Following Ohio State's first loss of the season, a heartbreaking 13-10 defeat at the hands of Indiana, we share the game’s grades from Pro Football Focus, which grades every player after every game based on how they perform on a snap-to-snap basis.
We compiled the PFF grades for every Buckeye who played on either offense or defense in the 12th game of the season and highlight the three highest-graded players who played at least 10 snaps against the Hoosiers. For the fourth time this season, Caden Curry graded out as Ohio State’s best player.
| ELITE | GOOD | ABOVE AVG. | AVG. | BELOW AVG. | POOR | VERY POOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90-100 | 80-89 | 70-79 | 60-69 | 50-59 | 40-49 | Below 40 |
1. DE Caden Curry (85.6)
Curry earned the Buckeyes’ highest overall grade and also graded out as the nation's best pass rusher in Week 15 with a score of 91.5 against Indiana.
After 13 games played, Curry leads all Big Ten defensive ends with an overall defensive grade of 90.7 this season.
2. DT Kayden McDonald (77.3)
The nation's highest-rated defensive tackle this season for overall defense (89.2) and rush defense (92.3) is Kayden McDonald.
This is the fifth time this season that McDonald has received the highest or second-highest overall grade from PFF for an Ohio State game.
3. WR Jeremiah Smith (75.1)
Jeremiah Smith led Ohio State's receivers in overall offense (75.1), receiving (74.0) and hands (79.3) against Indiana, and he was ranked eighth or better nationally in those three categories for Week 15.
For the season, Smith is tied with teammate Carnell Tate as the Big Ten's second-highest graded overall receiver with a score of 90.2.
Extra Points
- Julian Sayin leads the nation's quarterbacks in overall offense (93.2) and passing (92.9) for the season.
- Jelani Thurman has an overall offensive grade of 87.2 for the season, which is the highest among all Big Ten tight ends.
- Gabe VanSickle was Ohio State's best pass blocker (86.5) against Indiana.
- Tegra Tshabola was Ohio State's worst pass blocker (17.6) against Indiana.
- Payton Pierce (36.1) had the lowest grade of any Buckeye with at least five snaps, with Bennett Christian (47.6) earning the lowest offensive grade of any Ohio State player against the Hoosiers.
- Carnell Tate is the conference's highest-rated player in drops (91.9) for the season.
- Sonny Styles is the highest-graded Big Ten Linebacker (88.9) and improved his nation's best tackling grade by half a point up to 92.7. Styles has 70 tackles without a miss, which is the most of any player this season. He also had Ohio State's highest grades for run defense (79.5) and tackling (85.4) against Indiana.
- Caleb Downs’ coverage grade of 89.3 is the second-best in the Big Ten among safeties with at least 600 snaps played this season.
A Tight End Too Many?
Over the past two games, Ohio State has leaned heavily on the tight ends, as the unit has played seven more cumulative snaps than the wide receivers against Michigan and Indiana. Presumably, this strategy is to create a matchup problem for defenses as the tight ends are supposed to be strong blockers for the run game, but also present a threat in the passing game.
How did the tight ends compare to Ohio State's offensive linemen in run blocking, according to PFF? Will Kacmarek's grade of 54.8 was the highest for the tight ends in run blocking. Four of the six offensive linemen who played against Indiana received higher scores than Will Kacmarek's 54.8. Only Austin Siereveld (51.6) and Phillip Daniels (48.8) were lower.
Overall, the offensive linemen had an average of 58.0 in run blocking, while the average for the tight ends was 50.9.
So, how did the receivers do in run blocking? The unit had an average of 64.2, with Carnell Tate earning a team-high grade of 75.2. With Tate being such a strong blocker on the outside and a bigger threat in the passing game, why was he replaced by Max Klare, Nate Roberts or Bennett Christian, who had blocking grades of 46.4, 48.9 and 53.5 and are nowhere near the offensive scoring threat as Tate?
| GAME | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas |
DT Kayden McDonald (82.4) |
DT Will Smith Jr. (80.7) |
CB Jermaine Mathews Jr. (78.0) |
| Grambling |
DT Kayden McDonald (93.6) |
TE Jelani Thurman (93.0) |
QB Lincoln Kienholz (88.1) |
| Ohio | DE Caden Curry (92.5) | LB Sonny Styles (89.2) | QB Julian Sayin (85.4) |
| Washington | DE Caden Curry (80.3)* | OL Carson Hinzman (80.3)* | OL Austin Siereveld (75.8) |
| Minnesota | QB Julian Sayin (91.9) | WR Carnell Tate (86.9) | S Lorenzo Styles Jr. (84.8) |
| Illinois | QB Julian Sayin (86.0) | DT Kayden McDonald (85.5) | DE Caden Curry (79.0) |
| Wisconsin | QB Julian Sayin (91.4) | WR Carnell Tate (82.5) | LB Payton Pierce (80.8) |
| Penn State |
QB Julian Sayin (92.7) |
DT Eddrick Houston (92.2) | WR Jeremiah Smith (90.1) |
| Purdue | QB Julian Sayin (89.2) | DT Kayden McDonald (88.3) | WR Jeremiah Smith (87.2) |
| UCLA | RT Phillip Daniels (90.1) | TE Nate Roberts (87.9) | RB James Peoples (86.7) |
| Rutgers | DE Caden Curry (92.8) | CB Davison Igbinosun (90.6)# | Jelani Thurman (90.6)# |
| Michigan | QB Julian Sayin (82.0) | DT Tywone Malone Jr. (80.0) | S Caleb Downs (78.4) |
| Indiana | DE Caden Curry (85.6) | DT Kayden McDonald (77.3) | WR Jeremiah Smith (75.1) |
*Curry and Hinzman tied for first against Washington.
#Igbinosun and Thurman tied for second against Rutgers
Offensive Ratings By Position
Quarterback
Julian Sayin: 71.9 (57 snaps)
Running Backs
CJ Donaldson: 66.5 (12 snaps)
Bo Jackson: 66.1 (36 snaps)
Isaiah West: 62.5 (8 snaps)
James Peoples: 60.0 (1 snap)
Wide Receivers
Jeremiah Smith: 75.1 (53 snaps)
Carnell Tate: 72.9 (41 snaps)
Brandon Inniss: 60.6 (21 snaps)
David Adolph: 60.0 (1 snap)
Tight Ends
Will Kacmarek: 60.5 (45 snaps)
Jelani Thurman: 55.3 (2 snaps)
Max Klare: 55.0 (35 snaps)
Nate Roberts: 51.7 (7 snaps)
Bennett Christian: 47.6 (23 snaps)
Offensive Line
Gabe VanSickle: 64.9 (29 snaps)
Carson Hinzman: 63.3 (57 snaps)
Luke Montgomery: 63.0 (57 snaps)
Austin Siereveld: 61.7 (57 snap)
Phillip Daniels: 58.0 (57 snaps)
Tegra Tshabola: 51.6 (28 snaps)
| QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DE | DT | LB | CB | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian Sayin | CJ Donaldson | Jeremiah Smith | Will Kacmarek | Gabe VanSickle | Caden Curry | Kayden McDonald | Sonny Styles | Davison Igbinosun | Caleb Downs |
| 71.9 | 66.5 | 75.1 | 60.5 | 64.9 | 85.6 | 77.3 | 73.9 | 68.2 | 65.4 |
Defensive Ratings by Position
Defensive Ends
Caden Curry: 85.6 (55 snaps)
Zion Grady: 68.4 (3 snaps)
Beau Atkinson: 59.8 (5 snaps)
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 59.5 (55 snaps)
Defensive Tackles
Kayden McDonald: 77.3 (51 snaps)
Eddrick Houston: 74.1 (31 snaps)
Will Smith Jr.: 59.4 (5 snaps)
Tywone Malone Jr.: 52.1 (27 snaps)
Linebackers
Sonny Styles: 73.9 (59 snaps)
Arvell Reese: 59.4 (59 snaps)
Payton Pierce: 36.1 (6 snaps)
Cornerbacks
Davison Igbinosun: 68.2 (59 snaps)
Devin Sanchez: 54.2 (5 snaps)
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 52.5 (59 snaps)
Safeties
Caleb Downs: 65.4 (59 snaps)
Jaylen McClain: 65.2 (59 snaps)
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 59.1 (52 snaps)
