You just never truly know what Rankings SZN will bring. Some days you wake up and the sun is shining, the flowers are bright, and the sky is the purest shade of blue you've ever seen – those are the days when the Rankings have shown you favor. Maybe your defensive tackles group snuck into the Top-10 somewhere; maybe your wide receivers were found to have sneaky upside in the honorable mention section.
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Other times, the day is dark and cold. Your QB's overrated and finished 17th; your head coach is ultra-conservative on goal-to-go situations and finished below Liam Cohen. Them's the breaks sometimes.
The good news for Patriots fans is that today's a true bluebird – not a cloud in the sky. You have Pro Football Focus – and their latest rankings of every secondary in the NFL – to thank this time around. In the list, which dropped on Tuesday afternoon, PFF has multiple good things to say about the Patriots' group, which does, admittedly, look like one of their strongest heading into 2025.
Pro Football Focus claims Patriots have 5th-best secondary in NFL going into 2025
"Despite the Patriots’ struggles in the post-Bill Belichick and Tom Brady era, their defense remains a strength. Budding star Christian Gonzalez leads the group after missing most of his rookie season in 2023. His 78.2 coverage grade last season was outstanding for a de facto rookie year, and the Patriots added Carlton Davis in the offseason to bolster the cornerback room.
Jabrill Peppers has quietly put together a quality career, earning overall grades above 82.3 in each of the past two seasons. Dell Pettus also looks like an undrafted gem, excelling in PFF’s advanced coverage metrics and posting a 73.9 overall grade as a rookie."
They don't just name-drop their coverage grades – they pull out the advanced coverage metrics. And for an undrafted guy! That's how good the Pats' secondary is. Most teams don't get the advanced coverage metrics treatment (I assume?).
This mostly tracks what just about every other NFL analyst has said about the Patriots' defense heading into 2025, but it's always fun to hear a little more about it. Now your gut-feeling argument can be backed up by advanced coverage metrics; now you'll sound even more smart dropping Dell Pettus references. Thanks PFF, perhaps I judged you too harshly.