Pro Football Focus: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas Takeaways

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Texas A&M’s top graded offensive players:

1. Trayveon Williams, HB (83.2)

2. Josh Reynolds, WR (77.6)

3. Jermaine Eluemunor, RT (70.8)

Key Takeaways:

• Freshman running back Trayveon Williams had a breakout night against the Razorbacks and was PFF’s highest graded back in the nation this week with an 83.2 overall grade. Of Williams’ 153 rushing yards, 92 of them came after contact as he forced 6 missed tackles on just 12 rushing attempts. For the season, Williams leads all running backs across college football with his average of 5.7 yards after contact per carry.
• Wide receiver Josh Reynolds ranked 8th in the nation this week with an impressive 5.64 Yards Per Route Run against Arkansas. Reynolds caught 4 of his 5 targets for 141 yards and one touchdown Saturday night, giving QB Trevor Knight a perfect rating of 158.3 when throwing in Reynolds’ direction.
• Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor bounced back after a rough outing last week, earning a 70.8 overall grade and ranking as A&M’s best offensive lineman against Arkansas. Eluemunor had his struggles in pass protection, allowing one sack and one hurry, but he excelled in run blocking and earned the 10th best run block grade in the nation this week among offensive tackles.
• On average, Trevor Knight took 2.34 seconds from snap to pass attempt against the Razorbacks. On plays where he was in the pocket for less than 2.5 seconds, Knight completed 71.4% of his passes for a 153.3 rating. On plays where Knight was in the pocket for more than 2.5 seconds, those numbers dropped to 22.2% and 42.4, respectively.

Texas A&M’s top graded defensive players:

1. Myles Garrett, DE (86.4)

2. Daeshon Hall, DE (82.5)

3. Shaan Washington, LB (81.9)

Key Takeaways:

• Myles Garrett was the highest graded defensive end in the nation this week, earning an 86.4 overall grade and excelling when getting after the quarterback. Garrett collected two QB hits and five hurries against Arkansas and currently leads the nation with 26 total pressures through four games. He also performed well against the run, earning a 79.8 run defense grade on the night. One interesting note is that Garrett rushed the passer from the defense’s left side twice on Saturday night, the first time he done that since the 2014 season.
• The Aggies’ other standout defensive end also had an impressive performance against the Razorbacks. Daeshon Hall was the 7th highest graded player at his position across the nation this week and ranked 8th with a 14.3 Pass Rushing Productivity Rating. For the season, Hall has the 7th highest Run Stop Percentage in the country among players at his position, collecting a run stop on 8.1% of the run defense snaps he plays.
• Shaan Washington continued his excellent play this season with another great outing Saturday night. Against the Razorbacks, Washington collected 3 defensive stops and led the team with an 83.0 coverage grade.
• Safeties Armani Watts and Justin Evans had several key plays against Arkansas, each tying for the team lead with 4 defensive stops on the night. All 4 of Watts’ stops came in the run game, where he earned a 78.4 run defense grade which led all SEC safeties this week. Evans, on the other hand, made 3 of his 4 defensive stops when in coverage, an area in which he has excelled this season.
• Entering the game, Arkansas QB Austin Allen had been pressured on 31 of his dropbacks this year. The Texas A&M defense nearly matched that total on Saturday night, applying pressure on 21 of Allen’s 44 dropbacks.