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Here's my evaluation of the various parts of the team at the quarter-point. I've tried to avoid the public-school grading system where anyone that shows up gets a C and B is actually average. My rankings are roughly an A means top-5 in the league, a B is top-10 or so, C - right around 15th best, D - 18 or so to 25, and F is anything worse. I'm also providing a grade as to how I think that part of the team has lived up to expectations: 1 - way below expectations, 3 - what was expected, 5 - exceeded expectations by a bunch.
QB - C/4. Drew has had 3 or 4 great deep passes and hasn't thrown any more costly interceptions than most QB's. He still holds the ball too long and some of the sacks that have been his fault have been drive killers. Bottom line - he's doing nothing that 15 other QB's couldn't do. Although I do think he's doing better than most expected.
RB - D/1. So much for the strength of the team. Missed blocks, dropped passes, falling all over the place while making cuts. There are a bunch of other teams that are getting a better performance from their RBs. McGahee has been solid when called upon, but Henry is getting so many carries that the ranking is really all on him.
WR - D/2. Too many drops. We might as well have Josh Reed stand just off the LOS so that Drew can intentially ground it by throwing it to him. The guy can't catch. Moulds has had some costly drops/fumbles as well. Evans has provided a spark now and again, but not enough to make up for the bumbling performances elsewhere. More was expected of Moulds and Reed in his third season.
TE - F/2. Can't block. Can't get involved in the passing schemes. Maybe not entirely their fault, but gotta grade them on what they do.
OL - F/3. One of the worst lines in the league. But can anyone honestly say they're worse than expected? They take key penalties, can't get a push on short yardage situations, and can't give Drew more than 2 seconds to pass with any regularlity. Horrid. On the bright side, we should be able to afford re-signing JJ this offseason - if we still want him.
Offensive coaching - D/2. This doesn't look like the offensive makeover we were promised - looks more like a case of deja vu to me.
DL - C/2. We've done rather well at run blocking, but our pass rush has really been non-existent. More was expected from Schoebel and one of Denney/Kelsay should be stepping up more than they have. Kelsay looked really good last game, so maybe that's a good omen.
LB - B/2. Fletcher had an amazing game last week, but this unit is not playing like one of the best in the league. Fletcher took a stupid penalty against NE (not the hitting the QB one, I mean the tackle the guy 5 seconds after the whistle one). No real big plays outside of Posey's last game. This unit has played well, but more was expected.
DB - D/1. Our secondary is a QB's dream right now. Prioleau and Wire can't cover anything. Clements makes a boneheaded play that cost us the game against Jax. We've only got 2 INTs by DB's in 4 games so far, that's not good at all. Hopefully things will get better when Milloy comes back.
Defensive coaching - C/3. We've had the lead late in the 4th quarter twice this year. What's our record in those games? 0-2.
ST - C+/4. Moorman and McGee have been bright spots and they really pick the grade up. We've had too many errors (bad snaps, penalties, missed FGs) to really look good on special teams.
Overall coaching - D/3. Mularkey is a rookie coach, so mistakes are expected. However, this team looks less disciplined than last year and I haven't seen a sense of urgency at the start of any of our games at all. Did the start of the Jets game look like the performance of a team with their season on the line? I don't think so.
QB - C/4. Drew has had 3 or 4 great deep passes and hasn't thrown any more costly interceptions than most QB's. He still holds the ball too long and some of the sacks that have been his fault have been drive killers. Bottom line - he's doing nothing that 15 other QB's couldn't do. Although I do think he's doing better than most expected.
RB - D/1. So much for the strength of the team. Missed blocks, dropped passes, falling all over the place while making cuts. There are a bunch of other teams that are getting a better performance from their RBs. McGahee has been solid when called upon, but Henry is getting so many carries that the ranking is really all on him.
WR - D/2. Too many drops. We might as well have Josh Reed stand just off the LOS so that Drew can intentially ground it by throwing it to him. The guy can't catch. Moulds has had some costly drops/fumbles as well. Evans has provided a spark now and again, but not enough to make up for the bumbling performances elsewhere. More was expected of Moulds and Reed in his third season.
TE - F/2. Can't block. Can't get involved in the passing schemes. Maybe not entirely their fault, but gotta grade them on what they do.
OL - F/3. One of the worst lines in the league. But can anyone honestly say they're worse than expected? They take key penalties, can't get a push on short yardage situations, and can't give Drew more than 2 seconds to pass with any regularlity. Horrid. On the bright side, we should be able to afford re-signing JJ this offseason - if we still want him.
Offensive coaching - D/2. This doesn't look like the offensive makeover we were promised - looks more like a case of deja vu to me.
DL - C/2. We've done rather well at run blocking, but our pass rush has really been non-existent. More was expected from Schoebel and one of Denney/Kelsay should be stepping up more than they have. Kelsay looked really good last game, so maybe that's a good omen.
LB - B/2. Fletcher had an amazing game last week, but this unit is not playing like one of the best in the league. Fletcher took a stupid penalty against NE (not the hitting the QB one, I mean the tackle the guy 5 seconds after the whistle one). No real big plays outside of Posey's last game. This unit has played well, but more was expected.
DB - D/1. Our secondary is a QB's dream right now. Prioleau and Wire can't cover anything. Clements makes a boneheaded play that cost us the game against Jax. We've only got 2 INTs by DB's in 4 games so far, that's not good at all. Hopefully things will get better when Milloy comes back.
Defensive coaching - C/3. We've had the lead late in the 4th quarter twice this year. What's our record in those games? 0-2.
ST - C+/4. Moorman and McGee have been bright spots and they really pick the grade up. We've had too many errors (bad snaps, penalties, missed FGs) to really look good on special teams.
Overall coaching - D/3. Mularkey is a rookie coach, so mistakes are expected. However, this team looks less disciplined than last year and I haven't seen a sense of urgency at the start of any of our games at all. Did the start of the Jets game look like the performance of a team with their season on the line? I don't think so.
Thanks!
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