Deep Dive on Alabama Crimson Tide Football Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa
Today, Kyle Henderson of BamaInsider.com takes a deep dive on Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. In the following piece, Henderson will provide detailed numbers of Tagovailoa’s stats including, dropbacks, overall offensive grade, comparison to Jalen Hurts, passing direction chart, and highlight Nick Saban’s recent comments on the sophomore phenom who is now a 3/1 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
Story Link
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/dee...mson-tide-football-quarterback-tua-tagovailoa
Numbers Crunch: Special Teams Concerns
There were concerns surrounding the Alabama kicking game entering the 2018 season and through two games, those concerns still exist. During the first two games of the season, Alabama is 2 of 3 from field goal range and 12 of 15 kicking PATs.
Temple transfer Austin Jones who had a PFF grade of 74.0 and 53.8 over the last two seasons, has a current grade of 43.2 at Alabama and has missed three extra points and has missed one field goal from the 20-29 range. The good news is that redshirt freshmen Joseph Bulovas is 5 for 5 at extra points and hit a 39-yard field goal against Arkansas State in week two, so maybe Bulovas will be named the starter moving forward as his PFF grade is a 73.0.
Continue Reading
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/numbers-crunch-alabama-crimson-tide-football-special-teams-concerns
Alabama vs. the AP Top 5
After two weeks of play, we compared Alabama's offensive and defensive team grades against the AP Top 5. In the following chart (See link), you'll see how Alabama's stacks up against No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Oklahoma.
Comparison Link
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/alabama-crimson-tide-football-vs-the-ap-top-5
Week Two Hot 11
Story Link
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/alabama-crimson-tide-football-hot-11-after-arkansas-state
Week Two Team Grades After Arkansas State
We are excited to announce that the Rivals network has teamed up with Pro Football Focus, the go-to site for player grades and advanced analytics in both college football and the NFL. We will incorporate PFF data into stories regularly going forward, and one thing you can look forward to each week is a grade for all of Alabama’s players from the previous game.
Below is a grade card showing how the top 20 offensive and defensive players fared during Alabama’s 57-7 victory over Arkansas State.
But first, an explanation from PFF on how the grading scale works:
On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to what he did on the play.
At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation, with the middle of that scale being 0-graded, or ‘expected’ plays that are neither positive nor negative.
Each game is also graded by a second PFF analyst independent of the first, and those grades are compared by a third, Senior Analyst, who rules on any differences between the two. These grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network, a group of former and current NFL coaches with over 700 combined years of NFL coaching experience, to get them as accurate as they can be.
From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale and appear in our Player Grades Tool.
Season-level grades aren’t simply an average of every game-grade a player compiles over a season, but rather factor in the duration at which a player performed at that level. Achieving a grade of 90.0 in a game once is impressive, doing it (12) times in a row is more impressive.
It is entirely possible that a player will have a season grade higher than any individual single-game grade he achieved, because playing well for an extended period of time is harder to do than for a short period, similarly, playing badly for a long time is a greater problem than playing badly once, so the grade can also be compounded negatively..
Alabama Offensive Week Two Grades (Top 10)
Note: LW = Last Week Grade
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
1. Najee Harris | Running Back | 28 | 87.6 | 67.5
Notes: Harris ran the football 13 times for 135-yards which is a 10.4 per carry average and scored one touchdown. On the season he’s rushed for 21 carries for 165-yards with two touchdowns.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
2. Lester Cotton | Left Guard | 69 | 80.4 | 75.4
Notes: Cotton has a season average grade of 82.7 and his passing grade jumped from 72.3 against Louisville to 81.0 against Arkansas State.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
3. Tua Tagovailoa | Quarterback | 23 | 77.8 | 92.4
Notes: Tagovailoa’s was 13 of 19 passing for 228-yards with four touchdowns but was knocked on his passing grade for forcing bad balls which could have led to interceptions. On the season, he is 25 of 35 (71%) passing for 452-yards with 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
4. Damien Harris | Running Back | 22 | 76.7 | 59.4
Notes: Harris carried the football 12 times for 62-yards an average of 6.4. Harris continues to grade out strong in the pass blocking category, against Louisville he was 76.5 and against Arkansas State, his grade was 75.8. On the season he has rushed 19 times for 116-yards.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
5. Jerry Jeudy | Receiver | 42 | 74.7 | 77.7
Notes: Against Arkansas State Jeudy was targeted four times and caught up with four receptions for 87-yards and two touchdowns. On the season he has 8 receptions for 151-yards with four touchdowns an 18.9 yard per reception average.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
6. Derek Kief | Receiver | 12 | 74.7 | 56.4
Notes: Kief has not seen a lot of playing time so far, but when Alabama went to him, he delivered catching a 14-yard touchdown pass on a tightrope from Tagovailoa. His receiving route grade for the game was a 72.8. Kief has played 24 plays total in each of the last two games.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
7. Jonah Williams | Left Tackle | 69 | 74.3 | 90.6
Notes: Against Arkansas State, Williams was in on 36 run blocking plays and 33 pass blocking plays. He has allowed just two hurries in 127 total snaps. His run blocking grade in week one was a 90.6 against Arkansas State, his run blocking grade was a 75.5.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
8. Henry Ruggs III | Receiver | 54 | 72.9 | 59.8
Notes: Ruggs was target four times on Saturday hauling in three receptions for 56-yards and a touchdown. His per catch average this season is 14.2 and his grade for pass routes is 65.2
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
9. Ross Pierschbacher | Offensive Line | 69 | 70.4 | 73.6
Notes: Making his second start at center, Pierschbacher has fared well to start the year. He has a passing grade average of 83.4 in 127 total snaps and has allowed no hurries or sacks. His run blocking grade was just 65.0 against the Red Wolves.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
10. Irv Smith Jr. | Tight End | 23 | 67.9 | 82.3
Notes: Alabama went to their playmaking tight end four times on Saturday and it paid off with Smith catching all four passes for 41-yards and a touchdown. Smith has a pass route running season grade of 78.2, but his pass blocking grade through two games is a 43.5.
Players 11-20
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
11. DeVonta Smith | Receiver | 55 | 66.0 | 79.6
12. Jalen Hurts | Quarterback | 27 | 65.4 | 68.8
13. Brian Robinson | Running Back | 10 | 63.3 | 66.3
14. Deionte Brown | Right Guard | 15 | 61.5 | 65.5
15. Hale Hentges | Tight End | 20 | 61.4 | 67.1
16. Xavian Marks | Receiver | 5 | 60.5 | 57.8
17. Chris Owens | Center | 6 | 60.4 | 69.4
18. Alex Leatherwood | Right Guard | 60 | 60.1 | 68.6
19. Josh Casher | Left Guard | 6 | 50.3 | 83.9
20. Joshua Jacobs | Running Back | 24 | 58.4 | 80.5
26. Jedrick Williams | Right tackle | 68 | 56.0 | 78.7
Alabama Defensive Week Two Grades (Top 10)
Note: LW = Last Week Grade
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
1. Quinnen Williams | Defensive Tackle | 34 | 87.1 | 90.0
Notes: Williams had another strong showing posting a grade of 87.1 against Arkansas State. His season average for rush defense is 91.8 and his pass rush grade is 84.7, in other words, he is balling out.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
2. Raekwon Davis | Defensive End | 47 | 78.5 | 72.6
Notes: Davis has proven to be steady at the end position and improved his grade week over week. He has a run defense grade of 86.1 this season and already has seven hurries on the quarterback.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
3. Isaiah Buggs | Defensive End | 28 | 78.3 | 67.3
Notes: First off, he’s fine after suffering a minor ankle injury. He spoke to the media following the game. Buggs has a pass rushing grade of 67.1 on the season and has recorded a sack in each of the last two games. His overall grade is 74.8.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
4. Deionte Thompson | Free Safety | 57 | 73.5 | 94.2
Notes: Had a solid showing for the second straight week. In coverage, his grade is an amazing 92.7 and he has 10 tackles in two games with one interception. His grade on rush defense is 80.6.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
5. Patrick Surtain II | Corner | 61 | 72.9 | 62.5
Notes: Surtain is getting plenty of early playing time at Alabama and leads all true freshmen with 93 snaps. Against Arkansas State, Surtain was targeted 6 times and allowed just one reception for 11-yards. On the season he’s been targeted 10 times and has allowed just 3 receptions for 34-yards.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
6. Saivion Smith | Corner | 57 | 72.5 | 72.6
Notes: Smith is showing early consistency in the secondary which Alabama obvious needs. He has displayed a high open field tackling ability and has a tackle grade of 85.4 and in coverage his grade is 72.5. He has been targeted 5 times and has allowed just two receptions.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
7. Shyheim Carter | Corner | 45 | 71.3 | 78.0
Notes: Cater has a high coverage grade of 80.1 on the season and his overall defensive grade is 78.5. Very steady through two games.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
8. Kyriq McDonald | Corner | 27 | 70.6 | 49.9
Notes: Last game McDonald only saw 6 snaps, on Saturday against Arkansas State he saw 27. His coverage grade was 65.7 and his tackle grade was high at 76.5. He was targeted 4 times by the Red Wolves and gave up 3 receptions.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
9. Christian Miller | Left Outside Linebacker | 22 | 69.1 | 61.4
Notes: Miller’s passing rushing grade through two games is 64.6 and in coverage, his grade is 63.2. He has 3 tackles on the year and 3 quarterback hurries.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
10. Joshua McMillon | Inside Linebacker | 22 | 68.8 | 67.5
Notes: McMillon has a high season tackle grade of 80.5 and his rush defense grade is 71.8. Alabama needs depth at the poison and McMillon is showing signs at least early on that he can fill that void.
Players 11-20
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
11. Daniel Wright | Strong Safety | 27 | 68.6 | 41.1
12. Josh Jobe | Corner | 27 | 68.5 | 65.4
13. Labryan Ray | Defensive Line | 51 | 66.8 | 67.2
14. Xavier McKinney | Defensive Back | 56 | 66.6 | 60.9
15. Trevon Diggs | Corner | 56 | 66.4 | 71.6
16. Tevita Musika | Defensive Line | 17 | 65.7 | 73.8
17. Keaton Anderson | Strong Safety | 16 | 64.6 | 64.6
18. Jamey Mosley | Left Outside Linebacker | 19 | 63.7 | 65.5
19. Phidarian Mathis | Defensive Line | 36 | 63.1 | 60.5
20. Eyabi Anoma | Outside Linebacker | 28 | 62.8 | 55.5
20. Dylan Moses | Inside Linebacker | 30 | 62.8 | 51.9
26. Ben Davis | Right Outside Linebacker | 14 | 58.4 | NA
Today, Kyle Henderson of BamaInsider.com takes a deep dive on Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. In the following piece, Henderson will provide detailed numbers of Tagovailoa’s stats including, dropbacks, overall offensive grade, comparison to Jalen Hurts, passing direction chart, and highlight Nick Saban’s recent comments on the sophomore phenom who is now a 3/1 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
Story Link
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/dee...mson-tide-football-quarterback-tua-tagovailoa
Numbers Crunch: Special Teams Concerns
There were concerns surrounding the Alabama kicking game entering the 2018 season and through two games, those concerns still exist. During the first two games of the season, Alabama is 2 of 3 from field goal range and 12 of 15 kicking PATs.
Temple transfer Austin Jones who had a PFF grade of 74.0 and 53.8 over the last two seasons, has a current grade of 43.2 at Alabama and has missed three extra points and has missed one field goal from the 20-29 range. The good news is that redshirt freshmen Joseph Bulovas is 5 for 5 at extra points and hit a 39-yard field goal against Arkansas State in week two, so maybe Bulovas will be named the starter moving forward as his PFF grade is a 73.0.
Continue Reading
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/numbers-crunch-alabama-crimson-tide-football-special-teams-concerns
Alabama vs. the AP Top 5
After two weeks of play, we compared Alabama's offensive and defensive team grades against the AP Top 5. In the following chart (See link), you'll see how Alabama's stacks up against No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Oklahoma.
Comparison Link
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/alabama-crimson-tide-football-vs-the-ap-top-5
Week Two Hot 11
Story Link
https://alabama.rivals.com/news/alabama-crimson-tide-football-hot-11-after-arkansas-state
Week Two Team Grades After Arkansas State
We are excited to announce that the Rivals network has teamed up with Pro Football Focus, the go-to site for player grades and advanced analytics in both college football and the NFL. We will incorporate PFF data into stories regularly going forward, and one thing you can look forward to each week is a grade for all of Alabama’s players from the previous game.
Below is a grade card showing how the top 20 offensive and defensive players fared during Alabama’s 57-7 victory over Arkansas State.
But first, an explanation from PFF on how the grading scale works:
On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to what he did on the play.
At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation, with the middle of that scale being 0-graded, or ‘expected’ plays that are neither positive nor negative.
Each game is also graded by a second PFF analyst independent of the first, and those grades are compared by a third, Senior Analyst, who rules on any differences between the two. These grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network, a group of former and current NFL coaches with over 700 combined years of NFL coaching experience, to get them as accurate as they can be.
From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale and appear in our Player Grades Tool.
Season-level grades aren’t simply an average of every game-grade a player compiles over a season, but rather factor in the duration at which a player performed at that level. Achieving a grade of 90.0 in a game once is impressive, doing it (12) times in a row is more impressive.
It is entirely possible that a player will have a season grade higher than any individual single-game grade he achieved, because playing well for an extended period of time is harder to do than for a short period, similarly, playing badly for a long time is a greater problem than playing badly once, so the grade can also be compounded negatively..
Alabama Offensive Week Two Grades (Top 10)
Note: LW = Last Week Grade
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
1. Najee Harris | Running Back | 28 | 87.6 | 67.5
Notes: Harris ran the football 13 times for 135-yards which is a 10.4 per carry average and scored one touchdown. On the season he’s rushed for 21 carries for 165-yards with two touchdowns.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
2. Lester Cotton | Left Guard | 69 | 80.4 | 75.4
Notes: Cotton has a season average grade of 82.7 and his passing grade jumped from 72.3 against Louisville to 81.0 against Arkansas State.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
3. Tua Tagovailoa | Quarterback | 23 | 77.8 | 92.4
Notes: Tagovailoa’s was 13 of 19 passing for 228-yards with four touchdowns but was knocked on his passing grade for forcing bad balls which could have led to interceptions. On the season, he is 25 of 35 (71%) passing for 452-yards with 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
4. Damien Harris | Running Back | 22 | 76.7 | 59.4
Notes: Harris carried the football 12 times for 62-yards an average of 6.4. Harris continues to grade out strong in the pass blocking category, against Louisville he was 76.5 and against Arkansas State, his grade was 75.8. On the season he has rushed 19 times for 116-yards.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
5. Jerry Jeudy | Receiver | 42 | 74.7 | 77.7
Notes: Against Arkansas State Jeudy was targeted four times and caught up with four receptions for 87-yards and two touchdowns. On the season he has 8 receptions for 151-yards with four touchdowns an 18.9 yard per reception average.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
6. Derek Kief | Receiver | 12 | 74.7 | 56.4
Notes: Kief has not seen a lot of playing time so far, but when Alabama went to him, he delivered catching a 14-yard touchdown pass on a tightrope from Tagovailoa. His receiving route grade for the game was a 72.8. Kief has played 24 plays total in each of the last two games.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
7. Jonah Williams | Left Tackle | 69 | 74.3 | 90.6
Notes: Against Arkansas State, Williams was in on 36 run blocking plays and 33 pass blocking plays. He has allowed just two hurries in 127 total snaps. His run blocking grade in week one was a 90.6 against Arkansas State, his run blocking grade was a 75.5.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
8. Henry Ruggs III | Receiver | 54 | 72.9 | 59.8
Notes: Ruggs was target four times on Saturday hauling in three receptions for 56-yards and a touchdown. His per catch average this season is 14.2 and his grade for pass routes is 65.2
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
9. Ross Pierschbacher | Offensive Line | 69 | 70.4 | 73.6
Notes: Making his second start at center, Pierschbacher has fared well to start the year. He has a passing grade average of 83.4 in 127 total snaps and has allowed no hurries or sacks. His run blocking grade was just 65.0 against the Red Wolves.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
10. Irv Smith Jr. | Tight End | 23 | 67.9 | 82.3
Notes: Alabama went to their playmaking tight end four times on Saturday and it paid off with Smith catching all four passes for 41-yards and a touchdown. Smith has a pass route running season grade of 78.2, but his pass blocking grade through two games is a 43.5.
Players 11-20
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
11. DeVonta Smith | Receiver | 55 | 66.0 | 79.6
12. Jalen Hurts | Quarterback | 27 | 65.4 | 68.8
13. Brian Robinson | Running Back | 10 | 63.3 | 66.3
14. Deionte Brown | Right Guard | 15 | 61.5 | 65.5
15. Hale Hentges | Tight End | 20 | 61.4 | 67.1
16. Xavian Marks | Receiver | 5 | 60.5 | 57.8
17. Chris Owens | Center | 6 | 60.4 | 69.4
18. Alex Leatherwood | Right Guard | 60 | 60.1 | 68.6
19. Josh Casher | Left Guard | 6 | 50.3 | 83.9
20. Joshua Jacobs | Running Back | 24 | 58.4 | 80.5
26. Jedrick Williams | Right tackle | 68 | 56.0 | 78.7
Alabama Defensive Week Two Grades (Top 10)
Note: LW = Last Week Grade
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
1. Quinnen Williams | Defensive Tackle | 34 | 87.1 | 90.0
Notes: Williams had another strong showing posting a grade of 87.1 against Arkansas State. His season average for rush defense is 91.8 and his pass rush grade is 84.7, in other words, he is balling out.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
2. Raekwon Davis | Defensive End | 47 | 78.5 | 72.6
Notes: Davis has proven to be steady at the end position and improved his grade week over week. He has a run defense grade of 86.1 this season and already has seven hurries on the quarterback.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
3. Isaiah Buggs | Defensive End | 28 | 78.3 | 67.3
Notes: First off, he’s fine after suffering a minor ankle injury. He spoke to the media following the game. Buggs has a pass rushing grade of 67.1 on the season and has recorded a sack in each of the last two games. His overall grade is 74.8.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
4. Deionte Thompson | Free Safety | 57 | 73.5 | 94.2
Notes: Had a solid showing for the second straight week. In coverage, his grade is an amazing 92.7 and he has 10 tackles in two games with one interception. His grade on rush defense is 80.6.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
5. Patrick Surtain II | Corner | 61 | 72.9 | 62.5
Notes: Surtain is getting plenty of early playing time at Alabama and leads all true freshmen with 93 snaps. Against Arkansas State, Surtain was targeted 6 times and allowed just one reception for 11-yards. On the season he’s been targeted 10 times and has allowed just 3 receptions for 34-yards.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
6. Saivion Smith | Corner | 57 | 72.5 | 72.6
Notes: Smith is showing early consistency in the secondary which Alabama obvious needs. He has displayed a high open field tackling ability and has a tackle grade of 85.4 and in coverage his grade is 72.5. He has been targeted 5 times and has allowed just two receptions.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
7. Shyheim Carter | Corner | 45 | 71.3 | 78.0
Notes: Cater has a high coverage grade of 80.1 on the season and his overall defensive grade is 78.5. Very steady through two games.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
8. Kyriq McDonald | Corner | 27 | 70.6 | 49.9
Notes: Last game McDonald only saw 6 snaps, on Saturday against Arkansas State he saw 27. His coverage grade was 65.7 and his tackle grade was high at 76.5. He was targeted 4 times by the Red Wolves and gave up 3 receptions.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
9. Christian Miller | Left Outside Linebacker | 22 | 69.1 | 61.4
Notes: Miller’s passing rushing grade through two games is 64.6 and in coverage, his grade is 63.2. He has 3 tackles on the year and 3 quarterback hurries.
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
10. Joshua McMillon | Inside Linebacker | 22 | 68.8 | 67.5
Notes: McMillon has a high season tackle grade of 80.5 and his rush defense grade is 71.8. Alabama needs depth at the poison and McMillon is showing signs at least early on that he can fill that void.
Players 11-20
Player | Position | Snaps | Grade | LW Grade
11. Daniel Wright | Strong Safety | 27 | 68.6 | 41.1
12. Josh Jobe | Corner | 27 | 68.5 | 65.4
13. Labryan Ray | Defensive Line | 51 | 66.8 | 67.2
14. Xavier McKinney | Defensive Back | 56 | 66.6 | 60.9
15. Trevon Diggs | Corner | 56 | 66.4 | 71.6
16. Tevita Musika | Defensive Line | 17 | 65.7 | 73.8
17. Keaton Anderson | Strong Safety | 16 | 64.6 | 64.6
18. Jamey Mosley | Left Outside Linebacker | 19 | 63.7 | 65.5
19. Phidarian Mathis | Defensive Line | 36 | 63.1 | 60.5
20. Eyabi Anoma | Outside Linebacker | 28 | 62.8 | 55.5
20. Dylan Moses | Inside Linebacker | 30 | 62.8 | 51.9
26. Ben Davis | Right Outside Linebacker | 14 | 58.4 | NA
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