Arizona vs Stanford: Wildcats position group grades

Jerrard Randall is bad.

This game was ugly, and this is two embarrassments in a row. Here's to a long season that maybe ends in bowl eligibility.

Quarterbacks

Jerrard Randall is terrible. How this guy was a 5-star recruit, what LSU saw in him, and how this staff believes he is a Division I quarterback as a redshirt senior is beyond me. Somehow he actually completed 15/28.

Brandon Dawkins should have had a lot more reps, and was just thrown into the fire at the end of the first half, only to be scarred for the rest of his life after being sacked on his blindside on his first play.

Overall Grade: F

Running Backs

Nick Wilson ran for just 46 yards on 17 carries, averaging 2.6 yards a carry, with his longest run of the night going for 8 yards. That's not the Nick Wilson we all know and love.

When you're down by 13 early, and your quarterback is struggling, it's hard to get anything going while Stanford is loading the box with eight guys. The offensive line also did no favors for Wilson, so most of the running backs grade falls on Randall and the offensive line.

Overall Grade: D

Wide Receivers

Johnny Jackson had a great night, per usual in Palo Alto. Five receptions, 84 yards and a touchdown.

David Richards, Samajie Grant and Cayleb Jones all had three catches each and that was about it. It's hard to do your job when you can't get a pass thrown in your general vicinity. Randall was either throwing at their feet, or about 10 feet over their head.

They're only working with so much in Jerrard Randall, and I'd love to hear what the receivers have to say about their quarterback in private, because the frustration was shown all night. They did what they could, so you can't bash them for that.

Overall Grade: C

Offensive Line

Stanford was sending eight guys on virtually every play, again, because of the incompetency of Jerrard Randall. He wasn't completely running for his life all game long, mostly because his throws were two step drops.

There weren't nearly enough holes for Nick Wilson to run through, and there were many plays where Wilson just got stuffed.

Again, the offensive line saw a lot of pressure because of Randall, so he should be allocated a portion of the offensive line grade.

Overall Grade: D+

Defensive Line

The defensive line was actually getting quite a bit of pressure on Kevin Hogan, which is odd considering the speed vs. size perspective. But my goodness, Stanford was running right through the line like no other.

Christian McCaffrey averaged over nine yards a carry, and Barry Sanders Jr. averaged nearly 20. They just couldn't do much on the run game, and couldn't tackle well very either.

Overall Grade: D+

Linebackers

Arizona was down about six linebackers, and even brought freshman Kendal Franklin on the trip, who hadn't been dressing out for home games from what I saw. So the depth was definitely a concern, but even at full strength, it's hard to imagine Arizona's defense being any better. That was miserable.

Overall Grade: F

Secondary

How Cam Denson was once a 5-star athlete, contemplating a decision to go to Alabama, is beyond me. He took terrible angles of pursuit and didn't even have the speed to make up for it. He also got ran over by Stanford's backup quarterback and got juked out of his shoes quite a few times.

Jarvis McCall got in on the action and got beat. DaVonte' Neal was giving up 10 yards of cushion to the receivers and allowed everything and anything. Kevin Hogan finished 17/19 with 217 yards. So that should tell you a bit about the secondary.

Overall Grade: F

Special Teams

We saw a lot of Drew Riggleman, and he was able to pin Stanford inside their own 30 on a majority of his punts. The punt coverage was superb as well. Stanford really had no room to run when receiving a punt. Skowron did what he was supposed to, so overall it was actually an average output for an Arizona unit.

Overall Grade: C

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