A Plus-Minus Exercise for Missouri’s Returning D-Linemen

You could evaluate what Missouri has coming back at defensive line this year by checking out the stat lines of Chris Turner, Jordan Elliott, Tre Williams, Akial Byers, Kobie Whiteside and Trajan Jeffcoat.

But I’ve already done that, so here’s something a little different.

This time, let’s look at the defense’s performance as a whole last year when those six players – the only six on the roster who played at least 10 percent of the team’s defensive snaps – were on the field.

I’ve done something similar for the secondary in the past, but I wanted to translate down into the trenches. Think about it as a plus-minus for linemen.

So here is how the Missouri defense performed in 2018 when each of these players was on the field. A brief note: all these rush figures aren’t counting sack yardage.

Chris Turner

Overall
Run: 232 for 965 (4.16 avg.), 6 TD, TO
Pass: 142-of-243, 2130 yards (8.77 avg.), 15 TD, 5 TO
Sack: 17 for -112
Total: 492 for 2983 (6.06 avg.), 21 TD, 6 TO

Power-5
Run: 191 for 824 (4.31 avg.), 5 TD
Pass: 121-of-200, 1887 yards (9.44 avg.), 15 TD, 4 TO
Sack: 13 for -91
Total: 404 for 2620 (6.49 avg.), 20 TD, 4 TO

Tre Williams

Overall
Run: 193 for 801 (4.15 avg.), 5 TD, 2 TO
Pass: 123-of-215, 1701 yards (7.91 avg.), 13 TD, 6 TO
Sack: 14 for -95
Total: 422 for 2407 (5.70 avg.), 18 TD, 8 TO

Power-5
Run: 143 for 565 (3.95 avg.), 3 TD, TO
Pass: 101-of-173, 1447 yards (8.36 avg.), 11 TD, 4 TO
Sack: 9 for -71
Total: 325 for 1941 (5.97 avg.), 14 TD, 5 TO

Jordan Elliott

Overall
Run: 168 for 651 (3.88 avg.), 6 TD, TO
Pass: 112-of-195, 1727 yards (8.86 avg.), 13 TD, 5 TO
Sack: 11 for -83
Total: 374 for 2295 (6.14 avg.), 19 TD, 6 TO

Power-5
Run: 132 for 496 (3.76 avg.), 3 TD, TO
Pass: 95-of-164, 1514 yards (9.23 avg.), 12 TD, 4 TO
Sack: 9 for -78
Total: 305 for 1932 (6.33 avg.), 15 TD, 5 TO

Akial Byers

Overall
Run: 191 for 953 (4.99 avg.), 7 TD
Pass: 85-of-157, 1153 yards (7.34 avg.), 9 TD, 6 TO
Sack: 9 for -55
Total: 357 for 2051 (5.75 avg.), 16 TD, 6 TO

Power-5
Run: 157 for 783 (4.99 avg.), 4 TD
Pass: 72-of-122, 965 yards (7.91 avg.), 7 TD, 5 TO
Sack: 8 for -53
Total: 287 for 1695 (5.91 avg.), 11 TD, 5 TO

Kobie Whiteside

Overall
Run: 96 for 389 (4.05 avg.), 2 TD
Pass: 37-of-65, 512 yards (7.88 avg.), 4 TD, TO
Sack: 3 for -16
Total: 164 for 885 (5.40 avg.), 6 TD, TO

Power-5
Run: 68 for 247 (3.63 avg.), TD
Pass: 25-of-41, 306 yards (7.46 avg.), 3 TD, TO
Sack: 1 for -12
Total: 110 for 541 (4.92 avg.), 4 TD, TO

Trajan Jeffcoat

Overall
Run: 46 for 239 (5.20 avg.)
Pass: 36-of-77, 505 yards (6.56 avg.), 3 TD, 5 TO
Sack: 7 for -50
Total: 130 for 694 (5.34 avg.), 3 TD, 5 TO

Power-5
Run: 25 for 145 (5.80 avg.)
Pass: 27-of-56, 358 yards (6.39 avg.), TD, 4 TO
Sack: 5 for -45
Total: 86 for 458 (5.33 avg.), TD, 4 TO

Now let’s stack them up against each in some stat categories and compare them to the team totals.

Overall

Yards per Play Against
Jeffcoat: 5.34
Whiteside: 5.40
Team: 5.68
Williams: 5.70
Byers: 5.75
Turner: 6.06
Elliott: 6.14

Rush Yards per Play Against
Elliott: 3.88
Whiteside: 4.05
Williams: 4.15
Turner: 4.16
Team: 4.36
Byers: 4.99
Jeffcoat: 5.20

Pass Yards per Play Against
Jeffcoat: 6.56
Byers: 7.34
Team: 7.65
Whiteside: 7.88
Williams: 7.91
Turner: 8.77
Elliott: 8.86

Passes per Sack
Jeffcoat: 12.0
Turner: 15.3
Williams: 16.4
Team: 17.5
Byers: 18.4
Elliott: 18.7
Whiteside: 22.7

Plays per TD
Jeffcoat: 43.3
Whiteside: 27.3
Team: 25.4
Byers: 22.3
Turner: 23.4
Williams: 23.4
Elliott: 19.7

Plays per TO
Jeffcoat: 26.0
Williams: 52.8
Team: 55.6
Byers: 59.5
Elliott: 62.3
Turner: 82.0
Whiteside: 164.0

Power-5

Yards per Play Against
Whiteside: 4.92
Jeffcoat: 5.33
Byers: 5.91
Team: 5.96
Williams: 5.97
Elliott: 6.33
Turner: 6.49

Rush Yards per Play Against
Whiteside: 3.63
Elliott: 3.76
Williams: 3.95
Turner: 4.31
Team: 4.34
Byers: 4.99
Jeffcoat: 5.80

Pass Yards per Play Against
Jeffcoat: 6.39
Whiteside: 7.46
Byers: 7.91
Team: 8.18
Williams: 8.36
Elliott: 9.23
Turner: 9.44

Passes per Sack
Jeffcoat: 12.2
Byers: 16.3
Turner: 16.4
Elliott: 19.2
Team: 19.4
Williams: 20.2
Whiteside: 42.0

Plays per TD
Jeffcoat: 86.0
Whiteside: 27.5
Byers: 26.1
Team: 24.7
Williams: 23.2
Elliott: 20.3
Turner: 20.2

Plays per TO
Jeffcoat: 21.5
Byers: 57.4
Team: 57.6
Elliott: 61.0
Williams: 65.0
Turner: 101.0
Whiteside: 110.0

A couple of observations

— Because of the volume of snaps played, you almost have to take Turner, Williams, Elliott and Byers (around 40-55 of the defense’s snaps played) as one group and Whiteside and Jeffcoat (15-18 percent) as another.

— Jeffcoat, though he played the least of this group, had a lot of bang for his buck in the snaps that he was in, with the defense sacking and turning teams over at an elevated rate (but also giving up more yards per carry). A lot of that has to do with the situations he found himself in — he was in the Dime set a lot — but if he can help bring that increased production to more snaps this year, he could be a valuable candidate for more playing time.

— Generally, the defense fared better with Williams and Byers on the field than with Turner. The defense did better against the run with Turner on the field, though, and it logged fewer snaps per sack with Turner on the field than Williams.

— The defense with Elliott on the field struggled mightily against the pass but fared well against the run. And the two returning tackles logged the top two rush yards per carry against when it came to Power-5 opponents. So that’s nice.

If you want to see my work, including a game-by-game breakdown, see below: