Florida’s big win over Kentucky last weekend was dominant in every way, but it’s the run game that is responsible for all five touchdowns scored by the offense.
True freshmen [autotag]Jadan Baugh[/autotag] and [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] can both run well, which is one of the main reasons Kentucky’s typically stout defense struggled so much. Lagway could run the option at will after establishing the long ball, and the Wildcats didn’t have enough guys in the box to stop it.
The future of the program seems to be in the hands of these two young men, but let’s not forget about the run blockers. Here’s what Pro Football Focus had to say about Florida’s run game on Saturday.
A refresher course on PFF grades can be found at the bottom of this article.
Ball Carriers
| Player | Total Snaps | Carries | Offense | Run | Fumble | Run Blocking | YDS | TD | Missed Tackles Forced |
| Jadan Baugh | 37 | 22 | 78.6 | 77.3 | 77.4 | 60.0 | 106 | 5 | 2 |
| Ja’Kobi Jackson | 17 | 9 | 60.9 | 62.2 | 72.5 | 60.0 | 44 | 0 | 1 |
| Cameron Carroll | 4 | 3 | 52.3 | 53.9 | 67.3 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| DJ Lagway (QB) | 53 | 7 | 83.5 | 68.9 | 69.1 | 60.0 | 57 | 0 | 1 |
True freshman [autotag]Jadan Baugh[/autotag] stole the show in DJ Lagway’s first SEC start, tying a school record with five touchdowns on the evening. Big throws from Lagway set up several of those scores, but crossing the goalline five times in one night is still an impressive feat.
Baugh earned the top run and fumble grades on the night and finished fifth overall on offense. If you’re wondering why Baugh didn’t finish with a higher grade, a higher elusiveness rating (20.7) might be the culprit. He forced a pair of missed tackles and broke three rushes for 10 or more yards, though.
Baugh performed well running to all sides of the field, but he put up the bulk of his yards hitting the gap between the center and right guard. On four carries to the middle-right, Baugh went for 53 yards, including a chunker for 27 and 18 yards after contact.
The right side (off the right tackle and right end) is a bit of a weak spot. Baugh only gained 13 yards on nine carries to that side of the field. However, three of his touchdowns came between those two gaps.
[autotag]Ja’Kobi Jackson[/autotag] acted as Florida’s No. 2 and his downhill running paid off to the tune of 44 yards on nine carries. However, both his overall and run grades came up short of the 65.0 threshold we look for.
Jackson forced two missed tackles and had a long of 11 yards, but it’s his elusiveness rating (91.4) that stands out the most. That’s well above Baugh’s number despite being on the field for a limited time.
[autotag]Cam Carroll[/autotag] rounds out the running back room for Florida. Carroll suffered a season-ending injury in fall camp last year and never saw the field after transferring from Tulane. Billy Napier let him go out there for the final drive of the game and get three carries.
It doesn’t matter what his numbers were. Seeing Carroll back on the field is the kind of feel-good story you love to see in a blowout win.
Of course, [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] ran the ball a few times too, and Florida fans should expect to see him scramble far more often than Graham Mertz did as the starter. Lagway went for 57 yards on seven carries (8.1 yards per carry), and he finished the game with the second-best run grade of the bunch.
One forced missed tackle and a 25-yard gain are the highlights, but remember that Lagway has to play it safe with little depth behind him.
Run Blocking
Twenty-four of the 25 offensive players for Florida earned a run-blocking grade, so we’ll stick to the offensive linemen and tight ends on the chart below. If a wide receiver had an exceptional day blocking, it will be noted in the final portion of this section.
| Player | Total Snaps | Run Snaps | Run Blocking Snaps | Offense | Run Blocking | Zone | Gap |
| Austin Barber | 53 | 33 | 33 | 65.1 | 58.4 | 59.2 | 58.1 |
| Jake Slaughter | 53 | 33 | 33 | 75.8 | 70.5 | 69.8 | 64.9 |
| Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson | 53 | 33 | 33 | 61.3 | 56.3 | 56.4 | 58.0 |
| Hayden Hansen (TE) | 44 | 29 | 29 | 65.5 | 70.4 | 68.1 | 67.7 |
| Knijeah Harris | 39 | 23 | 23 | 50.7 | 49.6 | 52.4 | 52.5 |
| Arlis Boardingham (TE) | 32 | 22 | 22 | 54.4 | 57.9 | 53.1 | 65.5 |
| Damieon George Jr. | 35 | 20 | 20 | 59.8 | 57.3 | 67.0 | 48.8 |
| Bryce Lovett | 25 | 19 | 19 | 63.0 | 60.7 | 57.2 | 65.1 |
| Kamryn Waites | 19 | 14 | 14 | 64.4 | 62.9 | 64.4 | 59.1 |
| Caden Jones | 5 | 4 | 4 | 52.2 | 53.1 | 60.0 | 53.3 |
| Christian Williams | 5 | 4 | 4 | 48.5 | 59.0 | 59.9 | 59.5 |
| Hayden Clem | 5 | 4 | 4 | 65.1 | 65.9 | 63.7 | 60.1 |
| Scott Isacks III (TE) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 57.2 | 57.8 | 59.0 | 58.8 |
Left Tackle
[autotag]Austin Barber[/autotag] held down the left tackle position for most of the game, but he didn’t put up great numbers as a run blocker. A strong pass-blocking performance helped balance out his overall grade, which is typical of Barber through eight weeks. The highest run-blocking grade he’s posted this season is just above 70.0 and most are in the low-60s.
There’s no great cause for concern here, but it should be noted that Barber has come up short of the 60.0 threshold two weeks in a row. He’s also been a bit hobbled, so the bye week should do him good.
Left Guard
[autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag] and [autotag]Kamryn Waites[/autotag] both fell short of the 65.0 threshold we look for, but Harris’ sub-50 mark is concerning. He’s finished with a run-blocking grade below 60 several times this year, but this is his first time dipping below 50.
Waites has been far more consistent, and it might be time to make him the starter there.
Center
[autotag]Jake Slaughter[/autotag] is better at pass blocking than run blocking, but he still put a respectable grade this week. He’s one of four Gators to finish with a run-blocking grade above 70.0 this week, and it’s the first time he’s crossed that threshold since the Samford game.
Hayden Clem got the final drive of the game at center and also had some solid numbers. Slaughter should be headed to the NFL this offseason. Perhaps Clem is a viable option to replace him. We still need to see him play more, though.
Right Guard
[autotag]Damieon George Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag] share snaps at right guard, and it’s for a good reason. George is better on zone runs, and Lovett is better on gap runs. It’s impossible to switch them out at will, but Baugh did well running up the middle-right, so there’s no reason to fix something that isn’t broken. Neither reached our 65.0 threshold, though.
Christian Williams got the final drive of the game and put up average numbers. Remember, 60.0 is sort of a baseline for these graders, and Williams was within 1.0 of that figure on just four plays.
Right Tackle
[autotag]Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson[/autotag] has been solid since taking over at right tackle, but a sub-60 run-blocking grade isn’t much to write home about. Florida struggled to get anything going to that side of the line, so it makes sense to see his numbers take a dip.
Caden Jones got the final drive of the game at right tackle. He performed at a replacement level, but it was only for four plays.
Tight Ends
[autotag]Hayden Hansen[/autotag] didn’t do much in the passing game, but he was a strong run blocker for Florida on Saturday. He’s one of those four players to finish with a run-blocking grade above 70, which helped on some of those goallines rushes for touchdowns to the right side.
[autotag]Arlis Boardingham[/autotag] didn’t have as good of a day, but it should be noted that he cleared the 65.0 threshold on gap runs. He’s more of a pass-catching tight end, so it’s good to see him finish strong in at least one blocking grade.
Scott Isacks III played the final drive of the game, similar to the backup linemen, but it was another sub-60 performance in limited action.
Wide Receivers
The two highest run-blocking grades on the team came from receivers.
Aidan Mizell, a speedster, led the way with a 79.5 over eight plays as a blocker, and Chimere Dike trails him closely with a 77.2 over 19 snaps. Neither had standout performances as receivers, so it’s a positive to see them impacting the game in other ways.
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.
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