All of us know the offense has struggled, but PFF grades show a slight drop off, but it's most noticeable with running the football. According to PFF grades, the defense has had a major dropoff and so have special teams. Two games don't define a team, but you can see where there is room for improvement.
Here are the grades:
2022 Offense: OFF: 69.5 (#86 overall), PASS: 45.7, PBLK: 76.4, RECV: 58.3, RUN: 83.1, RBLK: 69.5
2023 Offense: OFF: 60.2 (#116 overall), PASS: 62.8, PBLK: 79.5, RECV: 54.9, RUN: 60.9, RBLK: 59.6
2022 Defense: DEF: 77.6 (#72 overall), RDEF: 70.3, TACK: 67.1, PRSH: 68.5, COV: 82.7
2023 Defense: DEF: 58.9 (#125 overall), RDEF: 61.6, TACK: 28.2, PRSH: 54.8, COV: 58.4
2022 Special Teams: 64.2
2023 Special Teams: 41.5
So, I checked the PFF grades on the LBs comparing last year from this year. As you probably suspected, there has been a downtick in LB play.
Jackson Mitchell 2022: DEF: 76.5, RDEF: 78.0, TACK: 68.1, PRSH: 66.5, COV: 66.3
Jackson Mitchell 2023: DEF: 49.0, RDEF: 32.4, TACK: 25.4, PRSH: 68.0, COV: 64.6
Ian Swenson 2022: DEF: 62.3, RDEF: 59.8, TACK: 70.4, PRSH: 62.5, COV: 64.6
Noah Plack 2023: DEF: 52.6, RDEF: 56.4, TACK: 39.3, PRSH: 61.8, COV: 48.1
Brandon Bouyer-Randall 2022: DEF: 65.8, RDEF: 62.7, TACK: 84.8, PRSH: 64.2, COV: 66.6
Tui Faumuina-Brown 2023: DEF: 44.0, RDEF: 50.4, TACK: 80.0, PRSH: 54.3, COV: 48.7