Every Tuesday or Wednesday during the season I’ll take a look back at the prior weeks games and pick out the best and worst values each week. To gauge values we’ll be looking at a players salary cap charge for the week and comparing that to Pro Football Focus’ grade for a player. I’ll alternate each week between offense and defense. Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments or by email.

Quarterback

Best Value: Kirk Cousins ($688.2K cap charge; +4.5 PFF grade)- The legend of Cousins continues to grow with an outstanding effort against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road. Cousins had over 400 yards and was the most impressive QB in a competitive game on Sunday.

Worst Value: Jake Locker ($4M cap charge; -7.2 PFF grade)- If Locker has another game like this one he’ll probably find himself permanently glued to the bench for the rest of the year. After one nice game to start the year Locker looks completely lost and like he does not belong in the NFL.

Running Back

Best Value: Zac Stacy ($530.1K cap charge; +2.9 PFF grade)- Not really a big week for running backs but Stacy proved to be the best value of the week. Stacy provided the dual threat on the ground and in the air, giving the Rams a different offensive look in a competitive loss against the Cowboys.

Worst Value: LeSean McCoy ($9.7M cap charge; -4.9 PFF grade)- McCoy is beginning to look like another in a long line of players to have monster seasons and mediocre follow up years. 19 attempts for 22 yards is about as bad as it can be at this level.

Wide Receiver

Best Value: DeAndre Hopkins ($1.7M cap charge; +2.7 PFF grade)- The Cardinals John Brown was arguably a better value, but I think Hopkins needs to get more credit for playing significantly more snaps for his team.  Hopkins finished the day with 116 yards and would have had more if he had a competent QB throwing him the football.

Worst Value: Larry Fitzgerald ($8.6M cap charge; -2.4 PFF grade)- Fitzgerald has become an afterthought in the Cardinals offense, whose coaching staff has realized that Fitzgerald is not the player he once was. Just 34 yards as his value keeps falling and falling.

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Tight End

Best Value: Lance Kendricks ($1.4M cap charge; +3.1 PFF grade)- Kendricks did a little of everything on Sunday. He was terrific blocking, caught more than a few short passes, and even scored a touchdown for the Rams. Games like this can often go unnoticed but this is one of the better all around “traditional” tight end performances you will see.

Worst Value: Rob Gronkowski ($5.4M cap charge; -3.2 PFF grade)- The Patriots offense looks like a shell of itself and Gronkowski, despite his TD score, is still struggling in his return from injury. The season is still young, but I do think people may be starting to wonder if the Gronkwoski/Brady connection from a few years back will ever exist again.

Tackle

Best Value: Joe Barksdale ($645K cap charge; +4.4 PFF grade)- Barksdale received the second highest score among tackles this week and the highest among right tackles. Effective in both the pass and the run game, Barksdale helped give Austin Davis and Zac Stacy the time and space needed to have surprising Sunday performances.

Worst Value: D’Brickashaw Ferguson ($11.7M cap charge; -3.0 PFF grade)- Ferguson had a rough outing Monday night, especially late in the game when Jared Allen seemed to be getting through him like he did not exist. At one point Jon Gruden mentioned that the team needed to help Ferguson in protection which are words that should never be said about a $10 million a year tackle. Ferguson gave up 5 pressures on the night and was rated the 3^rd worst left tackle this week.

Guard

Best Value: Kelechi Osemele ($912.5K cap charge; +3.1 PFF grade)- Osemele allowed no hits on the day, provided good play in the run game and was also positive in pass protection. While he was not truly dominant in any one category he gave the best all around performance of the week.

Worst Value: Andy Levitre ($8.6M cap charge; -4.3 PFF grade)- An awful game for the very high priced Guard in week 3. Levitre graded -3.7 in the run game, had 3 penalties, and was credited with allowing 2 pressures on Sunday.

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Center

Best Value: AQ Shipley ($570K cap charge; +3.1 PFF grade)- Playing against the hapless Jaguars likely helps, but Shipley earned the best grade of the week from PFF and at a minimum salary to boot. His dollars per contribution just edged out Russell Bodine of the Bengals this week.

Worst Value: Chris Myers ($7.0M cap charge; -3.2 PFF grade)- It was another poor day for the costly veteran. Myers was ineffective in the run game and allowed two pressures in pass protection.  In the two looks on offense we have done Myers has been the worst center value both times. The Texans need more from their high priced players if they want to maintain a winning record.

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As a new feature I thought that every Tuesday or Wednesday during the season I’ll take a look back at the prior weeks games and pick out the best and worst values each week. To gauge values we’ll be looking at a players salary cap charge for the week and comparing that to Pro Football Focus’ grade for a player. I’ll alternate each week between offense and defense, with offense in week 1 and then turning our attention to defense in week 2. Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments or by email.

Defensive End

Best Value: Mike Daniels ($645.1K cap charge; +5.1 PFF grade)- Daniels had a terrific all around game against the Jets on Sunday racking up 4 pressures, 1 sack, and 4 tackles for stops. The Packers desperately needed a performance like this to settle the game down and eventually take over for the win.

Worst Value: Mario Williams ($18.8M cap charge; -2.5 PFF grade)- Despite the blowout win by the Bills, their star defensive end did not grade out that well, despite the fact that he notched a QB sack on the day. With this type of salary cap charge almost any negative grade will make him the worst value of the week.

Defensive Tackle

Best Value: Aaron Donald ($1.9M Cap charge; +4.1 PFF grade)- A strong performance from the young Donald who put together a strong effort in both phases of the game, notching a sack as a rusher and 2.5 tackles against the run. It would be nice to see a little more playing time but his prime competition this week for the distinction was Henry Melton who was not a huge snap player either.

Worst Value: Linval Joseph ($6.6M Cap charge; -3.5 PFF grade)- This was a close decision between Joseph and Ahtyba Rubin of the Browns who was slightly better but earns slightly more, but Rubin’s grade hinged more on penalties than performance and Ill always weight performance higher. Joseph has the 7^th highest cap hit at the position in 2014 and ranked dead last this week, basically doing nothing as his team was steamrolled by the Patriots.

Outside Linebacker

Best Value: Chandler Jones ($2.2M Cap charge; +8.1 PFF grade)- Just a dominant performance by Jones, with 5 pressures, 2 sacks, and 5 stops on defense plus a special teams play that is not even included in his grade. This is one of those career performances that you make sure to keep the tape of.

Worst Value: Kroy Biermann ($4.1M Cap charge, -3.6 PFF grade)- Just a bad day overall for Biermann who graded negatively in all four categories that PFF looks at when grading a player. The pass rush was non-existent and only half of his tackles were considered wins for the defense. He also gave up a catch. A player who must improve.

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Inside Linebacker

Best Value: Demario Davis ($764.5K Cap charge, +2.2 PFF grade)- Davis had a terrific game against the Green Bay Packers where he did a little of everything. Davis was solid against the run, posting 4 tackles for the Jets, decent in coverage, and was used in packages that saw him take down Aaron Rodgers one time on the day.

Worst Value: Paul Posluszny ($9.5M Cap charge, -4.3 PFF grade)- Longtime readers of my site know that I feel strongly that Posluszny is one of the worst value players in the NFL, and for this week the tape backs that up. Poslusnzy rated second worst at the position, missing three tackles and giving up 50 receiving yards. His cap figure is 3^rd highest in the NFL.

Cornerback

Best Value: Bene Benwikere ($469.8K Cap charge; +2.2 PFF grade)- There were two other strong contenders for this award- David Amerson of the Redskins and Sterling Moore of the Cowboys. I could easily see making a case for Amerson who had the strongest coverage grade, but the ultra low cost of Benwikere gave him the advantage. Benwikere only allowed 20% of his targets to catch a pass and it was essentially an at the line pass. He also was credited with a pressure on the day.

Worst Value: Jerraud Powers ($4.8M Cap charge; -5.2 PFF grade)- A pretty awful day for Powers as there was pretty much no other option for this distinction. Powers gave up 5 receptions for 80 yards and it would have been far worse if Victor Cruz could hold onto the football when it hits him in his hands. Powers had a great first week so hopefully for the Cardinals this will be an aberration.

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Safety

Tashaun Gipson ($570.5 Cap charge; +4.6 PFF grade)- The Browns had a great day against the Saints on Sunday and Gipson had the best day among safeties. PFF credited Gipson with 4 tackles, 2 stops, an interception, and just 4 yards in coverage. You wont have many days better than that especially from a player on one of the lowest priced contracts in the NFL.

Michael Griffin ($8M Cap charge; -2.4 PFF grade)- It was a bad day for some big priced safeties, but none gave worse value than Griffin, who rated 3^rd worst overall despite the 5^th highest cap charge at the position. Griffin missed 4 tackles against the run, one of the prime reasons the Cowboys chewed up so many yards on the ground.

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As a new feature I thought that every Tuesday or Wednesday during the season I’ll take a look back at the prior weeks games and pick out the best and worst values each week. To gauge values we’ll be looking at a players salary cap charge for the week and comparing that to Pro Football Focus’ grade for a player. I’ll alternate each week between offense and defense, with offense in week 1 and then turning our attention to defense in week 2. Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments or by email.

Quarterback

Best Value: Colin Kaepernick ($3.76M cap charge, +3.7 PFF grade)- While Matt Ryan had the biggest game of the week, his $17.5 million cap charge makes it near impossible to be the top value for the week. Kaepernick was actually neck and neck with the Dolphins Ryan Tannehill, but Kaepernick cost his team about $63,000 in week 1 allocated cap dollars per point while Tannehill was at $67,000.

Worst Value: Tony Romo ($11.8M cap charge, -4.6 PFF grade)- Romo stunk up the field on Sunday with multiple interceptions, bad reads, and general careless play and it was reflected in his grade for the week. Tom Brady was the more expensive of the two players ($14.8M for the season),  but he was slightly better than Romo. All told Romo was about 20% cheaper but scored over 40% worse than Brady.

Running Back

Best Value: Le’Veon Bell ($936.5K cap charge, +4.7 PFF grade)- Bell was terrific on Sunday gaining 109 yards on 21 carries with over 80 of those yards coming after contact. He played in  58 snaps, so its not like he needed to be replaced by other players to increase the salary on the position. This was not even close

Worst Value: Arian Foster ($8.5M cap charge, -1.6 PFF grade)- Foster has the 4^th highest cap charge at his position this year which makes any type of negative score an excellent opportunity to be the worst value each week. Foster’s play on Sunday was the classic big yardage line but the actual play in getting to that number was not good. Matt Forte also has a high cap charge ($7.9M)and scored lower (-1.8), but the difference in cap is enough for Foster to get the worse value, plus Forte scored positive in one category and his score was dragged down by his pass blocking.

Wide Receiver

Best Value: Allen Hurns ($421.6K cap charge, +2.4 PFF grade) – You certainly wont find a much cheaper player than the undrafted Hurns in 2014- he received just a $5,000 signing bonus and $20,000 in total guarantees upon signing. Hurns rated third among all receivers with his 2.4 grade despite that low salary. Will he ever be here again?  Maybe not, but he’s the bargain of the week in week 1.

Worst Value: Mike Wallace ($17.25M cap charge, -3.1 PFF grade)- Anytime you have a non-QB with a cap charge as high as Wallace, he is a lock for worst of the week if he scores negative. Wallace did put up better numbers than usual, but saw a pass intended for him get picked off and had a fumble. Marques Colston of the Saints was also bad with a -3.6 grade, but at half the cost of Wallace this is an easy decision.

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Tight End

Best Value: Rhett Ellison ($645.1K cap charge, +5.5 PFF grade)- Even adjusting downward for the fact that Ellison played in just 50% of the snaps, he still worked out as the best value of the week. Ellison was a blocking machine for the week which fueled his score, though he did add a 22 yard reception to boot.

Worst Value: Marcedes Lewis ($8.25M cap charge, -4.8 PFF grade)- Lewis carries the second highest cap charge in the NFL at the position and graded dead last at the position per PFF metrics. Somewhere there has to be a reason as to why he is still playing on this inflated contract in 2014.

Tackle

Best Value: Derek Newton ($1.45M cap charge, +5.4 PFF grade)- This was a great start for the soon to be free agent right tackle of the Texans. PFF graded him as the prime catalyst behind the rushing yards gained by the Texans and with such a low cap figure he stood out far and away the best bargain at the position

Worst Value: Derek Sherrod  ($2.1M cap charge, -6.9 PFF grade)- This was a pretty easy call to make as Sherrod was awful and he has a more than minimum cap charge. His grade was not impacted by penalties or anything like that just simply poor play in every phase of the game. Sherrod will need to improve if he hopes to get any kind of new contract next season.

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Guard

Best Value: Kelechi Osemele ($912.5K cap charge, +4.7 PFF grade)- Tough call between Osemele and the undrafted Michael Ola who racked up a grade close to 4. The reason I selected Osemele was because he participated in pretty much all his teams offensive plays while Ola was in only in 70% or so of his. That puts more power behind the Osemele grade and moves him up as a better bargain for the week.

Worst Value: Rodger Saffold ($4M cap charge, -4.0 PFF grade)- There were more than few bad values this week at this position, but none gave the cost vs performance level of Saffold. Saffold was the subject on some interesting valuation debates in the offseason and for this week those who said he was not worth high end money are clearly winning out.

Center

Best Value: Corey Linsley ($466.2K cap charge, +2.2 PFF grade)- Despite a great deal of criticism levied his way on Thursday, Linsley graded out positively, mainly based on his run blocking ability. In a difficult environment it was not a bad start at all for the 5^th round draft pick. Brian De la Puente also had a great week, and was one of my favorite acquisitions of the offseason, but his score was dinged somewhat by limited participation or he may have gotten the nod.

Worst Value: Scott Wells ($4.3M cap charge, -3.0 PFF grade)/Chris Myers ($7.0M cap charge, -1.8 PFF grade)-  This was too close for me to call as the difference in cap charges is essentially the difference in scores. Both of these two players are paid to be top 10 centers, but they were anything but on Sunday. Wells was better in pass protection and Myers in run blocking, but neither was good at anything and at that price they were just wasted cap room.

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