Robert Spillane is one of the most underrated linebackers in the league for the last calendar year, and one of the outlets not ready to give the Raiders star linebacker his flowers after Sunday’s game was Pro Football Focus.
Strictly looking at the box score, Spillane was in on 11 tackles against the Ravens and it was his interception in the second half that was arguably the most pivotal play of the game.
The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen thinks Spillane has been one of the best linebackers in the league over the first two weeks of the season, and he took issue this week with PFF’s grading system.
“I want to shout out Robert Spillane,” Nguyen said on the Just Win podcast. “People were saying PFF gave him a bad grade… I do not understand how he got a bad grade for the Ravens game.”
“Spillane, I thought, was phenomenal against the Ravens against the pass [and] against the run, just kind of continuing and building on what he has done,” Nguyen continued. “It’s not like I spend a ton of time studying linebackers, but he’s got to be a top 10 linebacker in the league.”
So how bad was Spillane’s game grade against the Ravens?
Pretty bad.
Only three defensive players on the Raiders with at least 25 defensive snaps received a worse game grade than Spillane (52.3) from Pro Football Focus.
We know PFF is a resource that even NFL teams use to gather information, but in this case, it would benefit the Raiders if teams were checking PFF grades on their defensive players. Maxx Crosby (76.4) was named the NFL’s defensive player of the week, but narrowly edged out Divine Deablo (70.8) for the highest defensive grade in the game.
That’s especially odd considering there weren’t many who watched Deablo against the Ravens and thought he played particularly well.
x: @raidersbeat
Always gotta hate on the Raiders and their players. Hate all you like your mad because your not half the man your mom’s are period!