Tennessee capped off its regular season strong on Saturday afternoon, defeating instate foe Vanderbilt 48-24 at Neyland Stadium. The Vols finished the regular season 8-4 (4-4 SEC) thanks to the victory.
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 19 plays — 25% of offensive plays)
QB Joe Milton III — 91.1 (59 plays)
RB Jaylen Wright — 83.6 (31 plays)
QB Nico Iamaleava — 78.3 (21 plays)
TE McCallan Castles — 76.3 (29 plays)
TE Jacob Warren — 73.8 (37 plays)
WR Ramel Keyton — 66.5 (62 plays)
LG/C Ollie Lane — 63.7 (66 plays)
LT Jeremiah Crawford — 62.4 (46 plays)
RT Gerald Mincey — 62.1 (63 plays)
WR Squirrel White — 61.9 (70 plays)
RT Dayne Davis — 61.8 (55 plays)
WR Chas Nimrod — 60.9 (54 plays)
WR Kaleb Webb — 58.8 (57 plays)
LG Addison Nichols — 57.7 (67 plays)
RB Dylan Sampson — 57.4 (37 plays)
RG Jackson Lampley — 54.3 (79 plays)
There were no surprises amongst Tennessee’s highest graded offensive players. Milton totaled six touchdowns, Wright averaged 6.8 yards per carry and Nico Iamaleava performed well in his two drives. Pass catchers Castles, Warren and Keyton all had strong games too.
When Cooper Mays went down early in the game, Tennessee football was playing an offensive line that was missing three starters and had one starter (playing part time) playing at his true position. Maybe it wasn’t all that surprising that the offensive line didn’t grade out well.
A number of Vols just missed the 19-snap count including Jabari Small (14), Mays (15), Hunter Salmon (18) and Parker Ball (16).
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Defensive Grades (minimum of 15 plays — 25% of defensive plays)
LB Jeremiah Telander — 90.8 (22 plays)
LEO James Pearce Jr. — 80.0 (39 plays)
LEO Josh Josephs — 75.4 (26 plays)
CB Rickey Gibson — 73.1 (39 plays)
LB Aaron Beasley — 71.1 (51 plays)
STAR Will Brooks — 70.9 (69 plays)
CB Doneiko Slaughter — 67.8 (40 plays)
DE Tyre West — 67.3 (25 plays)
DT Daevin Hobbs — 67.2 (24 plays)
DT Elijah Simmons — 66.9 (26 plays)
DT Omari Thomas — 64.1 (27 plays)
DT Kurott Garland — 63.0 (22 plays)
S Jaylen McCollough — 62.5 (68 plays)
LB Elijah Herring — 62.3 (36 plays)
CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally — 62.3 (41 plays)
LB Kalib Perry — 60.3 (27 plays)
CB Warren Burrell — 58.1 (18 plays)
DE Dominic Bailey — 54.2 (28 plays)
LEO Caleb Herring — 53.9 (16 plays)
S Andre Turrentine — 51.3 (69 plays)
DE Tyler Baron — 38.2 (30 plays)
How about freshman linebacker Jeremiah Telander leading the way for defensive players? Not only did he lead the group but he earned a really strong grade too. One of the best we’ve seen from a Tennessee player this year.
But Telander wasn’t the only Vol defender part of the youth movement. Tennessee’s top four graded defenders were all underclassmen including freshman corner Rickey Gibson who impresses me every time he’s on the field.
Jaylen McCollough wasn’t fantastic against Vanderbilt but kudos to him for having such a strong final season. He was better than myself and most others anticipated this season.
