Saturday afternoon got away from LSU.
Tigers couldn’t find any answers in the red zone, and Alabama used some short fields to pull away in a convincing victory, 31-13..
The Pro Football Focus grades suggest LSU’s best players were the top performers. The right side of the offensive line drew the poorest grades.
It was an odd game that saw LSU win the stat sheet and get splattered on the scoreboard. The grades go deeper than that. Here they are.
HIGHEST GRADES
- Jackson Harris, WR – 80.7
- DJ Pickett, CB – 76.3
- TJ Dottery, LB – 71.2
- Trey’Dez Green, TE – 71.1
- Stephiylan Green, DT – 71.0
Jackson Harris has become a star. I don’t think that’s overstating it. Sam Leavitt targeted him 18 times. The Hawaii transfer made 11 catches for 166 yards. He had 10 first downs, forced four missed tackles and had 54 yards after the catch.
DJ Pickett had a sack and was only targeted two times. Neither resulted in a completion. He’s grown into the No. 1 corner that defensive backs coach Corey Raymond thought he had when he signed.
It felt like TJ Dottery was all over the field in the first half. He led LSU with nine tackles, and all of them were solos on the stat sheet. He also hurried the quarterback twice. That was all moving forward. In coverage, Dottery struggled. He allowed catches on all seven targets and had a coverage grade of 56.2.
Trey’Dez Green was emotional after the game. He caught 10 of his 11 targets for 85 yards. That’s a big day. His run blocking grade was only 59.6, but he’s a pass catcher and he caught plenty of them.
Stephiylan Green played 32 snaps, 16 against the run and 16 against the pass. He graded 70.7 against the pass, generating a hurry. He graded 64.8 against the run.
LOWEST GRADES
- Braelin Moore, C – 49.3
- Eugene Wilson III, WR – 52.9
- Sean Thompkins, RT – 53.2
- Aliou Bah, RG – 54.1
- Ja’Keem Jackson, CB – 54.9
It’s not a surprise that three offensive linemen make this list. Sean Thompkins took over for Weston Davis who left on crutches.
Braelin Moore has been a really good player for two seasons and on Saturday, he graded 28.6 in pass protection. That has generally been his strength. PFF dinged him for four pressures including a sack.
Thompkins graded 20.6 in pass protection. He was in on 23 passing snaps and allowed a pair of pressures. He did grade 70.1 in the running game, but that was only nine snaps.
Aliou Bah also allowed two pressures. He graded 59.5 in pass protection. When you’re dropping back to pass 58 times, and have three of your six (with the Davis injury) offensive linemen grading that poorly, it’s going to be a long day.
LSU’s red-zone problems can be attributed to the offensive line to some extent. When the field shrinks, you have to push people around and the Tigers haven’t been able to do that.
Tre Wilson had a huge drop on third down. LSU failed to convert on fourth down in the red zone on the next snap. He also muffed a punt. If he’s going to muff one this year, that was probably the best time for it considering the time and score.
Ja’keem Jackson missed a tackle and allowed a catch on his only target.
