jday
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I watched the game originally in real time with a few rewinds. Then I re-watched it with the sound off and many rewinds per snap to in order to focus on different players. Then I re-watched it again to focus specifically on Weems.
I want to touch base on the broadcast and specifically Babe Laufenberg. He says things about players with such confidence that I find myself believing him; however, when I review the play, it often turns out that what he is saying is completely off base. I realize it is difficult to make an instantaneous analysis in real time, but he was way off even on plays where he was probably able to see the replay. Just be certain to judge players for yourself and don’t let Babe establish the narrative.
Weems:
I’ll start with Weems. The backup OT position has been my biggest concern and I was anxious to see Weems in a game. After initially watching the game in real time I was disappointed with his performance; however, after multiple reviews of each of his snaps he did better than I thought initially.
I grade OL on a simple method of pass, fail or undetermined for each snaps.
Weems grade:
Fail 2
Undetermined 3 (2 pass, 1 run)
Penalty 1
The Chargers stunted and blitzed often. Both fails came when he overset to the outside and was beaten to the inside. There were a couple of stunts where I couldn’t determine fault. I think on both that Collins didn’t handle them quite right and it prevented Weems from getting a good block.
There was 1 run play where he didn’t sustain his block long enough and the defender got back to the inside for the tackle. He was generally good in the running game and showed reasonable power to push defenders. He was particularly good on the TD run.
Overall, considering that he has not played a game in 2 years, I thought he showed decent potential to get better as the preseason goes forward. He needs a lot of reps in games. I’m sure the film from this game will be helpful to him also. He appears to have the required physical ability with good quickness and decent power. I would really prefer to see him practice and play only at RT until he has proven himself. Having to practice and play both sides just seems like it will slow down his development. They could have Free move to LT if something happened to Tyron and just have Weems focus on RT, but I doubt if that happens.
Collins:
He showed that he obviously has the physical ability to eventually become a top player. I have no doubt about his physical ability to play OG and I think he has plenty of quickness to play RT also. The good/dominant plays were obvious but he did have a number of plays that were not that good. He understands and recognizes stunts and blitzes fairly well for a rookie but his timing was often off when passing off between himself and Weems. It would obviously help both he and Weems if they were playing next to experienced veterans and not each other. His timing was just a little off on some runs plays also. He just needs a lot of reps. Despite the hype by some, as of right this minute he is not ready to overtake Leary as the LG. Maybe he will work out all of his issues by the end of the preseason, but I doubt he surpasses Leary by game 1. Hopefully, they move him to OT for some practice reps there. They need some competition for Weems and Wetzel/Dill are not it.
Wetzel
I didn’t focus on the right side too much, but I did watch him to some extent. He played OT, then OG then back to OT. It seemed to be better with him at OT and Dill at OG than vise versa; although, neither option was a good one.
He reminds me of Doug Free when he first came to the Cowboys. Wetzel is actually probably more developed than Free was in his 2nd preseason. If they want to keep him around for 4 years of training like they did with Free, then he might develop into a serviceable backup but I don’t see him ever becoming a quality starter.
Dill:
He is just not a good player. He is neither quick nor strong. He does appear to understand his assignments which is what they want in a bottom of the 90 man roster type player.
Gus Johnson:
They didn’t ask these RBs to do much other than run the ball. I did see him get out to pick up a Blitzer once which was good. For a guy that has only been on the team for a couple of weeks he does appear to understand his assignments and looks comfortable on the field. He is not fast but looked fast enough to me. Overall he did as well as could possibly be expected of a guy that was on his sofa just a couple of weeks ago.
Seastrunk:
They only asked him to run the ball. He is obviously quick. If running the ball were the only requirement of a RB, he would likely make a 53 man roster somewhere; however, we know from multiple practice reports that he has significant problems learning and remembering his assignments. They even used Clutts at RB a couple of times probably just because they wanted somebody that understood the assignments on those specific plays.
QBs:
They all did better than I expected. Weeden lost the shotgun snap and Vaughan had a botched snap. Showers is a good athlete and looks calm and poised. Vaughan did OK but he does not look calm and poised to me. They can all throw the ball OK. I don’t see a point of keeping more than 1 backup on the 53. Any team could have signed Showers and didn’t so I feel confident that he could be retained on the practice squad. I doubt if Vaughan has done anything to get other teams to dump the guys they’ve been developing to sign him.
WRs:
Williams was excellent. Street looked really good receiving and also is a good blocker in the running game which will likely cause him to get snaps in the regular season. We all know what Beasley can do. Lucky Whitehead looks quick and fast. He looked faster on the field than Reggie Dunn despite the fact that Dunn once ran a 4.22 forty. Whitehead obviously can’t have any more fumbles as a return this preseason if he want to get that job; although, he does not seem to have much competition. None of the other WRs did much.
Escobar showed what he has shown in the past which is that he is a really good receiver. He would likely be a good starter if he was on many other teams. His blocking looks better than last year but is doubtful to ever be really good.
Hanna continued to do what he did last year. He knows the scheme inside/out and can play the Y, H-back and F-back positions. He is a core special teams player.
Swaim looked good. He had some good blocks and some really nice catches. He even motioned to the FB position and had a good block from there. It is a good sign that he already knows the scheme well enough for them to be moving him around.
Hardy:
He is big, quick and powerful. He will be a force at both DE and DT.
Gregory:
He is super quick and much stronger than he looks. He might have been out of position on some run plays but I’m not certain.
Mincey:
Same as last year.
Lawrence:
Held up well on the strong side.
Russell:
He looks like a legit NFL player. He is much stronger than I expected. He should be OK at either the 3tech or Strong Side DE positions.
Gardner:
He flashed a time or two, but I was expecting a little more. He was OK considering that he has not played a game in about 18 months. I have Russell above him on the depth chart as of right now.
T. Crawford:
Potential Star player. He can do it all. He is very strong and very quick and uses good technique.
J. Crawford:
He looks like a legit backup 3tech that plays within the scheme.
Coleman:
Physically talented player. He flashed several times but he also appeared to get out of position or fail to use proper technique at times. He tried to jump around a double-team which made it easy for the RB to just go to the other side of those blockers. He also put his head down at times and lost track of the runner. He might have the the primary culprit on a couple of big runs but also held the point to allow Wilson to make the tackle in the backfield.
Bishop:
You really have to consider how Marinelli coaches his 1tech DTs. Last year Bishop could put his head down and show really good power. In this game he was not trying to just power through defenders, but was doing what I’m sure they have coached him to do which was to stay square to the line and keep his head up. In Marinelli’s scheme, taking a step or two back is OK as long as he stays square and keeps his head up. For such a thickly built guy, he has really good quickness and was able to get some pressure as a pass rusher. He also got out to the flats on plays away from him which is a big issue for Marinelli. I need a Gif to explain this concept. I think Bishop could replace Hayden and be at least as good and would continue to get better with more playing time.
Jones:
Looked really good for a rookie in his 1st game. The WR had an obvious push off on that 1st completion against him.
White:
Looked terrific. I’ve been anxious to see him in Marinelli’s scheme. I had reviewed him in several of his games with the Saints and I was shocked that they cut him. He had some really good games there. IMO, his issues in NO were probably due to Rob Ryan’s whacky scheme. He would not be the 1st DB that had issues in that scheme but played better in other schemes.
Patmon:
I saw he had tight coverage once; otherwise I didn’t notice him.
Wilcox/Church:
Had to judge them in a preseason game.
Heath:
I’ve seen dozens of posts exclaiming that he was terrible. My conclusion is that those posters were all basing it on the 1 TD play. Yes, he should have done better on that play, but he at least erred on the side of forcing the RB back inside. The coaching point on that play would be “whatever you do, don’t let him get to the outside”. The LB Brinkley was right there once Heath forced the RB back inside but whiffed on the tackle. People love to have whipping boy and many can’t let go the 2013 when Heath as a small college rookie was forced to start.
Hitchens:
Looked good as expected.
Wilson:
Looked really good for a rookie. He appears to be comfortable in the scheme and is quick and agile with decent speed. He appeared to be playing WLB and some Nickel LB.
Brinkley:
He did not look good on several plays.
Wilber:
He appeared to play a lot of snaps at SLB. I didn’t focus on his performance.
Gachkar:
He was out of position on some plays but looked good on some other plays.
Incredible work here, sir. I may respond once I get through all of it, but wanted to make sure I get that in before I did anything else.
