Breaking down PFF grades for the Notre Dame defense in loss to Ohio State
The Notre Dame defense once again played well enough to beat Ohio State’s high-flying offense, holding the Buckeyes to 17 points in a game that was decided on a last-second OSU touchdown. Pro Football Focus graded every Irish defensive player in Notre Dame’s 17-14 loss.
PFF gives every player a grade of -2 to +2 in increments of 0.5 for every play. A “0” is average or expected. Each position has its own grading rubric. The plus-minus grades are converted to a 0-100 scale.
Grades in the upper 90s are next to impossible. Grades in the lower 90s are elite. Grades in the 80s are elite to very good. Grades in the 70s are very good to good. Grades in the 60s are good to average. Grades in the 50s are average to below average. Grades in the 40s and below are bad. For reference, UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu leads all FBS edge rushers with a season-long grade of 93.3.
The following chart is sorted in order of overall defense grade.
Notre Dame defense PFF grades from Irish loss to Ohio State
RankPlayerSnapsOverall Defense GradeRun Defense GradeTackling GradePass Rush GradeCoverage Grade1DT Rylie Mills5090.576.975.290.861.12DT Gabriel Rubio1274.464.470.273.660.03LB JD Bertrand6972.774.083.776.565.24DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste6471.778.979.160.2–5DT Howard Cross III6471.671.956.865.060.06CB Benjamin Morrison6768.963.426.2–68.67CB Cam Hart1168.060.0–67.560.48LB Jaylen Sneed6967.247.878.2–70.09S Xavier Watts6966.355.751.858.569.310DE Joshua Burnham466.260.073.057.1–11LB Jack Kiser1066.065.479.2–61.012S DJ Brown6663.461.781.9–63.213DE Nana Osafo-Mensah559.060.0–58.0–14LB Marist Liufau6158.664.343.960.054.015CB Thomas Harper5754.265.482.960.052.516CB Clarence Lewis350.960.076.2–52.617DE Jordan Botelho5649.346.976.659.546.218S Ramon Henderson2039.360.077.1–37.9
Blue & Gold takeaways
• Love to see Mills play well if you’re a Notre Dame fan. The Irish have a different defense when he’s causing problems in the middle of the defensive line.
• On that note, look at how well Rubio played in his first appearance since Week 0. If only he was lined up along the defensive line for the game-winning touchdown like he was moments prior before Notre Dame’s timeout…
• Bertrand was back in a big way, doing Bertrand things. He plays nearly the entire game and makes a huge difference in the middle of the Notre Dame defense.
• Playing against his former team, Jean-Baptiste was excellent. He has been a solid strong-side defensive end all year.
• Cross III in the top five, like clockwork.
• Morrison was No. 6 in spite of two missed tackles and by far the worst tackling grade on the team. In coverage, he was excellent against multiple Ohio State receivers, especially Marvin Harrison Jr. Morrison was targeted an astounding nine times. He allowed four catches for 39 yards. That’s not so bad vs. such high volume.
• Hart and Watts also both turned in respectable outings for the Notre Dame secondary. Apparently, Henderson did not. An overall defense grade of 39.3 over the course of 20 snaps is awfully low.
• Kiser only played 10 total snaps with Notre Dame in a base nickel defense. The Irish just have to find more ways to get him on the field.
• Liufau didn’t have a particularly productive game, and Harper drew the tough assignment of covering Emeka Egbuka with Harrison Jr. often bracketed to help Morrison and Hart. Harper was targeted eight times and allowed five catches for 54 yards.
• Botelho just has to be better in a big-time game. Ohio State’s best defensive end prospect, JT Tuimoloau, made a huge play with the game on the line. When is Botelho going to do that for Notre Dame, if ever?
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