Pro Football Focus grades LSU at Arkansas

By Hunt Palmer

LSU played its most complete game of the season on Saturday. The defense held Arkansas to 10 points. The offense controlled the football and scored points on seven of the eight drives of consequence. Sure, the red zone efficiency wasn’t perfect. There were too many penalties. But, all in all, LSU handled business in front of what was one of the best crowds in Arkansas football history. Here’s how the folks at Pro Football Focus graded things.

HIGHEST GRADES

1. Whit Weeks, LB – 77.3
2. CJ Daniels, WR – 76.7
3. Will Campbell, LT – 76.5
4. Sage Ryan, S – 76.4
5. Bradyn Swinson, DE – 72.5

Whit Weeks is playing like an all-American right now. He’s always made the highlight plays, and Saturday night’s was his best as a Tiger. The tip and interception to set LSU up for an easy score was the final nail in Arkansas’s coffin. But now he’s added the consistency to go with the eye-catching plays. Weeks is the backbone of the Tiger defense. He was credited with four hurries to go along with his 76.7 run defense grade.

I can’t help but think that Garrett Nussmeier missed CJ Daniels last week when he completed 44 percent of his throws against Ole Miss. Daniels hasn’t been a game breaker for LSU, but he’s a precise route runner and a real threat in the high percentage passing game. He caught seven of his 10 targets last night for 12.3 yards per catch. Nussmeier looked to him early and often, and it paid off. What also cannot be overlooked is Daniels’s 77.9 run blocking grade. He’s been LSU best blocker on the perimeter all season.

Another week, another high grade for Will Campbell. Landon Jackson got him a couple of times, but Campbell was rock solid all night for an offensive line that once again played 60 minutes without allowing a sack. Campbell’s pass blocking grade was a steady 73.5. The encouraging number was the run blocking grade of 80. LSU established the running game in Fayetteville, and Campbell was a big part of that.

It’s amazing what moving a player back to his natural position will do. Sage Ryan is not a boundary cornerback. He’s a safety. At safety against the Hogs, he graded 76.4 for the game and 76.5 in coverage. Ryan got banged up on the play he was initially flagged for targeting on, but he still played 44 of the 51 snaps.

It wasn’t Swinson’s most impactful game statistically, but his pass rush grade came in at 71.5. He hurried Taylen Green three times. LSU’s rush really picked up in the second half once the Tigers took the lead. If LSU can play from ahead moving forward, this pass rush can help close games.

LOWEST GRADES

1. DJ Chester, C – 45.6
2. Emery Jones, RT – 52.0
3. Greg Penn, LB – 52.4
4. Ashton Stamps, CB – 57.3
5. Josh Williams, RB – 57.4

Chester and Jones seem to find their way to this list every week. I’ll be honest. I thought the offensive line was pretty good after the ball was snapped on Saturday. Chester continues the maddening snap infraction trend, and the entire group was guilty of the false start barrage in the first half. That said, Nussmeier was pretty clean, especially in the second half, and the running game was good all night. Chester graded 73.8 against the pass rush which was .3 better than Campbells mark. Those penalties and some whiffs in the run game really must have dinged him. Jones’s season long grade is poor, 56.9 after a 73.9 last year. NFL teams aren’t beating down my door for offensive line evaluations every spring. But it feels like the group has played better than the PFF grades this year.

Greg Penn’s run defense and tackling grades were great. He scored 78.4 against the run and 81.3 in tackling. He took a beating in his coverage marks, 41.3. More often than not, the vast majority of Penn’s workload is in run support. This week he was actually in coverage on 18 snaps compared to just 10 against the run. He was also blitzed six times.

Stamps was targeted five times and gave up four catches. That’s always going to result in a low grade. His coverage mark was 56.6. He didn’t miss a tackle, which is encouraging. Arkansas’s lone touchdown came between Stamps and Jardin Gilbert. There was a missed assignment there somewhere.

And Williams graded low carrying the ball. His pass blocking grade was 77.4, which is excellent. We’ve seen Caden Durham take the reins of the rushing attack. The freshman got 21 carries in the game. Williams and Kaleb Jackson each got five. Williams is in there to get what is blocked when called upon, but more often to protect Nussmeier. He did that on Saturday.