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Pro Football Focus grades LSU vs. USA

Sep 29, 2024 | 4:29 PM

By Hunt Palmer

Each week we’ll dive into the numbers from the folks over at Pro Football Focus to see how the Tigers graded out. The numbers from LSU’s, 42-10, win over South Alabama are up, so let’s take a look.

Highest Grades

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  1. Caden Durham, RB – 89.1
  2. Garrett Nussmeier, QB – 78.9
  3. Will Campbell, LT – 74.9
  4. Whit Weeks, LB – 74.0
  5. Sai’vion Jones, DE – 74.0

Caden Durham should be LSU’s lead back moving forward. There is absolutely room for Josh Williams in the huddle. He’s a serviceable SEC back who provides great leadership. Durham is a difference maker. When given the opportunity, the freshman tailback has starred in wins over South Carolina and South Alabama. He shows great vision, breaks tackles, has caught the ball for a pair of scores already and has home run speed. At this point, 70 percent of the workload should be Durham’s.

For the second consecutive week, Garrett Nussmeier makes the Top 5. That’s going to need to continue for LSU to win big games moving forward. Through four games, Nussmeier’s decision making had been excellent. He made two bad throws Saturday night. He knows that. And if he didn’t, Brian Kelly made sure he would. Still, the playmaking throws were sensational. His ball placement on back-to-back throws to Mason Taylor and then the touchdown to Aaron Anderson was remarkable. He threw for 409 yards and two more touchdowns.

Will Campbell’s run block grade (80.2) actually outpaced his pass block grade (77.1). That’s good to see. Durham has sparked the running game a little bit, and the Tigers were able to run it for 237 on Saturday night.

LSU doesn’t have another Harold Perkins. That role on the defense will have to be filled by multiple players. One of those is Whit Weeks. He’s got elite speed and plays with maximum effort all the time. Sometimes, like at South Carolina, that can lead to some mistakes. Not so much on Saturday. He made nine tackles, four of them solo, and was credited with a pass breakup. His coverage, run defense and tackling grades were all between 71 and 73. It was a well-balanced effort from the sophomore linebacker.

Sai’vion Jones graded out well against the run (73.7), as well. LSU has fit the run better the last two weeks after massive gaps showed up against Nicholls and South Carolina. Rebuilding this defense is a process. Baby steps are to be expected. Jones, Weeks and the rest of the Tiger front were solid Saturday night.

 

Lowest Grades

  1. CJ Daniels, WR – 53.3
  2. Miles Frazier, OG – 55
  3. Dashawn Spears, S – 55.8
  4. Emery Jones, RT – 56.4
  5. JK Johnson, CB – 57.9

Daniels was flagged for a holding penalty on a pass to Durham. PFF doesn’t like those. He made three catches for 40 yards. If there were consistent drops, I’d be concerned. I’m really not with Daniels and the wide receiver group.

The discrepancy between Frazier’s pass blocking and run blocking is striking. His 89.5 pass block grade on 40 drop backs is elite stuff. The 50.5 grade on 19 run plays is disappointing. It just furthers the point that LSU is exceptional in pass protection. The running game is still a work in progress.

Kelly said postgame that the safeties who take snaps on Tuesday at practice are the guys he expects to play the majority of the snaps in conference games to come. Spears has seen more and more reps over the last three weeks. He played 37 snaps on Saturday night. The lowest grade he received was in tackling. His 39.5 there is concerning as the last line of defense. Spears has plenty of size and physicality to play the position, even as a freshman. He must be more consistent getting players to the ground.

Emery Jones had some low numbers this week. That’s a little surprising. He was graded 56.4 overall, 58.2 in pass protection and 54.2 in run blocking.

JK Johnson (57.9) played 25 snaps at cornerback. PJ Woodland (63.7) got 41. Javien Toviano (57.4) played 13. Ashton Stamps (66.2) has earned the No. 1 corner spot. The other side is as big a question mark as is on the LSU roster. Corey Raymond will continue to work these guys, and they’ve got two weeks to get ready for a group that plans to throw it all over the place.

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