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Here's the PFF player grades for our guys and the top ranked players by position as of Week 3:

QB (35 players ranked): Geno Smith #5. Top Ranked: Derek Carr, Saints.

WR (112 ranked): Tyler Lockett #26, DK Metcalf #34, JSN #44, Jake Bobo #77. Top Ranked: Chris Godwin, Bucs

RB (51 ranked): Zach Charbonnet, #34. Top Ranked: David Montgomery, Lions

TE (66 ranked): AJ Barner, #20, Noah Fant, #34. Top Ranked: Issiah Likely, Ravens.

Centers (33 ranked): Conner Williams #22. Top Ranked: Eric McCoy, Saints.

Guards (67 ranked): Laken Tomlinson, #37, Anthony Bradford #66. Top Ranked: James Daniels, Steelers

Tackles (73 ranked): Charles Cross #1, Stone Forsythe #36. Top Ranked: Charles Cross, Seahawks

Cornerbacks (96 ranked): Tariq Woolen #5, Devon Witherspoon #26, Tre Brown #37. Top Ranked: Zyon McCollum, Bucs.

Safeties (74 ranked): Julian Love #1, Rayshawn Jenkins, #10. Top Ranked: Julian Love, Seahawks.

LB: (77 ranked): Tyrell Dodson #20, Tyrice Knight #59. Top Ranked: Fred Warner, Niners.

DT: (124 ranked): Leonard Williams #5, Jarran Reed #24, Jonathan Hankins #63, Byron Murphy #71. Top Ranked: Dexter Lawrence, NYG.

Edge (111 ranked): Boye Mafe #21, Derick Hall #27, Dre'Mont Jones #80. Top Ranked: Adian Hutchinson, Lions.

Just a couple of comments. Safety play continues to be one of the strengths of our defense. I keep harping on it but we're not giving up big plays, and that's the primary responsibility of a safety. Bradford's #66 out of 67 ranked guards sure meets the eye test. I'm surprised that 'spoon dropped as much as he did as he was ranked #11 as of Week 2. They must have docked him pretty heavily for that DPI call on him. Nice to see Charles Cross still ranked at the top of offensive tackles.

River Dog wrote:Nice to see Charles Cross still ranked at the top of offensive tackles.

Even after giving up his first sack.

Nice to see Cross doing well.

We'll see how this defense holds up against an aggressive Lions offense with the rankings.

We'll know a lot more next Monday night. 3 games is a small sample when your opposing QB's are Nix, Brissett, and a pair of backups for the fins. Both our tackles, including Stone(!) are doing really well which is always a good sign.

jshawaii22 wrote:We'll know a lot more next Monday night. 3 games is a small sample when your opposing QB's are Nix, Brissett, and a pair of backups for the fins. Both our tackles, including Stone(!) are doing really well which is always a good sign.

Yeah, I've always felt that we need to wait until Weeks 4-6 before everything starts to shake out and things like strength of schedule start to become a little clearer.

We might have caught Nix and the Broncos at a good time. He didn't look all that bad last weekend, didn't light up the stats but he didn't turn the ball over and managed the game well. And by the same token, we're probably fortunate that we're not playing the Vikings until December as they've started out hot.

The game on our schedule that we should put a big red circle around is the TNF game vs. the Niners. They're pretty banged up right now. McCaffery flew all the way to Germany to have his Achilles looked at by a specialist. He must be some kind of doctor for a MVPish player to fly halfway around the world to see.

Aseahawkfan wrote:Nice to see Cross doing well.

We'll see how this defense holds up against an aggressive Lions offense with the rankings.

Looks like Lions will be without their starting C (Ragnow) and TE (LaPorta). They also have some key injuries on defense (Davenport and Barnes), and Branch is in concussion protocol.

They still have lots of talent and firepower, but we might be able to exploit the back-ups at C and TE.

I expect a heavy dose of the running game from Detroit. Montgomery and Gibbs are a great 1-2 punch.

FYI, Goff has already thrown 4 picks. Also, in each of our last 2 victorious trips to Detroit (2022 and 2023) we had a pick 6 in each one; Woolen in 2022 and Tre Brown last year. Each was 40 yards.

We been getting lucky meeting teams missing key players. I guess we'll see how Detroit does missing key players and if we can exploit it. We have some injuries too. I hope our guys make it back.

Attrition is a big part of competing. Healthier your players stay, better you can compete.

Quality depth is one key to success in today’s NFL.
No team can avoid all injuries but it seems those that get through the season with most of their starters tend to go deep into the playoffs. And of course injuries to key players can have a huge impact, too.