PFF snap counts and grades following Michigan football’s matchup against UNLV

The Michigan Wolverines handled business again on Saturday, defeating the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, 35-7. It was yet another dominant showing that allowed for some of Michigan’s playmakers that didn’t pop in Week 1 to break loose, while also allowing the team to sit most of its starters early in the fourth quarter.

Noticeable improvement was observed in several keys areas, including along both the Wolverines’ offensive and defensive lines. Contrary to the belief we might see the “Michigan Method” at work, Sherrone Moore was able to champion the same offensive line we saw in Week 1 to heightened success, while the Michigan pass rush was able to sack the quarterback a total of five times during the first half.

The biggest story, however, was none other than J.J. McCarthy. The second-year starter continues to look like one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Waking up to a PFF offensive player grade that leads all quarterbacks will do little to quell that excitement.

While it doesn’t take a college football aggregate to determine that J.J. was lights-out on Saturday, there’s still some not-so apparent data to delve into this week. Here are this week’s snap counts and grades, courtesy of PFF:

Offense

J.J. McCarthy - 50 / 92.1

Myles Hinton - 50 / 67.5

Zak Zinter - 50 / 68.0

Trevor Keegan - 50 / 74.8

Karsen Barnhart - 50 / 69.5

Drake Nugent - 50 / 77.4

Cornelius Johnson - 40 / 74.6

AJ Barner - 34 / 76.3

Colston Loveland - 31 / 56.4

Roman Wilson - 30 / 76.8

Blake Corum - 30 / 76.2

Tyler Morris - 27 / 75.3

Donovan Edwards - 26 / 61.4

Trente Jones - 15 / 62.2

Max Bredeson - 14 / 54.7

Fredrick Moore - 13 / 54.9

Karmello English - 11 / 55.7

Andrew Gentry - 11 / 53.5

Giovanni El-Hadi - 11 / 54.8

Greg Crippen - 11 / 43.5

LaDarius Henderson - 11 / 53.2

Matthew Hibner - 10 / 53.2

Jayden Denegal - 7 / 86.7

Cristian Dixon - 7 / 55.9

Semaj Morgan - 5 / 85.6

Kalel Mullings - 5 / 54.5

Josh Beetham - 5 / 51.8

Marlin Klein - 4 / 56.4

CJ Stokes - 3 / 57.8

Davis Warren - 3 / 25.6

Noah Howes - 2 / 60.0

Danny Hughes - 2 / 59.5

Henry Donahue - 1 / 58.4

Leon Franklin - 1 / 59.0

Jack Tuttle - 1 / 69.6

Initial Reaction: J.J. McCarthy. That’s it. That’s the reaction. And it’s a fair one, considering he’s currently the highest-graded QB in the country, per PFF. Many have walked away the last two weeks praising McCarthy’s improved pocket-presence, as well as his accuracy and decision making, and these numbers only help solidify what Wolverine fans have already assumed.

Make no mistake. The only real negatives to takeaway from the offense this week are the grades and performances of Donovan Edwards and Colston Loveland. Both were somewhat unremarkable following a game against East Carolina that neither would’ve likely written home about, and that followed them into Week 2.

Surprises: Perhaps most surprising so far are the lack of assumed playmakers we thought we’d have seen by this point. Both LaDarius Henderson and Trente Jones received a similar workload to what we saw in Week 1, while someone like Alex Orji saw no action in favor of Jayden Denegal.

Things like this could sometimes be attributed to undisclosed injury, but head coach Jim Harbaugh has been outspoken about finding ways to get Orji in the game, similarly to Henderson and Jones. It will be interesting to find out how the roles of the these players continue to develop on this 2023 Michigan football team.

Defense

Keon Sabb - 49 / 58.1

Mike Sainristil - 39 / 70.8

Quinten Johnson - 38 / 54.6

Junior Colson - 32 / 64.7

Ernest Hausmann - 31 / 46.4

Keshaun Harris - 29 / 47.5

Kris Jenkins - 28 / 71.7

Michael Barrett - 27 / 68.2

Derrick Moore - 25 / 65.6

Mason Graham - 25 / 94.0

Braiden McGregor - 25 / 73.7

Jaylen Harrell - 25 / 78.6

Josh Wallace - 24 / 50.8

Cam Goode - 21 / 59.3

Caden Kolesar - 20 / 78.7

Kenneth Grant - 19 / 79.4

TJ Guy - 19 / 51.1

Ja’Den McBurrows - 19 / 60.3

Jaydon Hood - 17 / 69.1

Rayshaun Benny - 16 / 57.9

DJ Waller Jr. - 15 / 69.3

Jyaire Hill - 14 / 72.2

Josaiah Stewart - 14 / 58.1

Trey Pierce - 9 / 63.3

Brandyn Hillman - 9 / 53.0

Will Johnson - 8 / 66.0

Cameron Calhoun - 6 / 49.8

Micah Pollard - 5 / 64.5

Kody Jones - 5 / 28.8

Kechaun Bennett - 5 / 63.5

Enow Etta - 4 / 59.7

Cameron Brandt - 4 / 60.3

Christian Boivin - 4 / 64.0

Reece Atteberry - 4 / 68.8

Myles Pollard - 4 / 61.9

Initial Reaction: Keon Sabb led the team in snaps once again, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Team veterans Rod Moore and Will Johnson have been sidelined over the last couple of weeks, although it was refreshing to see Johnson slowly being worked back into the lineup with eight snaps in this one.

The rotation of linebacker triumvirate Mike Barrett, Junior Colson and Ernest Hausmann continues to be great. The three were once again utilized fairly evenly and were some of the highest graded on the defense, with exception to Hausmann, who walks away with some things to improve upon after grading out to a 46.4 overall.

Atop Michigan football’s PFF rankings for Week 2 is Mason Graham. The sophomore defensive tackle graded-out to a 94.0, and was thought to be exceptional in stopping the run, with a run defense grade of 95.6. He also accounted for five total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks, so it’s safe to say the aggregate sees this one correctly.

Surprises: Really enjoyed seeing Caden Kolesar out there on defense in the second half. I thought he played well and was positionally very sound, and PFF agreed, grading him third overall on defense with a 78.7.

No real “surprises” here. Team vets you would expect to play great did, and there was plenty of fresh meat in the game that will walk away with some things to clean up.