PFF’s All-Time Single-Season Teams: NFC West

• The Legion of Boom was one of the best defenses ever: Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas and more comprised one of the most feared defenses in league history.

• Aaron Donald is in a league of his own: Donald’s ten seasons in a Rams uniform are the ten highest-graded seasons by a Rams defensive tackle, regardless of snap count.

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Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

In honor of PFF heading into its 20th season of grading and data collection, we’re taking a look back at the best single-season performances for each team according to PFF grading.

As such, we’ve built a series of starting offensive and defensive lineups for all 32 teams using the highest-graded seasons at every position. There are a few rules:

1. A player must have played at least 500 snaps in a given season
2. A player can only make one appearance per roster (e.g., Julio Jones can’t take up all three WR slots for Atlanta)
3. A player who was acquired midseason can still be slotted provided he fulfilled the required snap minimum for that team.

Without further ado, here are PFF’s all-time single-season lineups for the NFC West.

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Arizona Cardinals

• QB: Carson Palmer, 86.1 (2015)

• RB: James Conner, 90.4 (2024)

• WR: Larry Fitzgerald, 90.8 (2007)

• WR: DeAndre Hopkins, 87.1 (2020)

WR: Anquan Boldin, 82.6 (2006)

• TE: Jeff King, 89.5 (2011)

• LT: D.J. Humphries, 88.3 (2020)

• LG: Mike Iupati, 80.2 (2015)

• C: Hjalte Froholdt, 76.1 (2024)

• RG: Deuce Lutui, 75.2 (2009)

• RT: Levi Brown, 76.0 (2008)

• EDGE: Chandler Jones, 87.1 (2016)

• EDGE: Calvin Pace, 86.5 (2007)

• DI: Calais Campbell, 91.2 (2016)

• DI: Zach Allen, 72.7 (2022)

• LB: Daryl Washington, 86.9 (2010)

• LB: Karlos Dansby, 81.0 (2013)

• CB: Tyrann Mathieu, 90.8 (2015)

• CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, 88.0 (2009)

• S: Kerry Rhodes, 88.5 (2012)

• S: Antoine Bethea, 86.4 (2017)

• FLEX: Patrick Peterson, 83.4 (2015)

Few teams can boast a better receiving trio than the Cardinals’ triumvirate of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and DeAndre Hopkins. The future Hall of Famer Fitzgerald earned a spectacular 90.7 PFF receiving grade in 2007. His teammate Boldin posted an excellent 83.7 PFF receiving grade in 2006, his best in an Arizona uniform. And Hopkins, who also appeared in this series for Houston, makes the Cardinals’ roster on the back of an outstanding 2020 in which he compiled an 88.0 PFF receiving grade.

Arizona’s defense features an interesting set of cornerbacks. The highest-graded season came from Tyrann Mathieu in 2015, when he was primarily playing in the slot. Following Mathieu is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who ranked third in the NFL in PFF coverage grade in 2009. Lastly, franchise legend Patrick Peterson turned in a career-best season alongside Mathieu in 2015, as they both ranked among the top four qualified cornerbacks in PFF grade that season.

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Los Angeles Rams

• QB: Matthew Stafford, 88.2 (2023)

• RB: Todd Gurley II, 82.6 (2017)

• WR: Cooper Kupp, 93.0 (2021)

• WR: Puka Nacua, 92.5 (2024)

• WR: Danny Amendola, 86.5 (2012)

• TE: Tyler Higbee, 86.1 (2019)

• LT: Jake Long, 90.5 (2013)

• LG: Roger Saffold, 80.8 (2017)

• C: Brian Allen, 74.8 (2021)

• RG: Kevin Dotson, 84.4 (2023)

• RT: Rob Havenstein, 83.4 (2021)

• EDGE: Robert Quinn, 93.6 (2013)

• EDGE: Von Miller, 91.0 (2021)*

• DI: Aaron Donald, 94.8 (2018)

• DI: Kobie Turner, 83.2 (2023)

• LB: Bobby Wagner, 90.7 (2022)

• LB: Cory Littleton, 79.0 (2019)

• CB: Jalen Ramsey, 86.4 (2022)

• CB: Darious Williams, 81.0 (2020)

• S: Lamarcus Joyner, 90.9 (2017)

• S: O.J. Atogwe, 90.4 (2007)

• FLEX: Quintin Mikell, 88.1 (2012)

*Traded to Los Angeles midseason, but fulfilled minimum snap requirement

Including the postseason, Cooper Kupp’s 2021 campaign has an argument for the greatest ever by a wide receiver. He led the NFL in receptions, yards, touchdowns and PFF receiving grade that year while leading the team to a Super Bowl victory over Cincinnati. Puka Nacua appears to be following in his footsteps after leading the NFL with a 92.6 PFF receiving grade in 2024.

Several legendary players appear in the Rams’ defensive lineup, but none more so than Aaron Donald. He graded above a 90.0 in every season; for context, the next-closest player is Kobie Turner, who recorded an 83.2 overall PFF grade in his rookie season two years ago.

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San Francisco 49ers

• QB: Brock Purdy, 87.4 (2023)

• RB: Christian McCaffrey, 90.3 (2023)

• WR: Brandon Aiyuk, 91.5 (2023)

• WR: Michael Crabtree, 91.3 (2012)

• WR: Anquan Boldin, 90.5 (2013)

• TE: George Kittle, 94.4 (2019)

• LT: Trent Williams, 96.6 (2021)

• LG: Mike Iupati, 82.1 (2010)

• C: Jonathan Goodwin, 78.8 (2012)

• RG: Chilo Rachal, 87.9 (2010)

• RT: Anthony Davis, 80.1 (2012)

• EDGE: Nick Bosa, 92.2 (2023)

• EDGE: Aldon Smith, 90.5 (2011)

• DI: Ian Williams, 86.3 (2015)

• DI: Justin Smith, 85.2 (2010)

• LB: Patrick Willis, 91.1 (2009)

• LB: Navorro Bowman, 90.6 (2013)

• CB: Richard Sherman, 90.3 (2019)

• CB: Tarell Brown, 85.3 (2012)

• S: Antoine Bethea, 87.7 (2014)

• S: Michael Lewis, 85.4 (2007)

• FLEX: Jimmie Ward, 85.0 (2019)

The 49ers’ current roster is loaded with players who recorded the highest-graded seasons in San Francisco’s PFF history. Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk all recorded terrific grades in 2023, as the 49ers fell just short of a Super Bowl victory. George Kittle produced a career-best 94.4 overall PFF grade in 2019. Future Hall of Famer Trent Williams has been outstanding both throughout his career and his time out west, which is best displayed by his amazing 96.6 PFF grade in 2021.

Two eras of excellent defensive play in San Francisco make up the team’s single-season defense. Justin Smith, Aldon Smith Patrick Willis, and Navorro Bowman were the core of a tremendous defense under Jim Harbaugh in the early 2010s. More recently, Nick Bosa, Richard Sherman and Jimmie Ward excelled on a similarly great team in 2019 and beyond.

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Seattle Seahawks

• QB: Russell Wilson, 91.9 (2019)

• RB: Marshawn Lynch, 90.7 (2014)

• WR: Doug Baldwin, 88.2 (2015)

• WR: Bobby Engram, 88.1 (2007)

• WR: Golden Tate, 82.8 (2012)

• TE: Jimmy Graham, 85.4 (2016)

• LT: Walter Jones, 90.5 (2007)

• LG: Rob Sims, 83.4 (2009)

• C: Max Unger, 86.2 (2012)

• RG: J.R. Sweezy, 73.5 (2014)

• RT: Sean Locklear, 82.7 (2007)

• EDGE: Michael Bennett, 89.8 (2013)

• EDGE: Cliff Avril, 84.1 (2013)

• DI: Brandon Mebane, 88.8 (2013)

• DI: Leonard Williams, 87.1 (2024)

• LB: Bobby Wagner, 91.7 (2018)

• LB: K.J. Wright, 87.9 (2015)

• CB: Richard Sherman, 92.3 (2012)

• CB: Marcus Trufant, 90.0 (2007)

• S: Earl Thomas III, 90.6 (2015)

• S: Kam Chancellor, 86.9 (2013)

• FLEX: Byron Maxwell, 84.7 (2013)

Seattle’s offensive success in the early 2010s was littered with terrific individual performances. Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, Max Unger and J.R. Sweezy were all major contributors to the Seahawks’ consecutive Super Bowl runs. Lynch was particularly dominant, as he posted identical 90.7 overall PFF grades in 2013 and 2014 while breaking an incredible 214 tackles across those two seasons.

The famed Legion of Boom features heavily in this lineup, with several of its players having career-best seasons in 2013. Nine of the 11 defensive players featured above were on that Super Bowl-winning contingent. Five of them posted career-high PFF grades that season, and that doesn’t even include potential Hall of Famers Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas. That Seattle defense will live in eternity as one of the NFL’s greatest of all time.

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