It's a nice, relaxing Saturday for the Tennessee Volunteers and their fans, as they can kick their feet up and watch some stress-free football on Saturday with the Vols on their second bye of the season.
But there's still time for us to double back and take a glance at how the individual Vols have looked this season. There have been standouts and disappointments, so let's take a look at who's led the team, both in statistics and in Pro Football Focus grades.
This one's quite easy. Nico has posted a stat line so far of 108/170 (63.5%) 1413 yards with 8 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. It's been quite the drop off after a blistering hot start to the season. On the ground, Nico has added 53 rushes for 179 yards with a score. It would be nice to see that number increase over the last five games of the regular season, as that's an area of his game where he can exploit teams.
A record season for Dylan Sampson, who leads the team with 833 yards on 144 carries with 17 touchdowns. He will match Gene McEver's 95-year-old touchdown record with a score next weekend against Kentucky (let's be real, he'll probably break it).
The only individual(s) with a higher rushing stat than Sampson are DeSean Bishop (53 carries) and Peyton Lewis (17 carries) with their 6.9 ypc average. Of course, the more you carry, the more that average is likely to go down.
This has been a disappointing year by this bunch, and that's captured by the numbers. Squirrel White and Bru McCoy lead the team with 20 catches each. Dont'e Thornton leads the team with 365 receiving yards, serving as the best deep ball threat on the team so far. He also leads the team with 3 receiving scores.
An underwhelming group that needs to do better after the break.
Will Brooks leads the team with 37 total tackles. He is also tied with Jermod McCoy for the team lead in interceptions. McCoy leads the team in passes defended with 5.
James Pearce Jr. leads the team in tackles for loss (5.5) and sacks (3.5). However, he leads the nation in pressure rate at a tick over 22%. It hasn't been a massive year on the stat sheet, but boy has it been a productive one for the Vols' star defensive end.
But perhaps the most amazing stat speaks to why this defense has been as good as it has this year. An incredible 22 defenders have tallied at least 10 total tackles this season. The Vols' defense has been strong no matter when they roll in backups, and that's just further proof. Impressive.
On the offensive side of the ball, the top five graded players with at least 50 snaps this season are:
That feels pretty on brand with at least what my eyes have shown me this year. Thornton's been the best of the WR group, and Sampson's been elite (perhaps Sampson should be higher than Thornton, as #6 has definitely been the best player on this team this year without a shadow of a doubt).
Of course, the Vols' tackles have struggled mightily at times this year, so low grades for the for that group is pretty fitting. Nimrod has some opportunities this year, but he wasn't able to make much of them.
Hard to argue with these players being at the top of the defense. McCoy's been among the best defenders in the SEC and Joseph, West, and Pearce have all had strong seasons on a defensive front that's been as good as any in college football. Pearce being higher might be surprising given his pressure rate, but still a strong season regardless. Josephs has been a rock against the run, with just one missed tackle on the season.
And now the bottom five defensive grades (50 min snaps):
I guess I'm a tad surprised at Carter. I haven't noticed him as having been an issue or routinely out of place. Turrentine turned in a rough grade for run defense, with a team low 29.7 mark. Woof.
So, yeah, I'd say for the most part the stats and grades match up with what my eyeballs have witnessed this season. What about you? Any surprises?