- Tom Brady set the standard in season openers: His 92.8 overall PFF grade across Week 1 appearances is the highest among qualifying offensive players.
- T.J. Watt leads all Week 1 defenders: Watt owns a 93.7 overall PFF grade in season openers and enters Sunday one sack shy of Justin Houston’s PFF-era record.
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Not everybody starts the NFL season in convincing fashion. Week 1 always produces a handful of results that come completely out of left field, reminding us not to draw sweeping conclusions from the first weekend of football.
Some of that weirdness comes from how differently teams approach the summer. Some coaches use the preseason to build toward full speed, while others would rather preserve their top players for the long season ahead. Wily veterans, particularly those accustomed to playing deep into January and February, often have little interest in reaching their physical peak in early September.
Still, the best players tend to reveal themselves regardless of their offseason preparation. PFF has graded every NFL game since 2006, giving us two decades of evidence to identify the players who have consistently been at their best as soon as the season begins.
To qualify, a player must have logged at least 200 career snaps in Week 1.
Quarterbacks
The greatest quarterback of all time can also claim to be the greatest season-opening quarterback of the PFF era.
Tom Brady earned a 92.8 overall PFF grade across his Week 1 appearances, the highest mark of any qualifying offensive player. If all of his season openers were combined into one campaign, that 92.8 grade would rank as the fifth-best season of Brady’s career.
It's another small example of the consistency that separates Brady from everybody else. His teams repeatedly made lengthy postseason runs, often taking his season into February and shortening the time available to recover before the next one. Yet he was still an elite performer on the opening weekend.
Brady recorded 46 big-time throws and only seven turnover-worthy plays in season openers. The gap between those two figures is staggering, particularly in early games where offenses are often still trying to establish their rhythm.
Peyton Manning ranks next among qualifying quarterbacks with a 90.8 grade, followed by Patrick Mahomes at 90.0. Mahomes has thrown 22 Week 1 touchdowns against only two interceptions. Reigning MVP Matthew Stafford has taken a more aggressive approach. He typically begins the season willing to attack downfield and accept the consequences. Stafford’s 20 Week 1 interceptions are the most by any quarterback in the PFF era.
Not every all-time great immediately rediscovers their best form after the long offseason. Aaron Rodgers’ 80.8 overall grade in season openers trails the likes of Eli Manning and Chad Pennington. That hardly diminishes Rodgers’ career, but it shows that even the league’s most gifted passers have not all got into rhythm right away.
Receivers
Brady was not the only member of the New England Patriots offense who regularly started fast. His greatest target did the same. Rob Gronkowski earned an 89.8 overall PFF grade in season openers, the highest of any qualifying tight end.
At wide receiver, nobody has opened seasons better than Tyreek Hill. His 92.0 overall grade is the highest by a qualifying wideout in PFF history. Hill and Julio Jones are also the only receivers to accumulate more than 1,000 receiving yards in Week 1 games during the PFF era.
Stefon Diggs is perhaps a more surprising active player near the top of the rankings. He sits sixth among qualifying wide receivers in Week 1 receiving grade and is tied for the most contested catches on opening weekend (13). Most impressively, Diggs has never dropped a pass in Week 1.
For a player who has changed teams and offensive systems several times, Diggs has repeatedly arrived ready to provide his quarterback with a dependable target before the rest of the offense has fully taken shape.
Running backs
Many coaches still talk about establishing the run at the beginning of the season. Warm September conditions may make throwing the ball attractive, but Week 1 is also the only point on the calendar when practically every running back is completely fresh.
Even with every running back at their freshest, nobody could guess the highest-graded qualifying Week 1 runner in PFF history.
That’s Carlos Hyde. He is the only qualifying running back to earn a career Week 1 rushing grade above 85.0. Hyde amassed 563 rushing yards in season openers, averaging 5.0 yards per carry and scoring seven touchdowns. Week 1 was Hyde’s highest-graded game of the year in four of his eight NFL seasons. Whatever his surroundings, he had an unusual habit of producing his best football immediately.
Among active running backs, Bijan Robinson has set a strong early standard. He has exceeded 120 scrimmage yards in each of his past two season openers. There is one absence from Robinson’s Week 1 résumé: He has yet to score a rushing touchdown on opening weekend.
Offensive linemen
As with running backs, Week 1 is the only time of year when the physical strain of an NFL season has not yet taken its toll on offensive linemen.
Terron Armstead retired with a 90.7 overall grade in season openers, the highest of any qualifying offensive lineman. No other offensive tackle in the PFF era played more than 300 Week 1 pass-blocking snaps without allowing a sack.
Just below Armstead are some of the usual suspects. Joe Thomas earned an 88.4 overall grade across opening weekends, while Quenton Nelson sits just behind him at 88.3.
Minnesota Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill is one of the more surprising active players. His 87.8 overall grade ranks fourth among qualifying offensive linemen, and he has allowed fewer than one pressure per game in season openers.
Pass rushers
T.J. Watt is the highest-graded defensive player in season openers in PFF history. His 93.7 overall grade reflects dominance in every area, even including coverage. One sack against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday would draw Watt level with Justin Houston for the most Week 1 sacks of the PFF era, with 12.
Aaron Donald is unsurprisingly the highest-graded interior defensive lineman in Week 1 (and any other week for that matter), while new running mate Myles Garrett isn’t far behind in the overall standings (fourth overall behind Watt, Donald, and Ed Reed).
Among the retired players who, unlike Donald, will remain retired, DeMarcus Ware was a sensationally fast starter. His 61 pressures and 18.7% pressure rate in season openers both rank among the best marks produced by a qualifying pass rusher.
Coverage defenders
Harrison Smith and Ed Reed were both elite season starters. Each repeatedly set the tone for their defense with Week 1 performances graded above 90.0, punishing disjointed offenses for early-season mistakes and setting the tone as leaders of their respective units.
Among active cornerbacks, Jaylon Johnson owns one of the most remarkable opening-week coverage records. He has allowed a passer rating of just 18.3 when targeted in season openers. Johnson missed Week 1 last season but has surrendered only five receptions for 64 yards across five Week 1 games since 2020.
Then there’s Paulson Adebo, who isn’t generally regarded among the best cornerbacks in football and has frequently been one of the league’s most targeted players. Since entering the league in 2021, Adebo is the only cornerback to surrender more than 3,000 passing yards in coverage.
His opening-week performances tell a completely different story, though. Adebo has allowed only 11 receptions from 23 Week 1 targets, intercepted two passes and limited opposing quarterbacks to a 27.3 passer rating when targeting his coverage.
Adebo has continued to retain starting roles and is set to line up on the perimeter for the New York Giants again this season. Perhaps the strong early-season impression has helped in that regard.
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