As Khaled Elsayed broke down Week 9’s top individual performances, we’ve taken a different approach for this article. Grading every player on every play of each NFL game, here are the worst players at their respective positions in Week 9.(Editor’s note: Changes might be made following our review process and once Monday Night Football games have been analyzed and graded.)Quarterback: Jameis Winston, Buccaneers (-1.6)It’s hardly fair that Winston makes this team with a pretty much average grade, but it was a good week for the position overall. Winston played well when he had a clean pocket, but not so much when he felt pressure (48 percent of dropbacks). While under pressure, he completed 50 percent of his passes for just 58 yards and 3.6 yards per attempt, versus 9.6 yards per attempt when not pressured.Running back: Chris Ivory, Jets (-2.5)Ivory had a good fantasy performance yesterday thanks to his two touchdowns, but that really overshadows how much he struggled. He broke just one tackle, and fumbled once. His longest run was 9 yards. But worst of all, he had 23 carries and gained just 29 yards. The Jets could have called 23 quarterback sneaks and likely would have gained more yards that way. It’s been a tough three games for Ivory, who gained 460 yards on 83 carries in his first four games, versus just 87 yards on 55 carries since. If he’s injured, he should really take some time off, as he’s hurting the Jets far more than he’s helping them.Fullback: John Kuhn, Packers (-1.8Kuhn played just 10 snaps in the Packers’ game yesterday, but was beaten for a tackle for no gain on a run, a tackle for a loss, and also for a hit on QB Aaron Rodgers. Not a great day in limited snaps for Kuhn.Tight end: Heath Miller, Steelers (-4.9)Miller was pretty ineffective yesterday. On six targets, he caught only three for 32 yards. Of the three incompletions that came his way, two of them hit him right in the hands, as he was unable to hang on to either. He also struggled blocking the run (-2.7 run block grade), allowing multiple run stops and even more disruptive plays.Wide receivers: Taylor Gabriel, Browns (-4.1) and Mike Evans, Buccaneers (-3.3)Gabriel was targeted five times yesterday and caught just one of them for a measly 3 yards on a screen pass. He dropped three of the other targets. Not good. Evans was targeted an unbelievable 19 times, but only managed to haul in eight of them. That included five dropped passes, which you just can’t do in a tough game like that. Evans now leads the NFL with 10 drops.Tackles: Jason Fox, Dolphins (-6.6) and Alejandro Villanueva, Steelers (-6.3)Saying Fox struggled yesterday might be a bit of a redundancy, being on this list and all. But Fox really did struggle, allowing four QB pressures, a QB hit, and a sack, though luckily some of the pressures were nullified by penalties. He took two holding penalties because he was beaten badly, and also added a false start and allowed two run stops. Villanueva wasn’t so lucky, as his one sack, one hit, four pressures, and two additional times beaten were not nullified by penalties. He also allowed five run stops. Tough day for both players.Guards: Andrew Donnal, Rams (-7.9) and Brandon Scherff, Redskins (-4.9)Donnal allowed two hits and two hurries, so his pass blocking wasn’t that great. His run defense was even worse. He surrendered five run stops and even more disruptive plays that ruined a run design for the Rams. He finished with a -5.7 run block grade, the worst in the league. Scherff was mostly average when run blocking, surrendering a few negative plays, but he also had a few positive blocks, too. It was his pass blocking that put him on this team. Two hits, five hurries, and he was beaten an additional time. Tough day for him against a solid Patriots’ defenseCenter: Cody Wallace, Steelers (-7.7)Wallace allowed four pressures, had two false starts, and was beaten all over the place when run blocking. He allowed four run stops and a ton of disruptive direction-changing plays by defenders. His -4.0 run block grade was the worst among all centers.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: Antonio Smith, Broncos (-2.5) and Xavier Cooper, Browns (-2.3)Smith had only two pressures, and one of them was just a clean-up after Colts QB Andrew Luck had started to scramble. He missed that tackle. Otherwise, he was completely invisible, not recording a single tackle or stop, although in somewhat limited snaps. Cooper didn’t record a single pressure, but most of his damage came when trying to defend the run, where he finished with a -1.7 grade.Defensive interior – tackle: Corbin Bryant, Bills (-3.3)Bryant had an unblocked pressure and just one good pass rush play that resulted in a QB hit. Otherwise, he was basically invisible, aside from the few times he was moved out of the way in the run game, leading to his -1.8 grade against the run.Edge rushers: Bobby Richardson, Saints (-4.9) and Jared Allen, Panthers (-4.4)Richardson recorded two hurries and registered an average pass rush grade by the end of the game. But against the run, he was completely ineffective, constantly being moved off the line and out of the way. His -3.2 run defense grade was the worst among edge defenders. He also missed a tackle and jumped offside. Allen had one cleanup hit on 44 pass rushes. That was it. He also missed a tackle and had a late-game neutral zone infraction penalty.Linebackers: Keenan Robinson, Redskins (-11.5) and Lavonte David, Buccaneers (-6.4)Robinson was completely and utterly ineffective yesterday, finishing with the worst grade of the week at any position. This was thanks largely in part to his ridiculously poor -7.0 run defense grade. He was pretty much blocked completely out of every run play, and the few times that he did break free, he missed the tackle (he finished with three). David missed even more tackles in his game (four) and also struggled in coverage. He allowed seven-of-eight targets to be caught for 46 yards and a touchdown.Cornerbacks: Antwon Blake, Steelers (-6.5) and D.J. Hayden, Raiders (-6.0)Same game, same position, as both Blake and Hayden make this team. Blake was slightly worse, allowing 9-of-15 passes to be completed for 107 yards and a touchdown. He was cleanly beaten on four of the incompletions and was saved by either a drop or an off-target throw. He also missed five tackles because, why not? Hayden was also targeted 15 times and allowed 11 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. Most of that was from WR Antonio Brown, so it’s somewhat understandable, but he also missed three tackles and a defensive holding penalty.Safeties: Dashon Goldson, Redskins (-3.4) and Kurt Coleman, Panthers (-2.7)Goldson was ineffective against the run, despite finishing with a team-high 10 tackles yesterday. Only two of those tackles actually constituted stops. He also missed three tackles and was mostly unable to do anything against the run, getting frequently blocked out of the play. Coleman’s struggles came in coverage, where he missed a tackle and was frequently out of position and taking bad angles on plays. He finished with a -3.7 coverage grade, the lowest among safeties.Kicker: Chris Boswell, SteelersBoswell missed a 41 yard field goal, had a kickoff go out of bounds, and had just two touchbacks on eight kickoffs.Punter: Tim Masthay, PackersMasthay averaged 44.6 yards per punt, but only 4.33 seconds of average hang time, which lead to five-of-eight returnable punts.Returner: Antonio Brown, SteelersAs incredible as his day was receiving, and it was incredible, he bobbled, then fumbled, his only punt return of the day.
