Analyzing PFF grades for Florida’s passing game against UCF

Gators Wire returns (a bit later than usual in the week) with the post-game breakdown of Pro Football Focus grades.

Similar to the Mississippi State game, Florida’s offense thrived against UCF en route to a win. The passing game, in particular, was a strong point for the Gators, posting team grades of  85.5 on passing plays and 81.4 in the pass-blocking game.

The receivers didn’t perform as well as last week, dipping from 79.5 as a unit to 69.8, but there were still a few standout players to look at.

Quarterbacks

[autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] (81.6) and [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] (81.5) ranked 23rd and 24th, respectively, among FBS quarterbacks in Week 6 using PFF’s passing grade; however, Mertz once again received the lion’s share of the offensive snaps for Florida, outpacing Lagway in dropbacks, 25-6.

Mertz led all Gators on offense with a 78.1 overall grade, which differs from PFF’s passing grades, while Lagway was seventh out of 21 players with a 70.7 overall.

Each quarterback had one big-time throw, which PFF defines as “a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.”

Mertz finished the day with 19 completions for 179 yards and a touchdown on 23 attempts. Lagway went 4-for-5 for 50 yards.

The passing breakdown yields some surprising results for Mertz. He was better on medium (91.3) and deep passes (71.7) than he was on throws behind the line of scrimmage (65.9) and within nine yards (63.2). The primary criticism of Mertz coming into the season focused on his inability to throw downfield, but he’s starting to look good in the intermediate range.

Lagway is still the bigger threat beyond 20 yards, though. The true freshman completed his lone deep pass for 37 yards, leading to an 87.4 passing grade on deep throws.

Receivers

Slot

Slot receiver [autotag]Chimere Dike[/autotag] continues to be the position room leader with Eugene Wilson III out. Dike led the receiving corps with an overall grade (of 74.8 and a receiving grade of 72.9. He caught four of his five targets for 88 yards, 22 of which came after the catch. With an average depth of target of 15.6 yards, Dike is a big reason why Mertz is thriving in the intermediate range.

Dike saw the field for 61 of 64 offensive snaps.

Right WR

Florida’s most targeted receiver in Week 6 was true freshman [autotag]Tank Hawkins[/autotag], and he reeled in seven of eight targets for 60 yards. Hawkins has stepped into Wilson’s role of collecting screen passes and running drag routes, and he’s done a nice job adding yards after the catch. More than 70% of his yards this week came after the catch. Hawkins’ overall grade (65.6) and receiving grade (66.3) took a slight hit because of a fumble.

Behind Hawkins were Taylor Spierto and Ja’Quavion Fraziars. Spierto hardly played, seeing the field for just one snap, and Fraziars’ use was also limited to 11 snaps. Hawkins is clearly the top option while Wilson is away, leading the way with 36 snaps.

Fraziars earned a 55.4 overall grade and a 55.8 receiving grade on just one failed target. Spierto earned a 58.3 and 59.6, respectively, in limited action.

Left WR

[autotag]Elijhah Badger[/autotag] is the primary receiver on the left side of Florida’s offense, and he earned a respectable 66.7 overall grade while finishing 0.2 points behind Hawkins with a 66.1 receiving grade.

Badger is the team’s deep threat, made evident by a 25-yard average depth of target. He hauled in three of four targets for 41 yards and a touchdown — the only passing touchdown of the day for Florida.

Marcus Burke saw six snaps (three passing plays) behind Badger, but he wasn’t targeted at all. Burke finished the day with a 57.1 overall grade and a 57.6 grade on passing plays.

Tight Ends

Florida deployed a trio of tight ends against UCF. [autotag]Hayden Hansen[/autotag] worked primarily on the right side (44 snaps) and [autotag]Arlis Boardingham[/autotag] was on the left (41). Scott Isacks III saw the field for three snaps and didn’t factor into the passing game at all.

Hansen was the more effective tight end in the passing game, finishing Week 6 with an overall grade of 58.8 and receiving a grade of 66.3, while reeling in both his targets for 13 yards. However, Hansen struggled as a pass blocker (36.2), hurting his overall grade.

Boardingham saw just one target, catching it for three yards. He was much stronger as a pass blocker (69.0), albeit over two snaps to Hansen’s six. The rest of Boardingham’s grades — an overall of 50.7 and a receiving grade of 52.1 — were well under the replacement-level threshold.

Running backs

[autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. was the only running back targeted by Florida quarterbacks against UCF, but it led to six receptions in as many opportunities for 24 yards. He finished the day with the second-highest overall grade (69.6) and receiving grade (67.9). His pass blocking (76.0) was also strong over three snaps.

Pass Blocking

As usual, we will go over the offensive line from left to right. Remember, we’re looking at pass-blocking grades only here.

Left Tackle

At left tackle is [autotag]Austin Barber[/autotag], who played all 64 snaps (35 passing snaps) for Florida. He earned a 72.4 overall grade (fifth-highest) and 70.0 pass-blocking grade, which was the second-lowest figure of any Florida lineman this week. Not great for an anchor left tackle. Barber allowed one pressure all evening, but it led to a quarterback hit, which explains the low(ish) grade.

Left Guard

At left guard, [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and Bryce Lovett split the workload, 47 snaps to 17, respectively. Harris saw the field for 25 passing plays and Lovett came in for 10. Both were excellent against UCF’s paltry pass rush.

Harris finished the day with an 85.1 pass-blocking grade and Lovett earned an 81.1; however, both struggled overall with offensive grades of 62.1 and 48.7, respectively. Still, they were two of the team’s top four pass blockers in Week 6.

Center

[autotag]Jake Slaughter[/autotag] plays every snap at center for Florida, and he’s one of the best pass-blocking linemen in the country. A 79.3 pass-blocking grade is solid, but it’s well below his 84.0 average this year. Similar to Barber, a pressure that led to a hit is the only blemish on his chart and likely the cause of the slight dip.

Right Guard

Starting right guard [autotag]Damieon George Jr[/autotag]. has the only ugly performance of any Florida lineman this week, posting a 47.1 pass-blocking grade. Only tight end Hayden Hansen finished with a lower grade. He’s responsible for three of the line’s five allowed quarterback pressures and is on the hook for all three of the team’s QB hurries.

There have been games where George was one of the strongest pass-blockers on the team, but he’s starting to trend down again. Poor pass blocking was a major reason Florida moved him into the interior over the offseason.

The good news is that [autotag]Kamryn Waites[/autotag] saw the field for 10 passing plays (to George’s 25) and put up a strong 81.1 grade as a pass blocker.

Right Tackle

[autotag]Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson[/autotag] played all of Florida’s offensive snaps at right tackle, and he also led the team with an 85.4 pass-blocking grade. After starting the season with a 55.1 off the bench, Crenshaw-Dickson has consistently posted grades of 80-plus, falling short by 0.1 points just once (against Mississippi State).

Understanding PFF grades

The grading scale ranges from minus-2 to plus-2 with increments of 0.5, and players are given a grade on every play they are on the field for. A zero grade means a player did his job, while the two ends of the scale represent extreme success or failure — think red zone interception at the end of a game or a game-winning touchdown pass when applying it to quarterbacks.

There’s a level of subjectivity to it, but each grade is reviewed at least once. Once all plus-minus grades are in, the numbers are converted to a 0-100 scale to easily compare players. There are some loosely defined tiers within the system — 90-100 is elite, 85-89 is Pro Bowl level for NFL players, 70 to 84 is a starter and 60-69 is a backup. Anything 59 and below is considered a replaceable talent.

Since we’re looking at college athletes with a system designed for the pros, we will consider anything above 65.0 as a solid performance.