Analyzing Arizona’s offense vs. Washington via Pro Football Focus

The Arizona Wildcats hosted the Washington Huskies and came very close to a win. UA, however, was unable to close out the game with the help of a few mistakes.

Let’s take a look through the Pro Football Focus lens, in conjunction with my analysis, to see how Arizona’s offense performed against UDub.

As a reminder, see the grading scale below:

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Quarterbacks

Overall, I wasn’t impressed with what Will Plummer showed against the Huskies.

He didn’t really throw down the field as much as I would’ve liked. He just didn’t seem like he had the confidence.

The biggest issue came on the infamous scree pass. Instead of throwing it at the receiver’s feet, or even throw it away, he dropped the ball right in the numbers or a UDub d-lineman. That pick changed the momentum of the rest of the game.

STAT LINE

• 13-for-20, 62 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT & 6 car, 3 yds

SNAP COUNT

• 63

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Running backs/Fullbacks

The group had a great game.

Jalen John has continued to make almost nothing but positive plays. Out of 37 carries this season he has only lost four yards. He gained good chunks of yards on first down throughout the night and you can’t ask for much more. I will say I believe that his running grade and overall grade are too low. He has definitely earned the starting gig the rest of the season.

Stevie Rocker Jr. has started to solidify his role as well. He showed great agility and lower body movement to find space. He coupled those with his vision to have a great showing, averaging 10.9 yards per carry. His best run came on a 52-yarder that he bounced outside and utilized Jamarye Joiner as a blocker.

Darrius “Bam” Smith found his way into the backfield for the first time this season and had a modest game. Meanwhile, Clay Markoff saw the most action he’s seen all season. I think he blocked better than he did, however, PFF doesn’t seem to think so.

STAT LINES

• Stevie Rocker Jr.: 8 car, 87 yards & 1 rec, 5 yds
• Jalen John: 19 car, 65 yds & 1 rec, 7 yds
• Darrius “Bam Smith: 2 car, 4 yds
• Clay Markoff: N/A

SNAP COUNTS

• Jalen John: 36
• Stevie Rocker Jr.: 25
• Clay Markoff: 14
• Darrius “Bam” Smith: 4

OVERALL

• Highest: Stevie Rocker Jr. (78.9)
• Lowest: Clay Markoff (54.8)

RUNNING

• Highest: Stevie Rocker Jr. (81.7)
• Lowest: Darrius “Bam” Smith (58.5)

PASSING

• Highest: Stevie Rocker Jr. (60.0)
• Lowest: Darrius “Bam” Smith (57.7)

PASS BLOCKING

• Highest: Stevie Rocker Jr. (46.4)
• Lowest: Jalen John (45.9)

RUN BLOCKING

• Highest: Jalen John (60.0)
• Lowest: Clay Markoff (51.9)

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Wide receivers

The receivers were, for the most part, not as successful due to the play of Plummer.

Stanley Berryhill III didn’t have as many yards as one would want. He did have a very nice 34-yard run on a jet sweep and showed off his speed on the play. The blocking on the play was also fantastic.

BJ Casteel also had a mediocre day with the stat line. However, the biggest issues came near the end of the game. With Arizona having possession with around 20 seconds left, Plummer threw two perfect 5-yard out routes to Casteel back-to-back. Casteel dropped both. I’m not sure what happened but I don’t think Casteel took them lightly.

Tayvian Cunningham caught his first pass in two games for six yards.

The only other productive receiver was Joiner. He came in for multiple Wildcat packages and was successful running the ball and with the RPO. He scored Arizona’s only touchdown on a one yard run. His best play was his downfield blocking the busted Stevie Rocker Jr. for 52 yards. He will, with good reason, see more reps at QB in the future.

Boobie Curry, Anthony Simpson, and Jalen Johnson also saw action.

STAT LINES

• Stanley Berryhill III: 6 rec, 20 yds & 1 car, 34 yds
• B.J. Casteel: 4 rec, 19 yds
• Tayvian Cunningham: 1 rec, 6 yds
• Jamarye Joiner: 1 rec, 5 yds & 4 car, 25 yds, 1 TD
• Boobie Curry: N/A
• Anthony Simpson: N/A
• Jalen Johnson: N/A

SNAP COUNTS

• B.J. Casteel: 46
• Stanley Berryhill III: 36
• Jamarye Joiner: 36
• Tayvian Cunningham: 18
• Boobie Curry: 10
• Jalen Johnson: 6
• Anthony Simpson: 4

OVERALL

• Highest: Stanley Berryhill III (75.3)
• Lowest: B.J. Casteel (48.4)

PASSING

• Highest: Stanley Berryhill III (70.4)
• Lowest: B.J. Casteel (52.0)

RUNNING

• Highest: Stanley Berryhill III (69.5)
• Lowest: Jamarye Joiner (69.1)

RUN BLOCKING

• Highest: Jamarye Joiner (71.7)
• Lowest: B.J. Casteel (37.3)

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Tight ends

The tight ends had another quiet night.

Both players, Bryce Wolma and Alex Lines, graded pretty poorly. I do believe both guys had better run blocking performances than their grades show, but I want to see them continue to get the ball in the passing game.

STAT LINES

• Bryce Wolma: N/A
• Alex Lines: N/A

SNAP COUNTS

• Alex Lines: 53
• Bryce Wolma: 39

OVERALL

• Highest: Bryce Wolma (46.2)
• Lowest: Alex Lines (44.3)

PASSING

• Highest: Bryce Wolma (51.6)
• Lowest: Alex Lines (50.3)

PASS BLOCKING

• Highest: Alex Lines (32.7)
• Lowest: Bryce Wolma (29.5)

RUN BLOCKING

• Highest: Bryce Wolma (51.7)
• Lowest: Alex Lines (51.0)

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Offensive line

The group didn’t play a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought they played better than how they were graded.

Paiton Fears had a better game than he did against Colorado, but it was nowhere near where he was against UCLA. He allowed his third sack of the season and had another costly false start penalty.

Josh Baker started again in place of the injured Josh Donovan and played a lot better than he has most of the season. He didn’t allow a pressure against the QB and I thought he performed better in run blocking than he was graded.

Josh McCauley was the best o-lineman on the night and continues to be the most consistent lineman throughout the season. He didn’t allow a QB pressure and was good in run blocking. His grades speak for themselves.

Donovan Laie had a down game. He allowed his first sack of the season and had a holding penalty against him. Laie has had a little of a down year but he still has time to finish it out strong.

Jordan Morgan struggled again. He allowed another three QB pressures which puts him second on the team with 15. Morgan is still relatively young and has plenty of time to fix what he needs to. However, UA needs him to play better the rest of the year.

SNAP COUNTS

• Josh Baker: 65
• Paiton Fears: 65
• Donovan Laie: 65
• Josh McCauley: 65
• Jordan Morgan: 65

OVERALL

• Highest: Josh McCauley (71.8)
• Lowest: Paiton Fears (48.5)

RUN BLOCKING

• Highest: Josh McCauley (67.4)
• Lowest: Josh Baker (45.0)

PASS BLOCKING

• Highest: Josh Baker (79.6)
• Lowest: Jordan Morgan (45.2)