The new-look Virginia offensive line graded out well for its work in the Cavaliers’ 34-17 win over Richmond on Saturday, with one notable exception.
Left tackle McKale Boley, the first true freshman to start on the O line at Virginia since D’Brickashaw Ferguson in 2002, was given a 42.5 grade by Pro Football Focus.
Boley played all 79 offensive snaps, and on the 41 pass snaps, he allowed six QB pressures – six of the eight allowed by the line on the day, according to PFF.
The rest of the line grades:
- RT Logan Taylor: 71.7 PFF grade, 79 snaps, two pressures on 41 pass snaps, one missed block on 38 run snaps
- LG John Paul Flores: 65.8 PFF grade, 63 snaps, zero pressures on 35 pass snaps, one missed block on 28 run snaps
- RG Derek Devine: 62.8 PFF grade, 79 snaps, zero pressures on 41 pass snaps, one missed block on 38 run snaps
- C Ty Furnish: 60.9 PFF grade, 79 snaps, zero pressures on 41 pass snaps, one missed block on 38 run snaps
- LG Noah Josey: 92.0 PFF grade, 16 snaps, one pressure on six pass snaps, no missed blocks on 10 run snaps
Brennan Armstrong in the new offense
Brennan Armstrong was given a 73.5 PFF grade for his day. Armstrong was 21-of-33 passing for 246 yards, two TDs and an INT.
On the ground, Armstrong ran for 105 yards on 10 attempts with a 64-yard TD run.
Armstrong’s season PFF grade in 2021 was 91.8, so this was a subpar day for him in that context.
On 16 pass dropbacks under pressure, Armstrong was 7-of-12 for 71 yards, a TD, the INT, and a 68.4 NFL QB rating.
On the 23 clean dropbacks, Armstrong was 14-of-21 for 175 yards and a TD, and a 108.2 NFL QB rating.
In terms of depth, Armstrong was 15-of-21 for 115 yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage out to nine yards, 4-of-6 for 50 yards on 10- to 19-yard throws, and 2-of-5 for 81 yards on 20+-yard throws.
Armstrong scrambled six times for 40 yards.
Low grades for the receivers
The highly-touted receiver corps had an off-day, with four drops – one each for Keytaon Thompson, Lavel Davis Jr., Dontayvion Wicks and tight end Grant Misch.
The highest grade of the day went to Thompson, who scored a 68.0, with four catches on six targets for 55 yards.
Billy Kemp was given a 66.2 grade. He had three catches on three targets for 25 yards.
Davis had four catches on six targets, including a 56-yard TD and 89 total receiving yards, and was given a 65.8 PFF grade.
Dontayvion Wicks was given the lowest grade of the receiver group, 52.5, with six catches on 12 targets for 47 yards.
Misch got a 50.7 for his one catch on two targets, 11 receiving yards day.
Defense
Missed tackles, a problem for the unit last season, were there again on Saturday, with PFF identifying a total of 13 on the day.
Five guys played all 70 defensive snaps – corners Fentrell Cypress (76.7 grade), Anthony Johnson (71.3) and Darrius Bratton (64.4), safety Jonas Sanker (66.9) and middle linebacker Nick Jackson (64.1).
Linebacker Josh Ahern had to sit out the first half to serve the suspension for his targeting penalty in the season-finale loss last year. In 32 second-half snaps, he rated 73.7 per PFF, with four tackles – two of them critical stops on a third-and-one and fourth-and-one in Virginia territory in the third quarter – and a sack.
Other standouts:
- DEs Paul Akere (20 snaps, three pressures, 86.1 PFF grade) and Kam Butler (50 snaps, four pressures, 73.5 grade)
- DTs Jahmeer Carter (52 snaps, one pressure, 76.4 grade) and Aaron Faumui (54 snaps, one sack, three pressures, 62.1 grade)
- SS Antonio Clary (64 snaps, seven tackles, 65.4 NFL QB rating allowed on five targets)
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Chris Graham
