PFF drops worst take of all-time, disrespects one of Chargers' best players

LA Chargers fans have had a love-hate relationship with Pro Football Focus over the years. All of the great insights and statistics the platform provided were negated when the platform continually ranked Justin Herbert much lower than he deserved to rank.

Now, PFF is doing the same thing with a different breakout player on the Chargers. Linebacker Daiyan Henley officially arrived with an exceptional sophomore season in 2024 and established himself as one of the best young linebackers in the sport.

Not according to PFF. PFF's Mason Cameron ranked the top 32 linebackers in the NFL heading into the 2025 season and Henley barely made the cut. The now-third-year linebacker checked in at No. 31.

At just 25 years old and with one season as a starter under his belt, Henley has the makings of a solid coverage linebacker. His 71.3 PFF coverage grade in 2024 ranked in the top 10 among qualifying linebackers, and he logged an impressive snap volume (611 snaps, sixth most). If he can take another step forward in 2025, he can break into the top 25.

PFF disrespects Chargers' Daiyan Henley in linebacker rankings

With another good season Henley can break into the top 25? Henley is already in the top 25, and to cap his ceiling there heading into his third season seems a bit disingenuous.

Henley is by no means an All-Pro linebacker and there definitely is a separation between the best of the best and the class he is in. It is also fair to point out that Henley has had one great season under his belt. He has to start stacking them together to get respect throughout the league.

But this isn't a case where Henley is a journeyman linebacker and finally had one good season. He is a top-100 pick who took a massive step in his second season. It was the kind of breakout that is repeatable. Chargers fans are beyond confident he will build on his 2024 season in 2025.

It's also strange how the breakdown of Henley mentions that he was top-10 in coverage grade and top-six in total snaps played. Somehow, being top-10 in two very important categories is only good enough to rank 31st.

In looking at the rankings, there is an obvious bias toward run defense grade. And while that is obviously very important for linebackers, the rankings are using a potentially flawed metric to arrange the rankings of these linebackers.

Henley had a 64.8 run defense grade last season, ranking 92nd among linebackers. Anyone who watched Henley and his menacing play last season knows there isn't 91 linebackers in the NFL who are better at defending the run. Is the best in the league in that area? Not at all. But he's much closer to No. 1 than No. 91.

Ultimately, these rankings don't and shouldn't change how Chargers fans view Henley. If anything, it makes fans even more excited for him to prove the world wrong yet again in 2025.