The eye test told us Florida State’s pass defense was, frankly, dreadful in the Seminoles’ 34-31 loss to Pittsburgh.
The stats backed that up, too. True freshman Panthers QB Mason Heintschel torched the Seminoles for 321 yards on just 29 throws – a gaudy per-pass average of 11.1 yards (and 15.3 per completion).
So it might seem odd that Pro Football Focus (PFF) gave the FSU secondary high marks pretty much across the board. To wit: The Seminoles’ top four defensive grades, and five of the top six, went to DBs.
Of course, FSU’s linebackers gave up some major chunk completions, particularly to all-purpose back Desmond Reid (155 yards, 2 TDs on 8 catches). Fittingly, Elijah Herring and Blake Nichelson received the worst coverage grades on the team.
The secondary’s play was highlighted by Earl Little Jr.’s bounce-back performance. A week after posting a horrendous 34.0 grade against Miami, the safety checked in with a 77.6 – his best mark since week two.
Another positive: The play of Jacob Rizy, who filled in at right tackle for injured Micah Pettus. Rizy’s 71.9 grade was best on the OL, highlighted by his 85.2 mark in pass protection.
(For an explanation of PFF’s grading system, see the section at the bottom of this story.)
Let’s look at how FSU fared against Pitt in some of PFF’s key measures.
Overall Team Grade: 76.3
Season (6 games): 91.7 (tied for 27th nationally)
Offense
Overall Grade: 73.0 Season: 83.3
Passing: 65.5 Season: 84.9
Pass Blocking: 73.5 Season: 67.1
Receiving: 71.4 Season: 74.1
Run Blocking: 62.5 Season: 62.5
Rushing: 74.5 Season: 91.0
Pressures Allowed: 6 Season: 52
Drops: 1 Season: 6
Defense
Overall Grade: 72.3 Season: 85.3
Run Defense: 71.6 Season: 92.4
Tackling: 61.4 Season: 66.9
Pass Rush: 66.2 Season: 66.0
Coverage: 73.6 Season: 70.9
Pressures: 31 Season: 110
Missed Tackles: 12 Season: 62
Top Performers (minimum 10 snaps)
FSU receiver Micahi Danzy
CB Jerry Wilson – Snaps: 72 Total Grade: 80.9 Run Defense Grade: 67.9 Tackling Grade: 52.6 Coverage Grade: 80.9
RB Ousmane Kromah – Snaps: 13 Total Grade: 80.5 Rushing Grade: 78.9 Receiving Grade: 56.8
WR Micahi Danzy – Snaps: 57 Total Grade: 79.8 Receiving Grade: 80.1 Rushing Grade: 58.9 Drops (%): 1 (12.5%)
S Earl Little Jr. – Snaps: 71 Total Grade: 77.6 Run Defense Grade: 58.3 Tackling Grade: 59.2 Coverage Grade: 82.4
S Edwin Joseph – Snaps: 62 Total Grade: 73.7 Run Defense Grade: 67.6 Tackling Grade: 81.3 Coverage Grade: 73.4
OT Jacob Rizy – Snaps: 66 Total Grade: 71.9 Run Blocking Grade: 65.2 Pass Blocking Grade: 85.2
CB Ja’Bril Rawls – Snaps: 63 Total Grade: 73.3 Run Defense Grade: 89.5 Tackling Grade: 85.1 Coverage Grade: 66.9
DT/NG Daniel Lyons – Snaps: 43 Total Grade: 70.4 Run Defense Grade: 66.2 Tackling Grade: 40.6 Pass Rush Grade: 71.4
Others of Note
QB Tommy Castellanos – Snaps: 66 Total Grade: 68.2 Passing Grade: 65.5 Rushing Grade: 61.7 Big-Time Throws (%): 2 (8%) TO-Worthy Plays: 1 Adjusted Completion %: 81%
TEs Landen Thomas and Markeston Douglas – Filled in admirably for injured Randy Pittman, both grading above 65.5.
S Ashlynd Barker – Solid in his return after missing the Miami game, earning a 67.7 mark on 41 plays.
Here’s how PFF graded the ‘Noles in previous weeks:
How it works – From Pro Football Focus:
The PFF grading system evaluates every player on every play during a football game. The grading system was founded on the principle of grading “production” rather than traits or measurables, but perhaps a better way to describe it is a player’s “contribution to production” on a given play.
Did the quarterback make a great throw, but it was dropped? The quarterback contributed to positive production and will receive a positive grade for that effort.
Plus-minus grades for each play are converted into a 1-100 scale to better compare players across positions. A “60” grade is considered to be the baseline grade, where a player did what was expected given the circumstances. They neither over-achieved, nor did they under-achieve. These numbers, of course, can be skewed by the total number of snaps.
THE GRADING SCALE
Each player is given a grade of -2 to +2 in 0.5 increments on a given play, with 0 generally being the average or “expected” grade. The zero grade is important as most plays feature many players doing their job at a reasonable, or expected, level, so not every player on every play needs to earn a positive or a negative.
At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation.
WHO DOES THE GRADING?
PFF employs over 600 full- or part-time analysts, but less than 10% of analysts are trained to the level that they can grade plays. Only the top two to three percent of analysts are on the team of “senior analysts” in charge of finalizing each grade after review. Our graders have been training for months, and sometimes years, in order to learn, understand and show mastery of our process that includes our 300-page training manual and video playbook. We have analysts from all walks of life, including former players, coaches and scouts.
Each grade is reviewed at least once, and usually multiple times, using every camera angle available, including All-22 coaches’ tape.
SEASON-LEVEL GRADES
Season-level grades aren’t simply an average of every game-grade a player compiles over a season, as the season grade credits the entire body of work. An 80.0 game grade is not close to one of the best games of all-time, but 16 games of 80.0 grades will equal an outstanding season of consistency and likely one of the better seasons in a given year.
It is entirely possible that a player will have a season grade higher than any individual single-game grade he achieved because playing well for an extended period of time is harder to do than for a short period.
The Osceola is pleased to reintroduce Daniel Mitchell to our readers. Daniel is a former Osceola writer and managing editor from 1991-2002 who resides in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Daniel will track the analytics each week.
