Tracking the West Virginia Mountaineers Football true freshman class
Rivals.com has teamed with Pro Football Focus and as part of that we can provide incredibly detailed statistics on the West Virginia football team.
In today's article, we use the PFF grades to show you how the true freshmen Mountaineers performed to date as well as statistics for each.
Following the article is an explanation from PFF on how the grading scale works:
Game 1: Penn State: Total Snaps 11 | Grade of 57.6
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 0 | Grade of N/A
Game 3: Pittsburgh: Total Snaps 2 | Grade of 57.7
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 23 | Grade of 61.3
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 16 | Grade of 46.5
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 68 | Grade of 65.1
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 61 | Grade of 57.3
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 40 | Grade of 50.9
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 34 | Grade of 59.0
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 50 | Grade of 67.3
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 45 | Grade of 65.6
Ray emerged in fall camp with his level of play and saw the field on 11 total snaps and there is room for that role to continue to grow. He finished with 2 catches for 7 yards, but had potential for much more with a misfire on one attempt and a drop on another. A pure outside wide receiver that can run, Ray should have more attempts moving forward as he continues to become more comfortable with the speed of the college game. However, due to injuries he did not suit up in the matchup against the Dukes but he returned against Pittsburgh for a total of 2 snaps without a catch then played a season high complement of snaps against the Red Raiders with 23 and made a huge play with a 21-yard wide receiver pass off a trick play. Those snaps were at 16 against TCU and he made only one catch for no gain. But Ray had one of his biggest games of the season against Houston where he started and played 68 total snaps. He turned that into 3 catches for 43 yards and a touchdown as well as a two-point conversion. Against Oklahoma State, Ray played almost every snap on offense and turned that into a catch for 16 yards as well as drawing a pass interference penalty. Ray played against UCF but did not record any statistics in the game outside a tackle. That wasn't the case against BYU as he turned 3 catches in 42 yards including an impressive 30-yard grab. He followed that up with 56 yards on 2 catches against Oklahoma and almost had a much bigger day with a couple close calls around the sideline. Ray only had one catch for 28-yards against Cincinnati but continues to earn a large role.
Game 1: Penn State: Total Snaps 1 | Grade of 60.0
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 33 | Grade of 50.7
Game 3: Pittsburgh: Total Snaps 9 | Grade of 53.5
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 8 | Grade of 54.9
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 27 | Grade of 49.6
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 18 | Grade of 55.3
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 11 | Grade of 54.9
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 14 | Grade of 72.3
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 44 | Grade of 65.2
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 13 | Grade of 55.8
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 12 | Grade of 68.1
Gallagher did have a role on special teams but played only one snap on the offensive side of the ball for West Virginia in his true freshman debut. And on that snap, Gallagher was asked to run block so there weren't any catch opportunities. The plan coming into the second game was to get him more time on the field and that was true with 33 total snaps and he hauled in one catch for 12 yards and another run for 7. Gallagher did fumble the ball out the back of the end zone for a touchback. Against Pitt he led the freshmen with 9 snaps and had one rush for a single yard. Then he followed that up with 8 snaps for a total of one catch for 9 yards and a run for -3. In the TCU contest, Gallagher saw 27 total snaps and had 2 runs for 17 yards. He continues that limited usage against Houston where he turned his snaps into a pair of carries for 11 yards. Gallagher played just 11 snaps against Oklahoma State and didn't touch the ball. He did get back into the stat category against UCF where he turned 5 touches into 35 yards. Gallagher continued to play a critical role against BYU where he turned 4 touches into 35 yards and also had a big catch and run called back by a penalty. Only had one carry for a total of 4 yards in the matchup against Oklahoma but responded with 3 receptions for 24 yards and a carry for two yards.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 24 | Grade of 78.2
Game 3: Pittsburgh: Total Snaps 4 | Grade of 60.0
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 65.1
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 18 | Grade of 64.2
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 18 | Grade of 63.2
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 3 | Grade of 60.4
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 20 | Grade of 85.4
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 31 | Grade of 80.7
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 28 | Grade of 62.0
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 44 | Grade of 89.9
White missed the opener due to injuries but battled back to see the field against Duquesne and flash his overall explosive skill set. The Pennsylvania native rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries while hauling in a six-yard catch. His second appearance wasn't quite as dynamic with just 4 snaps that resulted in no stats recorded during his time on the field and the third had just 6 snaps for a 6-yard run. Against TCU, White showed that explosion with 5 rushes for 46 yards including a long run of 27 yards. The Houston game again afforded White playing time as he was able to rush 7 times for 23 yards and handled 92 yards on kickoff returns. But he only saw the field for a total of 3 snaps against Oklahoma State and didn't touch the ball. That changed against UCF where he had a breakout game taking 9 carries for 89 yards with a touchdown and had another touchdown called back on a penalty. He followed that up with a career best performance against BYU taking 16 carries for 146 yards which was an average of 9.1 per carry. That took a step back against Oklahoma with just 39 yards on 9 rushes as the Sooners won the battle up front. White put together his best game of the season against Cincinnati with 204 yards and a touchdown on the ground along with 75-yards and a touchdown receiving. It was a dominant effort where White flashed his big play ability and speed to record 9 runs over 10+ yards.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 28 | Grade of 53.7
Game 4: Texas Tech: Total Snaps 9 | Grade of 65.5
Game 5: TCU: Total Snaps 47 | Grade of 66.3
Game 6: Houston: Total Snaps 48 | Grade of 43.7
Game 7: Oklahoma State: Total Snaps 66 | Grade of 59.4
Game 8: UCF: Total Snaps 45 | Grade of 85.4
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 40 | Grade of 70.1
Game 10: Oklahoma: Total Snaps 60 | Grade of 54.3
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 48 | Grade of 43.2
After playing on special teams in the opener, Cutter saw almost 30 snaps and turned that into 4 tackles and a tackle for loss in the second game of the season. He then saw nine snaps against Texas Tech. However, Cutter saw significant playing time against TCU and responded with 6 tackles. With the injury to Tray Lathan, the freshman linebacker has a window to see more time moving forward at the position and took advantage of that with his first career start against Houston. He played 48 snaps and finished with a total of 5 tackles while he increased that total to 66 snaps and 7 tackles with a tackle for loss in the follow-up at Oklahoma State. Cutter finished with 5 tackles and a pass breakup against UCF and followed that up with 6 tackles and 2 tackles for loss in the matchup with BYU as he has settled in as the starter. But in the Oklahoma contest Cutter recorded only 1 tackle in the contest. Cutter rebounded with 5 tackles and a sack against Cincinnati as the true freshman made an impact.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 13 | Grade of 60.5
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 39.8
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 4 | Grade of 65.9
Neal Brown said that McIntyre, a legacy and the son of Corey, was going to see the field in his first season and he kept his word. Now, the question naturally becomes will he surpass the four-game limit to keep his redshirt intact? Finished his first game against Duquesne with a single tackle and also saw snaps against BYU and Cincinnati.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 15 | Grade of 56.3
Oliver saw his opportunity to see the field late against Duquesne and turned that into 38 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. A big, physical running back Oliver made his impact on special teams in his first year but the Mountaineers elected to redshirt.
Related: West Virginia freshmen already impressing, but future is bright
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 24 | Grade of 74.1
Game 9: BYU: Total Snaps 15 | Grade of 49.3
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 64.4
Williams is a massive offensive tackle prospect that enrolled in January and seems to be perched second on the depth chart at the right tackle spot. Ideally, it seems that the Mountaineers would like to redshirt Williams but he has seen the field at times.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 2 | Grade of 60.2
Game 11: Cincinnati: Total Snaps 1 | Grade of 59.6
Heard is expected to see his role grow over the course of the year as one of the more natural pass rushers on the roster but he saw only a pair of snaps in the game against the Dukes and returned to the field for a snap against Cincinnati but it's clear he will be redshirting in this first season with the program.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 2 | Grade of 60.0
Nelson saw the field late in the game against Duquesne and it remains to be seen but it might be his only appearance this season on defense barring injuries.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 3 | Grade of 70.1
Fisher will almost assuredly redshirt this season as he must continue to develop his body but he was able to get in late in the second game of the season and finished with a tackle and half a tackle for loss across just a handful of snaps.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 6 | Grade of 63.5
Jackson played six snaps in his defensive debut for the Mountaineers against Duquesne and while there is plenty of belief that his future is a bright one in Morgantown he likely is going to spend his first season redshirting and developing.
Game 2: Duquesne: Total Snaps 3 | Grade of 60.0
Jackson played a total of just three snaps against Duquesne but the converted running back who is now playing cornerback garnered some attention in fall camp. He likely redshirts in his first season as well but seeing the field certainly is a plus.
On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to what he did on the play.
At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation, with the middle of that scale being 0-graded, or ‘expected’ plays that are neither positive nor negative.
Each game is also graded by a second PFF analyst independent of the first, and those grades are compared by a third, Senior Analyst, who rules on any differences between the two. These grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network, a group of former and current NFL coaches with over 700 combined years of NFL coaching experience, to get them as accurate as they can be.
From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale and appear in our Player Grades Tool.
Season-level grades aren’t simply an average of every game-grade a player compiles over a season, but rather factor in the duration at which a player performed at that level. Achieving a grade of 90.0 in a game once is impressive, doing it (12) times in a row is more impressive.
It is entirely possible that a player will have a season grade higher than any individual single-game grade he achieved, because playing well for an extended period of time is harder to do than for a short period, Similarly, playing badly for a long time is a greater problem than playing badly once, so the grade can also be compounded negatively.
Each week, grades are subject to change while we run through our extensive review process including All-22 tape runs and coaching audit, so you may notice discrepancies among grades published in earlier articles compared with those in the Player Grades tool until grade lock each week.
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