Pro Football Focus top free agent RB and WR lists (1 Viewer)

PFF put out their top free agent lists for all positions and they go much deeper than top-ten so go to the links but here are the top-ten free agent running backs and top-ten wide receivers.

Only RB Joique Bell and WR Doug Baldwin are RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS, all of the other players named are UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS.

The last number is the rating that PFF gives the player.

Go to the link for the FULL LIST of every position and deeper lists of both the RB and WR positions. I'm on posting the top-ten free agents listed with the highest PFF ratings.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/01/2014-free-agent-running-backs/

2014 Free Agent Running Backs

PFF Analysis Team | January 1, 2014

1. DET = Joique Bell - age 28 -

RFA -- 15.1 rating

2 NE = LeGarrette Blount - age 27

UFA -- 10.1 rating

3. DEN = Knowshon Moreno - age 27 -

UFA -- 9.9 rating

4. IND = Donald Brown age - age 27 -

UFA -- 6.9 rating

5. TB = Brian Lenard age - age 30 -

UFA -- 6.3 rating

6. OAK = Rashard Jennings - age 29 -

UFA -- 6.0 rating

7. GB = James Starks - age 28 -

UFA -- 5.6 rating

8. PIT = Jonathan Dywer - age 25 -

UFA -- 4.1 rating

9. JAX = Mauirice Jones Drew - age 29 -

UFA -- 3.9 rating

10. MIN = Toby Gerhart - age 27 -

UFA -- 3.0 rating

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https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/01/2014-free-agent-wide-receivers/

2014 Free Agent Wide Receivers

PFF Analysis Team | January 1, 2014

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1. SF = Anquan Boldin - age 33 -

UFA --17.9 rating

2. DEN = Eric Decker - age 27 -

UFA - - 16.9 rating

3. SEA = Doug Baldwin - age 25 -

RFA --- 11.0 rating

4. SEA = Golden Tate - age 26 -

UFA --- 11.0 rating

5. PIT = Jerricho Cotchery - age 32 -

UFA -- 10.3 rating

6. NE = Julian Edelman - age 28 -

UFA -- 8.9 rating

7. MIN = Jerome Simpson - age 28 -

UFA -- 6.8 rating

8. NO = Robert Meachum - age 29 -

UFA -- 5.6 rating

9. PHI = Riley Cooper - age 26 -

UFA - 5.3 rating

10. CAR = Ted Ginn - age - 29 -

UFA - 4.4 rating

I'd be surprised if Detroit lets Bell loose, he really made a pretty good pairing with Bush this year.

Amazing that the number 1 WR is 33 now and will be 34 at the start of next season. But you really can't argue with that placement.

No Nicks in Top WR list?

Bracie Smathers said:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/01/2014-free-agent-running-backs/
2014 Free Agent Running Backs

PFF Analysis Team | January 1, 2014

1. DET = Joique Bell - age 28 -

RFA -- 15.1 rating

2 NE = LeGarrette Blount - age 27

UFA -- 10.1 rating

3. DEN = Knowshon Moreno - age 27 -

UFA -- 9.9 rating

4. IND = Donald Brown age - age 27 -

UFA -- 6.9 rating

5. TB = Brian Lenard age - age 30 -

UFA -- 6.3 rating

6. OAK = Rashard Jennings - age 29 -

UFA -- 6.0 rating

7. GB = James Starks - age 28 -

UFA -- 5.6 rating

8. PIT = Jonathan Dywer - age 25 -

UFA -- 4.1 rating

9. JAX = Mauirice Jones Drew - age 29 -

UFA -- 3.9 rating

10. MIN = Toby Gerhart - age 27 -

UFA -- 3.0 rating

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Joique Bell #1 overall? I enjoyed his season this year very much but that seems way out of whack. Blount 2nd seems like an overreaction to one awesome game. Rashad Jennings higher than Toby Gerhart? That seems odd to me too, but 30 year old Brian Leonard ahead of both? Really?

Terrible terrible rankings

Edit: we are all now more dumb after reading this thread.

These rankings appear to be based specifically on how off graded them this year. I assume that they are not commenting on how valuable they will be on the market.

Brian Leonard graded high, they must weigh pass protection heavily

Long Ball Larry said:

These rankings appear to be based specifically on how off graded them this year. I assume that they are not commenting on how valuable they will be on the market.

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Exactly. Gotta understand the context people before flying in with your "these rankings suck"

Hakeem Nicks is on the list, 25th on their ratings. Viewing the links is a better idea if you want to get know who all the available FA's are

Raymell McKigney said:

Long Ball Larry said:

These rankings appear to be based specifically on how off graded them this year. I assume that they are not commenting on how valuable they will be on the market.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Gotta understand the context people before flying in with your "these rankings suck"

Hakeem Nicks is on the list, 25th on their ratings. Viewing the links is a better idea if you want to get know who all the available FA's are

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Doing it this way (based off their metric performance model) can provide some idea of acquisition value. I mean Ben Tate might have one highest percentage chance of cashing in as starting RB or at least a lead in a RRBC, but their numbers indicate that he might not be worth that type of investment.. Looking forward to following this.

Raymell McKigney said:

Long Ball Larry said:

These rankings appear to be based specifically on how off graded them this year. I assume that they are not commenting on how valuable they will be on the market.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Gotta understand the context people before flying in with your "these rankings suck"

Hakeem Nicks is on the list, 25th on their ratings. Viewing the links is a better idea if you want to get know who all the available FA's are

Click to expand...

I hear ya on understanding where these rankings are coming from, but this is also a site that ranked shady poorly in an elusiveness article. Their methodology has it's flaws.

Raymell McKigney said:

Long Ball Larry said:

These rankings appear to be based specifically on how off graded them this year. I assume that they are not commenting on how valuable they will be on the market.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Gotta understand the context people before flying in with your "these rankings suck"

Click to expand...

Well, what good are these rankings?

Darren McFadden is a free agent, and while I am the first to call him NOT a franchise running back, he's one of the top free agents available.

ffgiant said:

No Nicks in Top WR list?

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He stunk this season.

Cleveland should throw some money at Baldwin and/or Tate.

Wonder what NE does with Edelman? He and Amendola are essentially the same type of player, but Amendola just can't stay healthy. Does it makes sense to pay both of them? The other side is that NE doesn't have a ton of better WR options unless you believe in Thompkins/Dobson/Boyce. Edelman could go somewhere else and possibly see more PT than if he stayed in NE. No idea where he could end up.

massraider said:

Raymell McKigney said:

Long Ball Larry said:

These rankings appear to be based specifically on how off graded them this year. I assume that they are not commenting on how valuable they will be on the market.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Gotta understand the context people before flying in with your "these rankings suck"

Click to expand...

Well, what good are these rankings?

Darren McFadden is a free agent, and while I am the first to call him NOT a franchise running back, he's one of the top free agents available.

Click to expand...

Do you they explain anywhere "how" they come up with these rankings? What are the metrics they used based on? Until I know that I can't really laud or bash the rankings. And if they don't explain, then they are pretty useless...and I will commence with the bashing.

MattFancy said:

Wonder what NE does with Edelman? He and Amendola are essentially the same type of player, but Amendola just can't stay healthy. Does it makes sense to pay both of them? The other side is that NE doesn't have a ton of better WR options unless you believe in Thompkins/Dobson/Boyce. Edelman could go somewhere else and possibly see more PT than if he stayed in NE. No idea where he could end up.

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If I were NE, I would keep both. Both are going to get crushed in that slot role in NE, and neither is as durable as Welker was in that position. Basically, I would look at it as I am paying both men salaries that equal what I would pay a typical WR1.

Pro Football Focus puts out lots of free information but not all of their content is free.

All of their free agent ranking lists are free of charge. I thought they would be usefull and shared the free content and most people understand that.

For those who didn't know that PFF doesn't give away all content and want to know how they compile their lists that information is at the bottom of every list they put out.

Here is what they say.

=====================================================================================

Now for some disclaimers:

- The overall ratings only tell part of the story and feature no weighting for specific facets of play. For more in-depth analysis, sign up for our PFF Premium Statistics.

- All ratings and snap counts are from the 2013 regular season only and ratings between players of two different positions are not meant to be compared.

- Sorting players by position and ranking won’t necessarily get you the same order we’ve used in some of our articles. That’s because we’ve done more to put the numbers into context. The grades require intelligence applied to them.

- This list of players consists only of players who ended the season on a roster in 2013 and are scheduled to become free agents when the 2014 league year begins, or players who have been released during the offseason; players that are exclusive rights free agents are not included.

- Player ages are as of September 1, 2014.

- If you spot any errors please contact Nathan Jahnke on twitter and he’ll set about fixing it.

I am really amazed Meachem still gets ranked, at no. 8 even. Pretty sure he's not going anywhere - no one else beside Payton wants him or knows how to use him.

Also how does Leonard end up at no. 5 and Gerhart at no. 10?

Boldin would be nuts to leave SF.

Brown should stay in Indy.

Edelman is not going anywhere.

Baldwin isn't leaving SEA (do RFAs ever go anywhere?).

For anyone who is really interested in how the rankings (grades) work, read this: http://www.profootballfocus.com/about/grading/

That is how they came up with those numbers. They are a recap of this season and what specifically happened with that player this year. They may or may not have any predictive value alone, but provide more nuance about a player's performance.

I have actually looked at these rankings the last couple of years and find them interesting. I think too many people are thinking of these in terms of who will be the most sought after free agents which certainly isn't the case. You can agree or not agree with their metrics. Those who put any merit in them might identify guys who may be sell high candidates if they gain significant value when they sign as free agents.

Warhogs said:

I have actually looked at these rankings the last couple of years and find them interesting. I think too many people are thinking of these in terms of who will be the most sought after free agents which certainly isn't the case. You can agree or not agree with their metrics. Those who put any merit in them might identify guys who may be sell high candidates if they gain significant value when they sign as free agents.

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Joique Bell has been around forever and done nothing. This year he was better . If he signs with a team that runs a similar offensive/blocking system as the Lions, he could be a good value. If it is largely different, he will probably suck.

Did I miss Ben Tate and Jeremy Maclin I think they should both be high on this list

SaintsInDome2006 said:

Cleveland should throw some money at Baldwin and/or Tate.

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both seem like awful ideas IMHO

Bracie Smathers said:

- If you spot any errors please contact Nathan Jahnke on twitter and he’ll set about fixing it.

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spelling

Leonard is a FB.

Granted he has always got a handful of carries and been able to fill in in a pinch at RB. A team like the Giants could really value having Leonard as their FB in case 2014 is like 2013 and they're desperate for a RB; even still I can't see him having that much value as a free agent.

SaintsInDome2006 said:

I am really amazed Meachem still gets ranked, at no. 8 even. Pretty sure he's not going anywhere - no one else beside Payton wants him or knows how to use him.

Also how does Leonard end up at no. 5 and Gerhart at no. 10?

Boldin would be nuts to leave SF.

Brown should stay in Indy.

Edelman is not going anywhere.

Baldwin isn't leaving SEA (do RFAs ever go anywhere?).

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Edelman is discussed in another thread. I think the Pats will be pressed to afford Edelman.

Nagle2998 said:

Did I miss Ben Tate and Jeremy Maclin I think they should both be high on this list

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The lists are strictly how a player graded out for their play this year. Jeremy Maclin did not play this year, so he would not have been graded.