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Which Auburn players had the highest and lowest Pro Football Focus grades against Kentucky?
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Which Auburn players had the highest and lowest Pro Football Focus grades against Kentucky?

Auburn finally found a win.

Auburn, which had been coming close for weeks but couldn’t finish the race, won 24-10 on the road against Kentucky. This was Auburn’s first Southeastern Conference win of the season and first against a Power 4 team since defeating Arkansas 48-10 on Nov. 11, 2023.

Professional Football Focus He gave Auburn an overall grade of 77.9; that was the most since the Week 1 win over Alabama A&M. PFF also graded every player in the game.

Here are the highest and lowest ranked players:

Attack

top 5

  1. RB Jarquez Hunter – 85.1
  2. OL Dillon Wade – 72.2
  3. WR Camden Brown-71
  4. TE Luke Agreement – 70.1
  5. C Connor Lew- 69

Analysis

When you rush for 278 yards, it’s hard not to get the top mark on offense. Hunter set a new career high in rushing yards and was undoubtedly Auburn’s player of the game.

Hunter got a lot of help from the offensive line and tight ends; Which explains the inclusion of Wade, Deal and Lew on this list. Wade’s run blocking was good enough to put him in the top five despite his 28.4 pass blocking grade.

Brown is the only one of the starters whose grade is slightly skewed, as he only played eight snaps in the game. He had one catch, but it was a big catch and he had to tackle the defender for the first down.

Bottom 5

  1. TE Rivaldo Fairweather – 49.3
  2. WR Cam Coleman – 54.8
  3. RB Jeremiah Cobb – 55
  4. OL Bradyn Carpenter – 57.5
  5. WR Perry Thompson – 58.2

Analysis

Cobb and Thompson are unlucky to make this list, as they only played six and four offensive snaps, respectively.

The rest of the group’s low grades are due to poor blocking grades, mostly in pass blocking. Coleman is an exception because he is not a pass blocker under any circumstances, but he does have a 41.4 run blocking grade.

Defense

top 5

  1. LB Keyron Crawford – 84.4
  2. CB Jay Crawford – 83
  3. DL Zykeivous Walker – 75.1
  4. LB Eugene Asante – 73.4
  5. DL Isaiah Raikes – 73.1

Analysis

Keyron and Jay Crawford’s notes typify the entirety of Auburn’s defense against Kentucky. Keyron Crawford and the front seven were putting pressure on Kentucky’s two point guards all game, and Jay Crawford was Auburn’s best player on the back end.

Despite being a true freshman and coming into the season as a rotational player, Jay Crawford has become arguably Auburn’s best defensive player.

He is consistently among Auburn’s top-rated players and caught his first career interception against Kentucky. His 87.9 coverage grade was the highest by an Auburn player in a game since Champ Anthony’s 91.8 grade against Arkansas, and that grade came in just 12 snaps.

The grades from Asante, Walker and Raikes show how well the front end is playing, but it should also be noted that Walker only played eight snaps. Another player worth mentioning is Jalen McLeod, who finished just outside the top five in 6th place.

He had the highest passing grade on the team at 89.9, accounting for four pressures. His passing grade was the highest by an Auburn player in a game this season.

Bottom 5

  1. LB Demarcus Riddick – 40.2
  2. CB Kensley Louidor-Faustin- 50.2
  3. DB Sylvester Smith – 59.6
  4. Quientrail Jamison-Travis- 59.7
  5. Robert Woodyard Jr.- 61.8

Analysis

The good news about this list is that only one of the five players on the list played significant snaps.

Outside of Smith’s 37 snaps, Riddick played 10, Louidor-Faustin nine, Jamison-Travis 19 and Woodyard 15. There wasn’t much of a common theme with the low grades, but many were playing very few snaps. It is difficult to give a fair rating.

Smith’s grade fell primarily due to his coverage grade of 53.9, but he had the third-highest tackle grade on the team at 77.8.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports AL.com. You can follow him at: @peter_rauterkus or email him [email protected]M.