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Worst players at every position for Week 4

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) throws against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

It’s inevitable that not every NFL player is going to have a good week every week. And when those poor performances happen, we're there to record them.

Every week we find the worst players at every position and assemble a team out of them. No player wants to be on this team, but unfortunately some of them will find their way onto it. Many of them will make it more than once. That’s just the nature of this team. This is the PFF Worst Team of the Week.

Here are the worst NFL players at every position for Week 4:

(Note: Changes might be made following our review process and once Monday Night Football games have been analyzed and graded.)

Quarterback: Jameis Winston, Buccaneers (-7.3)

When your first pass of the game is a pick-six, you know it’s going to be a bad day. Winston completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns, which doesn’t sound too bad on the surface. But if you take away his garbage-time drive where he went 7-for-10 for 82 yards and touchdown, the numbers really aren’t great. Add in the four interceptions he threw (and another terrible pass that should have been intercepted), and you’re looking at the worst QB of the week.

Running back: Latavius Murray, Raiders (-4.5)

Murray struggled badly against what was a very average Bears run defense yesterday. He ran the ball 16 times and gained only 40 yards, with only 13 of those coming after contact. He didn’t break a single tackle, either. As far as receiving goes, he was thrown at five times and caught three of them for only 12 yards and dropped the other two. Not a game he’d like to remember.

Fullback: Ryan Hewitt, Bengals (-2.9)

It’s a new fullback! Hewitt was unable to do pretty much anything when it came to run blocking yesterday. Despite limited snaps, he allowed three tackles for two yards or less, and generally was never able to even move or seal his man in the run game.

Tight end: Levine Toilolo, Falcons (-6.7)

Toilolo has definitely had better days. He saw a big 0 targets in the pass game, but he’s more of a blocking tight end, so who cares about his lack of passing game involvement, right? Well, for a blocking tight end, he sure was whipped around by the Texans’ defensive linemen. He had a -3.8 run block grade, continuously getting beaten so that his running back either was tackled short, or had to completely change direction. He also took two poor penalties. Not a good day.

Wide receivers: Robert Woods, Bills (-4.0) and Ryan Grant, Redskins (-3.3)

Woods saw five targets and managed to catch three of them. But he gained a mere 33 yards off of those catches, and only eight yards after contact. He also had a big drop, and he fumbled, which are things that you are not supposed to do. Grant was a little better in the passing game, catching five of seven targets. But only 24 yards after catch and a big drop lowered his grade. He also took a dumb penalty and was beaten a few times trying to run block.

Tackles: Morgan Moses, Redskins (-7.2) and Michael Oher, Panthers (-2.8)

Moses struggled in both aspects of offensive line play. When asked to pass block, he allowed one QB hit and four additional hurries. But he was even worse run blocking, racking up a -3.6 run-block grade. He was beaten over and over again for short tackles and forced cuts by running backs. It was just a tough day for him. Oher actually didn’t play that badly — it was just a good day for left tackles overall. He only allowed two QB pressures, and recorded a -1.6 run block grade. That isn’t good, but in most weeks it wouldn't be bad enough to land on this list.

Guards: Jamil Douglas, Dolphins (-7.0) and Jamon Brown, Rams (-5.0)

This is back-to-back weeks on this list for Douglas. His pass-blocking was really bad, as he allowed one sack, one QB hit, and five hurries. When blocking for the run, he was unable to get any real movement on his blocks. He either made an average play, or was beaten for a tackle for two yards or less (four times). Not good. Brown only allowed one sack, one hit and one pressure in pass protection, but his run block grade of -2.7 was one of the worst of the day, and he also committed a false start.

Center: Kory Lichtensteiger, Redskins (-10.7)

Lichtenseiger’s overall grade through four games (-29.0) is as low as any center had last year in total. That’s how badly he’s playing. He only allowed two hurries against the Eagles, so pass-blocking wasn’t a big issue. But goodness, a -9.0 run blocking grade? That's awful. He was punished for five tackles for short gains or less, and literally did not do anything positive. It’s hard to imagine any other center the Redskins could get being worse than Lichtensteiger has been.

Each week we put forward a hybrid defense that features two edge rushers (4-3 defensive ends or 3-4 outside linebackers), three players on the “interior” of the defensive line (3-4 defensive ends or defensive tackles and two linebackers (all inside linebackers and 4-3 outside linebackers).

Defensive interior – ends: Jared Crick, Texans (-4.5) and Billy Winn, Colts (-2.8)

Crick didn’t register a single QB pressure, which isn’t great. But he also was shut down in the running game, constantly being cleared out of holes en-route to a -3.8 run defense grade. Winn was pretty much invisible in this game, registering only one QB hurry and nothing else. Not even a tackle. He’s got to do more than that to not make this team.

Defensive interior – tackle: Clinton McDonald, Buccaneers (-4.4)

Most of this negative grade comes from poor run defense, although McDonald was also unable to record a single QB pressure. But he was constantly cleared out of the middle by the Panthers’ linemen. He made only three tackles, and only one of those was a solo stop.

Edge rushers: Jared Allen, Panthers (-4.4) and Jared Odrick, Jaguars (-4.4)

What is going on with Jareds this week? Allen was invisible in the run game during his first game with his new team. He made one single tackle, and it wasn’t a stop. He didn’t have a single positive run defensive play all game. And he only managed one QB hit on 15 pass rushes. Odrick could not rush the passer at all yesterday. 44 pass rushes, 0 QB pressures. He was just completely invisible. Welcome to the team, Jareds.

Linebackers: Shaq Thompson, Panthers (-7.1) and Kelvin Sheppard, Dolphins (-4.0)

Thompson missed more tackles (three) than he made (two). That alone should tell you what kind of a day it was for the linebacker, and explain his very poor -5.1 run defense grade. Sheppard also was poor in the run defense game (that seems to be a theme today), making only one solo stop and missing a tackle. He too was simply unable to get off blocks at the second level and make any kind of plays.

Cornerbacks: Nolan Carroll, Eagles (-4.4) and Brandon Carr, Cowboys (-3.6)

Carroll allowed seven of nine targets thrown at him to be caught, for 77 yards. What’s worse, 51 of those yards came after the catch. Five of those catches led to first downs. He also took two defensive holding penalties. This is not a day he’s going to remember going forward. Carr allowed all eight targets he saw to be caught, but managed to limit them to 57 yards and only 17 after the catch. But it was his two missed tackles that really helped lower his grade down to Worst Team of the Week material.

Safeties: Trenton Robinson, Redskins (-5.1) and Bradley McDougald, Buccaneers (-3.1)

Robinson made two tackles, but also missed two tackles. His run defense grade was -1.8, which is not good for a safety. He also took two stupid unnecessary roughness penalties. Oh, and for good measure, the only target he saw in the passing game was a 62-yard touchdown. McDougald only allowed two receptions on five targets, but he was beaten on two more of those targets. His coverage grade of -2.6 was the second-worst among all safeties.

Kicker: Kyle Brindza, Buccaneers

This could have been a number of kickers, but Brindza missed 29-yard and 43-yard field goals. 1-for-3 is not good from a kicker.

Punter: Mike Scifres, Chargers

Scifres averaged only 37.2 yards per punt on five punts, and when you factor in returns, each punt netted a mere 29.0 yards.

Returner: Nick Marshall, Jaguars

Marshall muffed one of only two punt returns he saw.

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