Tennessee football capped off the regular season with its 10th win of the season on Saturday afternoon, overcoming a slow start to defeat Vanderbilt 36-23 in Nashville.
If you need a reminder on how Pro Football Focus works, read the opening of the Chattanooga 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 15 plays — 20% of offensive plays)
WR Dont’e Thornton — 90.9 (19 plays)
RT Dayne Davis — 85.7 (35 plays)
RB Dylan Sampson — 79.5 (51 plays)
QB Nico Iamaleava — 77.5 (75 plays)
TE Miles Kitselman — 77.5 (59 plays)
LG Andrej Karic — 76.5 (74 plays)
RB DeSean Bishop — 75.1 (21 plays)
RG Javontez Spraggins — 71.7 (66 plays)
RT John Campbell — 64.3 (40 plays)
C Cooper Mays — 64.2 (75 plays)
WR Chris Brazzell — 64.1 (62 plays)
WR Mike Matthews — 62.8 (43 plays)
WR Chas Nimrod — 58.9 (25 plays)
TE Holden Staes — 56.5 (39 plays)
WR Squirrel White — 54.1 (31 plays)
LT Lance Heard — 51.6 (75 plays)
Tennessee was undermanned at receiver in this game but Dont’e Thornton proved what he’s proved all season— that he’s clearly the Vols’ best receiver. He suffered an injury late in the first half that limited his snaps but he helped get Tennessee’s offense going in the first half.
Kudos to the offensive line, that group played its best game in all of SEC play and it was Dayne Davis leading the way. While some of the Vols’ offensive line grades were just average, their pass block grades were consistently stout.
DeSean Bishop was back in the lineup against Vanderbilt and picked up where he left off before injury with another nice game.
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Defensive Grades (minimum of 10 plays — 20% of defensive plays)
DT Omarr Norman-Lott — 80.9 (22 plays)
CB Jermod McCoy — 74.4 (46 plays)
S Will Brooks — 73.7 (46 plays)
CB Jalen McMurray — 72.1 (18 plays)
DE Dominic Bailey — 72.1 (20 plays)
DT Bryson Eason — 69.9 (26 plays)
LB Jalen Smith — 68.9 (21 plays)
CB Rickey Gibson III — 67.5 (46 plays)
LB Arion Carter — 67.1 (44 plays)
S Andre Turrentine — 66.8 (33 plays)
S Jakobe Thomas — 66.7 (31 plays)
LEO James Pearce Jr. — 65.4 (33 plays)
LB Jeremiah Telander — 64.2 (30 plays)
STAR Christian Harrison — 63.3 (15 plays)
DE Tyre West — 63.2 (19 plays)
DE Jayson Jenkins — 62.3 (16 plays)
LEO Josh Josephs — 62.1 (22 plays)
STAR Boo Carter — 57.4 (32 plays)
DT Daevin Hobbs — 54.0 (11 plays)
LB Kalib Perry — 53.3 (14 plays)
DT Jaxson Moi — 49.5 (18 plays)
DT Omari Thomas — 36.2 (24 plays)
One player who came up just short of the number of snaps needed to qualify was freshman linebacker Edwin Spillman. Just back from an injury, Spillman earned a 42.0 grade in nine snaps. His tackling grade was a solid 69.7 though.
It was largely a bunch of regulars at the top as defensive backs Jermod McCoy and Will Brooks continue to play at a high level for Tennessee.
Two of Tennessee’s top three graded defensive linemen were Bryson Eason and Dominic Bailey. Those are two seniors with remaining eligibility that the Vols need to get back for next season.
