Reminder on the PFF grading scale
< 50 = Backup
50-59 = Below average starter6
0-69 = Average starter
70-79 = Above average starter
80-89 = Very good
90-99 = Elite
OFFENSE
Darnell Wright — 77.2 (58 snaps)
Cedric Tillman — 76.2 (57)
Hendon Hooker — 68.9 (58)
Jerome Carvin — 65.5 (58)
JaVonta Payton — 62.1 (53)
Dayne Davis — 59.7 (58)
Velus Jones Jr. — 58.7 (39)
James Robinson — 58.5 (2)
Jabari Small — 58.4 (28)
Ramel Keyton — 57.8 (6)
Tiyon Evans — 57.1 (30)
Cooper Mays — 56.7 (58)
Jacob Warren — 55.8 (25)
Jalin Hyatt — 55.4 (23)
Princeton Fant — 53.0 (27)
Javontez Spraggins — 47.1 (58)
The outcry over Tennessee quarterbacks’ inability to hit open receivers down the field was deafening in the first few weeks of the season. It wasn’t a problem for Hendon Hooker against Alabama, he was 3-of-4 for 166 yards and two touchdowns on balls that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. Two of Hooker’s four deep balls were graded as ‘big time throws’ by PFF
Hooker was also very good on intermediate throws in the middle of the field, completing 3-of-4 for 35 yards and one touchdown between the hashmarks.
I don’t know if this is a personnel issue or something that the staff feels Hooker doesn’t do well but Tennessee didn’t attempt a single pass beyond the line of scrimmage to the left side of the field outside of the hash.
According to Pro Football Focus Alabama blitzed Hooker just two times all night long yet they got serious pressure on eight of his 36 drop backs and recorded three sacks.
Tennessee struggled big time to run the ball on Saturday night and that was reflected in how the offensive line was graded out by PFF.
Darnell Wright was the only player up front to receive an ‘above average starter’ or even ‘average starter’ grade and he received his highest grade of the season.
Dayne Davis (59.7) and Cooper Mays (59.3) just missed an average starter grade. Javontez Spraggins was graded harshly at 47.2.
As far as specific run blocking grades Wright graded out the highest at 72.2, Mays was next (65.9) followed by Carvin at 61.3.
Davis (49.5) and Spraggins (51.6) were savaged by the PFF grades.
Quarterback scrambles from Hooker produced 29 yards, nearly half of the 64 yards rushing Tennessee managed to scrape together.
The rushing direction chart shows that it didn’t much matter where the Vols went they weren’t getting very far. Ten rushes between center and left tackle produced 13 yards.
The most ‘success’ Tennessee enjoyed came between center and right guard where the Vols got 16 yards on three carries.
Cedric Tillman obviously had a career night with seven catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted seven times in the game and caught the ball on each occasion. He had two ‘contested catch’ opportunities and was successful on both. Tillman was the only wideout to receive a ‘passing’ grade, no one else was over 60 and Javonta Payton (61.1) was the only player at 60+ for his receiving specific grade.
DEFENSE
Kwauze Garland — 75.1 (4)
Kamel Hadden — 75.8 (88 snaps)
Matthew Butler — 73.0 (69)
Kenneth George — 72.8 (8)
Byron Young — 72.2 (59)
Da’John Terry — 70.4 (10)
Roman Harrison — 64.6 (28)
Ja’Quain Blakely — 62.6 (44)
Alontae Taylor — 62.0 (88)
Doneiko Slaughter — 61.8 (48)
Latrell Bumphus — 60.1 (46)
Kurott Garland — 59.3 (14)
Tyler Baron — 58.0 (53)
Aubrey Solomon — 56.8 (5)
Theo Jackson — 54.6 (20)
Brandon Turnage — 53.7 (24)
Jeremy Banks — 52.8 (78)
Caleb Tremblay — 50.2 (29)
Omari Thomas — 48.4 (18)
Jaylen McCollough — 44.8 (93)
Trevon Flowers — 37.4 (92)
Aaron Beasley — 30.6 (81)
Solon Page — 23.1 (24)
The first thing that jumps out at you is that Kamel Hadden graded out highest among defensive players in his first career start (tossing out Garland who played just four snaps).
No other defensive back, other than Kenneth George who played just eight snaps, graded out at 70+ in coverage. Not entirely surprising when you consider that Bryce Young threw for 371 yards on the night.
It was a rough night for Jaylen McCollough according to PFF. In fact, from their view it was a rough night for anyone playing pass coverage in the middle of the field.
McCollough was targeted seven times and gave up four completions for 56 yards. Three of those four completions went for first downs. McCollough received a pass coverage grade of 33.1.
Trevon Flowers gave up two catches in two targets for 24 yards and received a 31.3 grade.
Solon Page was targeted twice giving up two catches for 39 yards, both catches were good for first downs and Page received a 25.6 grade.
Bryce Young’s passing chart matches up with the grades for the linebackers and safeties. On all throws between the hashmarks he was 22-of-29 for 285 yards.
Alabama absolutely picked on Aaron Beasley in pass coverage trying to get him isolated on a receiver. Beasley was targeted seven times giving up six receptions for 121 yards. He received a pass coverage grade of 28.1 and three of those receptions went for first downs.
Theo Jackson was targeted six times and gave up six catches but just for 55 yards. Three of those receptions went for first downs and Jackson received a 51.4 grade in pass coverage.
Surprisingly Bama didn’t hunt out Hadden in first start and go after him, or maybe they just found the pickings so easy elsewhere they didn’t bother. Hadden was targeted five times and gave up three receptions for 15 yards and graded out at a team best 78.3 in pass coverage.
Alontae Taylor gave up two catches in four targets for 18 yards. Both catches went for first downs and he received a 64.9 pass coverage grade.
Not surprisingly Matthew Butler received the highest grade as a run defender at 77.8, Da’John Terry (71.9) and Ja’Quain Blakely (70.9) also graded out as ‘above average’ starters per PFF.
Tennessee’s defensive line did a nice job right in the middle. Alabama rushed 21 times for just 64 yards between the guards, 3.0 yards per carry.
Byron Young got his most extensive action to date and played well per the PFF guys; he graded out at 72.2 overall, and he got the second highest tackling grade on the team at 79.8.
Speaking of tackling, it looked like a rough night for some guys on first watch and PFF agreed. First for the positive news, Tennessee had ten guys receive ‘above average’ grades for tackling.
That list was led by Brandon Turnage (81.5), then Young (79.8), followed by Butler (77.5), Roman Harrison (77.0),Blakely (73.7), Kwauze Garland (73.6), Kurott Garland (73.2), Terry (72.4), Aubrey Solomon (72.2) and Caleb Tremblay (71.3).
Then you had some very key guys, including all three inside linebackers who play, that had some really sub-par tackling performances. Jeremy Banks (37.0), Solon Page (32.0), Doneiko Slaughter (28.7) and Aaron Beasley (26.3) all had tough nights in the eyes of the PFF guys and some of that was apparent during live viewing.
< 50 = Backup
50-59 = Below average starter6
0-69 = Average starter
70-79 = Above average starter
80-89 = Very good
90-99 = Elite
OFFENSE
Darnell Wright — 77.2 (58 snaps)
Cedric Tillman — 76.2 (57)
Hendon Hooker — 68.9 (58)
Jerome Carvin — 65.5 (58)
JaVonta Payton — 62.1 (53)
Dayne Davis — 59.7 (58)
Velus Jones Jr. — 58.7 (39)
James Robinson — 58.5 (2)
Jabari Small — 58.4 (28)
Ramel Keyton — 57.8 (6)
Tiyon Evans — 57.1 (30)
Cooper Mays — 56.7 (58)
Jacob Warren — 55.8 (25)
Jalin Hyatt — 55.4 (23)
Princeton Fant — 53.0 (27)
Javontez Spraggins — 47.1 (58)
The outcry over Tennessee quarterbacks’ inability to hit open receivers down the field was deafening in the first few weeks of the season. It wasn’t a problem for Hendon Hooker against Alabama, he was 3-of-4 for 166 yards and two touchdowns on balls that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. Two of Hooker’s four deep balls were graded as ‘big time throws’ by PFF
Hooker was also very good on intermediate throws in the middle of the field, completing 3-of-4 for 35 yards and one touchdown between the hashmarks.
I don’t know if this is a personnel issue or something that the staff feels Hooker doesn’t do well but Tennessee didn’t attempt a single pass beyond the line of scrimmage to the left side of the field outside of the hash.
According to Pro Football Focus Alabama blitzed Hooker just two times all night long yet they got serious pressure on eight of his 36 drop backs and recorded three sacks.
Tennessee struggled big time to run the ball on Saturday night and that was reflected in how the offensive line was graded out by PFF.
Darnell Wright was the only player up front to receive an ‘above average starter’ or even ‘average starter’ grade and he received his highest grade of the season.
Dayne Davis (59.7) and Cooper Mays (59.3) just missed an average starter grade. Javontez Spraggins was graded harshly at 47.2.
As far as specific run blocking grades Wright graded out the highest at 72.2, Mays was next (65.9) followed by Carvin at 61.3.
Davis (49.5) and Spraggins (51.6) were savaged by the PFF grades.
Quarterback scrambles from Hooker produced 29 yards, nearly half of the 64 yards rushing Tennessee managed to scrape together.
The rushing direction chart shows that it didn’t much matter where the Vols went they weren’t getting very far. Ten rushes between center and left tackle produced 13 yards.
The most ‘success’ Tennessee enjoyed came between center and right guard where the Vols got 16 yards on three carries.
Cedric Tillman obviously had a career night with seven catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted seven times in the game and caught the ball on each occasion. He had two ‘contested catch’ opportunities and was successful on both. Tillman was the only wideout to receive a ‘passing’ grade, no one else was over 60 and Javonta Payton (61.1) was the only player at 60+ for his receiving specific grade.
DEFENSE
Kwauze Garland — 75.1 (4)
Kamel Hadden — 75.8 (88 snaps)
Matthew Butler — 73.0 (69)
Kenneth George — 72.8 (8)
Byron Young — 72.2 (59)
Da’John Terry — 70.4 (10)
Roman Harrison — 64.6 (28)
Ja’Quain Blakely — 62.6 (44)
Alontae Taylor — 62.0 (88)
Doneiko Slaughter — 61.8 (48)
Latrell Bumphus — 60.1 (46)
Kurott Garland — 59.3 (14)
Tyler Baron — 58.0 (53)
Aubrey Solomon — 56.8 (5)
Theo Jackson — 54.6 (20)
Brandon Turnage — 53.7 (24)
Jeremy Banks — 52.8 (78)
Caleb Tremblay — 50.2 (29)
Omari Thomas — 48.4 (18)
Jaylen McCollough — 44.8 (93)
Trevon Flowers — 37.4 (92)
Aaron Beasley — 30.6 (81)
Solon Page — 23.1 (24)
The first thing that jumps out at you is that Kamel Hadden graded out highest among defensive players in his first career start (tossing out Garland who played just four snaps).
No other defensive back, other than Kenneth George who played just eight snaps, graded out at 70+ in coverage. Not entirely surprising when you consider that Bryce Young threw for 371 yards on the night.
It was a rough night for Jaylen McCollough according to PFF. In fact, from their view it was a rough night for anyone playing pass coverage in the middle of the field.
McCollough was targeted seven times and gave up four completions for 56 yards. Three of those four completions went for first downs. McCollough received a pass coverage grade of 33.1.
Trevon Flowers gave up two catches in two targets for 24 yards and received a 31.3 grade.
Solon Page was targeted twice giving up two catches for 39 yards, both catches were good for first downs and Page received a 25.6 grade.
Bryce Young’s passing chart matches up with the grades for the linebackers and safeties. On all throws between the hashmarks he was 22-of-29 for 285 yards.
Alabama absolutely picked on Aaron Beasley in pass coverage trying to get him isolated on a receiver. Beasley was targeted seven times giving up six receptions for 121 yards. He received a pass coverage grade of 28.1 and three of those receptions went for first downs.
Theo Jackson was targeted six times and gave up six catches but just for 55 yards. Three of those receptions went for first downs and Jackson received a 51.4 grade in pass coverage.
Surprisingly Bama didn’t hunt out Hadden in first start and go after him, or maybe they just found the pickings so easy elsewhere they didn’t bother. Hadden was targeted five times and gave up three receptions for 15 yards and graded out at a team best 78.3 in pass coverage.
Alontae Taylor gave up two catches in four targets for 18 yards. Both catches went for first downs and he received a 64.9 pass coverage grade.
Not surprisingly Matthew Butler received the highest grade as a run defender at 77.8, Da’John Terry (71.9) and Ja’Quain Blakely (70.9) also graded out as ‘above average’ starters per PFF.
Tennessee’s defensive line did a nice job right in the middle. Alabama rushed 21 times for just 64 yards between the guards, 3.0 yards per carry.
Byron Young got his most extensive action to date and played well per the PFF guys; he graded out at 72.2 overall, and he got the second highest tackling grade on the team at 79.8.
Speaking of tackling, it looked like a rough night for some guys on first watch and PFF agreed. First for the positive news, Tennessee had ten guys receive ‘above average’ grades for tackling.
That list was led by Brandon Turnage (81.5), then Young (79.8), followed by Butler (77.5), Roman Harrison (77.0),Blakely (73.7), Kwauze Garland (73.6), Kurott Garland (73.2), Terry (72.4), Aubrey Solomon (72.2) and Caleb Tremblay (71.3).
Then you had some very key guys, including all three inside linebackers who play, that had some really sub-par tackling performances. Jeremy Banks (37.0), Solon Page (32.0), Doneiko Slaughter (28.7) and Aaron Beasley (26.3) all had tough nights in the eyes of the PFF guys and some of that was apparent during live viewing.
