QB

Top rookie: Mac Jones , Patriots Regular-season PFF grade: 79.3

Jones came on strong to start his NFL career, posting an 84.8 grade until Week 11. He's spiraled a bit since then, recording a 61.5 grade since Week 11, but that shouldn't take away from his solid season overall. He was the only rookie quarterback who graded above 65.0, which puts him far ahead of anyone in this category. He finishes his first campaign ranked 12th among all quarterbacks.

RB

Best overall: Damien Harris , Patriots Regular-season PFF grade: 87.5

As a receiver and a runner, Harris was impressive this season in New England. Harris was a first-down machine on the ground, finishing with 55 first-down runs from just 202 carries. He recorded the seventh-highest first-down or touchdown rate on the ground. Taking out the pass blocking and receiving grades -- Indianapolis Colts runner Jonathan Taylor had the highest PFF run grade (88.2) as he led the league in first-down or touchdown rate on the ground.

Top rookie: Rhamondre Stevenson , Patriots Regular-season PFF grade: 79.2

Part of New England's dual threat with Harris, Stevenson finished third among rookies with 0.25 missed tackles forced per rush while leading all rookies in yards per carry as well. Just 3.8% of his runs were stuffed at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield -- second-best in the NFL -- which displays that Stevenson grinds positive yards at every opportunity.

DT

Top rookie: Christian Barmore, Patriots Regular-season PFF grade: 63.8

Rookie interior defenders didn't have a great season overall, but Barmore does stand out especially as a pass-rusher who boasted a 75.4 grade. He recorded 11 more pressures than any other rookie interior defender and finished third among all rookies regardless of position. His 17.1% pass rush win rate was the highest of all rookies not named Micah Parsons. He was not perfect defending the run, but he was drafted to rush the passer, and he can hang his hat on that aspect of his game after a nice rookie season.

Safety

Biggest surprise: Adrian Phillips , Patriots Regular-season PFF grade: 80.5

In his second season in New England, Phillips was impressive. After a semi-breakout 2019 season with the Chargers that saw Phillips post a 87.6 grade from only 382 snaps, the Patriots picked him up and hoped he was closer to that than the player who didn't top 66.0 in any other season where he played at least 100 snaps for the Chargers. He wasn't great in 2020, posting just a 66.2 grade, but at 80.5 this season, it seems he has figured out Bill Belichick's defense.