Closer Look: Clemson playing time breakdown through three games, notable player grades

TJ Parker continues to get after the QB in his snaps.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Wed Sep 20 08:19:32 GMT-04:00 2023

Taking a look at the playing time and notable Pro Football Focus grades position by position from the 48-14 win over Florida Atlantic and the season as a whole:

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. A full list of snaps by game 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 - 77.8; Passing - 76.6; Pass blocking - 77.9; Receiving - 68.5; Running - 81.1; Run blocking - 61.7.

QB: Cade Klubnik 52, Hunter Helms 10, Paul Tyson 3, Christopher Vizzina NS. Notes: PFF has made a habit of adjusting initial game grades on Klubnik, but he’s at an 83.4 mark for the FAU performance at the moment, which is a season-best. Klubnik excelled in throws of over 10 yards, completing 4-for-4 from 10-19 yards (1 TD) and half of his four 20+ yards throws (1 TD). He had a career-best big-time throw percentage (7.1) but still matched the season opener in turnover-worthy plays (2).

RB: Will Shipley 31, Phil Mafah 21, Keith Adams Jr. 10, Domonique Thomas 8, Jarvis Green 6, Jay Haynes 5. Notes: Haynes (75.7), Thomas (74.7), Shipley (74.8) and Mafah (72.6) all graded above 70 in their snaps, with Mafah earning plaudits in his pass blocking especially (80.4).

WR: Tyler Brown 36, Beaux Collins 35, Adam Randall 30, Troy Stellato 22, Cole Turner* 19, Brannon Spector 15, Hamp Greene 8, Antonio Williams* 7, Hampton Earle 5, Clay Swinney 4, Ronan Hanafin ST, Misun Kelley ST, Noble Johnson NS. Notes: Brown’s emergence shows in the PFF grades with a corps-leading 80.4 mark. Although limited due to injury, Williams (80.6) also graded well. After leading the group last week, Collins suffered a drop in a target his way and suffered grades-wise as well (53.5).

TE: Jake Briningstool 36, Sage Ennis 13, Josh Sapp 11, Markus Dixon ST, Olsen Patt-Henry NS. Notes: No particular standouts PFF grades-wise, but Briningstool did play the lion’s share of the snaps and caught three passes in four targets, including his first touchdown of the year with a red zone target.

OL: Will Putnam 53, Blake Miller 53, Mitchell Mayes 43, Marcus Tate 43, Collin Sadler 34, Tristan Leigh 32, Harris Sewell 25, Trent Howard 20, John Williams 15, Ryan Linthicum 15, Dietrick Pennington 5, Bryn Tucker NS, Zack Owens NS, Ian Reed NS. Notes: Sadler got the start after leading the offense grades-wise the previous week, but Leigh played two fewer snaps at left tackle and received the second-best OL grade this week (71.1). Mitchell Mayes plugged into Walker Parks’ right guard spot (injury, day-to-day for FSU return) and led the way (74.1; 80.1 pass blocking grade). For starters, Putnam was the low man grades-wise, as he was knocked most in the pass-blocking game (47.9).

Defense

PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 83.3; Run defense - 91; Tackling - 74.4; Pass rush - 64.9, Coverage - 80.4.

ED: Xavier Thomas 36, TJ Parker 29, Justin Mascoll 27, Cade Denhoff 27, AJ Hoffler 18, Zaire Patterson 11, Jahiem Lawson 10, David Ojiegbe 8. Notes: Parker and Mascoll each had three pressures to lead the unit, and Parker got to the QB for a sack. Lawson led the group in PFF grade (77.6) in his 10 snaps. The grades weren’t as kind to Thomas, who ranked lowest among starters (52.4; 57.4 pass-rush grade). He has seven pressures on the season per PFF, but only one has come in the last two games (one vs. Charleston Southern).

DL: Ruke Orhorhoro 29, Payton Page 29, Caden Story 28, Tyler Davis 27, DeMonte Capehart 29, Peter Woods 19, Stephiylan Green 7, Tré Williams* NS. Notes: Capehart paced the interior D-line and the entire defense with an 89.2 grade. Page wasn’t far behind and third overall defensively (80.7). Woods joined Thomas in being held without a pressure, and he has two on the season in 52 graded snaps.

LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. 41, Wade Woodaz 38, Barrett Carter 34, Kobe McCloud 29, Dee Crayton 19, Jamal Anderson 15. Notes: McCloud played his most snaps of the season and earned a unit-best 79.3 grade – doing best in run defense (91.3).

DB: Khalil Barnes 57, Sherrod Covil 51, Toriano Pride 45, Jalyn Phillips 43, Kylon Griffin 37, RJ Mickens 36, Shelton Lewis 33, Sheridan Jones 29, Avieon Terrell 29, Nate Wiggins 28, Jeadyn Lukus 25, Branden Strozier 4, Rob Billings ST, Kylen Webb ST, Myles Oliver NS. Notes: Wiggins ranked best for the group and second on the defense overall (86.5) with an 87.9 coverage grade. Barnes was busy in his first start, seeing 11 targets his way that went for five catches and 38 yards.

Players listed as out for the game: S Andrew Mukuba, RG Walker Parks.

Players listed as out for the season: DL Vic Burley.

Special teams

Overall PFF grade: 71.3. Notes: Necessitating change, Robert Gunn III’s FG grade dropped to 46 on the season with last Saturday’s effort. He does hold an 84.1 grade on kickoffs, however, and is expected to hold on to that job.

(PFF grades not in yet)

ST - Special teams-only

NS - No snaps listed

* Been noted as injured by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

Edited with some slight tweaks PFF made 9/20 afternoon

Duke

Charleston Southern

Season and game snaps and stats are attached below.

Clemson snaps and stats through three games