Baylor's Pocket Presence
Last year Baylor QB Gerry Bohanon was the seventh best in college football at escaping defensive pressure. Per PFF only 9% of snaps where he was pressured turned into sacks. For context consider a statue like Tanner McKee who was sacked 28% of the time he was pressured in 2021. That's about as bad as it gets at 136th worst in the country.
Hear this: Blake Shapen aint no Bohanon. Yes, I know it's early and the sample size is small, but so far Shapen has been sacked on a massive 38% of his pressured dropbacks. That's 7th worst in the country at this point. And I know you're thinking that number is completely driven by BYU's excellent performance on Saturday, but in week one Albany -- a team whose mascot I truthfully do not know -- pressured Blake 6 times and turned two of those pressures into sacks.
Blake is not lively which I write not only as an excuse to shoutout my TV dream girl Blake Lively but also to highlight Baylor went from having one of the most elusive guys in the pocket to one of the worst.
By the way, where is Jaren Hall in this metric? In 2021 he was right in the middle, getting sacked on 17% of his pressured dropbabcks, good for 50th in the country. You'd expect him to probably be a little better than that right? Well, there may be a reason he isn't and it's coming up in the next paragraph.
Jaren Hall likes extending plays
Taysom Hill was quick to flee the scene when things broke down in front of him, which was a great choice because Taysom Hill was elite at running. In 2016 he scrambled 28 times when under pressure which was the 4th most in the country.11. The national leader was Josh Allen with 31 scrambles. In contrast Jaren Hall only scrambled away from pressure six times in 2021, per PFF. That shocked me -- I would have guessed a way higher number.
By the way, where is Jaren Hall in this metric? In 2021 he was right in the middle, getting sacked on 17% of his pressured dropbabcks, good for 50th in the country. You'd expect him to probably be a little better than that right? Well, there may be a reason he isn't and it's coming up in the next paragraph.
Jaren Hall likes extending plays
Taysom Hill was quick to flee the scene when things broke down in front of him, which was a great choice because Taysom Hill was elite at running. In 2016 he scrambled 28 times when under pressure which was the 4th most in the country.11. The national leader was Josh Allen with 31 scrambles. In contrast Jaren Hall only scrambled away from pressure six times in 2021, per PFF. That shocked me -- I would have guessed a way higher number.
However, it makes sense when examined against another stat, which is how long a QB holds the ball before he throws. On pressured passes, Jaren held the ball an average of 4.29 seconds, which was 6th highest in the country in 2021. In other words Jaren likes extending plays when under pressure - he waits until the last moment to throw and pretty rarely scrambles. (And by the way he's good at it)
But ... keep in mind those numbers are all from the 2021 season. Against USF and Baylor PFF suggests Hall has already scrambled three times when under pressure (half as much as he did in all of ’21). Maybe it's been a point of emphasis during the offseason to not always hunt the big play?
By the way, I'm not here to say one approach is better than the other -- there are times to run and there are times to dance around and find an open receiver. I just think it's interesting that an athletic, mobile QB like Jaren has been more prone to waiting for an open man -- even at the risk of getting sacked -- than turning to his feet.
Who's the new slot man?
In 2017 and 2018 Neil Pau’u lined up wide on 67% of his snaps. Starting in 2020 Pau'u’s deployment flipped and he lined up in the slot on 65% of his snaps. Over two years he was in the slot for 662 snaps; the second most snaps from the slot over that time period was 184 by Isaac Rex. I know in an ideal world a great receiver performs no matter where you put him on the field, but some players just do better at different spots. Neil's numbers flourished as a slot receiver.
So who is taking over this critical position with Neil graduated? By volume of snaps it looks like it could be Brayden Cosper who has 38 snaps in the slot this season. But keep looking and it's clear BYU’s coaches are in test mode because Dallin Holker, Kody Epps, and Keanu Hill each have 22, 22, and 24 snaps in that spot as well.
This area will get more interesting if BYU’s top three receivers ever play together at the same time (I’m assuming Roberts is in the top three after his “Chase is on the case” debut). Gunner and Puka have spent the overwhelming majority of their careers on the outside. Similarly Chase has lined up outside on 84% of his reps through this stage in the season. To get all three on the field will require someone to drift away from the sideline. That may not be ideal: Puka took a lot of slot snaps in the USC and UAB games after Neil got injured and those were two of his weaker performances of the season (combined 4 catches, 51 yards). There were other factors in those two games -- Romney plus rain in the UAB contest for example -- but just watch the highlights from his best game (Baylor in '21) and all those completions come from wide deployment.
Who Got Dem Snaps -- OL Edition
So it looks like Kingsley won the right tackle spot? Against USF Kingsley and Campbell Barrington split the reps, with 38 snaps going to Campbell and 35 to Kingsley. Against Baylor's Kingsley took 74 of 80 offensive snaps.
Who Got Dem Snaps – LB Edition
Max Tooley has been biding his time. In 2019 he was the fourth most used linebacker, playing 38% of available snaps. In 2020 he was again the 4th most used linebacker, and played 45% of snaps. In 2021 he was the 3rd most used linebacker – if not for the Pili injury would he have been fourth again? – playing 47% of available snaps.
Through two games in 2022 no linebacker has been on the field more than Tooley. But it’s not just linebackers. Tooley leads the entire defense in snaps, having been on the field for 81% of defensive snaps. If he keeps playing like this I hope he leads the team in snaps all season.
But ... keep in mind those numbers are all from the 2021 season. Against USF and Baylor PFF suggests Hall has already scrambled three times when under pressure (half as much as he did in all of ’21). Maybe it's been a point of emphasis during the offseason to not always hunt the big play?
By the way, I'm not here to say one approach is better than the other -- there are times to run and there are times to dance around and find an open receiver. I just think it's interesting that an athletic, mobile QB like Jaren has been more prone to waiting for an open man -- even at the risk of getting sacked -- than turning to his feet.
Who's the new slot man?
In 2017 and 2018 Neil Pau’u lined up wide on 67% of his snaps. Starting in 2020 Pau'u’s deployment flipped and he lined up in the slot on 65% of his snaps. Over two years he was in the slot for 662 snaps; the second most snaps from the slot over that time period was 184 by Isaac Rex. I know in an ideal world a great receiver performs no matter where you put him on the field, but some players just do better at different spots. Neil's numbers flourished as a slot receiver.
So who is taking over this critical position with Neil graduated? By volume of snaps it looks like it could be Brayden Cosper who has 38 snaps in the slot this season. But keep looking and it's clear BYU’s coaches are in test mode because Dallin Holker, Kody Epps, and Keanu Hill each have 22, 22, and 24 snaps in that spot as well.
This area will get more interesting if BYU’s top three receivers ever play together at the same time (I’m assuming Roberts is in the top three after his “Chase is on the case” debut). Gunner and Puka have spent the overwhelming majority of their careers on the outside. Similarly Chase has lined up outside on 84% of his reps through this stage in the season. To get all three on the field will require someone to drift away from the sideline. That may not be ideal: Puka took a lot of slot snaps in the USC and UAB games after Neil got injured and those were two of his weaker performances of the season (combined 4 catches, 51 yards). There were other factors in those two games -- Romney plus rain in the UAB contest for example -- but just watch the highlights from his best game (Baylor in '21) and all those completions come from wide deployment.
Who Got Dem Snaps -- OL Edition
So it looks like Kingsley won the right tackle spot? Against USF Kingsley and Campbell Barrington split the reps, with 38 snaps going to Campbell and 35 to Kingsley. Against Baylor's Kingsley took 74 of 80 offensive snaps.
Who Got Dem Snaps – LB Edition
Max Tooley has been biding his time. In 2019 he was the fourth most used linebacker, playing 38% of available snaps. In 2020 he was again the 4th most used linebacker, and played 45% of snaps. In 2021 he was the 3rd most used linebacker – if not for the Pili injury would he have been fourth again? – playing 47% of available snaps.
Through two games in 2022 no linebacker has been on the field more than Tooley. But it’s not just linebackers. Tooley leads the entire defense in snaps, having been on the field for 81% of defensive snaps. If he keeps playing like this I hope he leads the team in snaps all season.
Who Got Dem Snaps -- WR Edition
Presenting a battle of short passes
Regarding pass attempts behind the line of scrimmage, Jaren Hall has thrown the 13th most in the country. Kind of interesting right? BYU has been a pretty good short-passing team since the beginning of the Grimes era. One of the 12 quarterbacks who has thrown more short passes than Jaren is none other than this week’s opponent, Mr. Bo Nix.
With Puka and Gunner out we all know Chase came through big time. But who did the coaches send onto the field most consistently given their top two receivers were missing? Hill (69 snaps), Roberts (56), and Cosper (56) got most of the love while Epps only got 28 snaps. I have such high hopes for Epps! Like Chase he put up nearly incomprehensible high school stats. I still believe in you buddy.
Presenting a battle of short passes
Regarding pass attempts behind the line of scrimmage, Jaren Hall has thrown the 13th most in the country. Kind of interesting right? BYU has been a pretty good short-passing team since the beginning of the Grimes era. One of the 12 quarterbacks who has thrown more short passes than Jaren is none other than this week’s opponent, Mr. Bo Nix.
The ability to turn short passes into big gains (and conversely the ability to tackle playmakers in space) will be a huge factor in the outcome of the Oregon showdown. For what it’s worth, thus far BYU’s defense has only allowed 142 yards after the catch while Oregon has allowed 371. But 306 of those yards came courtesy Georgia, a team who just might be the best in the country, so who knows what an even opponent will bring.
Let's end on a funny stat
Speaking of yards after the catch, who led BYU in that category against Baylor? Yup, Jaren Hall.
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