Chiefs’ Steve Spagnuolo Questions What Grades Really Measure

“That's what everybody uses,” Spagnuolo said. “The only thing, Cris Collinsworth, I think he's a good dude, and he's involved in that company. I just, I don't know how you grade, put a grade on somebody when you don't know actually what their assignment was, or what they were being told.

“So, I don't know. It's like from our standpoint, I thought Chris in this particular game had a real big effect on the game.”

The Chiefs had different grade on Chris Jones

That game, the Chiefs’ 22-9 win over the Giants last week, had Collinsworth in NBC’s Sunday Night Football booth to call the action next to Mike Tirico. The former Bengals wide receiver is also the majority owner and CEO of Pro Football Focus.

The company and its grades are immensely popular, arguably the No. 1 source for player and team evaluations other than the teams’ actual coaching staffs.

And that’s Spagnuolo’s beef. While the company didn’t see Jones having a particularly good game last week against the Giants, Spagnuolo disagreed.

“They obviously found ways to double him,” he said, “whether it was two linemen, the running back at times was chipping inside, which you don't see a lot, but that was the Chris Jones Effect. A number of times he didn't get there, but I think he forced a quick throw, or a step up.”

First sack

Jones got his season’s first sack in that game, dropping Russell Wilson on an important second-down play in the third quarter. The Giants eventually punted in a 16-6 game.

So far this season, Jones has just five tackles, three of which have been for loss. But Spagnuolo said Jones has done what the Chiefs have asked him to do for the most part. He’s also been double-teamed much higher than normal, including 65-percent of his snaps against the Eagles in Week 2.

“Well, I will say this: There's a lot of stuff that PFF puts out that's valuable and useful,” Spagnuolo said. “My only thing, I think a lot of coaches feel the same way, Cris and I have talked about it, we've laughed about it, and I think their guys do a really good job. … But I just think there's a margin of error when you don't know exactly what the player was told. It may look like he's made a mistake, or a mental error, but it might’ve been exactly what they told him.”