• The Chargers' safeties put on a show: Tony Jefferson and Alohi Gilman finished as two of the 10 highest-graded players from the wild-card round.
• Two elite quarterbacks will face off in the divisional round: Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson both earned 90.0-plus PFF overall grades in the wild-card round.
• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF's best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
These are PFF's 15 highest-graded players from the NFL wild-card round.
Minimum required snaps: 10
1. S Tony Jefferson, Los Angeles Chargers: 95.0
With the injury to Elijah Molden late in the year, the Chargers' defense again turned to the savvy veteran in a crucial moment, to which he answered the call with opportunistic play. The highlight was Jefferson helping to blow up a trick look from Houston, inside their own 25-yard line, ending in him punching the ball away from Joe Mixon and securing it to get Justin Herbert and the offense back on the field.
2. CB Derek Stingley Jr., Houston Texans: 93.6
The honor of the wild-card round’s highest-graded coverage defender goes to Stingley, who secured a phenomenal 94.9 mark against the Chargers. Houston’s coverage, spearheaded by Stingley’s two fourth-quarter interceptions, surrendered little room for the Chargers to maneuver. The third-year cornerback also notched a pair of forced incompletions and a forced fumble, a credit to his sticky and aggressive coverage ability.
3. QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: 93.0
In his first six playoff appearances before this past weekend, Jackson held just a combined 62.8 PFF overall grade. His 93.0 offensive mark in the wild-card round not only led all offensive players but also set a new postseason career-high for the reigning MVP. While his volume passing stats may not jump off the page, his impact was massive. Jackson earned the fourth-highest postseason passing grade (92.6) in the PFF era (since 2006).
4. TE Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams: 92.8
Higbee managed to clock just 12 snaps before exiting the Rams’ wild-card matchup with an injury. Even still, he managed a 92.1 PFF receiving grade, hauling in five receptions for 53 yards — leading the game before going down. With his first reception, Higbee gashed the Vikings‘ defense for 24 yards, setting up what would have been an excellent day had he avoided injury.
5. WR Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 91.8
Even when shadowed by one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks in Marshon Lattimore, Evans was unguardable this past weekend. The Buccaneers' explosive receiver secured all seven of his catchable passes, including a trio of receptions over 15 yards, racking up 4.84 yards per route run. That performance netted the veteran receiver a 91.3 PFF receiving grade, ranking 12th among receivers in the postseason since PFF started charting data in 2006.
T-6. WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers: 91.6
Wild-Card Weekend was the stage for a historic performance from McConkey, who set an NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie in a postseason game. The first-year receiver hauled in nine passes for 197 yards — including five explosives — highlighted by his massive 86-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. McConkey’s 91.0 PFF receiving grade ranks second among rookies in the postseason during the PFF era — behind only Puka Nacua’s performance in last season’s wild-card round.
T-6. S Alohi Gilman, Los Angeles Chargers: 91.6
The Chargers started their wild-card matchup on a high note, due in large part to the excellent play of Gilman on the backend. Houston’s first drive from scrimmage ended with a turnover on the first play after Gilman punched the ball loose, leading to a short-lived six-point lead for Los Angeles. That greatly contributed to Gilman’s 89.6 PFF coverage grade — the highest of his career and best by a safety in the wild-card round.
8. RB Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers: 91.1
Jacobs shined brightest when it mattered most, earning his highest grade of the season and the second-highest mark ever produced by a running back in the postseason. The Packers back proved difficult for the Eagles to bring to the ground, generating 14 forced missed tackles on his 21 touches to tie former Seahawk Marshawn Lynch for the most in the playoffs since PFF started charting data in 2006.
T-9. DI Greg Gaines, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 90.5
While Gaines hasn’t been the picture of consistency in his career, he undoubtedly loves the playoffs, earning the highest single-game grade of his career in the wild-card round. His 90.6 PFF run-defense grade is the highest among all interior defenders in a playoff game since 2021. Coincidentally, that mark also belongs to Gaines for his performance in Super Bowl 56, giving the Buccaneers defender two of the top 15 playoff run-defense grades at the position in the PFF era.
T-9. C Tyler Linderbaum, Baltimore Ravens: 90.5
The second Raven to grace this list, Linderbaum finished Wild-Card Weekend as the league’s highest-graded center. His 90.5 PFF overall grade ranks fifth among playoff centers in the PFF era, buoyed by his incredible 89.9 PFF run-blocking grade — a mark that not only led all blockers this past week but also paced all interior blockers by more than 11 points on the grading scale.
11. LB Nakobe Dean, Philadelphia Eagles: 90.3
The young, breakout linebacker played just 23 snaps before going down with a serious injury in the second quarter this past weekend — one that will knock him out for the remainder of Philadelphia’s playoff run. Dean earned a 77.0-plus PFF grade as a run defender and in coverage, highlighted by his four combined defensive stops, including a pair of tackles for loss.
T-12. QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: 90.1
After another masterful wild-card performance, Allen continues to climb the leaderboards of PFF’s best-ever playoff quarterbacks. His 90.1 PFF overall grade is his fourth wild-card outing to surpass an 88.0-plus mark, contributing to his 91.2 career playoff grade — the fourth-highest grade since 2006. Allen led all playoff passers this past week with 10.5 yards per attempt while registering an 80% adjusted completion rate.
T-12. EDGE Denico Autry, Houston Texans: 90.1
In his 11th season, Autry is still bringing the heat on the interior, producing the highest-graded playoff performance of his career this past week. The Texans pass-rusher generated the highest PFF pass-rush grade of his season (88.8) after recording a win on 37.5% of his rushing snaps and notching four pressures, including a pivotal third-down sack of Justin Herbert, late in the game.
T-14. CB Kamari Lassiter, Houston Texans: 89.5
Along with his teammate, the aforementioned Derek Stingley Jr., Lassiter was a huge factor in shutting down the Chargers' passing game. The first-year cornerback finished with a 90.5 PFF coverage grade — the highest mark of his young career and the fourth-highest among rookie cornerbacks in the postseason — after surrendering zero receptions on three targets into his coverage and securing his fifth interception on the year.
T-14. DI Jordan Davis, Philadelphia Eagles: 89.5
The massive force in the middle of this Eagles' defense had himself a huge performance in the wild-card round, earning the second-highest PFF pass-rushing grade of his young career. Although Davis played just five pass-rushing snaps, he managed to notch a 60% win rate and a pair of pressures, on his way to an 89.8 PFF pass-rushing grade — the second-highest mark in the NFL this past weekend.
© 2025 PFF - all rights reserved.