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 wrap up this week’s series with Louisiana (Lafayette), which entered this week’s bye with momentum after a thrilling double-overtime comeback against Marshall to open Sun Belt play.
———— OVERALL NOTES ————
The Ragin’ Cajuns stumbled to a 1-3 start out of the gate as they battled injuries, drive-stalling penalties and inconsistencies wrapping up tackles. And their PFF grades have slipped from their 2024 marks accordingly with only their running (86.7, up from 82.1), pass rush (68.0, up from 64.3), tackles (53.4, up from 48.9) and special teams (64.3, up from 61.2) up slightly, while other areas such as passing (49.4, down from 84.4) and receiving (48.0, down from 73.7) have taken considerable hits to their lowest since PFF began its grading system more than a decade ago. But the past two games against Eastern Michigan and Marshall earned their best grades on both sides of the ball against FBS competition and best passing and receiving grades against any opponent.
———— TOP FIVE OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS ————
1. Steven Blanco, freshman RB — 81.1 overall
The former St. Martinville star has seen limited snaps as the team’s third back, but has performed well in his opportunities with 125 yards and a touchdown on just 18 carries, an average of 6.9 yards per touch. In his small sample size of 29 snaps, his 4.7 yards per attempt after contact leads the team, buoyed by his career-best performance against FCS opponent McNeese State in Week 2, but also with a couple good runs last week against Marshall. Blanco has taken handoffs on the majority of his offensive snaps, but graded out well both as a runner (78.1) and in his limited pass-blocking reps (76.7) — always a critical factor for a young back hoping to earn more playing time.
2. Elijah “Bill” Davis, sophomore RB — 75.7 overall
The former Riverside Academy star has another solid start to the season overall with 314 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries, an average of 5.1 yards per touch. His ball-security grade has been not only the team’s best, but among the best in the Sun Belt, and his 3.6 yards per attempt after contact has been solid with 11 missed tackles forced and nine runs of 10-plus yards. But, like Blanco, his overall numbers are significantly bolstered by his great game vs. McNeese State: 19 carries for 133 yards and two touchdowns with five missed tackles forced, four runs of 10-plus yards and averages of 7.0 yards per touch and 4.0 yards after contact.
3. Jax Harrington, senior OL — 75.4 overall
The seventh-year senior leader on the offensive line was among the players coach Michael Desormeaux particularly praised this past weekend following the comeback against Marshall. The Erath product has been a mainstay at right guard for the Ragin’ Cajuns the past couple years, but bounced outside to tackle as the team continues to navigate losses at the position. He’s been charged with one sack and three hurries this season, with one of each this past week. Harrington has been the team’s highest-graded run-blocker (73.5) thus far and second-highest pass-blocker (76.5) on the front line. He’s one of just five offensive linemen in the Sun Belt so far this season to play at least 50 snaps and have PFF grades of 70.0 better in both run- and pass-blocking.
4. Zylan Perry, junior RB — 75.3 overall
The former Franklin star has led the team with 411 yards and five touchdowns on 59 carries for an average of 7.0 yards per touch. Several of PFF’s additional metrics speak even further to Perry’s quickness and elusiveness as a runner. His eight runs of 15-plus yards are tied for most in the Sun Belt, his 22 missed tackles forced are tied for No. 2 in the conference and his 11 runs of 10-plus yards are tied for No. 4. He has also been the Cajuns’ top receiving back with seven catches on eight targets for 33 yards.
5. D’Wanye’ “Lunch” Winfield, sophomore QB — 75.1 overall
The former Lutcher star’s epic performance off the bench this past week was enough to move him into the team’s top five grades for the season overall. His run grade (83.7) and passing grade (67.0) for that game were both second-highest for the team in those specific areas so far this season. His run grade for the season (75.8) — and, for that matter, his 3.4-yard average after contact and four runs of 10-plus yards — isn’t far off of the Cajuns’ running backs and is just shy of Old Dominion’s Colton Joseph’s mark (76.6) for the Sun Belt’s most effective running quarterback. And particularly encouraging moving forward was his career-best passing efficiency this past week, 7-for-13 (53.8%), coming on his highest volume and longest average depth of target (15.8 yards) in a game thus far.
———— TOP FIVE DEFENSIVE PERFORMERS ————
1. Courtline Flowers, senior DB — 78.2 overall
The veteran defensive back has been the Cajuns’ top-graded defender overall and earned good marks across the board in coverage (75.8), run defense (75.9), tackling (74.2) and even a few snaps in pass rush (78.8) — all notable jumps from his 2024 numbers. Flowers has posted 21 tackles, including two for loss and a sack, with an interception and pass breakup and has barely left the field as a clear leader for the unit
2. Avery Demery, freshman CB — 75.2 overall
The redshirt freshman has been a steady presence on special teams and, though he has only played a notable number of defensive snaps in a couple of games, he has graded out well in the small sample size: coverage (76.4), tackling (73.5) and run defense (65.1) marks in 29 plays defending the run and 13 in coverage.
3. Brent Gordon Jr., freshman DB — 74.5 overall
The true freshman from Cecilia has been called upon more heavily more quickly than what may have been anticipated in the opening weeks of his college career — fifth on the Cajuns’ defense in snaps — but he has lived up to and continued to earn that opportunity. Gordon has graded out among the unit’s top performers in tackling (81.4), run defense (81.3) and coverage (73.2) with just one missed tackle to 23 total tackles (4.2%) and just seven completions allowed on 15 targets (46.7%) for 82 yards, one penalty and one score.
4. Caleb Kibodi, senior LB — 73.4 overall
The veteran linebacker is a steady piece of the team’s rotation at the position for a third straight year and has graded out early on as its best run defender (83.3) and tackler (87.3). The Parkview Baptist product’s overall grade and both area-specific marks have climbed notably each of those seasons. He has racked up 17 tackles thus far, including a sack, thus far in 2025 and has yet to be charged with a miss by PFF.
5. Cameron Whitfield, senior DE — 72.5 overall
Other than not having the eye-popping Southern Miss performance of last season, Whitfield’s raw statistics so far in 2025 look similar to his solid junior campaign. He has 14 total tackles, including 0.5 for loss, and an interception and two quarterback hurries. But he’s actually graded out more favorably across the board in run defense (62.3), pass rush (64.2), tackling (60.2) and in just a few coverage snaps (89.9) despite not yet having the same splashy plays behind the line as the past two season.