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In this new series on Stampede Blue, I’m going to break down each player on a 50-100 Madden-style scale each week to help identify and illustrate which players are the best and most valuable players on the team. Here is a breakdown of the tiers:
Tiers
95 to 100 — One of the 3, 4 best players at his position in the NFL
90 to 94 — An elite, top 10 NFL player at his position in the NFL
85 to 89 — A borderline elite player who will make plenty of plays in each game
80 to 84 — An above average starter
75 to 79 — An average starter who won’t hurt you
70 to 74 — An average starter who should only be used in small spurts
65 to 69 — A below average starter and above average backup
60 to 64 — An average backup
60 or below — A borderline roster player
Quarterbacks
Philip Rivers — 82
Jacoby Brissett — 76
Jacob Eason — 68
Running Backs
Marlon Mack — 79 (Out for Season - last week on rankings)
Jonathan Taylor — 77
Nyheim Hines — 74
Jordan Wilkins — 66
Wide Receivers
T.Y. Hilton — 84
Michael Pittman — 76
Parris Campbell — 76
Zach Pascal — 74
Daurice Fountain — 65
Ashton Dulin — 64
Dezmon Patmon — 61
Tight Ends
Jack Doyle — 79
Mo Alie-Cox — 71
Noah Togiai — 59
Offensive Line
Quenton Nelson — 96
Anthony Castonzo — 86
Ryan Kelly — 81
Braden Smith — 80
Mark Glowinski — 77
Le’Raven Clark — 68
Danny Pinter — 65
Chaz Green — 62
Defensive Line
DeForest Buckner — 91
Denico Autry — 80
Justin Houston — 79
Al-Quadin Muhammed — 72
Grover Stewart — 71
Tyquan Lewis — 69
Ben Banogu — 68
Taylor Stallworth — 65
Eli Ankou — 61
Linebackers
Darius Leonard — 92
Anthony Walker — 78
Bobby Okereke — 75
Zaire Franklin — 68
EJ Speed — 66
Matthew Adams — 64
Jordan Glasgow — 61
Secondary
Kenny Moore III — 82
Rock Ya-Sin — 75
Xavier Rhodes — 72
Malik Hooker — 71
Khari Willis — 70
TJ Carrie — 68
George Odum — 67
Tavon Wilson — 66
Julien Blackmon — 65
Isaiah Rodgers — 62
Special Teams
Rigoberto Sanchez — 80
Luke Rhodes — 77
Rodrigo Blakenship — 69
Biggest Climbers
Parris Campbell
Since it’s the first week of doing this project, there aren’t any scores from before last week that we can use to see the difference in their play. However, if there were two players who helped their stock the most, it’s Campbell and Autry. Campbell was a consistent force on offense and had a clean day besides a dumb unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He was used often, especially on crossing routes and the Colts tried to use his speed in space and it worked. He should be a good player to watch for the next few weeks as Philip Rivers gets more acclimated with the offense.
Denico Autry
Autry played a lot at defensive end in place of Kemoko Turay and he played a very good game. He had two sacks, two pressures and two stops. He has proven to be a good player to have in the rotation and a capable player to replace Turay while he recovers from his injury.
Biggest Droppers
DeForest Buckner
The 22 million dollar man was nowhere to be seen on Sunday. He finished the game with only 4 solo tackles and only played 43 snaps. He had a favourable matchup against an average-at-best Jaguars interior offensive line and he disappointed in his Colts debut.
T.Y. Hilton
The 15 million dollar man, playing in his final year on his contract, had a very quiet day and was clearly shut down by rookie CJ Henderson (who has the makings of a star cornerback). Hilton’s worst moment of the day came on a crucial 4th down play that he flat out dropped and ended the Colts’ chance of winning.