Who is the NFL’s Rafa Nadal? Determining best indoor QB, open-space WR, and more

The French Open began play at Roland Garros as Memorial Day Weekend was unfolding and the legendary Rafael Nadal was honored for his massive contributions to the tournament.

Rafa won the French Open an incredible 14 times and is inarguably the most dominant player the world has ever seen on clay. Tennis is strange in that sense in that there are multiple surfaces that players are asked to thrive on, but that is part of the gig.

In the spirit of honoring Rafa, we here at The Skinny Post, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, are doing the same thing and offering players who are good at certain specific things.

Who is the best NFL quarterback indoors?

Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images

RJ:

For some reason the only venues that “feel” truly indoors to me are Detroit and New Orleans. Obviously there are other buildings in the NFL with closed roofs, but these two feel different for some reason.

While I am (this should be obvious) not suggesting that Jared Goff is the best quarterback in the NFL it does seem like he has really found an ability to thrive inside of a temperature-controlled building like Ford Field. Goff has really taken a new several steps over the last couple of years and sort of seems to be the Dome King at the moment.

I’d probably take other quarterbacks in one specific game inside of a building over Goff, but if we are asking who happens to play inside of one and who is going to capitalize on it from a statistical standpoint then Goff sort of feels like fair game.

Michael:

I don’t think I can go with anyone but Goff here, as well. As one of the only quarterbacks in the league who has played multiple years for a team that calls an indoor stadium home, he has the biggest abundance of stats and success to back up this type of claim.

Other names I’ll throw out there are Sam Darnold (look what he did in his one season with the Vikings inside U.S. Bank Stadium) and Justin Herbert (three interceptions all of last regular season). These guys showed they could thrive away from the elements, but ultimately Goff has been much more consistent and for a longer period of time with a higher level of success.

Who is the best NFL running back at telling defenders to “get off him”?

Michael:

Watching elite running backs go to work will never get old to me. In a league that has constantly tried to devalue the position over the last decade, the best at the position are always proving those same people wrong by still playing key roles in the success of their respective teams.

Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry did a whole lot of that this past season, and the latter of the group is the one I’m going with as my guy for this prompt. Is that taking the easy answer? Absolutely, but RJ just took Goff for the first prompt and all is fair in love, war, and The Skinny Post.

Usually when a running back blurts out “get off me!” it’s because he just delivered a brutal stiff-arm to a poor soul on the other team. Henry has long been tied to his wildly-effective stiff-arm so I can only imagine how many times he has voiced that to would-be tacklers.

In 2024, Henry led the league in missed tackles with 78 and was fifth in broken tackles with 27. The first number is simply when defenders tried to tackle him but effectively missed with little to no contact made. The second number is the times where Henry was wrapped up fully but still managed to wriggle free. I bet you thought those numbers would be reversed, but apparently that isn’t the case. Even at his massive size, Henry can still make people miss at a high clip.

RJ:

The spirit of this discussion was based on something incredibly obvious. Nadal is without question the best player every on clay and to Michael’s point, Goff is easily the best quarterback indoors at the moment.

It appears that chalk is the name of today’s overall game because I have no idea how you can go with anybody but Derrick Henry for this answer. He is the most physical running back not only actively, but that has been active for about a decade. The only close answer if we stretch back into history is Marshawn Lynch.

I hate agreeing with Michael. But here we are.

Who is the best NFL wide receiver in open space?

Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images

RJ:

Way back before he was in the NFL, CeeDee Lamb was known as the YAC Gawd while at Oklahoma. His versatility is one of the reasons why he is among the best receivers in the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys lean into it by lining him up all over the field.

But CeeDee’s biggest damage comes when he is in the slot as he can navigate the middle of the field almost better than anyone. The spirit of this discussion and conversation is finding players who excel at certain and specific things and when it comes to open space I am not sure that I want anybody other than CeeDee Lamb inhabiting it.

Not to make this about anyone else, but this is why the Cowboys trading for George Pickens has so much potential. It can finally open things up to let CeeDee run freely without double teams encircling him constantly.

Michael:

I think this one is a no-brainer with Ja’Marr Chase.

Look man, what Joe Burrow and Chase did together during the 2024 season was incredible. They took what they wanted with little to no resistance when they needed to march down the field in crunch time. Their defense ultimately let them down too much over the course of the season, but I’m always going to give these guys the kudos they deserve.

Chase ended up leading the NFL in YAC yards with 787. That was first by a wide margin as the receiver in second behind him was Khalil Shakir of the Bills with 597.

Which NFL offensive lineman has the biggest gap between their run blocking and pass protection ability?

Michael:

This pains me a bit because Tristan Wirfs is an Iowa alum like myself, but I was shocked to see just how contrasting his pass protection grade (via Pro Football Focus) was compared to his run blocking mark.

Per PFF, Wirfs led every qualifying tackle in the NFL with a pass blocking grade of 94.1. At the same time, his run block grade came out to a 62.8. That’s dang near “average” by PFF standards. For comparison, the Eagles’ Jordan Mailata was second in pass block grade at 90.8 but his run block grade was even better 94.6. The Chargers’ Rashawn Slater was third in pass block grade (89.9) and had a run block grade of 82.3.

Wirfs’ run block grade is the worst among the the top 10 tackles in pass block grade (minimum 500 snaps played) and his 31.3-point difference between his two grades is the largest among all 81 qualifying offensive tackles in the NFL.

RJ:

Is it weird if I say Joe Thuney? He is among the best pass-blocking guards in the NFL, but I feel like the Chiefs struggle to run the ball in any sort of way and have for a long time.

You could really say this about Kansas City’s offensive line overall from a feels standpoint in my mind. They have been making things work throughout this entire run that they have been on, but it has never felt sustainable or legitimate. It has always seemed like they are just trying not to buck the wave in the name of survival.