Breaking down PFF grades for the Notre Dame offense in loss to Louisville
Not a single Notre Dame offensive player received a Pro Football Focus game grade of 80.0 or higher in a 33-20 loss to Louisville. That’s not surprising; the Irish offense struggled mightily all night.
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, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads all FBS QBs with a season-long grade of 93.7.
The following chart is sorted in order of overall offense grade.
Notre Dame offense PFF grades vs. Louisville
RankPlayerSnapsOverall Offense GradePass GradePass Blocking GradeRun GradeRun Blocking Grade1WR Jordan Faison1579.377.2––59.92TE Mitchell Evans6178.979.438.4–55.53RG Rocco Spindler4975.690.582.5–62.04LT Joe Alt6872.9–77.3–68.05WR Tobias Merriweather2568.767.7––60.56TE Cooper Flanagan467.559.3––71.17RT Blake Fisher6867.4–73.5–77.58TE Holden Staes2267.169.966.0–58.09RB Jeremiyah Love1264.571.970.361.260.010WR Jayden Thomas3563.062.262.6–62.311OL Billy Schrauth2562.8–56.3–64.112OL Andrew Kristofic560.4–81.6–60.013LG Pat Coogan6360.046.568.7–60.314C Zeke Correll6359.6–81.5–51.115RB Audric Estimé2859.065.029.059.060.016RB Devyn Ford458.057.969.8–60.017RB Gi’Bran Payne2057.558.876.257.559.118RB Jadarian Price757.464.433.457.8–19WR Rico Flores Jr.4457.057.1––58.820WR Chris Tyree3656.957.0––60.021QB Sam Hartman6854.557.4–49.560.022TE Eli Raridon1054.459.3––55.423WR Jaden Greathouse1753.854.3––60.2
Blue & Gold takeaways
• A freshman walk-on wide receiver was the top-graded player for the Notre Dame offense. Let that sink in.
• At this point, Evans has a case to be the guy who’s having the best overall season for any Notre Dame offensive player. He hasn’t been the problem.
• On a night in which the Notre Dame offensive line was as poor as it has been all year, Spindler and Alt graded out decently. And Merriweather snuck into the top five after spending most weeks at the bottom of these charts. Go figure.
• PFF also liked what it saw from Fisher. “Liked” is relative, though. Generally, a score of 67.4 isn’t going to land you in the top 10. With the way this Notre Dame offense is playing, though, it will. The Irish’s No. 7 game grade on offense last week vs. Duke was 61.7. It’s been two to three weeks of floundering for this side of the ball.
• Estimé turned in his worst overall game grade of the season. He’s been on a downhill decline since posting a score of 93.7 vs. Central Michigan on Sept. 16. The offensive line’s play has deteriorated, and his has gone with it. Hartman also had his worst game grade of the season.
• Outside of Love, none of the Notre Dame running backs performed well in the eyes of PFF. Love is in the top 10. The rest are 15 or lower.
• Greathouse might have still been gimpy on his hamstring. Bringing up the rear on this chart is a first for him. Tyree and Flores Jr. combined for 80 snaps, and they also caught three passes apiece, but PFF was not high on them. The Notre Dame wide receiver situation is a serious issue that does not seem fixable in the last five games of the regular season.
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