The Jets went into Green Bay for Week 6 and pretty much had their way at Lambeau Field against the Packers. In a convincing 27-10 victory, Gang Green’s defense showed up in a big way, which included a big performance from defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
He not only blocked a field goal, but he also recorded two sacks, three quarterback hits, and six pressures on his way to earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. All it took was that and some public outcry for the dudes at Pro Football Focus to change their opinion on Williams’ Week 6 performance.
In case you’ve already forgotten during the hysteria of a third straight Jets victory, PFF’s original grade for Quinnen Williams wasn’t great. The public outcry began with the below tweet:
They've done it again!
Quinnen Williams gets a 64.5 grade from PFF for his game in Green Bay. Worse than Solomon Thomas, Brandin Echols, and Lamarcus Joyner. Quinnen's 2nd-worst of the year.
WHAT are you watching
?
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) October 17, 2022
That 64.5 rating was also the 10th-best on his own team for Week 6. As this started gaining momentum, PFF began changing its tune on what Williams did against Green Bay on Sunday. First, his grade improved to around 75 before now settling in at 81.4.
So, Williams’ PFF grade went from being the Jets’ 10th-best mark on defense to the best. He narrowly beat out cornerback and noted Cheesehead hat appreciator, Sauce Gardner. The rookie’s PFF rating came in at 80.0 after yet another solid performance.
This is exactly the kind of stuff that’s going to dissuade football fans from putting any true stock into these grades and ratings. It’s one thing to just flat-out get it wrong. That happens and technology isn’t perfect. What’s good, though, is that they’ve publicly addressed the poor initial grade, followed by the substantial increases:
PFF taking accountability for Quinnen Williams' original grade from Sunday.
"We were wrong. We got it wrong. We got it wrong. Simple as that."
"This was a badly reviewed grade by our standards."#Jets
— Joe (@JoeRiveraSN) October 19, 2022
We initially bashed them for not taking accountability on this. But it turns out we just didn’t wait long enough to hear them talk about it on their podcast.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
