As a reminder, this is the PFF grading scale.
< 50 = Backup
50-59 = Below average starter
60-69 = Average starter
70-79 = Above average starter
80-89 = Very good
90-99 = Elite
OFFENSIVE GRADES
1 — Brandon Johnson — 79.6
2 — Velus Jones — 78.9
3 — Josh Palmer — 78.4
4 — Trey Smith — 75.2
5 — Brandon Kennedy — 73.4
6 — Ty Chandler — 73.9
7 — Jarrett Guarantano — 70.8
8 — Wanya Morris — 67.5
9 — Jerome Carvin — 64.2
10 — Darnell Wright — 62.6
11 — Eric Gray — 62.6
12 — Javontez Spraggins — 61.4
13 — Princeton Fant — 60.5
14 — Riley Locklear — 60.3
15 — Latrell Bumphus — 60.0
16 — Jahmir Johnson — 56.2
17 — Cooper Mays — 55.5
18 — Cedric Tillman — 54.2
19 — Jalin Hyatt — 53.3
20 — Ramel Keyton — 52.7
21 — Jacob Warren — 49.4
Some of the guys listed above played sparingly. For instance Bumphus had one snap in short yardage. Riley Locklear and Cooper Mays played four snaps each. Jalin Hyatt had 11 snaps and Javontez Spraggins and Velus Jones both had 14 snaps. Everyone else played at least 32 snaps.
Ironically, the position group that most fans would have said was the biggest concern coming into the season, the wide receivers, grading out the highest, by a pretty wide margin. It looked that way on the field and on the stat sheet so it’s not surprising it showed up in the PFF grades as well. Johnson had two catches for more than 30 yards, Palmer had a career high 6 catches for 85 yards and Velus Jones was a big part of the offense with 5 catches for 29 yards.
It’s not surprising to see Smith and Kennedy, the most experienced guys up front leading the way there. Morris graded out the highest in pass protection by a wide margin at 84.3. Kennedy and Smith were next at 75.0 and 73.5.
That’s a pretty big discrepancy between Morris (32 snaps) and Johnson (41 snaps) so it will be interesting to see what the starting line up looks like this week.
As far as success on the ground, Tennessee called more runs to the middle left (behind Smith) than in any other direction (7) and had little success (3.5 ypc). The Vols had success on the ground going wide left with 5 carries for 36 yards (5.2 ypc). The Vols were also solid on the right side, either right middle or over right guard with 5 carries for 38 yards (7.6 ypc).
Smith was Tennessee's highest graded lineman as far as run blocking at 76.6. Carvin was next at 72.7. No one else was over 70. Palmer actually had the highest grade as a run blocker at 76.7.
Guarantano took seven shots down the field on throws of 20 yards or more he was 1-of-2 to both the left and right sides according to PFF (I think that should be 3-of-5 as Brandon Johnson had two 30+ yard grabs going left and Josh Palmer had one for the TD) but 0-of-3 going down the middle.
The Vols worked the middle of the field more than any other area with 17 of the 31 pass attempts coming between the hashes. Tennessee did a good job of trying to push the ball down the field with 14 of the 31 passing attempts being of 10 yards or more and Guarantano was 5-of-13 on those attempts.
DEFENSIVE GRADES
1 — Deandre Johnson — 78.0
2 — Greg Emerson — 72.1
3 — Henry To’o To’o — 72.0
4 — Kivon Bennett — 71.2
5 — Alontae Taylor — 70.4
6 — Omari Thomas — 68.7
7 — Theo Jackson — 65.8
8 — Latrell Bumphus — 63.7
9 — Aubrey Solomon — 63.2
10 — Jaylen McCollough — 62.8
11 — Bryce Thompson — 62.6
12 — Trevon Flowers — 62.3
13 — Warren Burrell — 61.3
14 — Matthew Butler — 60.9
15 — John Mincey — 60.0
16 — Doneiko Slaughter — 59.6
17 — Kenneth George Jr. — 59.1
18 — Elijah Simmons — 59.1
19 — Quavaris Crouch — 59.0
20 — Kurot Garland — 58.0
21 — Ja’Quain Blakely — 57.1
22 — Roman Harrison — 52.5
23 — Tyler Barron — 51.7
24 — Jeremy Banks — 47.7
25 — Morven Joseph — 41.4
As far as snap counts go, obviously some of those guys didn’t play a ton. Mincey and Thomas got just one snap each. Joseph played two, Burrell played five and surprisingly Harrison played just nine.
Four guys played every defensive snap; To’o, To’o, Taylor, Thompson and Flowers. Butler played 59 snaps, a big number for a defensive lineman.
Despite having some issues in coverage, understandable for a freshman in his first start, Slaughter graded out the second highest on the team behind George (82.0) in tackling at 80.7.
Emerson graded out the highest of the defensive linemen by far but played just 12 snaps.
Not surprisingly, in a week where he was named the SEC’s Defensive Lineman of the Week, Johnson graded out higher than any other defensive player and should get more than 35 snaps this week. Johnson would have had more reps Saturday night but he spent most of the third quarter in the locker room dealing with some kind of injury.
After Johnson at 82.7, Bennett received the highest pass rush grade at 76.1.
For a defense that held South Carolina to 85 yards rushing and just 2.5 yards per carry, the grades for the defensive linemen look a little harsh, but that’s just one man’s opinion. Outside of Emerson, who played sparingly, or Thomas who had just the one snap, Bumphus was the highest rated lineman at 63.7. That doesn’t really add up to me given what South Carolina got done on the ground.
Just going by those grades the biggest concern would be at the linebacker spot beside To’o To’o where both Banks (47.7) and Crouch (59.0) got dinged pretty good by the PFF guys.
The coverage numbers aren’t real surprising. Bryce Thompson was playing out of position at safety and the stats say South Carolina targeted him four times which resulted in four completions for 38 yards.
Predictably South Carolina tried to pick on the true freshman Slaughter who was targeted six times and gave up four completions for 54 yards.
Similarly, the Gamecocks knew Banks was making his first start at linebacker and they tried to isolate him coverage, going after him four times resulting in three completions for 20 yards.
Just as it looked live, Taylor, per PFF, had the best night of anyone in the secondary. South Carolina went after him six times and he gave up just two receptions for 25 yards.
< 50 = Backup
50-59 = Below average starter
60-69 = Average starter
70-79 = Above average starter
80-89 = Very good
90-99 = Elite
OFFENSIVE GRADES
1 — Brandon Johnson — 79.6
2 — Velus Jones — 78.9
3 — Josh Palmer — 78.4
4 — Trey Smith — 75.2
5 — Brandon Kennedy — 73.4
6 — Ty Chandler — 73.9
7 — Jarrett Guarantano — 70.8
8 — Wanya Morris — 67.5
9 — Jerome Carvin — 64.2
10 — Darnell Wright — 62.6
11 — Eric Gray — 62.6
12 — Javontez Spraggins — 61.4
13 — Princeton Fant — 60.5
14 — Riley Locklear — 60.3
15 — Latrell Bumphus — 60.0
16 — Jahmir Johnson — 56.2
17 — Cooper Mays — 55.5
18 — Cedric Tillman — 54.2
19 — Jalin Hyatt — 53.3
20 — Ramel Keyton — 52.7
21 — Jacob Warren — 49.4
Some of the guys listed above played sparingly. For instance Bumphus had one snap in short yardage. Riley Locklear and Cooper Mays played four snaps each. Jalin Hyatt had 11 snaps and Javontez Spraggins and Velus Jones both had 14 snaps. Everyone else played at least 32 snaps.
Ironically, the position group that most fans would have said was the biggest concern coming into the season, the wide receivers, grading out the highest, by a pretty wide margin. It looked that way on the field and on the stat sheet so it’s not surprising it showed up in the PFF grades as well. Johnson had two catches for more than 30 yards, Palmer had a career high 6 catches for 85 yards and Velus Jones was a big part of the offense with 5 catches for 29 yards.
It’s not surprising to see Smith and Kennedy, the most experienced guys up front leading the way there. Morris graded out the highest in pass protection by a wide margin at 84.3. Kennedy and Smith were next at 75.0 and 73.5.
That’s a pretty big discrepancy between Morris (32 snaps) and Johnson (41 snaps) so it will be interesting to see what the starting line up looks like this week.
As far as success on the ground, Tennessee called more runs to the middle left (behind Smith) than in any other direction (7) and had little success (3.5 ypc). The Vols had success on the ground going wide left with 5 carries for 36 yards (5.2 ypc). The Vols were also solid on the right side, either right middle or over right guard with 5 carries for 38 yards (7.6 ypc).
Smith was Tennessee's highest graded lineman as far as run blocking at 76.6. Carvin was next at 72.7. No one else was over 70. Palmer actually had the highest grade as a run blocker at 76.7.
Guarantano took seven shots down the field on throws of 20 yards or more he was 1-of-2 to both the left and right sides according to PFF (I think that should be 3-of-5 as Brandon Johnson had two 30+ yard grabs going left and Josh Palmer had one for the TD) but 0-of-3 going down the middle.
The Vols worked the middle of the field more than any other area with 17 of the 31 pass attempts coming between the hashes. Tennessee did a good job of trying to push the ball down the field with 14 of the 31 passing attempts being of 10 yards or more and Guarantano was 5-of-13 on those attempts.
DEFENSIVE GRADES
1 — Deandre Johnson — 78.0
2 — Greg Emerson — 72.1
3 — Henry To’o To’o — 72.0
4 — Kivon Bennett — 71.2
5 — Alontae Taylor — 70.4
6 — Omari Thomas — 68.7
7 — Theo Jackson — 65.8
8 — Latrell Bumphus — 63.7
9 — Aubrey Solomon — 63.2
10 — Jaylen McCollough — 62.8
11 — Bryce Thompson — 62.6
12 — Trevon Flowers — 62.3
13 — Warren Burrell — 61.3
14 — Matthew Butler — 60.9
15 — John Mincey — 60.0
16 — Doneiko Slaughter — 59.6
17 — Kenneth George Jr. — 59.1
18 — Elijah Simmons — 59.1
19 — Quavaris Crouch — 59.0
20 — Kurot Garland — 58.0
21 — Ja’Quain Blakely — 57.1
22 — Roman Harrison — 52.5
23 — Tyler Barron — 51.7
24 — Jeremy Banks — 47.7
25 — Morven Joseph — 41.4
As far as snap counts go, obviously some of those guys didn’t play a ton. Mincey and Thomas got just one snap each. Joseph played two, Burrell played five and surprisingly Harrison played just nine.
Four guys played every defensive snap; To’o, To’o, Taylor, Thompson and Flowers. Butler played 59 snaps, a big number for a defensive lineman.
Despite having some issues in coverage, understandable for a freshman in his first start, Slaughter graded out the second highest on the team behind George (82.0) in tackling at 80.7.
Emerson graded out the highest of the defensive linemen by far but played just 12 snaps.
Not surprisingly, in a week where he was named the SEC’s Defensive Lineman of the Week, Johnson graded out higher than any other defensive player and should get more than 35 snaps this week. Johnson would have had more reps Saturday night but he spent most of the third quarter in the locker room dealing with some kind of injury.
After Johnson at 82.7, Bennett received the highest pass rush grade at 76.1.
For a defense that held South Carolina to 85 yards rushing and just 2.5 yards per carry, the grades for the defensive linemen look a little harsh, but that’s just one man’s opinion. Outside of Emerson, who played sparingly, or Thomas who had just the one snap, Bumphus was the highest rated lineman at 63.7. That doesn’t really add up to me given what South Carolina got done on the ground.
Just going by those grades the biggest concern would be at the linebacker spot beside To’o To’o where both Banks (47.7) and Crouch (59.0) got dinged pretty good by the PFF guys.
The coverage numbers aren’t real surprising. Bryce Thompson was playing out of position at safety and the stats say South Carolina targeted him four times which resulted in four completions for 38 yards.
Predictably South Carolina tried to pick on the true freshman Slaughter who was targeted six times and gave up four completions for 54 yards.
Similarly, the Gamecocks knew Banks was making his first start at linebacker and they tried to isolate him coverage, going after him four times resulting in three completions for 20 yards.
Just as it looked live, Taylor, per PFF, had the best night of anyone in the secondary. South Carolina went after him six times and he gave up just two receptions for 25 yards.
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