On the defensive side, starters Joshua Metellus (75.6), Jonathan Greenard (65.9) and Andrew Van Ginkel (65.1) reaped the top grades. Greenard and two-time Pro Bowl addition Javon Hargrave paced the group with seven pressures – both players hurried Caleb Williams five times, and Greenard had two hits on him. Hargrave got Williams to the ground twice for Minnesota’s first two sacks of 2025. Fellow arrival Jonathan Allen, also a two-time Pro Bowl selection, logged six pressures. Hargrave’s and Allen’s pressures ranked tied for first and tied for third in the league in Week 1 among interior defensive linemen. Their 13 combined pressures is more than halfway home to 2024 inside starters – Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard – who had 21 all season.
Other standouts based on PFF’s grading system include third-year safety Jay Ward, who finished with a highwater defensive grade of 77.1 on 25 snaps and a fantastic special teams grade of 80.4, participating on kickoff return, kickoff, punt return and field goal block units. “Energy guy” Eric Wilson flashed on defense, filling in for injured green dot linebacker Blake Cashman and posting a terrific 90.0 run-defense grade. Wilson also was the special teams leader, with two tackles and a punt deflection, for a 90.3 score.
Pro Football Focus is not an end-all, be-all evaluation of the game, but it does offer a unique vantage point that goes beyond the box score and can help astutely judge how well, or not, players performed.
