2023-24 PFF Grades - Colorado Buffs

[#1 pick]

Through 5 games, CU is the 76th best-rated team via PFF at 80.1
Our SOS is 19th in the nation

The opponents we played this year are:
TCU: 31st (91.1)
Neb: 97th (75.3)
CSU: 69th (81.3) - Coming off a bye week
Oregon: 7th (95.1)
USC: 8th (94.6)

Our upcoming opponents:
Arizona State: 117th (68.6)
Stanford: 122th (68.2) - Coming off a bye week

So far we played a demanding schedule. We played a team that's played better than us so far this year in CSU.

Nebraska was a clearly worse team.

TCU is a better team than us so far this year, we beat them. Having Hunter is massive for us and we had him in game 1.

Oregon and USC are much better than us but we did a better job against them than everyone else. We have done well against all of the QBs we played against. Most have had worse grades against us than anyone else this year. A testament to our coverage which is much better than it's current rank.

We are the 34th best offense so far via grading. Below TCU and Kentucky but ahead of Cincy and Memphis.

We are the 3rd best passing attack in the nation. Behind Washington and Air Force which doesn't count. They only have 19 passing attempts all year in 5 games.

PFF has our Pass Pro as the 11th best in the nation. While our pass pro isn't great, it's basically the time you get in the NFL so this is what Shedeur will see on Sundays. Shedeur makes life easier for them but it also adds stress as expectations are high af with him at QB.

We have the 64th-best receiving unit in the nation. This is probably the best shock to us but PFF has been saying all year, that Travis is our WR core with the grades and once he was out, we saw it clearly. What really helped these rankings was Omarion Miller's coming out party. He got a 90+ for this game and regardless of snaps, he's the 22nd highest-rated WR in the nation. Clearly, the best on the squad at this time.

PFF has our running game at 106. I don't know if I can agree with that. We got some seriously talented kids back there. Guys who can play pro but PFF hasn't been impressed. AT ALL.

PFF has our run blocking at 79th. The overall grade is horrendous at 59.3 which is by far the worst on the offense but a lot of teams have awful run blocking in PFF's mind. Kentucky is barely ahead of us but their running game is rated 89.5 which is 6th in the nation.

Defense

We have the 108th-best defense in the nation

We have the 125th-best run defense in the nation. Ouch!

58th in the nation at tackling

86th in the nation at pass-rushing

69th in coverage. My belief is that coverage will go up massively in the next couple of weeks.

CU's worst overall unit is special teams. Ranked 132nd overall. One spot from last at 43.8. It's not just kicking, it's EVERYTHING.

Overall, I think we are probably in the low 20s - high thirties in my opinion. Things will play out. Colorado is playing two of the worst teams in the PAC and with Miller coming through, I think that will be massive for us moving forward and our WR core. With Dawson and Antonio being in the low 50s, we don't need to see them again.

Gaines is in the 70s at 79.6
Miller at 89.8
Weaver at 68.8
Hunter at 68.5 and this is heavily knocked due to the Colorado State game where he fumbled for a TD.
Harrison has a good receiving grade at 67.2
We need more from Jimmy. 61.1. 60 in drops. He and Mata are the two players I need to see elevate and play to their talent level consistently.

Moving forward, our WR core should be
Hunter WR1
Weaver WR2
Miller WR3
Harrison TE1
Horn WR4
Gaines WR5
Dawson WR6

 

[Corey Trevorson]

The ratings that PFF and FPI have really don't make a ton of sense from a team perspective - we've played one of the toughest schedules in the country, are 3-2, but somehow not much above a bottom 1/3rd of D1 teams?

 

[#1 pick]

The ratings that PFF and FPI have really don't make a ton of sense from a team perspective - we've played one of the toughest schedules in the country, are 3-2, but somehow not much above a bottom 1/3rd of D1 teams?

They grade every snap. They don't grade to the opponent, they grade to the performance. That's why Air Force was fifth overall last year but Air Force wasn't close to 5th overall in reality since this isn't the NFL. G5 teams have a massively easier schedule than a P5 team, especially a PAC-12 P5 which plays a lot of conference games.

 

[#1 pick]

If you look at last year's team to this year's. You have things that were better last year but most is massively better this year.
1. Pass blocking was massively better with the Guards last year than this year. 87 and 83 overall pass block grades for Roddick who's a stud at FSU right now and Tommy Brown who bitch ass retired when he should be out here dominating. Even in true pass sets, we got 80.2 from Brown and 70.6 from Roddick. This year we are getting a 77.2 from Bebee and a 73.7 from Bailey but where they struggle is the true pass set where we are getting a 66.4 from Bebee and a 54.5 from Bailey.

This is what true pass set means: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-true-pass-sets-and-their-importance-to-player-evaluation

Another place where we are struggling is running the ball. I think this is more of a playcalling issue than anything else so I am willing to see where we go from here on running. Our backs are far more talented than what we had last year so I am not going to accept that PFF says our running backs are much worse than last year when they are superior. We just got an OC that needs to figure out what running plays can work with this personnel. Tank was awful based on PFF but when I watched him, I saw some flashes which came to fruition this year as he blossomed.

Run blocking was a joke last year but they weren't awful in zone which says last year OL had athleticism which is lacking this year. I am still mad at Tommy Brown for retiring. He really could have put himself in a position to be an NFL prospect under Prime. This year, the guards are struggling in zone run blocking, especially Bebee. Michael Harrison is also really bad at run blocking which is a far cry from Brady Russell who was one of the best in the nation at it. I honestly think that one hurts the most. If this team had Brady Russell, the running game would be superior and they can confidently play 3 wide with a TE playing in. Russell struggled badly as a receiver but I don't believe we would even have him in that role. He would play in to protect 2 and we would use the backs as an extra weapon. Brady Russell is the one player I wish I could grab from last year, 2nd would be Tommy Brown. I honestly think our running game would be massively better with just the addition of Russell. I see why Louis P was a starter in the spring because he could at least block his ass off.

Special Teams was good last year with punting as the only issue. This year, it's been bad. kicking has been bad but the coverage has been worse. Punting is the only thing we have been better at this year compared to last year. We got the talent, we just got to execute.

Defensively, this team is better in every way, form, or shape. Last year's defense was the worst of all time since PFF has been tracking college teams (2014). Only New Mexico State in 2021 at 33.5 comes close. No team in college football was as bad as the 2022 Colorado Buffs based on their schedule outside the 2019, UMass Minutemen who had an overall grade of 49 which is lower than CU's 49.2. Notable, Bucky's 2014 SMU team was awful as well with a 50.7 overall grade. The worst in the nation by a mile that year. 16th in snaps and 15th in overall grade. He got much better in 2015 when he moved to defense. He was 31st in snaps but 6th overall in grade in 2015. For those who want to know, Darrel Jr who's 2's QB coach had a solid freshman year in 2015 where he had a 74.4 passing grade in 66 snaps. Not bad.

 

[4BienemyTDs]

Through 5 games, CU is the 76th best-rated team via PFF at 80.1
Our SOS is 19th in the nation

The opponents we played this year are:
TCU: 31st (91.1)
Neb: 97th (75.3)
CSU: 69th (81.3) - Coming off a bye week
Oregon: 7th (95.1)
USC: 8th (94.6)

Our upcoming opponents:
Arizona State: 117th (68.6)
Stanford: 122th (68.2) - Coming off a bye week

So far we played a demanding schedule. We played a team that's played better than us so far this year in CSU.

Nebraska was a clearly worse team.

TCU is a better team than us so far this year, we beat them. Having Hunter is massive for us and we had him in game 1.

Oregon and USC are much better than us but we did a better job against them than everyone else. We have done well against all of the QBs we played against. Most have had worse grades against us than anyone else this year. A testament to our coverage which is much better than it's current rank.

We are the 34th best offense so far via grading. Below TCU and Kentucky but ahead of Cincy and Memphis.

We are the 3rd best passing attack in the nation. Behind Washington and Air Force which doesn't count. They only have 19 passing attempts all year in 5 games.

PFF has our Pass Pro as the 11th best in the nation. While our pass pro isn't great, it's basically the time you get in the NFL so this is what Shedeur will see on Sundays. Shedeur makes life easier for them but it also adds stress as expectations are high af with him at QB.

We have the 64th-best receiving unit in the nation. This is probably the best shock to us but PFF has been saying all year, that Travis is our WR core with the grades and once he was out, we saw it clearly. What really helped these rankings was Omarion Miller's coming out party. He got a 90+ for this game and regardless of snaps, he's the 22nd highest-rated WR in the nation. Clearly, the best on the squad at this time.

PFF has our running game at 106. I don't know if I can agree with that. We got some seriously talented kids back there. Guys who can play pro but PFF hasn't been impressed. AT ALL.

PFF has our run blocking at 79th. The overall grade is horrendous at 59.3 which is by far the worst on the offense but a lot of teams have awful run blocking in PFF's mind. Kentucky is barely ahead of us but their running game is rated 89.5 which is 6th in the nation.

Defense

We have the 108th-best defense in the nation

We have the 125th-best run defense in the nation. Ouch!

58th in the nation at tackling

86th in the nation at pass-rushing

69th in coverage. My belief is that coverage will go up massively in the next couple of weeks.

CU's worst overall unit is special teams. Ranked 132nd overall. One spot from last at 43.8. It's not just kicking, it's EVERYTHING.

Overall, I think we are probably in the low 20s - high thirties in my opinion. Things will play out. Colorado is playing two of the worst teams in the PAC and with Miller coming through, I think that will be massive for us moving forward and our WR core. With Dawson and Antonio being in the low 50s, we don't need to see them again.

Gaines is in the 70s at 79.6
Miller at 89.8
Weaver at 68.8
Hunter at 68.5 and this is heavily knocked due to the Colorado State game where he fumbled for a TD.
Harrison has a good receiving grade at 67.2
We need more from Jimmy. 61.1. 60 in drops. He and Mata are the two players I need to see elevate and play to their talent level consistently.

Moving forward, our WR core should be
Hunter WR1
Weaver WR2
Miller WR3
Harrison TE1
Horn WR4
Gaines WR5
Dawson WR6

Dawson has played pretty well, and has shown more speed and playmaking than Weaver or Horn. Why you down on him?

 

[#1 pick]

Dawson has played pretty well, and has shown more speed and playmaking than Weaver or Horn. Why you down on him?

He's been horrible when I watched the replays. If you just focus on him when he makes a play which isn't often, you might have a high view of him but he's been worse than Antonio to me. His route running is bad. His hands aren't reliable. He rarely gets open. Usually, coverage has to be broken for him to do something good. He's the worst WR on this roster to me that gets snaps. He should be a reserve at best. He can't block either. I just don't know what he is at this level. He and Antonio weren't the best pick-ups. Probably should be cut.

I am very down him and Javon but at least Javon can block.

 

[Buffnik]

The thing with run blocking is that these days you have to teach it at the college level. Kids play mostly spread in HS, so many of the OLs don't come in knowing how to go forward like they used to.

 

[Big Jim]

I saw a WR screen where Weaver caught the ball, Dawson absolutely fails his block, and Weaver is hit for a no gainer that should have gotten 5+ yards.

 

[Uncle Ken]

I saw a WR screen where Weaver caught the ball, Dawson absolutely fails his block, and Weaver is hit for a no gainer that should have gotten 5+ yards.

I remember that. It was so frustrating, especially watching USC receivers crushing their blocks on similarly designed plays.

 

[Big Jim]

For as bad as CU's defense and offensive line have been, I found the P12 Player of the Week honorees to be interesting.

Offense - Week1: Shedeur Sanders
Defense - Week 1: Travis Hunter
Defense - Week 3: Shilo Sanders
OL - Week 2: Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan
Freshman - Week 1: Dylan Edwards

 

[Yukon]

 

[#1 pick]

Through 5 games, CU is the 76th best-rated team via PFF at 80.1
Our SOS is 19th in the nation

The opponents we played this year are:
TCU: 31st (91.1)
Neb: 97th (75.3)
CSU: 69th (81.3) - Coming off a bye week
Oregon: 7th (95.1)
USC: 8th (94.6)

Our upcoming opponents:
Arizona State: 117th (68.6)
Stanford: 122th (68.2) - Coming off a bye week

So far we played a demanding schedule. We played a team that's played better than us so far this year in CSU.

Nebraska was a clearly worse team.

TCU is a better team than us so far this year, we beat them. Having Hunter is massive for us and we had him in game 1.

Oregon and USC are much better than us but we did a better job against them than everyone else. We have done well against all of the QBs we played against. Most have had worse grades against us than anyone else this year. A testament to our coverage which is much better than it's current rank.

We are the 34th best offense so far via grading. Below TCU and Kentucky but ahead of Cincy and Memphis.

We are the 3rd best passing attack in the nation. Behind Washington and Air Force which doesn't count. They only have 19 passing attempts all year in 5 games.

PFF has our Pass Pro as the 11th best in the nation. While our pass pro isn't great, it's basically the time you get in the NFL so this is what Shedeur will see on Sundays. Shedeur makes life easier for them but it also adds stress as expectations are high af with him at QB.

We have the 64th-best receiving unit in the nation. This is probably the best shock to us but PFF has been saying all year, that Travis is our WR core with the grades and once he was out, we saw it clearly. What really helped these rankings was Omarion Miller's coming out party. He got a 90+ for this game and regardless of snaps, he's the 22nd highest-rated WR in the nation. Clearly, the best on the squad at this time.

PFF has our running game at 106. I don't know if I can agree with that. We got some seriously talented kids back there. Guys who can play pro but PFF hasn't been impressed. AT ALL.

PFF has our run blocking at 79th. The overall grade is horrendous at 59.3 which is by far the worst on the offense but a lot of teams have awful run blocking in PFF's mind. Kentucky is barely ahead of us but their running game is rated 89.5 which is 6th in the nation.

Defense

We have the 108th-best defense in the nation

We have the 125th-best run defense in the nation. Ouch!

58th in the nation at tackling

86th in the nation at pass-rushing

69th in coverage. My belief is that coverage will go up massively in the next couple of weeks.

CU's worst overall unit is special teams. Ranked 132nd overall. One spot from last at 43.8. It's not just kicking, it's EVERYTHING.

Overall, I think we are probably in the low 20s - high thirties in my opinion. Things will play out. Colorado is playing two of the worst teams in the PAC and with Miller coming through, I think that will be massive for us moving forward and our WR core. With Dawson and Antonio being in the low 50s, we don't need to see them again.

Gaines is in the 70s at 79.6
Miller at 89.8
Weaver at 68.8
Hunter at 68.5 and this is heavily knocked due to the Colorado State game where he fumbled for a TD.
Harrison has a good receiving grade at 67.2
We need more from Jimmy. 61.1. 60 in drops. He and Mata are the two players I need to see elevate and play to their talent level consistently.

Moving forward, our WR core should be
Hunter WR1
Weaver WR2
Miller WR3
Harrison TE1
Horn WR4
Gaines WR5
Dawson WR6

Tough loss.

I said these two games will tell us what we are and what we are is tied for the 64th team in the nation with Arizona and Cal at 82.6.

This is just a decent PAC-12 team. QB is super special. Coaching was pretty good till yesterday where it was horrendous. That's pretty much it.

We know what we are now. We could be better with Hunter getting healthier but overall, we are what we are. A solid PAC-12 team.

Last year, that would have made us easily the 7th best team in conference.

This year, we are in a 3 way tie for 7th.

4-3 is solid. 1-3 in the PAC is bad.

We got an uphill battle against Oregon State and UCLA.

We got fair matchups against Wazzu and Arizona.

Utah looks winnable as of right now but it's probably not winnable.

7th best SOS - http://powerrankingsguru.com/college-football/strength-of-schedule.php

 

[Bliff Cranch]

Tough loss.

I said these two games will tell us what we are and what we are is tied for the 64th team in the nation with Arizona and Cal at 82.6.

This is just a decent PAC-12 team. QB is super special. Coaching was pretty good till yesterday where it was horrendous. That's pretty much it.

We know what we are now. We could be better with Hunter getting healthier but overall, we are what we are. A solid PAC-12 team.

Last year, that would have made us easily the 7th best team in conference.

This year, we are in a 3 way tie for 7th.

4-3 is solid. 1-3 in the PAC is bad.

We got an uphill battle against Oregon State and UCLA.

We got fair matchups against Wazzu and Arizona.

Utah looks winnable as of right now but it's probably not winnable.

Wazzu will destroy the Buffs

 

[Corey Trevorson]

A team that blows a 29 point lead to a team as bad as Stanford is not a solid Pac 12 team.

UA is the only reasonable shot I see at a W the rest of the way.

 

[SeanMSan]

The only way that this team is going to get W’s from here on out, is to go out there with the ignored underdog mindset. It needs to feel like every game is a one-game season, and it’s the championship game. A team that nearly walked away with a W against USC, ****s a 29-pt lead bed against what was supposed to be a pre-season (when the buffs were a 1-2 win team, according to the media) W.

If the staff and players are as for real as claimed, then they should be able to eke out 2-3 wins. At the moment 2-3 wins feel like it would be miraculous.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Tough loss.

I said these two games will tell us what we are and what we are is tied for the 64th team in the nation with Arizona and Cal at 82.6.

This is just a decent PAC-12 team. QB is super special. Coaching was pretty good till yesterday where it was horrendous. That's pretty much it.

We know what we are now. We could be better with Hunter getting healthier but overall, we are what we are. A solid PAC-12 team.

Last year, that would have made us easily the 7th best team in conference.

This year, we are in a 3 way tie for 7th.

4-3 is solid. 1-3 in the PAC is bad.

We got an uphill battle against Oregon State and UCLA.

We got fair matchups against Wazzu and Arizona.

Utah looks winnable as of right now but it's probably not winnable.

7th best SOS - http://powerrankingsguru.com/college-football/strength-of-schedule.php

We don’t have the defensive speed or scheme coordination to handle Cam Ward and Wazzu, IMO.

We matchup better against UCLA where their offense is very average and their D got exposed last night.

Our offense has to be special against Utah, but we can win that game 38-31ish if they are.

Not sure what to think about Arizona. Two OT losses to Miss St and USC on the road and to Washington by 7. Blowout win against Wazzu. They’re good.

Oregon State is probably a no hoper, but I’ll always give us a shot with 2, if we’re close

 

[SeanMSan]

We don’t have the defensive speed or scheme coordination to handle Cam Ward and Wazzu, IMO.

We matchup better against UCLA where their offense is very average and their D got exposed last night.

Our offense has to be special against Utah, but we can win that game 38-31ish if they are.

Not sure what to think about Arizona. Two OT losses to Miss St and USC on the road and to Washington by 7. Blowout win against Wazzu. They’re good.

Oregon State is probably a no hoper, but I’ll always give us a shot with 2, if we’re close

If the Buffs can keep any of these games close they can win. Wazzu and OSU are probably the least likely W’s. If Rising is >80% with UU, if back at all, then that could be a very possible W.

 

[#1 pick]

We don’t have the defensive speed or scheme coordination to handle Cam Ward and Wazzu, IMO.

We matchup better against UCLA where their offense is very average and their D got exposed last night.

Our offense has to be special against Utah, but we can win that game 38-31ish if they are.

Not sure what to think about Arizona. Two OT losses to Miss St and USC on the road and to Washington by 7. Blowout win against Wazzu. They’re good.

Oregon State is probably a no hoper, but I’ll always give us a shot with 2, if we’re close

Its hard to say. This team could come out looking like a different team but it's consistency with the team that's the issue.

 

[Burrito]

If we cut penalties in half, are we 6-1 or 5-2?

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

If we cut penalties in half, are we 6-1 or 5-2?

There’s a good argument to be made that if we only remove Hunter’s unsportsmanlike from Friday, we are 5-2.

 

[#1 pick]

If we cut penalties in half, are we 6-1 or 5-2?

5-2. USC game is probably still a lost and Oregon is definitely a loss

 

[#1 pick]

Through 10 games, CU is the 95th best-rated team via PFF at 75.4
Our SOS is 15th in the nation

The opponents we played this year are:
TCU: 45th (84.7)
Neb: 102nd (74.3)
CSU: 97th (75.3)
Oregon: 7th (93.3)
USC: 27th (89.6)
Arizona State: 124th (68.2)
Stanford: 131st (65.1)
UCLA: 25th (89.6)
Oregon State: 4th (93.6)
Arizona: 29th (88.9)

Our upcoming opponents:
@ Washington State: 85th (76.8)
@ Utah: 77th (80.3)

How they played against us (Overall Grade v. CU) - (Est Grade against us based on our overall and their overall) - (Comments)
TCU: 45th (84.7) - 63.7 - 74.0 TCU underperformed by nearly 10 points.
Neb: 102nd (74.3) - 51.1 - 61.0 Nubs underperformed by nearly 10 points.
CSU: 97th (75.3) - 71.8 - 64.8 While grades say this is supposed to be a close game, consider the level of play difference, SOS, CSU overperformed by 7 points.
Oregon: 7th (93.3) - 85.5 90 - Oregon took care of business, slightly underperformed but we all know they kind of took their foot off the gas in the 4th.
USC: 27th (89.6) - 76.6 - 83 - USC clearly underperformed against us.
Arizona State: 124th (68.2) - 65.8 - 61.9 - They overperformed but not by much. Their defense which is their strength was clicking against us.
Stanford: 131st (65.1) - 63.5 - 55 - This should have been our first blowout. Even the halftime score shows it. Terrible performance by us in a must-win.
UCLA: 25th (89.6) - 78.4 - 78.4 - 83.5 - UCLA clearly underperformed against us.
Oregon State: 4th (93.6) - 79.6 - 90.6 - Talk about a massive underperformance for Oregon State. The one thing about CU is that talent-wise isn't the only reason for their low grades. Lack of discipline is massive and it's they are the worst in the nation with Colorado State. Football IQ is something that must improve in the off-season and that's bringing in smarter players who are ready to play and make a positive impact.
Arizona: 29th (88.9) 82.8 - 82.8 - Arizona fans on Reddit talk about how they played poorly but they played exactly as expected. To a TEE! I think they just didn't think Colorado was this good at certain aspects of the game. They are the only team that played exactly what was expected of them.

The Stanford loss hurts the most. They are the 3rd WORST graded team in the nation. They even had a terrible grade against us and we lost that game. OUCH! That loss is 100% of the coaches. 100%

Where do we rank in different categories via PFF - My opinion
Offense: 66 - A tad high
Passing: 5 - Way too low, should be #1
Pass Pro: 65 - Way too high, should be in the 100s
Receiving: 78 - About right, they are way too inconsistent but the talent is clearly there for them to be very good. I think they need a boost in talent still. That said, they really have been under DIFFICULT circumstances with everyone selling out for the pass and throwing everything at this WRs. The talent and a more balanced attack could easily see this current unit go to the top 25.
Running: 122 - Way too low but you can't move them up. You have three RBs who were on the Doak Walker list. We have RBs who can play but the run pro is WOAT.
Run Pro: 86 - I think it's the worst in the nation. I 100% don't agree with PFF OL grades for CU.

Defense: 117 - Agree
Run defense: 117 - Agree, I've seen worse this year. Only 4 P5s are worse at run D and I agree with that.
Tackling - 72 - Agree
Pass rush - 97 - I agree, they aren't awful at all but there are too many possessions where they get no rush on the QB.
Coverage - 106 - They have some talent but the talented ones are raw, really raw outside of Hunter who's been the 84th best-graded cover corner for players who played over 50% of defensive snaps. Hunter is also tied for 38th as a WR playing over 50% of snaps with Elijhah Badger.

Special Teams - 113 - The good is Mark Vassett is the 9th best punter via PFF, the bad news is the rest of the special teams is just marginal. We need an upgrade in special teams.

The good

Shedeur Sanders is the 11th-best QB in the nation via PFF and 7th-best passer via 20% of plays being passes. For those with 80% passing, he's 2nd in both to Drake Maye who has taken a clear jump with the arrival of Dez Walker for UNC as well as overtook Sanders. While I don't agree with this watching the games for both teams, this is PFF's data.

Travis Hunter - A top 40 WR via grades and top 90 CB via grades. If you watch him, he's probably top 10 as a WR and top 3 as a CB but PFF grades every snap. Not just the OMG ones.

Bishop Thomas might need to be moved to the OL or as a unique H-Back. His value on offense is clearly visible. He plays with an EDGE and he's extremely fast for a 300+ pounder. Bishop has a grade of 74.4 which is amazing considering his limited use but he always makes an impact.

The running backs have been awful grade but watching them, they can play. All of them. Three Doak Walker pre-season guys. We should be more like UNC offensively where we got a great passing and rushing attack considering the talent of our backs.

Shilo Sanders and Amari McNeill massively improved from last year. Shilo is our 2nd best defensive player and he's a good player and McNeill is a decent player who's been good since the break and we hope he joins Travis in our studs category.

Mark Vassett is the 9th best punter in the nation via PFF.

The bad

Outside of those above, there are only five decent players on defense (CSC, Slusher, Cokes, JD, and Alston). 3 of them are in their last year. The rest are average or worse. It's unlikely any of them will get drafted. JD is graded as the 160th EDGE rusher on the season even though he has pretty good raw stats. None of these guys are draftable. Maybe get a 2nd or 3rd tier senior bowl invite like the Trop or the Shrine Bowl. Cokes of the five is the best. I truly believe he just needs to move to the EDGE and his grades will skyrocket. He's too small to be an interior guy but we lack so much DL talent and depth. CSC is reliable but he's if he develops into a Day 3 guy next year, that would be incredible. Woods proved he's just not a NFL talent although he's a tremendous football player. His regression has been well noted.

While his grade isn't good for his production (68.9), I think Weaver is a better football player than the metrics show. He's a pretty good #2. He's going to play well in the NFL. I think Weaver's grade has been knocked a little too harshly and I consider it part of the bad.


The Ugly

The OL needs to be replaced. Even Van Wells is on eggshells. His pass pro grade is legit but his run pro grade is bad and he's weak and gets bullied too often. If he can tremendously improve his body into year 3, we are talking day 2 talent but he can't be this ****ing weak. He gets bullied and that's not good. He needs a good 10-15 pounds while maintaining his athletic ability. He needs to be massively stronger. Savion is decent and that's the best we got. Tank got exposed for having no bend and everyone just plays to that. Tank does have discipline and he's smart as a whip but you can be an oaf in modern college football as an LT. The rest doesn't even need to be mentioned. This is the worst OL in football. It's not even close.

The WRs like the DBs need a lot of improvement. The ones with talent like Miller are just too raw. Omarion Cooper and Jimmy Horn Jr. might as well be brothers. Neither one are legit starter at a P5 level but they are capable of a big play or two every single game. Both will get a legit shot at the NFL. They do things that translate even if they aren't exactly football-good. Watching Cowing who had a rough game v. Horn is like mental abuse. Cowing reeks havoc on defenses whereas Horn is basically a gadget. Hunter and Weaver are tremendous and both are legit NFL WRs. The rest, they need a lot of work. Prime should really hit the portal hard for WRs. Especially losing his best one in Weaver.

DL needs to be massively upgraded. Interior LBs need to be completely upgraded. EDGE group could use a legit stud as can the DBs. Mata has the heart of Prime but the 79th overall kicker on PFF just ain't getting it done. Also, Becker is around 50 so it's not like he's this world-beater either. We need a Vessett-like upgrade at kicker. He's been critical for us.

Upgrades needed:

QB - High-end backup
FB - Move Thomas to offense full-time.
WR - They need about 5 new WRs. Two with high-end impact guys with experience, and three high-end prospects. Lessening 12's WR load would be ideal. I think we should push Horn to the NFL with Weaver, it's going to be his best chance.
TE - LMAO, since Celeb left, they have no scholarship TEs. They definitely need 1 in the portal with size.
OL - Eight new OL. 5 need to be high impact which can replace every one of our OL guys. The other 3 need to be high-talent-level guys. Meaning, that Savion and Wells need to improve by a lot if they want to remain starters. We need to cut half of the OL. Of the bench guys, Hank and Jatta are probably the only ones I won't cut. Harden is starting now but he's another one I wouldn't cut. He's talented, just needs a lot of development. Keep the more talented ones. Cut the rest.

K - If an elite kicker is available like Mark was as a punter, go get him.

Interior DL - 5 new guys, 3 portal, 2 high-end recruits.
EDGE - Move Cokes to the EDGE, 2 new guys, one needs to be a high-impact portal stud. Easily said than done to land one.
Interior LB - 4 new guys, some will be cut. 2 high-end portal guys. 2 need to be high-end HS recruits who can play.
CB - A stud is the biggest need, especially as a nickel corner. We have CBs, we just need to develop them.
S - We definitely need a stud to replace Ward. We could use more depth but we got talent here. Not the biggest need outside of a high-end impact guy.

4 studs are needed on D. On offense, we just need good or very good players. If we can land two studs at WR, that would be nice. If Evan Stewart hit the portal, man, if we could land him. He would be perfect. Slot guy. You would have to double-cover him at all times. The studs are so hard to land though. Everyone wants them when they enter the portal. Everyone. We do have the top two picks in the draft with Sanders and Hunter so we have a chance as well as Prime coaching.

Offensively, we don't need more studs, we just need a lot more good players. Weaver is good, we need more like Weaver. NFL draft picks. If we can land them sure but we don't need them. Defensively, we need about 4 of them. One on the EDGE or interior. One at LB. Two in the secondary (1 at S and 1 at CB, mainly the nickel). Maybe someone like Hopkins becomes that elite NB guy but until that happens, we need one in the portal.

Overall, we are closer than we think but we got away to go. The entire OL needs to be upgraded unless someone like Wells or Washington takes their game to another level with a new OL coach and another year in the system. DL needs a lot more beef. The interior LB needs to be upgraded even more than the OL. We are losing an average player in Ward but you gotta replace him or upgrade him. That said, every good player or better is coming back next year outside of Weaver. That's a good thing. SkoBuffs!

 

[hawg1]

I’m often blown away by Travis’ skills at corner but then sometimes I scratch my head. I’d like to see more lock down consistency, fewer times where it looks a bit like he is coasting, then relying on his freak skills to get back into the play.

 

[4BienemyTDs]

I’m often blown away by Travis’ skills at corner but then sometimes I scratch my head. I’d like to see more lock down consistency, fewer times where it looks a bit like he is coasting, then relying on his freak skills to get back into the play.

He is tired in 4th quarters, you can see teams actually go at him in the 4th with less fear than in the first half.
Modulate his snaps a bit smarter

 

[#1 pick]

He is tired in 4th quarters, you can see teams actually go at him in the 4th with less fear than in the first half.
Modulate his snaps a bit smarter

I understand we lack the players at this time but next year. We should be good enough to where we don't need Travis, we just want him out there. Right now, we need him. The minute he goes out for a play, everything changes on both ends for us. We need better players

 

[4BienemyTDs]

I understand we lack the players at this time but next year. We should be good enough to where we don't need Travis, we just want him out there. Right now, we need him. The minute he goes out for a play, everything changes on both ends for us. We need better players

He is not needed on the first down play as soon as we get the ball, he is not needed on special teams, and he is not needed on 3rd and 1.

 

[Fogo]

Does PFF grade coaches lol? If Prime is going to make coaching moves he needs to do it quickly when the season ends, or as quick as he can. The uncertainty, especially with a probably change in OC, will effect the portal signees.

 

[#1 pick]

Last year's grades.