PFF grades and playing time breakdown from Clemson's loss at NC State

Clemson 's defense had some standout efforts in the loss at NC State.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Mon Oct 30 16:11:03 GMT-04:00 2023

Taking a look at the playing time and notable Pro Football Focus grades position by position from the 24-17 loss at NC State:

Offense

(The number by a player's name initially is the game's snap count. The snaps are all offensive and defensive snaps and do not count special teams. Snap totals for scholarship players and depth chart members are listed in the feature. The entire participation report is attached below.)

(PFF grades tend to run lower than school grades, so high 80 grades are on the high end and it's a harsher grade below 60 or so).

PFF unit performance grades: Offense - 62.7; Passing - 66.8; Pass blocking - 63.1; Receiving - 60.9; Running - 68.5; Run blocking - 50.4.

QB: Cade Klubnik 80, Hunter Helms NS, Paul Tyson NS, Christopher Vizzina NS. Notes: Klubnik dropped back to pass the most times this season (54) and averaged below six yards per pass for a third time this season (5.2). Klubnik’s grade as a passer, as of Monday afternoon, is actually his second-highest of the campaign (66.8), and just one of his interceptions was tabbed as a “turnover-worthy play” by PFF. On deep throws, Klubnik completed 2-of-3 for 56 yards, while also connecting on 5-of-8 medium-distance attempts (10-19 yards) for 65 yards. He was under pressure on just 22.2% of his throws, but both picks came versus the NC State blitz. Klubnik wasn’t deemed to have a “big-time throw” in any of his 51 attempts Saturday.

RB: Phil Mafah 65, Will Shipley* 16, Domonique Thomas 2, Keith Adams Jr. NS, Jarvis Green NS, Jay Haynes* NS (did not travel). Notes: Before his exit on the big goal-line collision, Shipley posted his best PFF grade of the season (74.9), thanks to a strong mark in the passing game (84.5) with two catches in three targets for 20 yards. With Shipley sidelined, Mafah saw his most snaps as a Tiger and tallied 68 of his 84 yards after contact, scoring two touchdowns.

WR: Troy Stellato 69, Beaux Collins 68, Tyler Brown 45, Adam Randall 28, Brannon Spector 16, Ronan Hanafin 4, Hamp Greene ST, Hampton Earle ST, Clay Swinney ST, Noble Johnson NS (did not travel). Notes: Collins (54.3) and Stellato (53.4) were two of the six Tiger starters on offense to be at the bottom of PFF’s grades on that side of the ball. Collins had a key third-down drop with space around him, bringing in four catches for 40 yards in nine targets overall. The knock for Stellato in the grades isn’t as apparent, but he did manage just 4.1 yards per reception on seven catches in eight targets.

TE: Jake Briningstool 72, Sage Ennis 15, Olsen Patt-Henry 2, Josh Sapp 1, Markus Dixon NS (did not travel). Notes: Ennis again led Clemson’s offense in run-blocking grade (68.8), and this week, he led Clemson’s offensive grades-wise overall (82.9), hauling in a 28-yard catch to set the Tigers up in the red zone for a 1-yard Mafah TD.

OL: Will Putnam 80, Blake Miller 80, Tristan Leigh 80, Marcus Tate 78, Collin Sadler 73, Trent Howard 9, Harris Sewell NS, Mitchell Mayes NS, Ryan Linthicum NS, Dietrick Pennington ST, Bryn Tucker NS, Ian Reed NS (did not travel), Zack Owens NS (did not travel). Notes: Leigh made the move to right guard for the first time in his playing time (high school or college) and graded his best as a starter in pass-blocking (88.3) and his worst as a starter in run-blocking (43.5; 55.7 overall grade). Two other Tiger starters were in that bottom-six group in PFF grades, with Tate (55.5) and Sadler (54.2). Miller (63) and Putnam (62.4) made the Top 10 offensive grades.

Defense

PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 79.4; Run defense - 86.5; Tackling - 76; Pass rush - 63.9, Coverage - 75.3.

ED: Xavier Thomas 38, TJ Parker 32, AJ Hoffler 14, Cade Denhoff 11, Jahiem Lawson 1, Zaire Patterson NS, David Ojiegbe NS. Notes: Thomas came back from suspension and posted his best marks of the season against the run (80.8) and tackling (77.1), but he was limited to one pressure and a 53.9 grade in pass rush.

DL: Tyler Davis 31, Ruke Orhorhoro 31, Payton Page 13, DeMonte Capehart 13, Tré Williams 7, Caden Story ST, Stephiylan Green NS. Notes: Capehart led Clemson in PFF grade (79.8) with his best effort against the run (77.8).

LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. 48, Barrett Carter 48, Wade Woodaz 16, Jamal Anderson ST, Dee Crayton ST, Kobe McCloud NS. Notes: Trotter logged his second-best PFF grade of the season (79.5) with a team-high four pressures (all QB hurries) and added four stops. Carter led the team in stops (5) and was again among Clemson’s coverage standouts (74.7 grade; one catch for three yards in three targets his way).

DB: Khalil Barnes 48, Andrew Mukuba 48, Sheridan Jones 44, Nate Wiggins 44, Sherrod Covil 25, Toriano Pride 8, Jalyn Phillips 7, Avieon Terrell ST, Shelton Lewis ST, Kylon Griffin ST, Branden Strozier NS, Rob Billings NS, Kylen Webb NS (did not travel), Myles Oliver NS (did not travel), Tyler Venables* NS (did not travel). Notes: Phillips was limited to seven snaps due to injury, his teammate Khalil Barnes said on Monday, and Phillips was therefore unable to improve on a rough start that gave him a defense-low PFF grade (49.5). He was tagged with Kevin Concepcion’s 9-yard TD in the red zone. Three of the bottom-4 in PFF grade were Tiger defensive backs with Pride (57.1; 72-yard TD was on his receiver) and Jones (52.6) also. Wiggins was again a standout in coverage (76.8) with one catch for five yards in three targets his way.