The Cleveland Browns and Chris Kirksey will take on the Carolina Panthers and Greg Olsen who are chasing the NFC South crown.
Kirksey has had a huge year even more so since he is a rookie. This inside linebacker out of Iowa is 15th in Run Stop Percentage, fifth in Tackling Efficiency missing only four tackles all year, and has the second best grade when dropped into Coverage. He is second to Mychal Kendricks in Yards Per Cover Snap at 0.51 and 8th in Cover Snaps Per Target. Those numbers also make him the best rookie inside linebacker in terms of Coverage grades.
Kirksey will face a tough challenge in having to cover Greg Olsen this week. Olsen has the fourth best Drop Rate among tight ends with only three on 84 catchable balls. His 1.97 Yards Per Route Run puts him at third in that category behind only Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce. He is also the third-most-targeted tight end being targeted on 23% of his routes run.
Here are three more notable numbers for each side:
Cleveland Browns
Andrew Hawkins – Comes in 12th among wide receivers in Drop Rate with four drops on the year and is nearly tied with Randall Cobb in Yards Per Route Run.
Joe Thomas – The dominance in his career continues. He is second among all tackles in Pass Blocking Efficiency allowing only one sack and 11 other pressures all year. He’s yet to record a negative pass block performance in a game this year.
Barkevious Mingo – He’s the 12th overall rated OLB in the league with a +9.2 grade, ranking ninth in Pass Rush Productivity among 3-4 outside linebackers with at least 170 pass rush snaps.
Carolina Panthers
Derek Anderson – In just 184 snaps this year Anderson has tallied a 98.54 PFF QB Rating, the highest among quarterbacks with at least 100 drop-backs. He may start again this week if Cam Newton fails to show he can be healthy all week in practice.
Kawann Short – The third-highest overall graded player on the Panther defense is eighth in overall grade among all defensive tackles and is one of only four defensive tackles to grade +7.0 or higher against the run and rushing the passer.
Luke Kuechly – Leads all inside linebackers in stops with 74 while grading in the green against the run, in coverage, and rushing the passer.
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