Someone from Bucknuts posted this on twitter showing DeLuca as the #1 ranked LB in the conference with over 200 snaps. Also, 3 of the top 15 and 4 of the top 26 are PSU.
PFF grades for LBs in the B1G, #1 will shock you! (seriously)
- Thread starter WaffleShopper
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DeLuca? Thought for sure it was Edelson!🧐
Seriously, never would have guessed Dom. Good for him. Congrats!
Seriously, never would have guessed Dom. Good for him. Congrats!
Do you actually think he's better than some of the people below him on the list?
Yes, obviously. What I've learned this season is that stats never lie. PSU is 10-2 and the offense scored 37 pts/game which means the offense is phenomenal and any suggestion otherwise means you are a Michigan troll. FULL.STOP.
Amazing that PSU has the best LB in the B1G and his name is DeLuca!!!!
He’s very athletic, but not quite as athletic as the other 3 on the list. He is, however, the most instinctive athlete…. Knows where ball is going very early , and is fast enough to get there. — This is how 4.5 and 4.6 kids play like 4.4 and 4.3 kids
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This…. Mike Hull was that guy you describe.
Snap counts are interesting Iowa kid has over 800 snaps.DeLuca is a situational LB. It’s like looking at the batting averages of guys that only face left handed pitchers.
Not saying that you are wrong, but relief pitchers are situational players too. And they are a very valuable commodity.
Having said that and further analyzing his actual #'s: Total snaps: 212 RDEF (Rush Defense?): 87 snaps PRSH (Pass Rush?) 22 snaps COV (Coverage?) 103 snaps.
So, 87 plays were against the run and 125 were against the pass. Other than not being on the field for a greater % of defensive snaps, what is his specialty?
Interestingly, his worst grade was his in making the actual tackle. Maybe that's the answer.....
well, that's my point. you can compare a situational player to one who plays almost every snap. DeLuca, IIRC, is an excellent cover LB who is smallish and fast. He isn't going to be the guy who is in there on third and 1. So his stats are tainted versus a guy with 800 snaps playing on all downs.
So what that means is that the coaches are doing an excellent job at situational substituting. Getting the right guys in the right position with the right play call to make the play.
And leads to the question…..does his excellent play earn him more playing time?
There is a reason why he is situational. it is because the other guys are better at running downs. He is listed as 218 so he'll have to bulk up if he wants to play on running downs against 230 lb RBs with a full head of steam. He is a RS s
Happy to see Dom get good press, but I have serious reservations (as do others) about how good PFF is (not based on this list, just in general). Some of the grades you see for individual games are nonsensical if you watched the game.
Additionally, at one point this year they had Dom listed as a safety, so that shows you how closely they are actually grading the action.
King was pretty good at the end of the year scoring higher than anyone else during the last 4 games, I believe.
Yeah, reading the explanation on how the grades are established does not give me much confidence in their accuracy. I'm far from an expert, but I question his run defense grade. Maybe him just missing a gap impacts his grade slightly and they don't factor in the resultant 40 yard gain.
I'm not seeing any hate. I'm just seeing tempered thoughts from analyzing the data. He was great in what we asked him to do. I hope he continues to get better and earn even more playing time.
Agree. Love the kid and had a great season. But he's not the best in the B1G.
You might be right about #1 but not sure about #2. Some our most loved LBs have been white, including some lower rated players like Sean Lee. Not sure why others here don't like DeLuca, but personally I have not been a big fan of his this year simply because some of his mistakes have resulted in big plays.
If he meant his skin color….pretty dumb. If he meant he is slower and can’t jump…..maybe .
I can’t remember which Franklin presser it was but when the subject of DeLuca came up Franklin’s eyes lit up and he could not have been more effusive about him. The coaching staff obviously love this kid. And his play.
well, since he goes in on passing downs (presumably for better coverage), I'd say he's pretty fast for his size.
Makes sense. The coaches gave him the #0 jersey and made him a captain as a sophomore so that says a lot.
