Florida’s rushing attack has been somewhat disappointing in 2024, but Saturday’s win over Mississippi State allowed UF’s running back to show some minor improvements.
There are still questions about Montrell Johnson Jr.’s effectiveness as Florida’s lead back four weeks into the season, but fans can’t forget that he underwent knee surgery in the preseason. The good news is Florida’s backups running backup, and even the quarterbacks, looked pretty good in the 45-28 win on Saturday.
Every week, Gators Wire breaks down PFF’s grades for Florida, but we’re changing things up to make it more digestible. This article will focus only on the run game. You can find the Week 4 passing breakdown here, and check back for separate stories defense over the rest of the week.
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.
Running backs
Florida used four running backs on Saturday against Mississippi State. Johnson took the bulk of the snaps, seeing the field for 35 of 67 offensive snaps, followed by Treyaun Webb (18), Jadan Baugh (8) and Ja’Kobi Jackson (7).
Baugh had the best day overall, rushing for 53 yards on four attempts and earning a 74.8 grade on run plays from PFF. Jackson (66.5) and Webb (65.6) also finished above the 65.0 threshold. Jackson also did some work in the receiving game, hauling in two receptions for 27 yards (and even more after the catch).
Johnson’s 53.8 run grade is mostly due to a fumble, but his day might have been a bit better than those figures suggest. Averaging 4.4 yards per carry is the norm for him, and he was on the field twice as much as the next guy on the depth chart. Consistency over a large sample is more reliable than a few bursts in limited action.
Rushing breakdown
– Another rough week for Trell
– Baugh and Jackson might need more touches pic.twitter.com/ndt62vEjvV
— David Rosenberg (@DavidRosenbergg) September 24, 2024
Florida’s favorite rushing direction is off the left end, going there seven times for 43 yards in 36 total attempts. Up the middle is another popular hole for Florida’s rushers to hit, going to the middle left five times for 24 yards and the middle right six times for 26 yards.
However, the most fruitful gap for Florida was off the shoulder of the right guard, going for 59 yards on just four rushes.
Quarterbacks
Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway ran three times apiece for 24 yards and 22 yards, respectively. Lagway fumbled once leading to a lower run grade (47.7) than Mertz (73.3), but Napier probably won’t be drawing a bunch of designed runs for Mertz as a result.
It was a good day for scrambling quarterbacks in the Orange and Blue. They combined for 23 yards are two scrambles (non-designed runs).
Run Blocking
Florida’s offensive line earned its second-best run-blocking grade of the season (67.3) against Mississippi State. The offensive line was solid, but it wasn’t the same elite performance they gave blocking in passing situations (92.9).
Left tackle Austin Barber struggled a bit on run plays, earning a 59.8 run-blocking grade over 23 run snaps. However, his backup, Devon Manuel, picked up the slack with a team-high 76.5 grade over 11 rush plays.
At left guard, Bryce Lovett also shined (73.3), but he split snaps with Knijeah Harris (58.6) fairly evenly — 18 for Lovett and 16 for Harris.
Jake Slaughter took all 34 run snaps at center, but a 57.6 grade is replacement level. Slaughter has been Florida’s best offensive lineman all year, but he’s clearly better when the Gators pass the ball.
Damieon George Jr. took 20 snaps at right guard to Kamryn Waites’ 14. George delivered the worst run-blocking performance of the day (49.1), but the good news is Waites had one of the best performances (73.9).
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson was Florida’s most consistent offensive lineman as a run blocker. He played all 34 snaps and earned a 75.4 grade, the highest figure among starters.
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Publish date : 2024-09-24 11:07:00
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