The Ravens had a play design that I really liked. They had the RB and FB go to the left and the OL blocked like it was a run left. They had a TE on the right end of the line that took a couple of steps back and caught a pass which went for a good gain. I think there was a penalty on the play, but I liked the play design nonetheless.
If you’re LB, you don’t want Fred to get his hands on you. He will make you look silly.
It was good to see Romo in action and he was 4 of 5 on his throws and the one drop hit Hanna in the hands.
I hated the Penalty on Martin. In the current NFL that play is a penalty. In the past, it was called a pancake block.
Tyron had a couple of bad plays while playing 2 series. He was good otherwise.
Parnell played about ¾ of the game on a bad knee and had a couple of bad plays. He was decent otherwise.
Wetzel has shown some potential but he’s also made many mistakes. I’ve seen people praise him for this game and last, but I don’t think he is ready to play in real games.
The young Center Patrick shows some potential also. It would be good to get him and Wetzel to the practice squad.
The offense is stacked. They have talent all over from the 8th WR to the 4th RB and the backup TE(s).
Hanna is turning into a decent utility guy. He’s not a great receiver or great blocker but he can catch and he can block and is a top special teams player. You don’t really get to see his speed much on the routes they have him run, but there are times on special teams where you can see him running all out and it’s quite impressive for a 250 pound man to run that fast.
They should nickname Escobar “Hands”.
They used a FB several times but I didn’t see anything impressive there. I really wish they would just put some effort into training a backup DL to play that position. The DT Jesse Williams was really good as a FB at Alabama a couple of years ago.
I think they keep 4 RBs.
I really like the WR Jamar Newsome. He has a good size/speed combo and is doing a really good job as a receiver.
IMO, Newsome, Byrd, Boyd and Briscoe can all play in the NFL.
Dwayne Harris is a terrific special teams player and he’s a good blocker and run after the catch guy at WR, but he might not be in the top 7 or 8 WRs on the team as an overall receiver.
The young QB looks good. I’m not really in favor of carrying a 3rd QB. It would be nice to get him to the practice squad. A few years ago, they had a QB that they paid the same salary as a guy on the 53 while he was on the practice squad. In return he and his agent agreed to give the Cowboys the 1st chance to sign him to the roster if another team tried to sign him. It might be worth doing that again with this guy is he clears the initial waivers.
Weeden seems to be as good as Orton, but I don’t spend much time analyzing QBs.
Rolando McClain looked good. He can jolt an Olineman better when taking on blocks than most LBs. He’s running really well also for such large LB.
I didn’t focus on the LBs much except McClain. It’s disappointing that Holloman is injured. I really thought he had a good shot to be one of the 2 Nickel LBs.
The new DT (Minter) definitely has some quickness and pass rush ability; however, he also got blown up several times in the running game. He initially came in at the 1-tech spot. He got blown out when they ran for a short yardage TD. He came out for a series and when he returned he was at the 3-tech. This is where he made the big plays.
Ken Bishop is raw at the 1-tech spot, but I would like to see him against starters because I think he can hold up about as well as Nick Hayden, but Bishop has upside. Bishop might be less consistent where he might have a bad play here and there, but he’s more likely to make a big play than Hayden. Bishop got a few snaps at the 3-tech and looked OK.
Coleman was the starter at the 3-tech spot. He shows some flashes. He has really good athleticism and decent strength, but much like Bishop, he is raw with his technique. He really needs to improve on keeping track of the ball. He probably uses the spins move too often.
The DE(s) trying to earn a roster spot are a mixed bag. They’ve all flashed at points but none consistently. Similar to the young DTs, they seem to have good physical ability, but have technique and awareness issues. Martez Wilson got to show his speed chasing down the QB rolling away from him. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to make his speed work for him consistently, partially because he lacks power to go with it. Boatright and Bush show the strength to take on blocks, but often overrun the play or lose track of the ball. Not by much, they’ll just be off by about a step. Rayford is an odd study. They’ve played him at both DT and DE which is odd for a guy with his build.
I would like to name several of the young Dlinemen Anthony so that we can call them Almost Anthony because they “almost” make a lot of good plays, but are often just a little bit off. It’s hard to tell exactly what they’re asking them to do in this pass rush first scheme, but much of the run defense problems with the Dline seem to be more awareness/technique than a lack of physical ability.
When I watch it again, I want to look at the new CB #28. I saw him on a few plays, but not enough to get a feel for his abilities. Finding that 3rd CB is a huge issue with Scandrick set to miss the first 4 games.
