Tennessee opened up the 2024 football season on Saturday afternoon as the Vols dominated FCS foe Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee jumped on Chattanooga with six touchdowns in seven possessions as they took a 45-0 lead into the half before cruising to a 69-3 victory. Each week, we’ll share how the Vols graded out according to Pro Football Focus grades.
Here’s how PFF works, the company grades each player on every play from a scale of negative two to two in 0.5 increments. Here’s how the company defines the benefits of their grading system.
“Taking every play into consideration allows for a larger sample size of data to tell the proper story rather than just a highlight reel of plays that we tend to remember, for better or worse. We also work to eliminate bias by not caring about the level of player who is being graded, so whether it’s the best tackle in the league missing a block or one of the worst, the same grade is given. Preconceived level of ability has no impact on the grading system. This style has worked well in unlocking undervalued gems through the years, while also not being swayed by player hype if it is undeserved.”
Each game players are graded on a scale from 1-100. 90-100 represents an elite grade, 85-89 represents an all-conference player, 70-84 is starter quality, 60-69 is backup quality and everything under 60 is replaceable.
With that, let’s see how Tennessee graded out against Chattanooga
Offense (minimum of 17 plays — 20% of offensive plays)
RB Dylan Sampson — 89.7 (28 plays)
QB Nico Iamaleava — 87.3 (54 plays)
WR Dont’e Thornton — 85.2 (17 plays)
WR Trey Weary — 84.2 (17 plays)
C Cooper Mays — 79.4 (54 plays)
WR Bru McCoy — 75.6 (41 plays)
TE Ethan Davis — 75.4 (18 plays)
LG Andrej Karic — 73.6 (43 plays)
RG Javontez Spraggins — 72.2 (44 plays)
QB Gaston Moore — 72.2 (23 plays)
RB Khalifa Keith — 71.6 (17 plays)
TE Holden Staes — 68.5 (25 plays)
LT Larry Johnson III — 67.9 (32 plays)
LT Lance Heard — 65.9 (45 plays)
WR Chris Brazzell — 65.4 (54 plays)
RT John Campbell Jr — 64.4 (37 plays)
RG William Satterwhite — 64.3 (23 plays)
RT Dayne Davis — 63.0 (25 plays)
WR Nathan Leacock — 62.5 (26 plays)
RB Cameron Seldon — 62.4 (25 plays)
OG Bennett Warren — 61.4 (17 plays)
C Vysen Lang — 61.0 (17 plays)
OG Jackson Lampley — 60.0 (40 plays)
WR Kaleb Webb — 59.7 (33 plays)
WR Chas Nimrod — 59.4 (27 plays)
OG Ayden Bussell — 59.1 (17 plays)
WR Dayton Sneed — 57.4 (26 plays)
WR Squirrel White — 57.0 (44 plays)
OG Jesse Perry — 55.8 (32 plays)
TE Cole Harrison — 55.5 (17 plays)
OT Sham Umarov — 55.4 (23 plays)
OT Brian Grant — 53.0 (17 plays)
TE Miles Kitselman — 48.3 (25 plays)
QB Jake Merklinger — 48.0 (17 plays)
There is little surprise about who the offensive players with the top offensive grades are. Dylan Sampson, who totaled 153 yards and three touchdowns, as well as Dont’e Thornton, who totaled 105 yards and two touchdowns, were two of the three highest graded Vols along with quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Some lower grades of note include that starting tight end Miles Kitselman graded out poorly, Tennessee’s slot receivers Squirrel White and Chas Nimrod graded out lower than anyone else and left tackles Lance Heard and Larry Johnson earned essentially the same grade.
The grades of some notable players that played less than 17 snaps: DeSean Bishop earned a 75.7 grade in 15 plays and Peyton Lewis earned a 58.3 grade in nine plays.
More From RTI: Chattanooga HC Rusty Wright Says Nico Iameleava ‘Is The Real Deal’
Defensive Grades (minimum of 12 plays — 20% of defensive plays)
DE Tyre West — 88.3 (16 plays)
LB Keenan Pili — 82.9 (15 plays)
LB Jalen Smith — 75.3 (24 plays)
DT Omari Thomas — 74.0 (15 plays)
CB Jordan Matthews — 73.0 (23 plays)
LB Kalib Perry — 72.1 (27 plays)
CB Jermod McCoy — 71.8 (28 plays)
LB Jeremiah Telander — 71.8 (25 plays)
LEO Josh Josephs — 71.5 (15 plays)
S Jakobe Thomas — 71.5 (19 plays)
DT Omarr Norman-Lott — 70.1 (14 plays)
DT Elijah Simmons — 67.9 (14 plays)
DT Jaxson Moi — 67.0 (16 plays)
S Christian Charles — 66.1 (20 plays)
CB Jalen McMurray — 65.8 (32 plays)
DE Jayson Jenkins — 64.6 (13 plays)
DT Daevin Hobbs — 63.6 (16 plays)
S Will Brooks — 63.1 (27 plays)
S John Slaughter — 62.7 (12 plays)
LEO Caleb Herring — 61.9 (20 plays)
STAR Christian Harrison — 60.1 (23 plays)
STAR Boo Carter — 59.8 (30 plays)
DT Bryson Eason — 58.6 (15 plays)
CB Kaleb Beasley — 58.3 (26 plays)
S Andre Turrentine — 54.8 (27 plays)
DE Dominic Bailey — 53.7 (16 plays)
LB Arion Carter — 50.6 (21 plays)
Some interesting notes in the secondary. With Rickey Gibson out, Jalen McMurray earned the start over Jordan Matthews. However, Matthews ended up being the highest graded Vol cornerback. Backup safeties Christian Charles and Jakobe Thomas earned better grades than both Will Brooks and Andre Turrentine. At the STAR spot, Christian Harrison and Boo Carter almost earned the exact same grades.
Watching live and it seemed like Tyre West was dominating and he earned the highest grade on the defense. Arion Carter didn’t seem to make plays and he earned the lowest grade of any Vol that played at least 12 snaps. It was only one game but it was a disappointing start to the season for the sophomore linebacker.
Star LEO James Pearce Jr played only 10 snaps where he earned a 60.1 grade. Expect a much larger workload next week in Charlotte.
