One month ago, Nick Whiteside was in roster limbo after playing in the UFL during the spring and spending fall camp with the Detroit Lions before getting waived.
As secondary injuries piled up, the Lions brought Whiteside onto their practice squad at the beginning of the month and signed him to the active roster on Oct. 11.
On Monday, Whiteside was one of the key pieces in the Lions earning a major victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, finishing with a team-high three pass break ups against a top-end NFL offense.
The former Saginaw Valley State standout was playing in his fourth ever NFL game and proceeded to post the top Pro Football Focus defensive grade of the game (among players with at least 10 snaps) with an 83.9 and an 84.3 coverage grade.
It was the story of the game as the Lions held the Bucs to a season-low nine points while relying on a makeshift unit due to mounting injuries and a suspension to safety Brian Branch.
Even without experienced and highly-touted players like Terrion Arnold, Kerby Joseph and D.J. Reed roving the defensive back field, the Lions managed to post the second-highest coverage grade of the season with a 76.1 and holding Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield to a season-low 46.7 offensive grade.
See below for more on the PFF grades and rundown of the snap counts:
*PFF evaluates every player on every play in multiple facets of the game, such as passing, rushing, receiving, pass blocking, run defense, etc. It is important to note that PFF doesn’t base its grade on the outcome of the play, butrather what a player attempts to do on a given play.
Five highest-graded defenders (with at least 10 snaps): CB Nick Whiteside (83.9), LB Jack Campbell (83.4), DE Aidan Hutchinson (83.3), DL DJ Reader (81.1), S Loren Strickland (78.0)
Five-lowest graded defenders (with at least 10 snaps): DL Tyler Lacy (41.7), CB Rock Ya-Sin (46.2), S Erick Hallett (55.6), DE Al-Quadin Muhammad (59.6), DL Alim McNeill (59.8)
Five highest-graded offensive players (with at least 10 snaps): OL Penei Sewell (89.6), RB Jahmyr Gibbs (81.9), WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (77.1), OL Taylor Decker (71.7), OL Tate Ratledge (69.6)
Five lowest-graded offensive players (with at least 10 snaps): QB Jared Goff (37.4), WR Jameson Williams (46.6), RB David Montgomery (50.6), TE Sam LaPorta (53.8), TE Brock Wright (61.9)
*It wasn’t all about new names for the defense. Linebacker Jack Campbell was elite again as his star power continues to grow with the Detroit defense. Campbell finished just below Whiteside with an 83.4 overall grade, finishing with eight tackles, one sack, one pass defense and two tackles for loss. And we won’t leave out star edge Aidan Hutchinson and his 12 total pressures for the game, which was the most of the season for the NFL’s leader in the stat.
*It did take some time for the Lions’ offense to make the most of a stellar defensive performance. After an opening drive touchdown, QB Jared Goff often struggled with efficiency and threw an errant interception. Even though he did enough to get the win, Goff had his lowest offensive grade as a Lions of 37.4 with a passing grade of 36.0.
*The offensive woes weren’t very indicative of the performance of both the offensive line and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who posted a career performance of 218 total yards and a pair of touchdowns. Gibbs earned a season-high 81.9 offensive grade, while run blocking (70.6) and pass blocking (75.0) grades were solid. Right tackle Penei Sewell notched his second-highest offensive grade (89.6) and run blocking grades (93.5) of the season and his highest pass-blocking grade of the year (77.7). Sewell leads the NFL in overall run blocking this season with a mark of 97.4, with the next closest being a 91.8.
OFFENSE (Out of 68)
OL Christian Mahogany -- 68 (100%)
OL Penei Sewell -- 68 (100%)
OL Tate Ratledge -- 68 (100%)
OL Taylor Decker -- 68 (100%)
QB Jared Goff -- 68 (100%)
OL Graham Glasgow -- 68 (100%)
TE Sam LaPorta -- 66 (97%)
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown -- 62 (91%)
WR Jameson Williams -- 58 (85%)
RB Jahmyr Gibbs -- 38 (56%)
TE Brock Wright -- 37 (54%)
WR Kalif Raymond -- 30 (44%)
RB David Montgomery -- 30 (44%)
WR Isaac TeSlaa -- 9 (13%)
TE Ross Dwelley -- 6 (9%)
OL Dan Skipper 4 (6%)
DEFENSE (Out of 69)
LB Jack Campbell -- 69 (100%)
CB Amik Robertson -- 69 (100%)
LB Alex Anzalone -- 69 (100%)
S Thomas Harper -- 69 (100%)
S Erick Hallett -- 64 (93%)
DE Aidan Hutchinson -- 63 (91%)
LB Derrick Barnes -- 61 (88%)
DE Al-Quadin Muhammad -- 47 (68%)
DL Alim McNeill -- 44 (64%)
CB Nick Whiteside -- 40 (58%)
CB Arthur Maulet -- 35 (51%)
CB Rock Ya-Sin -- 29 (42%)
DL Tyleik Williams -- 22 (32%)
DL DJ Reader -- 18 (26%)
DL Tyler Lacy -- 17 (25%)
DB Loren Strickland -- 14 (20%)
DL Roy Lopez -- 11 (16%)
DL Tyrus Wheat -- 9 (13%)
LB Zach Cunningham -- 3 (4%)
DL Pat O’Connor -- 3 (4%)
CB Tre Flowers -- 3 (4%)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Trevor Nowaske -- 19 (79%)
Grant Stuard -- 19 (79%)
Jacob Saylors -- 18 (75%)
Loren Strickland -- 16 (67%)
Zach Cunningham -- 15 (62%)
Brock Wright -- 12 (50%)
Arthur Maulet -- 12 (50%)
Nick Whiteside -- 11 (46%)
Dominic Lovett -- 11 (46%)
LS Hogan Hatten -- 10 (42%)
Craig Reynolds -- 10 (42%)
P Jack Fox -- 10 (42%)
K Jake Bates -- 10 (42%)
Ross Dwelley -- 10 (42%)
Pat O’Connor -- 9 (38%)
Kalif Raymond -- 8 (33%)
Tre Flowers -- 7 (29%)
Tyrus Wheat -- 7 (29%)
Derrick Barnes -- 6 (25%)
Christian Mahogany -- 5 (21%)
Penei Sewell -- 5 (21%)
Tate Ratledge -- 5 (21%)
Isaac TeSlaa -- 5 (21%)
Dan Skipper -- 5 (21%)
Jack Campbell -- 5 (21%)
Kayode Awosika -- 5 (21%)
Trystan Colon -- 5 (21%)
Alim McNeill -- 1 (4%)
Rock Ya-Sin -- 1 (4%)
Roy Lopez -- 1 (4%)
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