Good news guys, because of a new partnership between Rivals and Pro Football Focus (PFF), I’ll have access to a slew of advanced stats each week this season. Typically, this post will come earlier in the week because most have already moved on to ETSU, but I just got the green light so here she goes for West Virginia.
A heads up: I’m not going to just regurgitate all the number or player grades. Context matters, and after one game, it’s very easy to succumb to small sample sizes. Also, while PFF does excellent work, the data isn’t gospel. Ideally, it’ll be examined and used to augment the rest of our coverage and what we know, see and hear.
*** So who graded out as Tennessee best player on Saturday? That would be Mr. Jauan Jennings, who caught his lone two targets, but was also decent in run blocking on the edge, per PFF. Jennings played just 22 snaps, though — much fewer than Marquez Callaway (49), Brandon Johnson (39) and Josh Palmer (40).
After the game Saturday, some folks at Tennessee lamented the team’s inconsistent blocking on the edge — both among the tight ends and the receivers. PFFs stats certainly back up this concern. Only Jennings and Johnson had passable run-blocking grades, while (in order) DWA, Callaway and Palmer delivered the three worst performances in that area.
*** Former JUCO offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson had a rough first half against the Mountaineers, but it was evident live and on replay that the former Arizona Western C.C. product rebounded with a strong showing after halftime. Unsurprisingly, Trey Smith graded out as Tennessee’s best offensive lineman but Johnson finished second among all other OL who saw action for the Vols, getting a solid 71.5 grade on 43 snaps. Like Smith, he was consistent in both run and pass blocking. He didn’t allow a single pressure and Tennessee had much more success, per PFF, running left behind Johnson and Smith than it did going right (Ryan Johnson, Chance Hall and Drew Richmond). More on this in a moment.
Another interesting OL takeaway: Freshman Jerome Carvin, who stands to play a lot more moving forward with the season-ending injury to Brandon Kennedy, saw 22 snaps in his first-career game. Per the data, Carvin was much better as a pass blocker (9 snaps) compared to run blocking (17 snaps). He graded out as the team’s second-best pass protector, but conversely, only Ryan Johnson had a lower run-blocking grade.
*** I wrote both right after the game and in my review piece that Tennessee squandered a chance to remain competitive against WVU by going away from what was working offensively. Jeremy Pruitt was naturally dismissive of my question on Monday, but Tennessee’s head coach actually suggested as much in Vol Calls last night (Essentially: We should’ve kept throwing the out until they stopped it.) According to PFF, Jarrett Guarantano was 10-of-11 for 85 yards on throws between 1-and-10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Overall, Guarantano was excellent going to his left, completing 7-of-7 passes for 69 yards on throws outside the left hash.
Last Friday in my 10 Things I Think I Think, I said the Vols should relentlessly target WVU’s Hakeem Bailey. They did, but not enough. Bailey allowed four first downs and seven receptions for 69 yards, as he was easily the most picked on WVU defensive back.
Last bit on Guarantano: I’ve written previously that I think Tennessee’s current offense suits JG’s skills better and one area where he excelled in the new pro-style scheme was throws off play action. Guarantano was 7-of-7 for 61 yards on play-action attempts. His YPA were up more than two yards (8.7 vs. 6.2) on throws off play action, too.
*** Tim Jordan graded out well Saturday, but he was the only receiving target credited with a drop. Tough ruling there as the ball on that screen pass was a bit high from Guarantano. As mentioned above, Tennessee had real issues run blocking against WVU, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Jordan get 82 of his 118 yards after contact.
Tallying up the numbers, Jordan averaged 8.5 yards per carry (10 attempts for 85 yards) running left of the center. He averaged just 3.3 yards per attempt (10 rushes for 33 yards) going right of the center.
*** Defensively, senior tackle Alexis Johnson graded out as the top performer for the Vols. He had the best “stop percentage” on run defense and was also credited with three hurries. This is an example of where the advanced stats go deeper than the traditional box score. In the postgame notes, the Vols were credited with just three total hurries as a team. Now, colleges are notoriously bad at keeping these sorts of stats, but PFF is a bit more liberal on hurries while really stressing other pressure stats like hits and sacks.
In the postgame box score, Darrell Taylor was credited with just a single hurry. According to PFF, he had five. Notably, Kyle Phillips had two both via PFF and the postgame notes. The stats do confirm some eye-test takeaways from Saturday, though, namely Jonathan Kongbo’s inability to get to the quarterback. The senior outside linebacker played 35 total snaps — including 20 pass rush snaps. He finished the game with a single pressure. Shy Tuttle recorded the lone true sack against Will Grier, and per PFF, the Vols didn’t hit the quarterback a single other time Saturday.
Others who graded out well included Alontae Taylor, who finished as Tennessee’s best cover guy, regardless of position. In the freshman’s first-career game, he allowed just two receptions for 14 yards and had one PBU. Taylor also had a really strong game on special teams, playing 12 snaps and partially blocking a punt. In limited work defensively, Paul Bain (13 snaps) graded out well, as did Emmitt Gooden (15 snaps) and Theo Jackson (14 snaps).
*** Predictably, the coverage stat were garish for a defense that gave up 429 yards passing and five touchdowns.
The breakdown, per PFF …
Micah Abernathy: 4 targets for 4 receptions and 60 yards
Nigel Warrior: 5 targets for 4 receptions and 80 yards and a TD
Baylen Buchanan: 7 targets for 5 receptions and 54 yards and a TD
Bryce Thompson: 2 targets for 2 receptions and 42 yards and a TD
Trevon Flowers: 5 targets for 2 receptions and 42 yards and a TD
*** It’s just one game (against a really talented offense) but another notable takeaway from Week 1 was how poorly Tennessee’s linebackers graded out in coverage. Quart’e Sapp, Daniel Bituli and Darrin Kirkland Jr. actually finished with worst pass defense grades than any member of Tennessee’s secondary. According to PFF, the trio allowed five catches seven targets for 141 yards.
*** In terms of snaps, only Warrior and Abernathy played the entire game. Kirkland finished with 50 snaps, while Bituli saw 44 total snaps, including six as a pass rush end.
*** The Vols finished the loss with 11 missed tackles, per PFF. This is normally an area teams struggle with early but improve as the season goes along. I expect Tennessee to tackle much better over the next two weeks — and not simply due to lower competition. Warrior, Kirkland and Abernathy all missed two tackles.
Discuss away.
A heads up: I’m not going to just regurgitate all the number or player grades. Context matters, and after one game, it’s very easy to succumb to small sample sizes. Also, while PFF does excellent work, the data isn’t gospel. Ideally, it’ll be examined and used to augment the rest of our coverage and what we know, see and hear.
*** So who graded out as Tennessee best player on Saturday? That would be Mr. Jauan Jennings, who caught his lone two targets, but was also decent in run blocking on the edge, per PFF. Jennings played just 22 snaps, though — much fewer than Marquez Callaway (49), Brandon Johnson (39) and Josh Palmer (40).
After the game Saturday, some folks at Tennessee lamented the team’s inconsistent blocking on the edge — both among the tight ends and the receivers. PFFs stats certainly back up this concern. Only Jennings and Johnson had passable run-blocking grades, while (in order) DWA, Callaway and Palmer delivered the three worst performances in that area.
*** Former JUCO offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson had a rough first half against the Mountaineers, but it was evident live and on replay that the former Arizona Western C.C. product rebounded with a strong showing after halftime. Unsurprisingly, Trey Smith graded out as Tennessee’s best offensive lineman but Johnson finished second among all other OL who saw action for the Vols, getting a solid 71.5 grade on 43 snaps. Like Smith, he was consistent in both run and pass blocking. He didn’t allow a single pressure and Tennessee had much more success, per PFF, running left behind Johnson and Smith than it did going right (Ryan Johnson, Chance Hall and Drew Richmond). More on this in a moment.
Another interesting OL takeaway: Freshman Jerome Carvin, who stands to play a lot more moving forward with the season-ending injury to Brandon Kennedy, saw 22 snaps in his first-career game. Per the data, Carvin was much better as a pass blocker (9 snaps) compared to run blocking (17 snaps). He graded out as the team’s second-best pass protector, but conversely, only Ryan Johnson had a lower run-blocking grade.
*** I wrote both right after the game and in my review piece that Tennessee squandered a chance to remain competitive against WVU by going away from what was working offensively. Jeremy Pruitt was naturally dismissive of my question on Monday, but Tennessee’s head coach actually suggested as much in Vol Calls last night (Essentially: We should’ve kept throwing the out until they stopped it.) According to PFF, Jarrett Guarantano was 10-of-11 for 85 yards on throws between 1-and-10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Overall, Guarantano was excellent going to his left, completing 7-of-7 passes for 69 yards on throws outside the left hash.
Last Friday in my 10 Things I Think I Think, I said the Vols should relentlessly target WVU’s Hakeem Bailey. They did, but not enough. Bailey allowed four first downs and seven receptions for 69 yards, as he was easily the most picked on WVU defensive back.
Last bit on Guarantano: I’ve written previously that I think Tennessee’s current offense suits JG’s skills better and one area where he excelled in the new pro-style scheme was throws off play action. Guarantano was 7-of-7 for 61 yards on play-action attempts. His YPA were up more than two yards (8.7 vs. 6.2) on throws off play action, too.
*** Tim Jordan graded out well Saturday, but he was the only receiving target credited with a drop. Tough ruling there as the ball on that screen pass was a bit high from Guarantano. As mentioned above, Tennessee had real issues run blocking against WVU, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Jordan get 82 of his 118 yards after contact.
Tallying up the numbers, Jordan averaged 8.5 yards per carry (10 attempts for 85 yards) running left of the center. He averaged just 3.3 yards per attempt (10 rushes for 33 yards) going right of the center.
*** Defensively, senior tackle Alexis Johnson graded out as the top performer for the Vols. He had the best “stop percentage” on run defense and was also credited with three hurries. This is an example of where the advanced stats go deeper than the traditional box score. In the postgame notes, the Vols were credited with just three total hurries as a team. Now, colleges are notoriously bad at keeping these sorts of stats, but PFF is a bit more liberal on hurries while really stressing other pressure stats like hits and sacks.
In the postgame box score, Darrell Taylor was credited with just a single hurry. According to PFF, he had five. Notably, Kyle Phillips had two both via PFF and the postgame notes. The stats do confirm some eye-test takeaways from Saturday, though, namely Jonathan Kongbo’s inability to get to the quarterback. The senior outside linebacker played 35 total snaps — including 20 pass rush snaps. He finished the game with a single pressure. Shy Tuttle recorded the lone true sack against Will Grier, and per PFF, the Vols didn’t hit the quarterback a single other time Saturday.
Others who graded out well included Alontae Taylor, who finished as Tennessee’s best cover guy, regardless of position. In the freshman’s first-career game, he allowed just two receptions for 14 yards and had one PBU. Taylor also had a really strong game on special teams, playing 12 snaps and partially blocking a punt. In limited work defensively, Paul Bain (13 snaps) graded out well, as did Emmitt Gooden (15 snaps) and Theo Jackson (14 snaps).
*** Predictably, the coverage stat were garish for a defense that gave up 429 yards passing and five touchdowns.
The breakdown, per PFF …
Micah Abernathy: 4 targets for 4 receptions and 60 yards
Nigel Warrior: 5 targets for 4 receptions and 80 yards and a TD
Baylen Buchanan: 7 targets for 5 receptions and 54 yards and a TD
Bryce Thompson: 2 targets for 2 receptions and 42 yards and a TD
Trevon Flowers: 5 targets for 2 receptions and 42 yards and a TD
*** It’s just one game (against a really talented offense) but another notable takeaway from Week 1 was how poorly Tennessee’s linebackers graded out in coverage. Quart’e Sapp, Daniel Bituli and Darrin Kirkland Jr. actually finished with worst pass defense grades than any member of Tennessee’s secondary. According to PFF, the trio allowed five catches seven targets for 141 yards.
*** In terms of snaps, only Warrior and Abernathy played the entire game. Kirkland finished with 50 snaps, while Bituli saw 44 total snaps, including six as a pass rush end.
*** The Vols finished the loss with 11 missed tackles, per PFF. This is normally an area teams struggle with early but improve as the season goes along. I expect Tennessee to tackle much better over the next two weeks — and not simply due to lower competition. Warrior, Kirkland and Abernathy all missed two tackles.
Discuss away.
