Eagles vets earn massive PFF nod but Jalen Hurts is robbed of the same courtesy

Maybe, I'm crazy. Anytime I see stories that include some sort of ranking or list, I find myself clicking on those stories. Five pictures someone doesn't want you to see... NFL power rankings... Three ways to make sweet tea taste better... It doesn't matter what the topic is. If you rank something, I'm in. Just recently, I did it again. I spent hours debating Pro Football Focus's list of the top 25 players who are younger than 25. Why? I was trying to convince myself that more Philadelphia Eagles should have been included.

PFF is masterful at that stuff, It's been years. I still sometimes disagree with their player grades (even though I don't always follow them on how those grades are calculated. This week, their talented writers have ranked everything they can think of, and I can't get enough of it.

Two recent lists caught my attention. Both were well written. One I agree with. The other, I don't. Here's what I came across. You tell me if I'm wrong about this.

Two Eagles veterans earn mentions as the top 30 players who are over 30.

Our first stop on this train lands at a list of the NFL's top 30 players who are over 30 years of age. Lane Johnson lands just outside the top five at six. behind Trent Williams, Tyreek Hill, Chris Jones, George Kittle, and Matt Stafford. Brandon Graham ranks 26. Here's what John Kosko, the writer of this one, mentioned as his reasoning:

On Lane:

"While his incredible near-three-year streak of not allowing a sack came to an end in 2023, Johnson continues to lock down his opposition at right tackle. Johnson, who has earned a two-year 87.4 PFF grade, is often left on an island and continues to be one of the best tackles in the game."

On B.G.:

"An ageless wonder, Graham continues to play at an extremely high level — but in a reduced role. His 90.3 two-year PFF grade shows he still has what it takes to be a great player, but his part-time role makes it hard to push him higher up these rankings."

We'd probably place Lane ahead of Kittle and Stafford. Seeing him start playoff games with torn groin muscles changes everything for us, but that's just our opinion. We won't argue with the list too much other than that. It's the next list that forced us to scratch our heads a little. This is one of those PFF lists we need help to understand.

Jalen Hurts falls in a weird tier on PFF's ranking of all 32 quarterbacks.

Trevor Sikkema does solid work. His ranking of every starting NFL QB is a head-scratcher though. We like his use of tiers. We just don't understand what certain guys did to land in certain tiers. We also disagree with Hurts' position, mostly because of some of the guys he has in front of him.

So, here's how things shook out. Patrick Mahomes has his own tier... Understandably so... Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen land in the elite tier. That might spark debate, but if we're being honest, that makes sense, but that's when things get off track.

Tier three is the 'postseason-caliber tier', and while most of the names make sense there (Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Jalen Hurts, and C.J. Stroud), Justin Herbert is on this list... And, he's ranked fifth-overall. Frankly, we don't understand his ranking.

He has missed the postseason in three of his first four seasons, and his lone playoff appearance resulted in a loss that was punctuated by a blown lead. He lost to Trevor Lawrence who ranks 12th, firmly situated in the 'melting pot of starters tier'.

Jalen Hurts lands at nine. He's one spot ahead of C.J. Stroud. They round out a top ten list where Mahomes, Jackson, Burrow, Allen, Herbert, Prescott, Stafford, and Rodgers rank first through eighth.

Interesting? Yes! Controversial? Most definitely!

Maybe that's part of the reason why I love rankings so much. They give us reason to debate. Maybe that's the point, but I'll end this with a controversial statement of my own. Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence are overrated and Jalen, a guy who I watched outplay Patrick Mahomes in a Super Bowl, is going to prove a lot of guys wrong this year.

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