Closer Look: Clemson-Duke playing time breakdown, notable player grades

Clemson's box score looked better than its PFF grades in the final tallies.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Wed Sep 06 18:37:37 GMT-04:00 2023

Taking a look at the playing time and notable Pro Football Focus grades position by position in the 28-7 Clemson loss at Duke on Labor Day (snaps this week provided by PFF):

Offense

(The number by a player's name initially is the game's snap count, per PFF. The snaps are all offensive and defensive snaps and do not count special teams.)

PFF unit performance grades: Offense - 62.7; Passing - 58.6; Pass blocking - 65.9; Receiving - 53.2; Running - 66.6; Run blocking - 58.2.

QB: Cade Klubnik 86 snaps. Notes: Klubnik’s 54.4 PFF grade was the worst for a Clemson starting quarterback since DJ Uiagalelei in the 2021 opener versus Georgia (49.9). He was particularly knocked on the turnovers front (26.3 fumble grade) and was sub-50 as a runner (49.3). He made no “big-time throws” and committed two “turnover-worthy plays,” per the outlet. In 164 career dropbacks, Klubnik has connected on three big-time throws. His predecessor Uiagalelei connected on 22 big-time throws in 413 dropbacks last year. Klubnik’s passing did suffer four drops from Clemson receivers. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said postgame that Duke contained any deep passing attack, as only 7% of Klubnik’s throws were over 20 yards and all three passes went incomplete. He was 5-of-6 for pass attempts 10-19 yards out, however.

RB: Will Shipley 61, Phil Mafah 36, Domonique Thomas 1. Notes: Shipley was Clemson’s top-rated skill player (69.1 overall grade) with his best grade as a runner since the South Carolina game (73.5; 80.9 vs. the Gamecocks). Mafah wasn’t far behind grades-wise (67.4).

WR: Beaux Collins 80, Antonio Williams 61, Cole Turner 52, Adam Randall 29, Tyler Brown 25, Brannon Spector 6. Notes: No Clemson receiver graded above a 61.1 per PFF, which was led by Williams (61.1). The four drops were spread out to four different receivers with Randall, Turner and Williams here, and Shipley was tagged with the other.

TE: Jake Briningstool 66, Sage Ennis 12, Josh Sapp 1. Notes: No tight end graded higher than a 60, but Ennis did earn the best grade on offense as a run blocker in six of those plays (82.8). Briningstool was tagged with a 44.7 grade as a pass blocker, bringing his overall grade down to 54.8.

OL: Blake Miller 86, Will Putnam 86, Walker Parks 73, Marcus Tate 68, Tristan Leigh 61, Mitchell Mayes 31, Colin Sadler 25. Notes: Putnam led all Tigers offensively with a 71.1 grade, buoyed by an 85.3 pass-blocking mark. On the other end, Miller’s 47.7 grade tied for the worst from a starting lineman in the last two years and was the worst overall since 2021 (Parks versus Syracuse, 47.6). PFF docked Miller most as a pass blocker (47.5) with six pressures allowed. Parks was charged with five pressures allowed for a 32.9 pass-blocking grade as he rotated with Mayes in the right guard role. In his first start, Leigh posted a solid pass-blocking grade (70.4) and ranked third in the group in run-blocking (61.5).

Defense

PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 67.6; Run defense - 56.4; Tackling - 61; Pass rush - 75; Coverage - 65.8.

ED: Justin Mascoll 48, Xavier Thomas 44, TJ Parker 22, Cade Denhoff 16. Notes: Parker and Thomas had identical overall grades to lead the group (67.7), with Thomas totaling six pressures and Parker getting four. Mascoll played the most snaps and finished with the defense-worst 52.6 grade. He was one of the surest tacklers, however, with a 78.3 grade there and credited with five tackles.

DL: Tyler Davis 43, Ruke Orhorhoro 41, Payton Page 13 Peter Woods 11. Notes: Davis notched a defense-best 77.1 grade with solid marks across the board. With only 11 snaps, Woods ranked second there (71.4) and Orhorhoro third (70.4). Orhorhoro led the unit with four pressures and two stops.

LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. 65, Barrett Carter 48, Wade Woodaz 28. Notes: It was a rough night for PFF’s top-rated linebacker group nationally, with Trotter graded as the third-worst of the overall defense (57.2) and Carter not much better (62.9). Trotter, who missed practice time due to injury (hamstring), has now posted two of his three worst PFF grades as a starter in back-to-back games, with Duke and the 55.4 grade against Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. Carter suffered his worst tackling mark as a starter (30.2) with three missed tackles – one memorable for preceding a long touchdown run from Duke’s Riley Leonard. In the bright spots area, Woodaz did have the best non-D-lineman grade on defense (68).

DB: Jalyn Phillips 65, RJ Mickens 61, Andrew Mukuba 60, Sheridan Jones 26, Nate Wiggins 24, Jeadyn Lukus 20, Khalil Barnes 5, Sherrod Covil Jr. 4. Notes: Despite not starting, Wiggins did total the second-most cornerback snaps and graded out best at the position coverage-wise (68.6). The nickelback Mukuba (67.7), Mickens (67.1) and Lukus (66.8) were in the same general area for coverage grades. Mukuba’s receiver was targeted the most (9), and Duke had only four completions against him for 19 yards. Phillips had a DB-low 55.2 grade, where he was knocked most in his run defense (39.6).

Special teams

Overall PFF grade: 74.3. Notes: Woodaz led the whole unit with an 89.9 grade and two tackles in kickoff coverage. Redshirt freshman placekicker Robert Gunn III had a 51.1 grade on field goals, where Duke got a piece of both wayward attempts.