Kentucky PFF player grades and snap counts versus EKU

The University of Kentucky football team beat its neighbors from 25 miles down the road on Saturday by a less-than-impressive score of 28-17. However, just because the ‘Cats fell well short of the 35-point spread against Eastern Kentucky, a win is a win and a 2-0 record doesn’t care about the way it came about.

However, fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, fans and bloggers do care, and this marks the second time in two weeks the Wildcats did not quite look in sync in several facets of the game.

The folks over at Power Football Focus (PFF), though, put the eye test aside and broke down each Kentucky player’s performance, assigning a grade from 1-100 with 60 being average. Last week against Ball State, Alex Afari led the ‘Cats in this grade on defense with 79.7 and Dane Key set the high mark on offense at 73.

Let’s see how players graded out against Eastern Kentucky.

Defense

This week, everyone’s favorite physical freak, Deone Walker, led Kentucky in PFF grades with an impressive rating of 84. This got a big boost from an elite pass rush rating of 91.6. After the game, Walker took umbrage to the murmurs of disappointment radiating from the fanbase. He tweeted out, “Don’t hop on the bandwagon when it’s too late.”

It is probably a good idea to do what Mr. Walker says.

Andru Phillips, Jalen Geiger, and Maxwell Hairston were the other defensive players who graded out in the 70s.

Octavious Oxendine, who was the surprise low man last week after creating a ton of havoc in the backfield bumped his score up to 55.2 this week, however still needs to improve upon his tackling grade (22.5 against Ball State and 29.4 against EKU) if he wants to boost his overall rating.

Here is the reminder of Kentucky’s grades of those who played at last five snaps.

Kentucky Defensive PFF Grades and Snap Counts versus Ball State

Defense
Player	Pos	Snaps	Grade
Deone Walker	DT	48	84
Andru Phillips	CB	57	73.7
Jalen Geiger	S	36	73.1
Maxwell Hairston	CB	69	71.7
Josaih Hayes	DL	22	69.2
Tre’vonn Rybka	DL	26	68.6
Zion Childress	S	41	66.4
Tyreese Fearby	LB	10	62.6
D’Eryk Jackson	LB	53	58.3
JJ Weaver	LB	50	57.6
Octavious Oxendine	DE	19	55.2
Trevin Wallace	LB	57	54.1
Kahlil Saunders	LB	15	53.2
Alex Afari	CB	44	53
Keeshawn Silver	DE	23	51.8
Jordan Lovett	S	38	51.6
Jonquis Hardaway	CB	14	51.2
Keaton Wade	LB	21	43.3

Offense

It was another offensive struggle this week for the Wildcats, as the team full of dynamic weapons once again seemed a little rusty. That being said, they still showed their big-play abilities and Big Blue Nation should rest a little easier knowing that Liam Cohen’s playmakers can turn any snap into a touchdown.

The most assuring PFF grade to emerge from this overall subpar performance was on the offensive line. Courtland Ford came in for Jeremy Flax at right tackle after just three plays and finished with a high grade of 85.2. Marques Cox had a good game at left tackle with a pass block rating of 91.7 though his overall rating was just 67, dragged down by a subpar run-block performance.

It is no surprise to see the highest-graded skill position player was Tayvion Robinson, as the Virginia Tech transfer had his best game in blue. His six-catch, 136-yard, two-touchdown outing equated to an 82.4 rating overall.

Finally, despite a low QB rating, Devin Leary actually had a fairly solid PFF rating of 79. There are still plenty of opportunities for improvement across the board, but at least according to PFF, it wasn’t all bad.

Kentucky Offensive PFF Grades and Snap Counts versus Ball State

Offense
Player	Pos	Snaps	Grade
Courtland Ford	T	59	85.2
Tayvion Robinson	WR	37	82.4
Devin Leary	QB	62	79
Eli Cox	G	55	70.1
Brenden Bates	TE	22	67.9
Marques Cox	T	62	67
Ray Davis	RB	43	66.1
Dylan Ray	G	62	65.5
Anthony Brown-Stephens	WR	10	65.5
Khamari Anderson	TE	6	65.5
Jager Burton	C	62	64.4
Barion Brown	WR	39	63.4
Dane Key	WR	46	60.9
Jeremy Flax	T	3	60.8
Izayah Cummings	TE	12	59.6
Demie Sumo-Karngbaye	RB	9	58.6
Josh Kattus	TE	36	55.8
Tanner Bowles	G	7	54.8
Jordan Dingle	TE	27	50
JuTahn McClain	RB	19	43.1