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Published Jan 5, 2021
How the Hilltopper Defense was rated by PFF in 2020
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Casey Warner  •  InsideHilltopperSports
Staff Writer
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@thecaseywarner
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After a 5-7 finish to the modified 2020 season, the Hilltoppers ended up with a 76.7 overall grade by Pro Football Focus.

On the defensive side of the football WKU was graded a 73.8.

InsideHilltopperSports goes in depth on the entire defensive breakdown below:

***Players that played 150 snaps or more only are included***

MORE: 2020 PFF OFFENSIVE GRADES | SIGNEE AND TRANSFER TRACKER

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Hilltoppers Defensive Grades
WKU showed exceptional tackling and coverage throughout most of 2020 according to PFF.
DefenseRun DefenseTacklePass RushCoverage

73.8

62.0

83.6

69.4

85.8

Defensive Line Grades
NameSnapsDefenseRun DefenseTacklingPass Rush

Ricky Barber

551

80.2

82.0

86.1

71.7

Deangelo Malone

752

74.5

67.7

58.9

73.5

Darius Shipp

203

65.2

66.1

79.7

63.7

Jaden Hunter

179

58.0

56.5

83.2

57.8

Juwan Jones

666

56.9

53.8

72.3

57.2

Jeremy Darvin

524

56.8

54.0

58.8

61.1

Jalen Madden

322

55.8

56.2

80.4

56.8

Malone grabbed the Hilltoppers only first team All-CUSA honor, adding to his trophy case. The edge rusher led the team with 10.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, and two forced fumbles. Redshirt freshman Barber added an impressive six tackles for loss and four sacks while topping nearly every PFF category in this position group. Though he didn't have as good of a campaign as expected, Jones tallied five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and three pass deflections. Darvin was also a standout with 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one pass deflection.

Linebacker Grades
NameSnapsDefenseRun DefenseTacklingCoverage

Eli Brown

518

63.0

48.2

64.3

71.6

Nick Days

185

61.8

63.6

89.8

60.3

Damon Lowe

158

55.5

53.8

42.5

59.2

Kyle Bailey

617

45.0

46.4

55.5

50.4

Bailey led the group with 76 tackles, nine for loss, and three sacks, although not receiving necessarily high praise by PFF. Brown had an impressive comeback season with 52 tackles, 8.5 for loss, two sacks and an interception after a season-ending injury in 2019. Newcomer Nick Days stood out with 27 tackles, equating to a solid grade from PFF in the category. Lowe rounded out the group adding 16 tackles, 2.5 for loss and one sack.

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Defensive Back Grades
NameSnapsDefenseRun DefenseTacklingCoverage

Antwon Kincade

853

82.0

83.7

77.4

78.3

Devon Key

807

75.8

64.8

85.5

85.0

Dionte Ruffin

596

71.5

77.6

83.5

69.3

Trae Meadows

489

70.4

53.0

69.8

76.3

Roger Cray

397

65.6

55.0

55.8

67.6

Dominique Bradshaw

412

63.8

72.8

40.3

62.7

Omari Alexander

436

56.8

62.6

72.9

54.5

Beanie Bishop

267

55.2

42.9

62.3

60.0

Defensive Back was easily the standout position group for the Hilltopper defense. Key and Ruffin were each named second team All-CUSA. Key led the team with 88 tackles and also added an interception and three pass deflections. Ruffin led WKU with two interceptions as well as recording 23 tackles, one fumble recovery, and 10 pass deflections. Kincade earned the highest defensive grade of the group after tallying 86 tackles, 5.5 for loss, a forced fumble and eight pass deflections.

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Small sample sizes can cause a misunderstanding of a player's abilities. For more of PFF's data, please visit PFF.com/college. PFF brings you in-depth analysis for college football and the 2021 NFL Draft, including college player grades, prospect profiles, and rankings.

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