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The Jacksonville Jaguars are one of many teams who have an analytics department now, so we'll take a look at some of the advanced metrics after games this season to see how players did. So let's take a look at Pro Football Focus and see how they graded out the players and if it meshed with what we saw on the field.
Who fared well:
Will Blackmon: The Jaguars late waiver addition was graded out by far as the Jaguars best defensive player against the Colts with a +4.8, including a +3.4 in pass coverage. Blackmon has been pressed into action due to injuries at the position, but he's fared very well in relief duty. Better than just well actually, as so far he's the 6th highest graded corner in the NFL.
Sen'Derrick Marks: While Marks overall grade from PFF wasn't stellar, just a +0.5, he had 5 quarterback hurries and hit on the quarterback. Marks has visibly been the most impressive defensive lineman, especially rushing the passer. That shows out in the advanced numbers as he leads the team in hurries and is second in hitting the quarterback, behind only Jason Babin who hit Andrew Luck five times on Sunday.
Who fared poorly:
Will Rackley: It's becoming a weekly occurrence, but Rackley once again ended the game one of the lowest rated players on either side of the ball with a -3.6 on the day giving up four hurries and two hits on the quarterback. Rackley was bad in both pass protection and against the run and his overall score of -13.6 on the season makes him the second worst guard in the NFL by PFF's grading.
Josh Evans and Johnathan Cyprien: While PFF is a useful tool for further evaluating players, how they grade safeties always leaves me scratching my head. Both Cyprien and Evans were the two lowest graded players on the defensive side of the ball with a -4.4 and -4.5 respectively. While I'm sure each blew a few coverages, I thought on first watch both had good games. I'll know more when the All-22 out, but I certainly didn't think they were the worst players on the defense Sunday.