For as much negative talk our secondary gets (which is certainly justified), the linebackers have been the weakest part of our defense and may be the weakest linebacker core in all of FBS.
According to PFF, out of 130 FBS teams, Eley grades out as 571/580, while Jackson is 553/580. And they’ve both played more snaps than anyone ranked lower than them! It’s embarrassing.
Someone please come on here and tell me PFF grades are worthless, our linebackers are playing well, and it’s all because of a weak pass rush.
We literally have two of the lowest-graded linebackers in the nation according to the most prominent site out there that teams pay for their data. Not perfect as I always say, but when the D is this bad and the LBs grade out this poorly, it’s not a coincidence.
I’ll end this in a somewhat positive note that Gibbs is the #17 graded RB in the nation out of 345, and he’s graded #4 out of 345 RBs as a receiver. For those curious, Mason is #193 (ranks 9th in run blocking).
I’ll do a post probably after next weeks game with interesting tidbits on where our players grade out nationally. Don’t have the heart to do it now after seeing where our LBs grade.
Also — for anyone who uses “tackles” as a quantitative measure of success for a defender, don’t. Someone has to make a tackle, doesn’t mean it’s not 7 yards downfield.