Depending on a variety of variables (background, football knowledge, self-confidence and self-awareness) some people trust their own initial reactions more than others. But at the end of the day, you can’t see everything from the game broadcast and the boxscore only reveals so much.

So from there, a lot of fans and media members will go to places that offer more than standard statistics, the gold standard of which is Pro Football Focus. Throughout the season, we’ve seen PFF look fondly upon the Minnesota Vikings.

They loved Donovan Jackson in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears. PFF also offers collegiate grades and rankings, and they are huge fans of MN Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey. But there are other times where PFF is not so friendly. In fact, there are football people out there who downright despise Pro Football Focus.

Jeremiah Sirles has had enough of Pro Football Focus

See, Pro Football Focus grades usually come from their “experts” watching games live or, later in the week, via all-22 film, where they use subjective judgement without all context that is oftentimes needed.

Oftentimes, depending on the who is assigning the grade, player performances can swing wildly. But for many positions, specifically those that do not lean as much on standard statistics (OL, DL, S, etc).

For former Minnesota Vikings lineman Jeremiah Sirles, that’s not good enough. He wants PFF to be better, calling their process in grading offensive lineman as “an absolute joke”.

I’m so done with PFF and how they score OLine. It’s an absolute joke.

You can have 39 pass blocking attempts and give up 0 sacks, 0 hits, 0 pressures. They determine how many “beaten by defenders” and you somehow get a 43.5% grade.

Absolutely F******* joke.

— Jeremiah Sirles (@Jsirles71) October 7, 2025

Following Sirles’ tweet, Minnesota Vikings broadcaster Paul Allen responded, “Preach.” Others in the media business, like local beat writer and podcaster, Matthew Coller, lives by them.

There’s probably a pretty safe middle ground to be had where PFF grades need to be taken with a grain of salt, but that they can be trusted to tell part of the story. They can also help tell a long-term story better than it does short-term.

It’s hard for me to believe that Sirles, a guy with 42 NFL games under his belt, isn’t able to discern what solid line play looks like. He seems specifically upset with the grades received last week by emergency center Blake Brandel, who made his first start since grade school, at the position.

Sirles upset over Blake Brandel’s PFF grade in week 5

Most who watched Sunday morning’s came away thinking Blake Brandel held up incredibly well. He had one inconsequential low snap, but he didn’t stick out in pass protection or in run blocking, at least not with the naked eye.

When his PFF grade came out on Tuesday, however, his final grade was a brutal 41.0, ultimately dragged down by a 54.2 pass block and abysmal 42.5 run block. Sirles has been on SKOR North talking about how well Brandel performed on Sunday in London, especially in communication pre-snap, something PFF doesn’t take into account.

Well, I still have yet to figure out how PFF grades [work] because I go look at grades and it’s like, okay, this dude had 58 pass attempts. He had one hit, one hurry. Okay, how does he have a 47 passing grade? Like, I don’t understand the metrics in which they use.

And maybe that’s cuz I’m a moron but I talk to my guys in the league who I watch film with. I’m like,’Hey, how’d you grade out by coach?’ They’re like, ‘Oh, I grade out an 88.’ I pull up PFF and they gave him a 56. Right? Because there’s a difference between getting the assignment done and then looking pretty while you do it.

Jeremiah Sirles – Purple Daily (SKOR North)

At any rate, Pro Football Focus isn’t going anywhere, and their grading system has become a significant money-maker. Many of the numbers are paywalled behind a premium subscription, and digger further into their accuracy requires investment.

For now, let’s just hope the MN Vikings can get the roster back to a healthy state and perform at a level that helps them go on a run.

Three offensive players had grades that exceeded 80. Of players that took at least half of the offensive snaps (71 total), three had grades below 60, which is considered average on PFF’s scale of 1-100.

Only one player exceeded that threshold on defense, and only two players who played at least half the snap counts had grades higher than 70. Four players, including three starters, were graded below 60.

Minnesota Vikings highest-graded offensive players (min. 35 snaps)

Key PFF Stat: 4.38 yards per route run by Addison; 3.56 by Hockenson

Related: Kevin O’Connell Fans Flames on Daniel Jones to Minnesota Vikings Rumors

Just a beautiful throw by Sam Darnold pic.twitter.com/q8u2gg2UAt

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) November 25, 2024

Vikings lowest-graded offensive players

Key PFF Stat: 11 of 12 quarterback pressures were allowed by these three players.

Highest-graded defensive players (min. 38 snaps)

Related: Former Vikings Cornerback Claimed by Panthers

Key PFF Stat: Greenard and Smith had five “stops” each, accounting for 10 of the defense’s 27 total stops. PFF categorizes “stops” as tackles that constitute an offensive “failure.”

Here is the all 22 angle of Caleb’s sack in OT. He absolutely cannot take that there but I hate this call. A 3 man route concept against drop 8 that only works one side of the field. The Vikings caught them here. Caleb can’t extend to other side bc no one is there. Still needs to… pic.twitter.com/0BBAkCZOns

— Bears Blog Boy (@TommyK_NFLDraft) November 25, 2024

Lowest-graded defensive players

Key PFF Stat: Two total “stops” between Cashman and Grugier-Hill. Cashman entered the game with at least two stops in every game he played this season.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Injury Update: Latest News on Darnold, Robinson and Pace Jr 

Other notable grades and stats

• Despite only catching two passes for 27 yards, PFF was kind to Justin Jefferson. His 67.1 grade ranked sixth among qualifying players on offense.
• DT Jonathan Bullard notched five stops on 31 snaps. Much has been made about the Vikings lacking a dominating presence on the interior defensive line, but Bullard has been a force against the run this year. He finished with a grade of 74.2.
• The Vikings’ run game found most of its success running outside. The Vikings ran off the left and right ends (outside the tight end) 11 times, picking up 85 yards. Their other 15 runs picked up 41 yards.

The Vikings improved their record to 1-2 in that week 3 win over Seattle and their offensive line netted one of its best performances in years. But then, the Cleveland Browns came to town a week later and put reality back into perspective. The Minnesota offensive line is what we thought it was and that’s not a good thing.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line allowed 30 total pressures, 7 QB hits and allowed their rushers just 1.1 yards before contact. If you watched the game, you’re not surprised by these horrid statistics.

I almost wrote a blog about Kirk Cousins the MVP candidate after the convincing Seattle victory. Yikes, right? Maybe… but maybe not. If Kirk is protected by an offensive line that doesn’t resemble a crew of Best Buy security guards opening on Black Friday, the future possibilities could be endless.

Four man rush destroys the Vikings line and Kirk Cousins. pic.twitter.com/RzsAPxYU3c

— The 60FPS & GIF Guy (@IHaveFourBalls) October 3, 2021

Clowney lost his damn mind against the Vikings pic.twitter.com/xvtgYSGilT

— Johnny Kinsley (@Brickwallblitz) October 4, 2021

Historically Bad

You might not be grasping how terrible the offensive line played on Sunday. Maybe my metaphors aren’t good enough. Maybe you need more than three tweeted video clips to form an opinion. Fine, but let’s see if some more advance metrics dug out by Arif Hasan (The Athletic) can portray things in a better light.

Kirk Cousins, according to PFF, was pressured on 55% of his drop backs vs the Cleveland Browns. According to Arif, that’s only happened three other times in Cousins’ Vikings tenure. Not only did the purple lose those three previous games, they haven’t won at all when Kirk gets pressured at a rate higher than 44% of his drop backs.

But this isn’t a Kirk Cousins thing. When the rest of the league’s quarterbacks are pressured on >44% of drop backs, they win just 36.7% of the time. When pressure rates reach 55% or more, teams win just 26.7% of the time. I’m not here to give Arif’s entire article away but I thought these were fascinating metrics that fans can use in the future to judge offensive line play and who might be to blame when the pass game struggles.

It’s no surprise that keeping your quarterback clean is a major key to winning NFL games.

Priority Problem #1

Look, Sunday’s performance against the Browns’ defensive front wasn’t one lineman’s fault. Brian O’Neill, for example, allowed his first pressures of the season on Sunday. And all five offensive linemen took a hit to their PFF grades.

But Rashod Hill’s 39.3 PFF grade through four weeks ranks 71st of 73 qualified NFL offensive tackles. He’s become by-far the biggest weakness on this Vikings offense. His PFF grade makes Garrett Bradbury’s 54.7 (26th of 33 qualified centers) look pro bowl worthy. To exacerbate the situation, Hill plays left tackle so he continually goes up against some of the most talented and highest compensated defensive edge rushers league-wide.

This clip is everything you need to know about the Vikings Browns game. pic.twitter.com/orssLNwsll

— Crushing Skols (@CSkols) October 3, 2021

AND NOW: A day's worth of Rashod Hill getting knocked flat on his ass, courtesy of exclusively Myles Garrett.

Set of course, to benny hill#Vikings #Skol pic.twitter.com/h4v0Ze54Tq

— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) October 5, 2021

In other words, Kirk Cousins’ blind side is incredibly vulnerable, which is not something the Minnesota coaching staff or front office should take lightly. We’ve seen what Cousins can do if well protected and he’s going to need an MVP-type finish to 2021 if the Vikings are going to return to playoff relevancy.

Some guys are meant to be depth pieces and that’s ok.

Don’t lose your temper on Rashod Hill. He wasn’t supposed to be the Minnesota Vikings starting left tackle in 2021 or beyond. His PFF numbers show it. Hill had easily the best PFF grade of his career in 2020 (72.4), when he played just 11% of offensive snaps. In (4) 2021 games, he’s already more than doubled his snap count from all 16 games in 2020.

Rashod Hill scored a PFF grade under 60 in each of the two seasons he took 50% or more of the offensive snaps. He’s over a 60 grade in years he takes 15% or less. That’s pretty telling and rather incredible.

Rashod Hill isn’t a bad NFL offensive lineman. He’s just a bad starting NFL offensive lineman. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/xAgFIWJYfL

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 5, 2021

For this offense to hum, Cousins needs to be kept upright and off the injury report. Just because he’s been overly durable throughout the first half of his career, doesn’t mean anything is promised for tomorrow. One blindside shot could change that healthy reputation in a hurry.

Help on the way?

The starting left tackle for this 2021 Minnesota Vikings squad was supposed to be a 1st round rookie. Instead, Christian Darrisaw saw the practice field for the first time two weeks ago and the playing field for the first time on Sunday vs the Browns. He took one snap, blocking for the only extra point Minnesota kicked.

Admittedly, we have no idea what Darrisaw will look like or how he will handle the right defensive ends he’ll go up against in the NFL. But if he’s really a 1st round talent and healthy enough to play then Christian Darrisaw cannot be worse than Rashod Hill. If he is,.. then the Vikings are in big trouble.

I’m not typing this blog to say that the Vikes are one competent left tackle away from a really good offensive line. But in the middle of a season, fixing the entire front-fence isn’t feasible. You need to pick and choose the spots that need fixing the most. In the case of this Minnesota offense, that’s at left tackle.

Klint Kubiak may have given him a vote of confidence last week but he was proven wrong. Rashod Hill needs to go (to the bench for more limited work). The Vikings coaching staff has to get Darrisaw ready to play immediately, before it’s too late. And “too late” is getting dangerously close to current reality.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Kirk Cousins has everything on the line next season. The Minnesota Vikings ownership made that clear when they pushed Rick Spielman to draft his possible replacement, Kellen Mond, last week. But that doesn’t mean everyone is down on Kirk’s career outlook heading into the 2021 season.

In fact, there’s one author over at the very popular national football website, Pro Football Focus (PFF), who wrote over 1100 words on Cousins as THE dark horse MVP candidate in the NFL next season. Why? For the first time in his career, Kirk Cousins could finally have an average or better offensive line.

The numbers say that Kirk with protection… could very-well be dangerous.

Kirk Cousins a product of his offensive lines?

During the 2021 NFL Draft, it looked like the Vikings finally made a conscious decision to fix their offensive line. Cousins is a technician without any real mobility, and it leads to him being sacked as much as anyone in the league. He’s played behind one porous offensive line after another. The Vikings’ line has ranked 30th in cumulative pass-block grade over the past three regular seasons. That’s bad.

Last year, with a 55.7 pass-block grade, the unit put forth its worst performance among the three seasons. While pressure rate is tied to the quarterback, Minnesota has allowed a rate above 32% in each of the past three years, which seems to fall more on the offensive line’s shoulders than Cousins, even though he isn’t the quickest to get rid of the football.

Specifically, the offensive line has been abysmal through the middle. Minnesota’s guard-center-guard combinations rank among the worst we’ve ever seen. Avert your eyes, Vikings fans: Over the past three seasons, the cumulative pass-block grade between Minnesota interior linemen was 44.2, last in the league. For reference, the 31st-ranked team, the Seattle Seahawks, earned a 53.1 grade. And the top-ranked team, the Cleveland Browns, recorded an 89.8 mark.

Seth Galina – PFF

MVP Kirk Cousins?

But PFF went beyond dubbing Kirk Cousins a legitimate NFL starter. Seth think that Kirk Cousins has an MVP season in him and possibly a Super Bowl run. He reminds us that the numbers (which PFF makes its money on) say that #8 is a much better QB than others who have won super bowls or made runs at them in the recent past.

In fact, the numbers say that Cousins borders on the “elite” category of quarterbacks. The only thing he is missing, however, is wins. I’ve been told that those are important.

One day, the prophecy will be fulfilled and Kirk Cousins will win NFL MVP or the Super Bowl. Considering how many average quarterbacks we’ve seen flirt with the award during the season and the recent Super Bowl signal-callers no longer starting for the teams they took to the big game, Cousins will come out on top one of these years.

We treat the Minnesota Vikings quarterback as one of these Jared Goff or Jimmy Garoppolo types, but in reality, he has been much better, consistently ranking in the top 10 in a number of traditional and advanced statistics each year.

If we look at all the quarterbacks who have taken at least 1,500 snaps over the past three seasons, Cousins ranks seventh in PFF grade, at 88.7. That’s borderline elite, if not firmly elite. The biggest difference is that the quarterbacks who rank in front of Cousins win games. A lot of them.

Meanwhile, Cousins is 25-21-1 in the regular season for the Vikings. Patrick Mahomes is 37-8, Tom Brady is 34-14, Drew Brees is 30-8, Aaron Rodgers is 32-15-1, Russell Wilson is 33-15 and Deshaun Watson is 25-22. How is it possible that those guys have such better records than Cousins when the Vikings quarterback is not far from them statistically?

Seth Galina – PFF

The pieces are in place (and so is a backup option)

At the end of the day, this is a prove-it season for Kirk Cousins. Yes, he is going to make a bunch of money in 2021 and 2022 but he’s only 32 years old. He still has another mammoth contract in his future if he can really fulfill the PFF prophecy discussed above.

The Minnesota Vikings would be happy to be that team, with or without Kellen Mond waiting in the wings. If the offensive line really is fixed then this could be an opportunity for Kirk Cousins to turn his career conversation from “borderline decent QB” into a legitimate upper-echelon NFL quarterback. The type that, with a Super Bowl ring, could slip into HOF conversations.

That may seem bold but let’s remember how much time Kirk has left to rack up thousands of yards and hundreds of touchdowns in his career. But, he has to grasp the opportunity.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

This isn’t the first time you’ve seen Justin Jefferson’s name in the same headline as the popular football rating system created by Pro Football Focus. But on this occasion, we aren’t talking about how he ranks vs college kids or other rookies. No… this time, PFF is ranking Justin Jefferson ahead of every other NFL wide receiver too.

This would make our rookie wide receiver the best in the NFL this season, according to PFF. The truth can’t be controversial, right?

pic.twitter.com/OlLoaSbd1u

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 26, 2020

Pro Football Focus grades aren’t perfect and they shouldn’t be the only metric used when judging any football player. The grades are important, however, and they are something even NFL now takes into account when scouting players both under their tutelage and on the outside.

Old-Schoolers

If you’re more of an old-school numbers-type, Jefferson has those too. Remember, he’s coming off an early bye week and didn’t play much early. JJ might not have as many games under his belt in 2020 as other wide receivers around the NFL. Still, (according to pro-football-reference) Jefferson ranks #9 in yards (537), #4 in yards per reception (19.2) and #6 in receiving yards per game (89.5).

Not bad for a rookie whose QB is often-frazzled and has to share targets with Adam Thielen. Oh, and he plays in an offense that looks like it was cultivated in 1918, at times.

Jefferson continues to blossom, however, even as the Minnesota Vikings struggle. If he continues to play well out of the bye week, it’ll be hard to deny him OROY. In fact, right now is a good time to take your money and place it on JJ. Even before the bye week, his odds at rookie of the year were dropping dramatically.

If you trust PFF and you’ve watched Justin play this season with your own two eyes, you should be ready to tap that “place bet” button, when betting opens back up for this week.

At only 21-years old, #Vikings rookie Justin Jefferson is already one of the better route runners, playmakers, and downfield threats in the #NFLpic.twitter.com/yt1yfDsucB

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 26, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The numbers are in! How many wins do the number suggest for each team in the NFC North? @PFF_George and @PFF_EricEager break it down:https://t.co/fZwf2Wb3xT pic.twitter.com/yoF5lhojwJ

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 5, 2018

At first glance, running into this graphic today, put a nice Thursday smile on my face. After clicking the link and reading the story though, I realized that there’s a lot more shade being thrown at the Vikings in this projection, than there is praise.

At first read, I was getting a little upset (that changed). Why upset you say? The clear answer is a classic case of Minnesota defensiveness. Our ‘why don’t they ever give us any credit’ reflex response to years of being shunned by national media was bursting. Look, there’s a lot in the article that I love. They call Stefon Diggs the “Antonio Brown of the NFC North”. That was nice to read. And, what does that make Adam Thielen??? They also rave about Harrison Smith (how can you not), among other players and other things that compliment the entirety of the Vikings’ roster and why all of the numbers and opinions over at ProFootballFocus.com lead to a Vikings’ NFC North title.

But wow, were there some sentences (and win projections) in this piece that really rubbed me the wrong way. First, they are projecting less wins for the Vikings, compared to last year. ‘C’mon Eric, they had 13 wins last year.’ Save it. PFF is apparently projecting under 9 wins for the Purple and Gold this season (8.78), even though the O/U in Vegas is 10.5 (See picture below). With a healthy Aaron Rodgers all season, 9 wins won’t be good enough for 2nd place in the North. You think those ugly green and yellow ghosts are just going to go away and die after what happened last season. Doubtful.

PFF points to the Vikings’ strength of schedule as one contributing factor to the projected decline in wins (I’ll leave this subject to others because there are a lot of flaws in that stat pre-season). But here is what got me. PFF points to the change at the QB position, and the incoming of Kirk Cousins, as a major player in the decline. Anyone else find that insane for a guy we just paid $85 Million?

See for yourself (Click image for entire article):

There’s also a projection of regression for the Vikings as well, as they break in a new quarterback and the league’s eighth-most-difficult schedule in our rating system.

Looking ahead to next season, there is no one who would logically challenge Rodgers’ atop the NFC North totem pole, especially with Case Keenum now in Denver and Kirk Cousins a Cluster 4 quarterback.

if the Vikings can repeat their generationally-impressive performance in support of their quarterback from 2017, then Cousins should be a good bet to return Keenum-like numbers as a Cluster 2 quarterback.

Now, to lay all cards on the table, I wasn’t the biggest Case Keenum supporter last year; as he was throwing all over unsuspecting defenses and putting up numbers that he hadn’t seen since his time at Houston University. But, to my own defense, I definitely wasn’t calling for the Kirk Cousins contract either.

However, now that we’ve paid Cousins, let’s stop imagining or hoping or praying or whatever, that Case Keenum is on the same level as Captain Kirk is. He’s not. Cousins was paid $85 Million because he’s proven himself in this league. He’s consistently put up numbers that compare with the top-5 in the NFL on a really bad and dysfunctional Washington team. To be strapped with the “leader” title inside of that organization isn’t an easy cross to bare.

Combine a lot of added organizational stability with his relative young age (30 by season start) compared to the other top QB’s in the NFL, and there is a lot of signs that point to the very best of Kirk Cousins’ years being ahead of him. On the contrary, if you can sit in a seat, attached to a lie-detector, and tell me that Case Keenum will be better this season than he was last, without that needle flying off the page…. well, you’ve either figured that machine out or you might want to talk to a doctor.

Maybe it was the positive words about some others on the team as I continued to read, that forced the positive light upon me. But, instead of taking the classic “Minnesota defensive” route, I decided to take the high road instead.

via GIPHY

This is a GOOD thing. Outside of last year’s numbers, which paints a delusional comparison between these two, we all know Kirk Cousins is a much better quarterback than Case Keenum. We loved Case but Kirk will fit balls through tighter windows, take more chances, and put a lot more pressure on defenses to defend against the passing game. You might say Keenum’s decision-making is better but I’d argue that he probably cost the team quite a few big plays last season, not taking more risks. And, his best attribute BY FAR is often more frustrating to his offensive lineman than it is to a defense. That’s his scrambling and ability to avoid the rush and move the pocket. Not knowing where your QB is as an offensive lineman, can be frustrating.

We may never get a moment quite like the “Minneapolis Miracle” again and Case Keenum will forever live in Minnesota immortality for it. But, we are better off now. No matter what PFF’s number machine says. Even if the Vikings don’t make it to 13 wins, the prediction of only getting 8.75 is laughable. Especially when most of your logic points to a position that was improved on, over the offseason.

So anyway…..

Is it Training Camp yet? https://t.co/3GRjrNeXg4

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) June 27, 2018

Eric Strack

MinnesotaSportsFan.com (@RealMNSportsFan)