Lost in Virginia Tech’s 34-3 loss to Louisville is that redshirt sophomore linebacker Jayden McDonald got more reps at will than starter Keli Lawson, and he posted a much higher grade. It’s the second time in his last three games that McDonald has posted an above-average grade, and he was injured and barely played in the one game he didn’t.

It’s probably time for McDonald to move into the starting lineup. Here are the grades for Virginia Tech’s inside linebackers who have played 100+ snaps this season, and I’ve highlighted the top grade for each category:

• Keli Lawson: 394 snaps, 53.9 overall, 41.6 run defense, 67.1 tackling, 60.5 coverage
• Alan Tisdale: 347 snaps, 52.3 overall, 42.7 run defense, 70.3 tackling, 62.2 coverage
• Jaden Keller: 178 snaps, 57.9 overall, 49.6 run defense, 65.5 tackling, 65.6 coverage
• Jayden McDonald: 134 snaps, 67.1 overall, 66.5 run defense, 77.6 tackling, 68.2 coverage

McDonald leads in all four categories, and his overall and run defense grades are on top by a significant margin. He hasn’t played as many snaps as those other guys, so it’s a smaller sample size, but 134 snaps is enough to get a pretty good idea that he’s the better option, particularly when so many of those 134 snaps have come recently.

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