Rivals has continued its partnership with Pro Football Focus (PFF) which grants me access to their comprehensive analytics and statistical tools.
After each game, two separate analysts grade every player on each play of the game and the two totals are averaged out. Obviously no subjective ranking system is perfect, but I am finding that my real world impressions of a player in a certain game usually reflects the PFF grade.
Click on the photos to enlarge the images for easier reading.
Here's a look at the overall team grades for the season opener:
UCF earned a 90.4 overall grade, 87.7 on offense and 85.4 on defense.
To compare, here's how the 2018 season graded:
Let's take a look at the Offensive Player Summary for the FAMU game:
I've seen slightly different grading scales for NFL and college and also between individual games, season and a career. One of the PFF reps has stated that "AVERAGE" for a game is 64, but when you're talking about the season it's 68 and for a career it's 71.
For college, 90 and above is elite for a game, 85 is elite for a season.
Anything below 64 (average) is "below average."
Color wise, blue is great to elite, green is good, yellow is average range and anything orange to red is below average (orange) or bad (red).
What we saw on the field is verified by the PFF grades - Dillon Gabriel played great. He earned an "elite" grade of 90.9. So did Quadry Jones, who comes in 1/10 of a point below DG.
Also of note is how well Bentavious Thompson graded for his 16 plays as well as Jake Hescock who was utilized primarily as a blocker. Of the primary OL, only Cole Schneider graded below a 70.
The only starter with a well below average grade was Brandon Wimbush.
Someone asked about how Dillon compared to McKenzie Milton. Obviously Dillon had a smaller sample size (snaps), but here is how PFF viewed KZ in both 2017 and 2018:
McKenzie Milton in 2017:
McKenzie Milton in 2018:
The decreased completion percentage from 2018 likely is attributed to the lower overall grades.
Let's take a closer look at the blocking grades. This is primarily an OL chart, but all players are listed. Players are listed by their pass blocking grades.
Sam Jackson is the leader in the pass blocking category, but what's most impressive to me is how Adrian Killins grades in this category. He's a strong dude for his size.
This also shows the snaps played on the OL. There were 98 total offensive snaps in the game.
Left Tackle:
Tony Gray (57)
Sam Jackson (24)
Edward Colins (17)
Left Guard:
Cole Schneider (43)
Sam Jackson (26)
Lamarius Benson (21)
Chidoziri Maghiro (8)
Center:
Jordan Johnson (69)
Kyle Back (29)
Right Guard:
Parker Boudreaux (50)
Lokahi Pauole (21)
Samuel Jackson (19)
Adrian Medley (8)
Right Tackle:
Jake Brown (69)
Trevor Elbert (16)
Brett Bell (13)
Sam Jackson played three different positions on the OL for a total of 69 snaps, same as Jordan Johnson and Jake Brown. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. It's clear the staff has strong confidence in Tony Gray to see the amount of snaps he played.
True freshmen OL that saw action: Lokahi Pauole and Adrian Medley.
Brett Bell played two positions - 13 snaps at RT and 11 snaps at TE.
Here is the detailed look at the passing grades:
Now a look at different areas of the field and grades under pressure.
Brandon Wimbush:
Dillon Gabriel:
Quadry Jones:
Now let's take a closer look at the running backs, sorted by rushing grade:
Wimbush grades well here as a runner. Bentavious and AK obviously at the top.
Finally, let's look at the WR grades:
Tre Nixon had a good night. Gabe Davis' grade suffered because of a drop.
After each game, two separate analysts grade every player on each play of the game and the two totals are averaged out. Obviously no subjective ranking system is perfect, but I am finding that my real world impressions of a player in a certain game usually reflects the PFF grade.
Click on the photos to enlarge the images for easier reading.
Here's a look at the overall team grades for the season opener:
UCF earned a 90.4 overall grade, 87.7 on offense and 85.4 on defense.
To compare, here's how the 2018 season graded:
Let's take a look at the Offensive Player Summary for the FAMU game:
I've seen slightly different grading scales for NFL and college and also between individual games, season and a career. One of the PFF reps has stated that "AVERAGE" for a game is 64, but when you're talking about the season it's 68 and for a career it's 71.
For college, 90 and above is elite for a game, 85 is elite for a season.
Anything below 64 (average) is "below average."
Color wise, blue is great to elite, green is good, yellow is average range and anything orange to red is below average (orange) or bad (red).
What we saw on the field is verified by the PFF grades - Dillon Gabriel played great. He earned an "elite" grade of 90.9. So did Quadry Jones, who comes in 1/10 of a point below DG.
Also of note is how well Bentavious Thompson graded for his 16 plays as well as Jake Hescock who was utilized primarily as a blocker. Of the primary OL, only Cole Schneider graded below a 70.
The only starter with a well below average grade was Brandon Wimbush.
Someone asked about how Dillon compared to McKenzie Milton. Obviously Dillon had a smaller sample size (snaps), but here is how PFF viewed KZ in both 2017 and 2018:
McKenzie Milton in 2017:
McKenzie Milton in 2018:
The decreased completion percentage from 2018 likely is attributed to the lower overall grades.
Let's take a closer look at the blocking grades. This is primarily an OL chart, but all players are listed. Players are listed by their pass blocking grades.
Sam Jackson is the leader in the pass blocking category, but what's most impressive to me is how Adrian Killins grades in this category. He's a strong dude for his size.
This also shows the snaps played on the OL. There were 98 total offensive snaps in the game.
Left Tackle:
Tony Gray (57)
Sam Jackson (24)
Edward Colins (17)
Left Guard:
Cole Schneider (43)
Sam Jackson (26)
Lamarius Benson (21)
Chidoziri Maghiro (8)
Center:
Jordan Johnson (69)
Kyle Back (29)
Right Guard:
Parker Boudreaux (50)
Lokahi Pauole (21)
Samuel Jackson (19)
Adrian Medley (8)
Right Tackle:
Jake Brown (69)
Trevor Elbert (16)
Brett Bell (13)
Sam Jackson played three different positions on the OL for a total of 69 snaps, same as Jordan Johnson and Jake Brown. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. It's clear the staff has strong confidence in Tony Gray to see the amount of snaps he played.
True freshmen OL that saw action: Lokahi Pauole and Adrian Medley.
Brett Bell played two positions - 13 snaps at RT and 11 snaps at TE.
Here is the detailed look at the passing grades:
Now a look at different areas of the field and grades under pressure.
Brandon Wimbush:
Dillon Gabriel:
Quadry Jones:
Now let's take a closer look at the running backs, sorted by rushing grade:
Wimbush grades well here as a runner. Bentavious and AK obviously at the top.
Finally, let's look at the WR grades:
Tre Nixon had a good night. Gabe Davis' grade suffered because of a drop.
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