What does the PFF ranking mean? Explanation of NFL player grades used in NBC's SNF broadcasts

Analytics is taking over sports whether you like it or not.

No, that doesn't mean the product on the field changes much at all. Football is still played the same way it always has been, with or without a few major changes over the years. However, analytics sometimes influence the way a defense plans or the way a coach thinks about what to do on fourth down.

But the biggest impact analytics has on the NFL happens behind the scenes. Front offices are using analytics more than ever to determine how to build a roster. This trend extends across all types of professional sports, but football is leading the way.

Here's a look at the PFF analytical rankings displayed during “Sunday Night Football” games and what they actually mean.

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What does the PFF ranking mean?

A player's PFF rank is his Pro Football Focus rank at his position. For example, if you have a linebacker with a PFF ranking of 25 out of 86, that player has the 25th highest Pro Football Focus grade among players who have had enough snaps at that position in the current season.

PFF Reviews differ from PFF Rankings. Each player receives a rating from 0-100, which fluctuates throughout the season. The leaderboard ranks these ratings in order from highest to lowest.

In many ways, both reviews and rankings are subjective. Pro Football Focus claims that it analyzes every play for every player, but that still leaves room for interpretation considering it's not always completely clear.

It may not be difficult to judge whether a quarterback made a bad throw, but other positions, such as the linebacker position, are much more subjective. For example, a linebacker's rating could be influenced by the player not being where he should have been, rather than the player simply making a bad play.

However, the reviews and rankings are still helpful for these positions. Quarterbacks and wide receivers have enough stats that almost anyone can judge how well they are playing. Offensive linemen, linebackers, and other position groups typically require advanced stats to get a feel for how good a player really is.

“This detailed evaluation allows our team to assess players’ performance in all aspects of the game before combining individual plays into an overall grade for each player by game, by season and beyond,” PFF wrote in 2016.

What is PFF?

PFF is Pro Football Focus, a football analysis site that launched in 2007. Some of the detailed player ratings are behind a paywall, but basic player grades are free for everyone to view.

Pro Football Focus says it provides individual data to all 32 NFL teams as well as more than 100 college football programs.

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Why does NBC show PFF rankings?

Pro Football Focus was originally founded in the United Kingdom and is now owned by NBC color commentator Cris Collinsworth. The site isn't owned by NBC, but Collinsworth, a longtime fixture in the “Sunday Night Football” broadcast booth, is the common thread between NBC and PFF.

Collinsworth has heard criticism of PFF's ratings over the years, which is no surprise. If rankings and ratings are subjective in any way, disagreements cannot be avoided. Still, the rankings have become a staple of NBC broadcasts as analysis becomes more mainstream in the NFL.