Three Takeaways From WVU's Defensive Grades and Snap Counts

Let's spin the block and look at the West Virginia defense at the bye week and how well (or poorly) each individual has played.

West Virginia University linebacker Isaiah Patterson | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

We've already hit on West Virginia's offensive grades and snap counts, so let's flip it over to the defensive side of the ball, where most of the Mountaineers' problems reside.

We break it down by position and in order from best PFF grade to worst, regardless of snaps. Their snap counts will also be listed. At the bottom of this story are three takeaways I have after studying the numbers.

Defensive Line

Corey McIntyre Jr.: 72.1; 278 snaps
Darius Wiley: 69.6; 26 snaps
K.J. Henson: 60.9; 258 snaps
Nate Gabriel: 59.8; 428 snaps
Taylor Brown: 59.2; 69 snaps
Zeke Durham-Campbell: 58.9; 282 snaps
Emerson Joy: 57.0; 110 snaps
Will LeBlanc: 55.4; 82 snaps
Yendor Mack: 43.3; 62 snaps

Edge Rusher

Harper Holloman: 66.0; 380 snaps
Jeremiah Johnson: 58.2; 54 snaps
David Afogho: 57.0; 191 snaps
Tobi Haastrup: 50.6; 27 snaps

Linebacker

Tyler Stolsky: 75.0; 23 snaps
Isaiah Patterson: 69.5; 284 snaps
Jason Hall Jr.: 67.6; 139 snaps
Ashton Woods: 62.6; 223 snaps
Miles Khatri: 60.1; 47 snaps
Cam Torbor: 59.2; 296 snaps
Ben Cutter: 51.3; 298 snaps

Nickel/Sam

Geimere Latimer: 72.9; 472 snaps
Maliek Hawkins: 45.5; 13 snaps

Cornerback

Jaire Rawlison: 76.1; 24 snaps
Nick Taylor: 73.0; 205 snaps
ChaMarryus Bomar: 67.7; 16 snaps
Chams Diagne: 59.8; 459 snaps
Jason Chambers: 54.0; 104 snaps
Keyshawn Robinson: 50.8; 193 snaps

Safety

JaCorey Thomas: 72.9; 69 snaps
Da’Mare Williams: 60.5; 72 snaps
Jacob Bradford: 58.9; 83 snaps
Kameron Reddic: 57.5; 154 snaps
Tim Roberson: 55.6; 6 snaps
Andrew Powdrell: 54.5; 376 snaps (moved to CB two weeks ago)
Matt Sieg: 44.3; 255 snaps
Kamari Wilson: 44.2; 366 snaps

Only three players who see regular snaps have a grade of 70.0 or better

WVU Athletics Communications

This just goes to show how rough that four-game stretch was to open up Big 12 Conference play. CB Nick Taylor (73.0), N/S Geimere Latimer II (72.9), and DL Corey McIntyre Jr. (72.1) are the only regulars with a grade higher than 70. Linebacker Isaiah Patterson is close (69.5) and will likely end up over that mark by season's end if he continues to play the way he did against TCU. For Zac Alley to sleep well at night, he's going to need a handful of guys to step up and play better football.

Safety play has not been good

West Virginia University safety Kamari Wilson | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia has mostly played four safeties, with a few others getting rotated in here and there, or in JaCorey Thomas' case, is still getting integrated into the defense. The grades of those four — Kameron Reddic (57.5), Andrew Powdrell (54.5; moved to CB recently), Matt Sieg (44.3), and Kamari Wilson 44.2 — are extremely low. The last line of defense has been a big reason why so many explosives are happening in the passing game. Sure, sometimes it's a lack of pressure up front, but many times it has been a breakdown in communication or just poor angles being taken to the football. I'm confident we'll see better ball from them down the stretch.

Geimere Latimer's heavy workload

West Virginia University safety Geimere Latimer II | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

472 snaps felt like a pretty chunky number, and well, that's because it is. Only 26 players in the FBS have logged more defensive snaps than Latimer. Cornerback Chams Diagne is the closest Mountaineer to him with 459, and the next closest is Nate Gabriel, who is at 428. Those are the only Mountaineers over 400 snaps defensively. Latimer has played extremely well, doing a little bit of everything, and is constantly around the football.

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