PFF Grades Reveal Surprising Sam Leavitt Truth

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1:03Football's on. All season long on ESPN and streaming on the ESPN app. A ho-hum win over Louisiana Tech. But what did pro football focus think? You'll hear the grades next, Lockdown LSU. Here we go. You are Lockdown LSU, your daily podcast on the LSU Tigers. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Okay, let's get it. It is Lockdown LSU, your team every day. I'm your host Matt Musco, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Get $350 in bonus bets guaranteed when you bet just $5 every day for seven days. Join all the action at fandool.com. What we do here every week after LSU plays is we dive into the pro football focus grades. Now, if you're in every day or you've heard me say this for years, some of you laugh at

2:04it. I don't care. I'm going to say it again because it's the caveat I give every time we do a pro football focus show because there are always new people who find this show. Pro football focus is a metric. It's not the metric. It's not the Holy Grail. It's just something to consider. It's a data point we use to say this is something outside of the normal stats you see in a game. Yards, completion percentage, turnovers, third down conversion, all that stuff to consider. So that's what we do here. We'll go off and defense special teams as how we'll break down this show. And I want to start with Sam Levit because his grade is probably going to be the most surprising thing we talk about. Over the last 24 hours since the game ended, the most reaction I've gotten from people is, man, Sam Levit, landing Clark looked pretty good. At what point do you start thinking about making a change? Now I think that's presumptive. It's really aggressive and it's way too soon for that. But three interceptions from Sam Levit is not great.

3:08The thing I'll tell you though is in Sam Levit's career, this is only the second time he has ever had a multi-interception game. He had one last year at Arizona State, where he threw two interceptions against Mississippi State. So there's only second time in his career that is at a multiple interception game. So it's the exception, not the rule, what happened. But still, the fact that the LSU offense scuffle a bit had a lot of people curious. So it'll probably shock you to learn that if you look at the offensive grades of players that played at least 20 snaps, Sam Levit was the highest graded LSU player on PFF. Tyree Holloway who played six snaps had an 88.8. Landing Clark who played 12 snaps at an 86.9. Levit, 75 snaps and 81.6. His passing grade was a 75.9. His running grade was a 76.1. His run blocking grade was just a 60, but I don't think you're asking.

4:11Sam Levit necessarily to run blocking off a lot. The thing that's the most interesting to me about Levit's numbers, again, a metric just something to consider how they break all this down. Profitball focus looks at one metric they call a turnover worthy play. So Sam Levit ran, as I just said, 75 snaps. How many turnover worthy plays did he have? How many turnover did he account for? How many were turnover worthy plays, meaning bad decisions that would result in a turnover whether it's it or not? Profitball focus graded Sam Levit with one turnover worthy play. Now it doesn't chart or solidify which play that was. My guess is it's the ball that he overthrew trade as green and was intercepted. The first interception. The two goal line interceptions he threw into a crowd and both were intercepted.

5:12Now I'm not excusing the plays or the throws, but sometimes as a quarterback you got to fit a ball into a tight window and you got to make a play near the goal line. Now I would say that those are inexcusable, but I'm also not a scout or someone who looks at fill them all the time to tell you whether or not that's what should have happened or what the play call was on those on those downs. The other part that certainly works in Sam Levit's favor is the fact that he ran in this game for a couple of touchdowns. So when you see Sam Levit run for three touchdowns in the ball game and make plays with his feet, well, that's probably going to override some of the deficiencies in the turnovers in the passing game. The bottom line with Sam Levit I think is it's pretty clear right now that he adds a dimension to the offense you haven't had the last couple of years with Garrett and Usmire, right? The ability to run the football and that dynamic. The question is can you erase the negative plays and that was the question coming in.

6:14But as you look through the numbers, the negative plays while sometimes they look egregious, they haven't been on moss. So you know, a six interceptions in 2024 is the most he had in a full season. So, and this is only the second time he's had a multi interception game. My thing is I think that what we saw on Saturday and I was the exception, not the rule with Sam Levit. Profitball focus thought he actually put a good game despite the turnovers. Now the other biggest question that I've been asked, I want to go through the highest rated offensive players. The other biggest question I've been asked is Matt, where is Harlem Berry? I know what you and I as casual observers are conditioned to think five star number one running back in the country dynamic playmaker and I believe all of that is true. But I also have told you if you're in every day or what lane kiffin and Charlie Weiss look for in running backs. They have a bell cow who's their leading Russia. The either the first or second leading Russia in attempts is the quarterback and then they

7:18have a distant third who's a second running back. And so far that has been Stacey Gage and the reason and I've had this conversation with staff members. The reason is very obvious. It's the fact that Jones and Stacey Gage are exceptional pass blocking running backs. Well, let's look at this. I mentioned to you that a player is with at least 20 staff Sam Levit was the highest graded. Second highest graded was Stacey Gage. Graded out a 74.1. His pass blocking number was a 75.1. That tells you the story. I actually had an LSU staff member say, hey, go watch the touchdown pass against Clemson that Sam Levit through the touchdown pass to Winnie Watkins. It was his only touchdown pass. Stacey Gage was in the game on that play and Clemson blitzed the linebacker straight at the A gap and Stacey Gage stepped up stone wall that linebacker and gave Sam Levit

8:21a clean pocket to make that touchdown throw. And the staff members told me that's why Stacey Gage is in the game. So when you look at these pass blocking numbers, if I just look at the running backs, right? So Stacey Gage graded at a 75.1. Well, let's look at the other running backs. Harlem Berry's pass blocking grade, by the way, in this game was a 71.8. Dylan Jones was down at 27.2. Not awesome in that game. Now if you also want to look at the just the pass blocking attempts and opportunities for the running backs, Dylan Jones had nine pass blocking reps. Stacey Gage had three and stone walled his defenders all three times. He was outstanding. Harlem Berry had just one pass blocking attempt that he was in the game. The point is right now this staff looks at Dylan Jones and Stacey Gage and says it's almost a money ball approach. They may not be the high ceiling, super explosive dynamic backs, but they're the best all around

9:26backs that fit into what LSU is doing. They can run the ball with power between the tackles. They can catch the ball out of the backfield. And most importantly, they can pass block. And if you can pass block, then you're not predictable by personnel. That is a big reason why Stacey Gage is in the ball game and why he has overtaken Harlem Berry as the number two running back right now behind Dylan Jones. Now the offensive line is the next thing I want to talk about. And with very obvious reasons when we looked at what happened in this game on Saturday. It was a situation where LSU had 10 red zone possessions. They scored on eight of those 10 red zone possessions. But three times LSU had goal to go situations and then ended up kicking field goals. They went backwards in goal to go situations. What they were able to do so effectively against Clemson, move the pile, push forward, run the ball between the tackles. They were unable to do against Louisiana Tech.

10:26Now my hope with that, I'm sure you share this hope, is that it's what Lane Kiffin said. You faced a weird 335 stack and the whole premise of that defense is you just, you just have this massive humanity that clogs the middle that makes it really difficult to run the football between the tackles. And so you have to get to the edge, which LSU did by and large in the second half. But when they over commit like that, you can bust a big one, which we saw Dylan Jones do on the second play of the second half when he busted a 46-sharter. Unfortunately, he was tackled to the two yard line and then the problem I just alluded to popped up. LSU went backwards after that and settled for a short field goal. Well when you look at the offensive line in this game, Braille and Moore was outstanding. Braille and Moore, graded at a 73.4 overall. After that, Jordan Seaton, a 71.7, he was outstanding. Jordan Seaton's past block rate was an 89.1. Remember I've told you this before, when you look at pro football focus, it's sort of like the whole chart is color coded.

11:28The best is dark, dark, dark blue. Like 90s is like a dark blue. Then it gets lighter blue than dark green than lighter green than yellow. Light yellow then it gets worse. It gets darker. Yellow to dark yellow than to light orange to dark orange to red as it gets worse. So this was like a dark, dark, dark blue. I mean, an 89 is an outstanding past block rate for Seaton. But after Moore and Seaton have very clearly been your best offensive line, then you had a pretty big drop off. Remember I told you, Seaton was, Moore was a 73 and Seaton was a 71.7. Alubah was a 60.8. Bo Bordelon was a 57.5 and Weston Davis a 43.3. Davis was the lowest graded starter and the second lowest graded player of any that took an offensive snap. Bryce and Martinez, the freshman who took 10 offensive snaps was the lowest graded player. Weston Davis it's disappointing because last week against Clemson he graded out at a 58.

12:28And so to see that colossal drop off against Louisiana Tech was certainly disappointing for Weston Davis. This is a unit that I think we look at and we recognize you have an outstanding center and outstanding left tackle. But right now you're right tackle, you're left garden Bo Bordelon and you're right garden Alubah are just very average players. And so you're not going to have a high ceiling with those players, but you need is the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. You need those five to play together better than they are individually. They did that against Clemson. They did not do that against Louisiana Tech. And this week you're going to face a real challenge going to Oxford. It's a good defensive front from always that has struggled this year but has good players. Cam Franklin's a good player. Well, Eccles is maybe the best is certainly the best defensive line in LSU will have faced through three weeks. So you're going to face some good defensive lineman this week when you go to Oxford, you're going to need a better effort from that offensive line.

13:29Okay, let me flip it and we'll talk about the defense here in just a quick second when we come back. And as you might imagine, the defensive superlatives were certainly there. Now I didn't mention trade as green yet who had an awesome day. He was just behind Stacey Gage at a 73.9 overall. The only thing that dinged him was his run blocking grade at a 49.6. But we can forgive trade as green for that. He's not in there to run block. And anyway, we'll get to the defense when we come back. It's locked on LSU, your team every day. Protein seems to be everywhere these days in popcorn, cereal, coffee, bars, powder snacks. But when it comes to feeding a family, keeping protein simple can mean choosing quality meats that you can trust. Domostakes makes it easy with high quality proteins butchered and aged in house and sourced right here in the US. From steaks and burgers to chicken and seafood, there are plenty of options to make quality protein part of everyday meals. And with Omaha steaks, there's transparency behind what's being served, including where

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15:37Within 20,000 team members, a $5 billion network of care across Louisiana and Mississippi, national recognition for quality, including two exceptional workplace awards from Gallup, Coach Lane Kiffin and players like Sam Levitt, Whitwick, Strait As Green and Jordan Seaton, they trust our Lady of the Lake with their health. And that's not a decision a program like LSU takes likely. And here's what I really want you to hear. The same expertise trusted by LSU athletes is available to you and your family every single day. Pediatrics, heart care, sports medicine, recovering from an everyday injury, whatever you need. The Lake brings that same best in class care to families all across Louisiana and Mississippi. It's not reserved for the guys on the field, it's for your family, mind too. Trust is everything, learn more at FMOEL Health dot org slash LSU. Let's flip into the defensive side of the ball for LSU and naturally we have to start

16:39with TJ Dotterie and Whitwick. The linebackers have just been outstanding for LSU so far through two weeks. TJ Dotterie was the highest graded player regardless of position in this ballgame, a 95.1. I look at this often and I don't know that I ever see grades that high, a 95.1. He had two forced fumbles. One was a strip, one was a punch out. He did not miss a tackle in the game and his past coverage grade was a 94. Whitwick's also outstanding in this ballgame. He graded an 82.6. You have to understand these are other worldly grades, especially for players that played that many snaps. Dotterie was on the field for 40 snaps. He was on the field for 43 snaps that led LSU defensively for the number of snaps. DJ Pickett was also there for 43 snaps. Absolutely outstanding job by this LSU defense and those linebackers out there with the way

17:40that they have been so consistent. Whitwick's at seven tackles, four solo and three of those tackles ended drives from Louisiana Tech. We thought this linebacker group would be outstanding. They have been. But if I'm going to mention TJ Dotterie, I can barely go another step without mentioning douche charrows. So Dotterie was the highest graded player at 95.1. The next highest graded player was freshman defensive lineman douche charrows at a 92.3. Listen, ever since he showed up early in spring, he has been about two, three practices and he started taking reps with the ones and he has been incredible. Nine snaps, four tackles, had a quarterback hurry, had a sack in the ball game as well, also had a forced fumble, which was a brilliant play where he chased a play down the field and when the runner were stood up, he ripped the ball out. Douche charrows has been absolutely otherworldly so far for a true freshman.

18:44And my biggest question, if you're in every day where we talked about this coming into the year, my biggest question, biggest concern. And Link haven't even talked about this, but the, you know, going in, you know, where, where were they unsettled? And he mentioned defensive tackle. And what we've seen so far is a healthy rotation of five players, Gerald's, Staphile and Green, dominant McKinley, Malik blocked in and Richard Anderson. Those five have rotated pretty fluidly. Look at the snap counts for those guys in this game. Gerald's had 29. Staphile and Green had 20. Dom McKinley had 13. Malik blocked in, had 18. Richard Anderson had 17. Do you understand like they, they have this constant rotation of fresh bodies and there's not a giant discernible difference among them, but they're always having a fresh body on the field, which is allowing the productivity to be high. So Gerald's graded at a 92.3.

19:44Staphile and Green, a 73.4, which is now standing great. He was only dinged because his tackling grade was a 36.3. He missed one tackle in the game, which dinged him in that spot. Dom McKinley graded at a 72.5. Did not miss a tackle. Belieck blocked in a 68.9. And then Richard Anderson graded at a 66.6. Remember, a week ago, Richard Anderson and Lamar Brown were at the bottom defensively. Anderson against Clemson graded out of 48.3. This week a 66.6. Went from a 48 to a 66, an incredible jump for Richard Anderson week to week. And then I could also point out Lamar Brown, although he's an edge and I want to compliment him because last week Lamar Brown was the lowest graded player defensively. In this game, Lamar Brown graded a 69.8. He played 15 snaps. He had two tackles, had two hurries in the game as well.

20:46Would have had a sack but for the unfortunate horse collar. Lamar Brown was outstanding. He was the 12th highest graded defender regardless of snap counts. There were 31 players that took a defensive snap. Lamar Brown was the 12th highest graded. He was ahead of Blockton. He was ahead of PJ Woodland, Dylan Carpenter, Richard Anderson, starter. He was ahead of DJ Pickett and Prince William Ann Miellen. So an outstanding effort there by Lamar Brown in this game. I loved, loved, loved being able to see that defensive line and including Lamar Brown as an edge, but loved seeing that defensive line play the way they did. Now, another player who was battling for a job at the start of the season was Tomarkas Cooley. And there was a real shot that one of those young safeties, Jason Thomas Namely was going to take Tomarkas Cooley's job. So in this game, TJ Dottlery was the highest graded defensive player. Duce Gerald's was second. Tomarkas Cooley was third at an 87.4.

21:47His tackling grade was a 79. His coverage grade was an 88. His run defense grade was a 62. May the couple of tackles did not miss any tackles. Was targeted three times, allowed just one catch for four yards. Tomarkas Cooley was outstanding as the center fielder in this football game, which was absolutely great to see. Now, when I often say that sometimes, pro football focus can be a contradiction. Sometimes it contradicts what your eyes see. Well, we saw Prince William on me, Ellen go out there and have three sacks in the ball game. And we saw DJ Pickett come up with an interception. Well, those two guys were actually the lowest graded among the starters. And this is where sometimes you have to look at pro football focus and take it with a grain of salt. But Pickett graded at a 60. 0.7. And the reason is his tackling grade was a 28. 0.3. He missed one tackles. So that dinged him in the tackling grade, which brought him down despite the interception. Prince William on me, Ellen was just behind Pickett at 60.

22:480.5. His tackling grade was a 51.3. His run defense grade was a 55.6. But his past brush grade was a 75.9. He was outstanding in this ball game. Again, he had three sacks, a quarterback hit, two additional hurries in the ball game. So that's one of those things where we're talking about it. You got to take it with a grain of salt sometimes with PFF to say what what they're grading everything, but what really matters. The lowest graded players, Devon Kees was the lowest graded CJ Jim Coley just behind him, but Jim Coley had a sack. The thing that dinged Jim Coley was his coverage grade was a 30.8. He was targeted in that game twice and allowed two receptions, so for 15 yards. So that's what dinged CJ Jim Coley down there at the bottom. But by and large, what you saw is your defensive line play outstanding, your linebackers play outstanding. And even the guys that were quote unquote dinged or had lesser grades had impactful plays in the ball game.

23:49Interceptions and sacks, and that was awesome to see. So let's not go to final break. We'll come back and I'll give you a quick look at special teams after not grading the special teams against Clemson. PFF did grade the special teams against tech, so we'll get that to wrap up next. It's locked on LSU your team every day. He waited all off season for this. Well now it's time to make every NFL week count because FanDuel is making this your most rewarding season ever, whether it's backing a favorite team, building a same game, Parlay, betting player props, or making picks on the biggest matchups. FanDuel gives fans more ways to play throughout the season. And for anyone who's new to FanDuel, there's an even bigger reason to make this NFL season count for new customers. It gets even better. Get $350 in bonus bets guaranteed when you bet $5 every day for seven days. The NFL season is here y'all and you got football Thursday, Sunday, Monday. That's just the NFL mix in college as well.

24:49Get $350 in bonus bets guaranteed when you bet $5 every day for seven days. That's right. Bet $5 each day and get $50 in bonus bets every day for seven days. Visit fandool.com to get started. Make this your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel. College football is full of games you plan for all year. There's one this week in Oxford. But sometimes the best memories come from the games you almost missed. Anytime makes it easy to find tickets to college football matchups that you want to see with prices included in the fees, prices that include fees, I should say. So you know your total cost upfront. You can browse games, see panoramic views from your seat before you buy and get tickets in just a couple of taps. Plus, zone deals let you choose the section that game time and let game time choose the seats to help you save even more. Whether it's a rivalry game, a match up featuring a player you got to see in person or an underdog ready to make some noise. Game time makes getting to the game simple.

25:51Think about the game on the schedule you absolutely don't want to miss. Maybe it's this week when LSU goes to Oxford, punch up the game time app. You can see seat views. You can actually see the exact total you'll pay right up front there. It's so easy. Get your friends together. Get your tickets and tell them it's game time. Download the game time app, create an account, use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Again, create an account, use the code locked on for $20 off. Quickly going to run through the special teams grades here before we wrap up and it was nice to see these grades. And what I love to see the most about these special teams grade is players that maybe you would think might be disappointed from the lack of role on their side of the ball having big outcomes. Shikim Jackson was the highest graded special team or played 18 special team staffs. Philip Wright who's a dynamic game stretching wide receiver, the second highest graded there as well. Kalaj Cobbins, third, guys that you would think you would maybe be disappointed but are

26:55making their impact felt. And if you go to the bottom, it's sort of kind of laughable. Scott Starsick, the play skicker was the lowest graded special teamer and I can't even really understand why he might be. But he was perfect on field goals and PATs and that's really what you want. And only it's got starsick covering kicks. And the other thing I thought that was impactful on special teams is just when you look at the number of snaps, some of these guys are playing Charles Ross 19 snaps, Jayse Thomas 14 snaps, Devon keys 13 snaps, Fahim DeLane 10, Dom McKinley 10. So you're seeing guys who junior to a holomocca 16 CJ Jim Coley 20, Harlem Berry 16 special team snaps. These are guys that maybe we thought would have an impact on their side of the ball, offense defense, but they're accepting their team role on special teams and making impactful plays, which you love to see the buy in on all three phases. So LSU beats Louisiana Tech, that's how our friends over at Profitball Focus saw it. Let me know your thoughts, agree or disagree as well as say just something that can

27:58stand and we'll be here doing it every week on locked on LSU. So subscribe on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube and let a friend know if they love the Tigers. We got you every day locked on LSU. It's your team every day. Take off on the Fire TV app.