolm Butler receives a 3.4 grade from PFF, and is ranked the #1 NFL corner of Week 6

[Soul_Survivor88]

Top Week 6 Cornerbacks | 120Sports.com

1. Malcolm Butler 3.4

2. Captain Munnerlyn 2.9

3. Marcus Peters 2.7

T4. Darelle Revis 2.6

T4. Chris Harris Jr. 2.6

View article

This season has swayed from busy days to quiet days for Malcolm Butler (+3.4), but the Patriots’ corner stood up to his thorough examination, breaking up three passes after giving up a touchdown to Donte Moncrief (+1.2) on the Colts’ opening drive. Since being targeted 11 times by the Steelers in Week 1, Butler had only seen as many targets in the three games since, but last night was thrown at a career-high 13 times, surrendering seven catches for 83 yards to go with his three pass defenses and three stops.

 

[jah]

I hope another site says this too.

 

[Kontradiction]

I hope another site says this too.

I'd feel better if PFF had Butler ranked as their dead last CB.

 

[BobDigital]

IDK how you can possibly rank him the #1 CB of week 6. I want to know how they are coming up with ranking system. I think he is improving overall but IDK how they came up with this.

 

[JMC00]

I wish PFF wasn't such a joke because then I could be a homer about this

 

[Tuck]

IDK how you can possibly rank him the #1 CB of week 6. I want to know how they are coming up with ranking system. I think he is improving overall but IDK how they came up with this.

I don't know how they come up with the rating but the kid has passed the eyeball test for me. Good coverage, good at jamming, always seems to be step for step with his man, turns his head at the right time and most of all his tackling has been stellar.

 

[slam]

IDK how you can possibly rank him the #1 CB of week 6. I want to know how they are coming up with ranking system. I think he is improving overall but IDK how they came up with this.

 

[ViperGTS]

I don't know how they come up with the rating but the kid has passed the eyeball test for me. Good coverage, good at jamming, always seems to be step for step with his man, turns his head at the right time and most of all his tackling has been stellar.

Agreed. He has some things to work on, i.e. ball skills. Once he starts catching INTs look out. His acceleration/closing speed is amazing and his height is his only detriment. Revis isn't tall either but plays bigger due to technique. Butler, each week, appears better in this regard. Mark my words, if he stays healthy by the end of the year, he will have one side of the field shut down. Bring back Roberts next year and there you go.

 

[Deus Irae]

IDK how you can possibly rank him the #1 CB of week 6. I want to know how they are coming up with ranking system. I think he is improving overall but IDK how they came up with this.

It's PFF. They make **** up. ESPN does the same thing with QBR.

 

[oldrover]

Meanwhile, inside the halls of PFF:

 

[oldrover]

PFF also says Butler is now ahead in the New Hampshire polls.




Actually, that might have a better chance of being true. LOL

 

[patfanken]

We can all be very snide about PFF and Football Outsiders. I know I have been at times especially in the first years they came out, simply because so many of their raters where really not football people and so much of their rating was subjective.

But the fact is that these ratings services have their uses if you accept their limitations and take with a grain of salt any of their "final numbers" as gospel. What I like are their raw numbers to go along with the eye test. It is helpful to know that in the previous 3 games Butler hasn't been targeted much. It's equally interesting to know that he was targeted 13 times the other night and only gave up 7 catches. That is useful to know when you are making your own evaluations, even if 2 people looking at the same raw data might come up with 2 different conclusions.

Mazz (according to someone on the radio who thought he made an insightful conclusion) looked at that data and felt Butler was getting too much credit and giving up 7 catches including a TD showed just how far he needs to come before he becomes a big time CB.

That isn't exactly wrong but I see a much more positive viewing. Even though he is still being targeted more than #1 CB's usually are, he is making more plays that average CB's do. He has very rarely been burned in coverage. Zolack commented that he is being hurt by the fact he's a couple of inches shorter than ideal, and we have seen the number of times he's been literally an inch or two from making the big play as opposed to giving it up. He added that he can learn to make up for those inches with more experience, and pointed out he IS starting in just his 6th game on Sunday. Another key positive is that all this targeting is helping to show what a great tackler he already is right now.

So you can dismiss the PFF ratings if you want with righteous indignation and sarcasm. Some of it is funny. Their final number is merely a calculation of some raw data, and how it is weighed is just one man's estimation of what is important. But I think you'd be wasting an asset. Do I think Malcolm Butler is the top CB in the league? Of course not. But those raw numbers do help me as I try to figure out just how he is coming along in his first year as a starter.

JMHO

 

[sambam94]

thrown at 13 times means the guy he was covering was usually open..that can't be a good thing.

 

[oldrover]

We can all be very snide about PFF and Football Outsiders. I know I have been at times especially in the first years they came out, simply because so many of their raters where really not football people and so much of their rating was subjective.

But the fact is that these ratings services have their uses if you accept their limitations and take with a grain of salt any of their "final numbers" as gospel. What I like are their raw numbers to go along with the eye test.

The raw quantifiable numbers are definitely valuable... what's being mocked are the PFF crap made-up no-explanation-provided-for-how-the-hell-you-got-them numbers.

I mean, Butler ranks higher than Revis, and Revis had two picks?

Do not throw me that poo. Or I throw it back at you.



(just kidding... and to be clear... I'm saying the monkey is me LOL)

 

[Deus Irae]

The raw quantifiable numbers are definitely valuable... what's being mocked are the PFF crap made-up no-explanation-provided-for-how-the-hell-you-got-them numbers.

I mean, Butler ranks higher than Revis, and Revis had two picks?

Do not throw me that poo.



Or I throw it back at you. (just kidding)

This. I used to champion PFF. When it started, it was about snap counts and other basic data points, and I recommended it highly. It was great in that, albeit not perfect there either. Once the site started getting to the point where it was just pulling formulae out of its ass, it lost its way.

Today, I doubt I'd even take a free subscription.

 

[RobertWeathers]

IDK how you can possibly rank him the #1 CB of week 6. I want to know how they are coming up with ranking system. I think he is improving overall but IDK how they came up with this.

The same way as ESPN does their QBR.

 

[RobertWeathers]

This. I used to champion PFF. When it started, it was about snap counts and other basic data points, and I recommended it highly. It was great in that, albeit not perfect there either. Once the site started getting to the point where it was just pulling formulae out of its ass, it lost its way.

Today, I doubt I'd even take a free subscription.

Even the raw data is sketchy. I view it with a very skeptical eye

 

[Deus Irae]

Even the raw data is sketchy. I view it with a very skeptical eye

They used to have a disclaimer page, where they acknowledged error rates. That disappeared.

 

[BradyFTW!]

As much as I'd like this to be true, PFF is just as wrong here as it is with every other week/position.

 

[Joey007]

These sites have been trying way too hard to garner statistics no one even cares about. They probably have a stat that shows who's leading the league in passed defended with the right arm and passes defended with the left arm.

They factor meaningless things like that into their calculations and basically let those things push aside the stats that actually matter more.

It's the classic case of thinking you're smarter than you actually are. That's the case with PFF.