Not surprisingly, senior wide receiver Michael Pittman finished the regular season as the highest-graded USC player on either side of the ball with an exceptional 82.8 mark from PFF College.
Pittman was third among Pac-12 receivers in the PFF grades, behind Oregon State's Isaiah Hodgins (90.1) and Colorado's Laviska Shenault (85.8).
His stats (95 catches for 1,222 yards and 11 touchdowns) and postseason accolades (Pac-12 All-Conference First Team, Biletnikoff Award finalist) say plenty, as do his national statistical rankings -- tied for fourth nationally with 7.9 receptions per game and 10th in receiving yards per game (101.8).
But the advanced metrics also show Pittman to be in elite company.
In addition to leading the Trojans in counting stats, he also led the team in percentage of targets hauled in, tallying those 95 receptions on 122 targets (77.9 percent catch rate). The only players nationally with at least 80 receptions and a higher percentage were LSU's Justin Jefferson (88 catches, 84.6 percent), Washington State's Easop Winston (80 catches, 82.5 percent) and Texas' Devin Duvernay (102 catches, 81.0 percent).
Pittman and left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker were USC's two offensive inclusions on PFF's All-Pac-12 First Team. See that full list here.
And see more nuggets like this from the final regular-season PFF College rankings and data, along with the top-graded USC offensive players:
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**PFF College analysts grade every player on every snap based on a range of factors -- not just outcome of the play. The data is then converted into a game score on a scale of 1-100, where 50 and below reflects backup-level performance, 51-59 is a below-average starter, 60-69 is an average starter, 70-79 is an above-average starter, 80-89 is a standout and anything higher is elite. PFF cautions against reading too much into grades for players with low snap counts**
