College football season is about one-third of its way through, and four of Louisiana’s five FBS programs will begin October on byes.
So this week felt like a prime time to check in on each team’s top performers thus far in 2025 — essentially a first-trimester progress report — using PFF (Pro Football Focus) grades.
Obviously these grades — or any grading system for that matter — are not an end-all-be-all, but they do provide a useful glimpse into teams’ and players’ performances overall.
We continue this week’s series with LSU, the state’s lone Power-Four program.
The Tigers (4-1) suffered their first loss Saturday at Ole Miss as offensive issues that have lingered throughout the first month of the season proved costly. And PFF grade reflect much of the takeaways we’ve discussed following recent games.
———— OVERALL NOTES ————
LSU’s defensive resurgence and offensive shortcomings have been increasingly well-documented, so the grades shouldn’t be particularly surprising. But they do starkly illustrate the dynamics of the season thus far. The Tigers’ overall offensive grade (68.8) is third-lowest in the SEC so far this season and the program’s lowest since Pro Football Focus began its grading system more than a decade ago. While questions have arisen surrounding star quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s health, the biggest drop-offs in grades have been in running (70.2) and run-blocking (49.9), both LSU’s lowest during the PFF era and the lowest among SEC teams thus far this season. The defense (88.1) has meanwhile been the Tigers’ highest-graded since the 2019 national championship run, highlighted by an SEC-best coverage grade (90.6) that is the program’s best since 2018.
———— TOP FIVE OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS ————
1. Garrett Nussmeier, senior QB — 83.3 overall
The Tigers’ leader has been under a microscope and harsh spotlight after entering the season with Heisman hype. Nussmeier, who has been battling a torso injury, and the LSU offense haven’t posed as much of a vertical threat yet in 2025. His average depth of target (7.6 yards) has come come down a couple yards as he has thrown deep less frequently, down three percentage points at 13.5%, and enjoying less efficiency doing so, down nearly six percentage points at 30.4% completions. But his overall (83.3), passing (80.6) and running (69.9) grades have closely matched his 2024 marks. While the average yardage has come down, Nussmeier has gotten the ball out a bit faster (2.51 seconds to throw), improved his completion percentage (67.3%) a little over three percentage points and maintained a nearly identical 7-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 3.0% turnover-worthy play percentage despite the team struggling with a few more drops and a few more sacks.
2. Aaron Anderson, junior WR — 78.2 overall
Nussmeier’s leading returning receiver has been the highest-graded of the team’s loaded cast of weapons. Anderson caught 23 passes for a team-leading 305 yards in a little over four games before exiting Saturday early as he deals with a few different injuries. Per PFF metrics, he has suffered three drops, but also reeled in three of six contested-catch opportunities and has been the Tigers’ most consistent playmaker after the catch with five missed tackles forced and a combined 175 yards after catch, an average of 7.6 extra yards per touch. He’s also been the team’s highest-graded run-blocker (87.1) on the perimeter.
3. Barion Brown, senior WR — 72.0 overall
The Kentucky transfer has led the team so far with 25 catches for 239 yards and a touchdown. Many of his additional numbers resemble Anderson’s with a good run-blocking grade (79.1) and a couple yards longer in average depth of target (9.5 yards), but a couple yards shorter in average yards after the catch (5.5) for a total of 137 yards with three missed tackles forced. And Brown’s percentage of targets caught (73.5%), contested-catch percentage (60.0%) and drop percentage (7.4%) have been better so far than any of his three seasons with the Wildcats.
4. Caden Durham, sophomore RB — 71.7 overall
The sophomore star of LSU’s running back room has graded out respectably with overall (71.7) and running (74.2) slightly down, but similar to his breakout freshman campaign — still just narrowly in the top 25 of SEC backs with at least 15 carries thus far this season — and much-improved pass-blocking marks (58.6). Statistically, Durham has led the team in all major rushing statistics with 213 yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries.
5. Braelin Moore, junior C — 68.7 overall
The brightest spot of the Tigers’ offensive line was the SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week following the opener at Clemson, but has seen his grades come down a bit in recent weeks since being banged up and knocked out early in Week 2 against Louisiana Tech. The past two weeks have featured his season-lowest overall (55.1) and run-blocking (52.6) marks in Week 4 against Southeastern Louisiana and a season-lowest pass-blocking grade (53.7) on Saturday at Ole Miss. Might Moore be among the standouts whom LSU is opening this bye week can do some good in getting back to 100%?
———— TOP FIVE DEFENSIVE PERFORMERS ————
1. Dashawn Spears, sophomore S — 92.3 overall
The former Denham Springs star holds the SEC’s top coverage grade for PFF thus far this season and one of the league’s top defensive grades overall, lifted notably by his two-interception performance against Florida. Spears has earned more snaps in the two weeks since that breakout game, but had a lower-marked afternoon at Ole Miss this past week. As much as his coverage in Week 3 stand out as a highlight, he has also received much more consistently positive tackling grades thus far this season than during his freshman campaign.
2. Mansoor Delane, senior CB — 88.5 overall
No surprise to see the Virginia Tech transfer among the leaders here. If anything, the only surprise might be to see him not No. 1. But Delane is only slightly behind Spears in his overall defensive and coverage (87.7) grades and is one of the nation’s top couple defenders at any position in that categories among players working such a high workload and sample size (272 snaps). And his tackling (78.8), run defense (78.3) and even limited pass-rush (69.7) have all graded out solidly as well. Opponents have only tried to test Delane 20 times thus far and managed just six completions (30.0%) for 77 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and four pass breakups.
3. A.J. Haulcy, senior S — 82.5 overall
Continuing the theme of highly graded LSU defensive backs, the Houston transfer gives the Tigers’ secondary three of the SEC’s top 10 coverage grades among players to play at least 10 snaps in that capacity. Like Spears and Delane, Haulcy’s coverage marks (83.4) highlight a solid all-around performance that also includes positive run defense (76.3) and tackling (73.9) grades. He is third on the team with 26 tackles and has one of the team’s two forced fumbles and one of its seven interceptions, without allowing a touchdown.
4. Michael Turner Jr., freshman CB — 77.0 overall
The former John Curtis star has posted solid overall and coverage (75.7) grades in a small sample size against Louisiana Tech and mostly Southeastern Louisiana with two pass breakups on the only two targets his way according to PFF. The long, lean athlete’s continued work to get bigger and stronger will likely go a long way in determining more playing time as his career continues. Turner, listed this year up to 158 pounds, has recorded one tackle this season and has been charged by PFF with a miss.
5. P.J. Woodland, sophomore CB — 75.9 overall
The Mississippi native was one of Tigers’ highest-graded defenders Saturday at home-state Ole Miss with his highest-graded performance thus far of his young career. Woodland had some positive moments as a true freshman in 2024, but has already played more snaps this fall as a sophomore and has earned higher PFF grades across the board in coverage (75.1), run defense (69.5), pass-rushing (67.3) and particularly tackling (86.9). According to the site’s breakdown, he had allowed just eight catches for 92 yards and n touchdowns on 17 targets with an interception and pass breakup.
