Tennessee football dropped its first game inside Neyland Stadium in two years Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 1 Georgia 38-10 at Neyland Stadium.
Each week, we’ll share how the Vols graded out according to Pro Football Focus grades.
If you need a reminder on how Pro Football Focus works, read the opening of the Virginia grades.
Let’s see how the Vols graded out.
Elite grade = 90-100, All-Conference = 85-89, Starter = 70-84, Backup = 60-69, Replaceable = 60 >
Offensive Grades (minimum 14 plays — 25% of offensive plays)
RB Jaylen Wright — 72.9 (25 plays)
RG Javontez Spraggins — 68.5 (33 plays)
TE McCallan Castles — 66.4 (31 plays)
LG Ollie Lane — 64.0 (55 plays)
WR Chas Nimrod — 62.8 (44 plays)
WR Squirrel White — 61.3 (43 plays)
WR Kaleb Webb — 60.9 (24 plays)
RB Jabari Small — 60.8 (20 plays)
QB Joe Milton III — 59.5 (55 plays)
LT Jeremiah Crawford — 59.1 (55 plays)
RG Jackson Lampley — 58.0 (22 plays)
C Cooper Mays — 56.3 (52 plays)
TE Jacob Warren — 54.2 (22 plays)
RT Dayne Davis — 52.6 (49 plays)
WR Ramel Keyton — 51.0 (51 plays)
Jaylen Wright led the way for Tennessee’s offensive players and that isn’t any massive surprise given he had one of the few good offensive plays of the game. Thought he should have recorded more than nine touches given he’s Tennessee’s best offensive player.
Dayne Davis and Jackson Lampley playing enough snaps to qualify shows how many injuries this offensive line has. Both tackles were out, Spraggins went down in the second half and the first interior offensive lineman off the bench (Andrej Karic) was also out. Vols have a lot of issues but don’t discount the injuries.
Injuries are apart of Tennessee’s receiver issues this season but are far from the only thing holding that group back. Ramel Keyton has had a very disappointing season which continued with his zero catch game against Georgia.
More From RTI: Tennessee’s Inability To Respond To Adversity Shows Up Again Versus Georgia
Defensive Grades (minimum of 17 plays — 25% of defensive plays)
DE Tyler Baron — 87.0 (31 plays)
DT Omarr Norman-Lott — 79.1 (17 plays)
LEO James Pearce Jr. — 70.6 (37 plays)
DT Elijah Simmons — 69.4 (36 plays)
LB Aaron Beasley — 66.2 (66 plays)
DT Omari Thomas — 64.7 (36 plays)
S Jaylen McCollough — 61.7 (73 plays)
CB Doneiko Slaughter — 60.4 (69 plays)
DE Dominic Bailey — 60.0 (28 plays)
DT Kurott Garland — 59.0 (35 plays)
LB Jeremiah Telander — 58.3 (29 plays)
CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally — 57.6 (60 plays)
STAR Will Brooks — 53.7 (70 plays)
LB Elijah Herring — 34.8 (38 plays)
S Andre Turrentine — 34.0 (73 plays)
Tennessee’s four highest graded defenders were all defensive lineman which is no massive surprise. The Vols held their own up front against a great Georgia offensive line but the back seven of the defense could not. Tyler Baron was particularly impressive despite the loss.
The Vols’ highest graded secondary player earned a 61.7 grade. Tennessee’s back end was pretty putrid against Georgia. That group has seemingly gotten worse as the season has progressed.
We mentioned injuries in the offensive section but I couldn’t help but think the same thing looking at this section. From the season opener Tennessee had four starters out against Georgia (Keenan Pili, Tamarion McDonald, Wesley Walker and Kamal Hadden). Their backups (or third strings in some cases) earned grades of 57.6 (Jeudy-Lally), 53.7 (Brooks), 34.8 (Herring) and 34.0 (Turrentine).
