The player rankings from Pro Football Focus attempt to take out the subjectivity in grading performances of NFL players. But that hasn’t stopped fans and players alike from disagreeing with PFF’s rankings.
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard certainly does not agree with his own rankings. PFF left him off a list of the NFL’s top three linebackers since 2020.
Leonard made his Twitter followers aware of his displeasure too. On May 21, he simply responded to a tweet from PFF ranking the top three linebackers in the league with nine laughing emojis.
@PFF 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Leonard has made the AP first-team All-Pro squad each of the last two seasons. He’s the only middle linebacker who accomplished that feat in 2020 and 2021.
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Darius Leonard a Three-Time All-Pro
Leonard has been one of the best linebackers in the NFL since arriving as a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
He led the league with 163 combined tackles and 111 solos as a rookie. Leonard also posted 12 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, 8 quarterback hits, 8 pass defenses, 4 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions on his way to making first-team All Pro. He won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award as well.
That season obviously wasn’t a factor on the PFF list of the top three linebackers since 2020. But Leonard has been a star the past two seasons as well.
He made his second appearance as a first-team All-Pro member with 132 combined tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, 7 pass defenses, and 3 forced fumbles during 2020.
Leonard again made first-team All Pro in 2021 with 122 combined tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 4 interceptions. He also led the league with 8 forced fumbles and set a new career-high with 3 fumble recoveries.
Over the last two seasons, Leonard has 161 solo tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and 11 forced fumbles.
Darius Leonard’s Grades from Pro Football Focus
The PFF player grades attempt to look past traditional stats and grade players based on “contribution to production.” They aim to take into account the teammates either helping or hurting their fellow players’ production.
In 2020, PFF ranked Leonard the eighth-best linebacker. Fred Warner and Bobby Wagner received the first and second-best PFF grades, respectively, for linebackers that year. Demario Davis had the fifth-best grade at the position.
During 2021, Leonard received the fourth-best grade for linebackers from PFF. Warner was again ahead of Leonard at No. 3. But, Davis remained at fifth behind Leonard and Wagner fell to No. 10.
PFF does not give users the ability to combine seasons to see their grading system over the course of multiple years. Therefore, it’s unclear where Leonard is ranked on the list of top linebackers since 2020 from PFF.
In both 2020 and 2021, Leonard received his lowest grade from PFF in coverage. Their system gave Leonard grades of 64 and 67 in coverage each season, which is below starter quality based on the PFF player grading scale.
While PFF usually graded Leonard highly in all other areas — rush defense, tackling and pass rush — his coverage rating lowered Leonard’s overall grade.
Although PFF doesn’t hold Leonard in high regard in coverage, the three-time All Pro has posted at least seven pass defenses in all four of his NFL seasons. He has 15 pass defenses over the last 30 games.
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Darius Leonard Responds to Being Snubbed on List of NFL’s Best Linebackers