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

[BradyFTW!]

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

I think a lot of the people who are anti-PFF (like me) are generally pro-FO. Football Outsiders has its limitations, but at least it acknowledges what they are and doesn't pretend it's giving pure, objective, end-all measures. Sure, some people misinterpret them as such, but that's not on them.

PFF is just actively misleading, and that's pretty messed up. It represents its statistics as being something that they simply aren't. And the fact that they're so wrong so often sure doesn't help either. PFF is a very, very small part of a much larger argument at best. It's certainly not a conclusion, and it's ridiculed so much because that's how PFF represents its rankings, and that's how its adherents tend to represent it as well.

 

[1960Pats]

I just wish that Malcolm would tone down his emotions a little. One of the big stops in the DuncePunt game could have been called a late hit on him. It was a classic defenseless receiver call that somehow went uncalled.

I also see him talking a lot, and worry a little about him getting a taunting call at some crucial point later in the season.

He's playing great though, proving that his play at the end of the SB was no fluke.

 

[wizwor]

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

Well, yeah, because they stopped making errors. Go Malcolm Go!

 

[wizwor]

Someone stuffed 1000 copies of this in Revis' locker.

 

[eom]

Rich Hill ?@PP_Rich_Hill 40m40 minutes ago

#Patriots CB Malcolm Butler was @PFF's highest graded cornerback on the week

now how do you guys like pff grades?

 

[Galeb]

Rich Hill ?@PP_Rich_Hill 40m40 minutes ago

#Patriots CB Malcolm Butler was @PFF's highest graded cornerback on the week

now how do you guys like pff grades?

They are as useful as a broken clock. The kid can ball, and if he's not top five now, if he stays healthy, he will be soon.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Rich Hill ?@PP_Rich_Hill 40m40 minutes ago

#Patriots CB Malcolm Butler was @PFF's highest graded cornerback on the week

now how do you guys like pff grades?

I didn't like how Ryan did in coverage yesterday vs Beckham. Seemed like he really struggled vs a taller receiver. Need to watch again to confirm.

 

[chasa]

up until that interception which was called back due to a phantom "holding" call I didn't realize butler was even in the game, which is exactly what you want from a #1 corner. He shut down whoever it was he was covering.

 

[FCB02062]

I think we need to pump the brakes on PFF stuff....we slam them when they don't compliment pats players

 

[BobDigital]

Watching Butler improve this year has been very fun.

I almost want the Pats to play the Steelers and see Butler on Brown just to see the difference from game 1 to now. I think Brown gets half the yards he did in the first match up.

 

[eom]

I didn't like how Ryan did in coverage yesterday vs Beckham. Seemed like he really struggled vs a taller receiver. Need to watch again to confirm.

yeah, isn't that how butler basically got on the field in the sb?

 

[RobertWeathers]

yeah, isn't that how butler basically got on the field in the sb?

It was. My issue is not Ryan getting beat- that happens. What did happen was there were 3 or so plays where the ball was thrown to Beckham ad Ryan was flailing around demonstrating bad technique. It was very , "Superbowlish".

 

[BradyFTW!]

I didn't like how Ryan did in coverage yesterday vs Beckham. Seemed like he really struggled vs a taller receiver. Need to watch again to confirm.

Yeah, I don't really understand Ryan sometimes. I would reach the exact same conclusion if not for the fact that he covered Demaryius Thomas so well just a few weeks ago. Seems strange that he could pull that off then perform much more inconsistently against DGB, an objectively worse receiver in almost every way. Maybe the core issue is that he just struggles with the combination of size and physicality, which would make sense since he's not a big guy. DT, for all his size, doesn't exactly get the most out of it by playing physically.

Having said all that, while Ryan did struggle a bit, considering the pure physical mismatch between DGB and him it could've been much worse. It remains troubling to me that we don't have a better option at corner for defending big, physical, athletic freaks at WR, even as that fear generally proves to be unfounded by the actual results when we play teams like the Jets and Broncos.

 

[BradyFTW!]

yeah, isn't that how butler basically got on the field in the sb?

Combination of things, but that was definitely a big part of it. The Patriots came out with matchups in the secondary that just didn't work, since they really didn't anticipate Chris Matthews coming out of nowhere and having the game of his life. As I recall Butler getting on the field in the second half was more at the expense of Arrington than anything, though I definitely may be off on that.

At a bare minimum, I agree that the worst play anyone in the secondary made in the SB was Ryan's coverage in the end zone on the last play of the first half. I have no idea what he was trying to do there, it was poor situational awareness at a minimum.

 

[Betterthanmost]

I didn't like how Ryan did in coverage yesterday vs Beckham. Seemed like he really struggled vs a taller receiver. Need to watch again to confirm.

Regarding Ryan, he is all about preparations. I will hazard a guess that he only prepared for Mariota. Mettenburger was a different QB to the whole team and I think Ryan suffered the most.

 

[VrabelJr]

Yeah, I don't really understand Ryan sometimes. I would reach the exact same conclusion if not for the fact that he covered Demaryius Thomas so well just a few weeks ago. Seems strange that he could pull that off then perform much more inconsistently against DGB, an objectively worse receiver in almost every way. Maybe the core issue is that he just struggles with the combination of size and physicality, which would make sense since he's not a big guy. DT, for all his size, doesn't exactly get the most out of it by playing physically.

Having said all that, while Ryan did struggle a bit, considering the pure physical mismatch between DGB and him it could've been much worse. It remains troubling to me that we don't have a better option at corner for defending big, physical, athletic freaks at WR, even as that fear generally proves to be unfounded by the actual results when we play teams like the Jets and Broncos.

It's fairly well known that Demaryius Thomas is soft. AJ Green isn't much tougher either but will do a better job of getting around a pestering CB but definitely never goes through them.

 

[VrabelJr]

I think we need to pump the brakes on PFF stuff....we slam them when they don't compliment pats players

I've been saying PFF is legit for YEARS. Wait, no I have not and I'm not about to start either.

 

[Deus Irae]

BB is on WEEI today, and he's giving his take on non-specific (in other words, he didn't specifically name any) evaluation web sites. Those who are devotees of PFF might want to go to the transcript or audio, once WEEI puts it out later.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Watching Butler improve this year has been very fun.

I almost want the Pats to play the Steelers and see Butler on Brown just to see the difference from game 1 to now. I think Brown gets half the yards he did in the first match up.

Butler has been an amazing find and life saver for the pats this season. His improvement from week one is probably the biggest leap I have ever seen a CB make. I think he had had an incredible year thus far.

But at the end of the day, his 4.6 is no match for brown's 4.3.

 

[Big-T]

Chris Harris #4? He got roasted by any Steelers receiver that he covered.