PFF Week 2 Grades

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Out of 31 completions, our pass catchers have forced four missed tackles. McCollum with two, Carter and Dontae Smith with one each.

Out of three contested (i.e. “up-for-grabs”) targets this season, our pass catchers have yet to make a reception.

This confirms what we have been seeing with our WR. The potential may be there, but I think even they would agree that they can play better. By the way, I really appreciate all this data. It's not perfect (how could Tatum be our highest graded defender when it was obvious he missed his man on two long pass plays?), but it is really interesting and helpful. Thanks for posting.

 

[GaTech4ever]

This confirms what we have been seeing with our WR. The potential may be there, but I think even they would agree that they can play better. By the way, I really appreciate all this data. It's not perfect (how could Tatum be our highest graded defender when it was obvious he missed his man on two long pass plays?), but it is really interesting and helpful. Thanks for posting.

I agree the Tatum thing is surprising to me considering he gave up 47 passing yards. Granted, 45 of those yards were after the catch. I think his grade is inflated by:

1.) He tied with Charlie for the team lead with three “stops.”

2.) He currently ranks #43 out of 376 qualified FBS LBs in tackling grade. That puts him 5th in the ACC (#1 in the Coastal). He only played four defensive snaps against Clemson, so most of his rankings are from his 54 snaps against WCU.

 

[RamblinRed]

Our run blocking will definitely need to improve as the season goes on. If our O starts to get alot of third and longs i'm not convinced our WR's are good enough to consistently get separation nor our QB good enough to consistently make throws into tight windows.

 

[alagold]

Some observations from WK1 to WK2 results:
1) Dontae and D'Quan Douse were in top 5 highest both weeks.
2) Ironically, Benson and Stone were lowest graded players WK1 but were in the Top 5 highest in WK2. Kenan Johnson also reversed the trend going from the bottom 5 to top 5. That is the way to get things corrected!
3) In WK1, all 5 lowest graded on OFF were either OL or TE. WK2 had all WR, RB, and TE so it is good to see the OL performing better. I am sure Clemson's D-Line contributed a lot to WK1.
4) Concerning that Peje Harris has been bottom 5 both weeks. Being a converted WR, could it be run blocking perhaps bringing his numbers down?
5) Did KJ Wallace play 82 snaps and have the lowest grade? That's concerning considering all the DB/Safety depth we recruited through the portal.
6) I think everyone felt Tchio and Quick would be the biggest contributors being of Clemson and Bama pedigree. Looks like Corey Robinson has really stepped up though from the transfer portal. I think I read where he was the best pass blocker in WK1 and graded out Top 5 in WK2. Kudos to JWilliams for being Top 5 both weeks!
7) Awesome to see Tatum step up at LB as we need depth there for the rest of the season and next year with Eley and Thomas gone.

good comment on Wallace--I really want to see Edwards in there to see what he can do
Tatum may be most important guy on team for next yr as LBs are going

 

[roadkill]

Out of 31 completions, our pass catchers have forced four missed tackles. McCollum with two, Carter and Dontae Smith with one each.

Out of three contested (i.e. “up-for-grabs”) targets this season, our pass catchers have yet to make a reception.

It's early season but this is a bit concerning. While we no longer have a Megatron or Demaryius running routes for us, our WR are mostly tall, athletic players who should win many contested balls.
Great deep dive into the stats, by the way.

 

[awbuzz]

According to Arthur Smith (HC, Falcons), the media ranks the Falcons 45th out of 32 teams. So, maybe it's a football thing?

Saw that too and had a good chuckle.

 

[slugboy]

This stat actually baffles me. I'm sure it's correct but it SEEMS like it shouldn't be. I would have sworn more than one player would have had multiple drops.

Jenkins has that size advantage that I’d like to see us take advantage of, but he’s got to catch the ball and win contested balls for that to work

 

[RamblinRed]

I expect Jenkins to be something of a frustrating player for fans to watch. He has the size to make a big difference, but imo he appears to have inconsistent hands - so he is likely to make some good catches, but also drop some catchable balls as well.
FWIW, here are the offensive and defensive advanced stats breakdowns from over at FromtheRumbleSeat

Georgia Tech Football: WCU Advanced Stats Review - Offense

We’re gonna dissect this game and put it back together via box score. Join me, won’t you?

www.fromtherumbleseat.com

Georgia Tech Football: WCU Advanced Stats Review - Defense

There were some numbers to love and some numbers to scare the GT faithful on Saturday night

www.fromtherumbleseat.com

I was watching the game last night and what really stuck with me was how much TO and field position helped GT in this game. WCU's avg starting field position was its own 22 and 11 of its 13 drives started from its own 25 or worse (including 4 starting inside its own 20). GT on the other hand had an avg starting position of its own 42 and included 4 drives (out of 12) that started on WCU's side of the field. FWIW, GT did a horrible job with its field position advantage. On its 4 drives that started in WCU territory it scored a total of 7 points.

WCU actually moved the ball better than I remembered in the 2nd half - but they consistently had to go the length of the field and were likely to make a mistake, killing drives for them. They only punted once in the 2nd half. They had 2 drives end with TO's and a third on downs late. 4 TO's (the same number they had in game one) was horrendous for them.

 

[danny daniel]

I think Key is a "Run The D*** Ball" coach, and with a lead I'd bet that a bunch of the coaches wanted to run clock and get out of the game healthy. I think it was a run-the-clock and "running wins games" strategy.

I agree that the run impacts shortening the game but we were still snapping the ball with lots of time on the run clock. Not the best way to shorten the game.