Several Detroit Lions top PFF’s ‘lockdown percentage’ at their position

PFF has a new coverage stat called “Lockdown Percentage” and several Detroit Lions players are ranked among the best at their position.

Last week against the Arizona Cardinals, the Detroit Lions coverage team was at their best. Kyler Murray, who was coming off a performance that included a perfect passer rating against the Los Angeles Rams, was stymied almost completely. He completed just 61.7% of his passes for only 6.1 yards per attempt and a 76.5 passer rating.

While the entire Lions defense deserves props for their performance, one specific stat from PFF really highlights how excellent Detroit’s coverage was on defense. A new statistic that they call “lockdown percentage” is defined as this:

This metric focuses on coverage, measuring how well a defender prevents a receiver from getting open. It excludes plays where the defender intentionally gives up space to protect the first-down marker or limit yards after the catch.

In the site’s Week 3 Lockdown Report, two Lions made their top-10 list: Carlton Davis was eighth with a lockdown percentage of 68.75% while Brian Branch was ninth (second among safeties) with a 66.67 percentage.

But this wasn’t just a one-off performance from the Lions defense. In the same post from PFF, they listed the full-season lockdown percentage leaders, and here’s where every Lions defender ranks both overall and in relation to their position:

• Alex Anzalone: 62.5% — First among linebackers, ninth overall
• Brian Branch: 58.62% — Second among safeties, 13th overall
• Carlton Davis: 54.17% — 16th among cornerbacks, 21st overall
• Amik Robertson: 46.67% — 29th among cornerbacks, 37th overall
• Terrion Arnold: 42.62% — 41st among cornerbacks, 50th overall

Not only do the Lions have Anzalone and Branch at the top of their respective positions, but all five players rank in the top 50. For context sake, a total of 99 players qualified for the list, so essentially everyone made the top half of the list.

With little explanation of the definition of this statistic or what counts as an “opportunity,” it’s unclear if Kerby Joseph did not meet the 20 minimum threshold to make the list or if he’s below the top 99. But it’s worth noting his overall coverage grade of 78.4 is 14th among NFL safeties, and he grades out pretty well in other PFF statistics: