NJCardFan
ASFN Icon
First, it's only pre-season. The score means nothing but performance means everything. For starters, can't get too much from first stringers as they didn't see much action. That much is expected in the first game so the first and last pre-season games are always a vehicle for backups so here is my assessment:
QB-If Palmer goes down for any reason, we're screwed. Stanton is mediocre at best and is best served in stop gap situations like when Palmer hurt his finger in Philly last year. He is definitely not a long term solution. Barkley showed why he was traded for a 7th round pick last year. He showed some promise and I give him an A for hos moxie(I liked the way he stands in and takes a hit) but his accuracy is crap and he has a tendency to make some bad decisions. Coker, didn't really see enough of him to make a proper critique but what I did see, he is green as hell.
RB-Funny thing about this position. We're actually too deep which is something this team hasn't been able to say in a good long time. I liked what I saw out of K. Williams and would like to see more but Stepfan Taylor didn't impress me although he did make a nice TD run around the outside but Niklas blew that one. This Penny kid is going to be a nice addition to the PS but that's about it.
TE-As was said, Niklas looked good on one catch but after that he was a dumpster fire. Momah let a key pass slip through his fingers but otherwise was OK. Don't remember seeing Christian at all but for a 7th round compensatory pick(Mr. Irrelevant IIRC) I'm not expecting Dave Casper but this is a position I'm going to pay attention to going forward.
OL-Oi. If any of our starters go down, we're toast. The 2nd and 3rd team o-linemen couldn't block the blocking sled last night and that was against the Oakland scrubs. There were 3 or 4 Oakland defenders in the back field the entire 2nd half last night consistently. I certainly we can pluck someone from the cap scrap heap before the season started. The starters, however, looked pretty good but still need some seasoning.
DL-I wish I paid more attention to this group but I didn't see a heck of a lot of QB pressure.
LB-Again, this is a problem, especially in the middle. Okafor looked good though which is a plus. Need him to step up. We're still bad at covering receivers/backs/TE over the middle but that is what happens when you pretty much ignore that position in the draft. Again, hope we can find help here.
DB-Not going to get too upset here because we're not 100% healthy but we're lacking depth here. We'll see how things progress going forward.
Special Teams-This is something I just don't get. As great as BASK has been in bringing in talent, why we can't find a single player who is adept at ST is beyond me. I'd say ST is crap but they really need to improve a ton just to get to crap. Simply terrible last night. JJ Nelson is not a kick returner. Not even a little bit. That fumble on the punt was so bush it was sad. He was barely touched. If you're going to cough it up that easily then may I suggest you hold onto it with both hands.
P-BA said during camp that Butler is ahead in this by a lot but from what I saw last night, Butler better be watching his back because the kid isn't half bad. He's not exactly Ray Guy but he did look better than Butler but not by much. We'll see next week.
Well, that's about it. 1st pre-season games are always iffy but things better look better the next 2 weeks because if this is a prelude to what's to come, we're in trouble, at least depth wise at some positions.
QB-If Palmer goes down for any reason, we're screwed. Stanton is mediocre at best and is best served in stop gap situations like when Palmer hurt his finger in Philly last year. He is definitely not a long term solution. Barkley showed why he was traded for a 7th round pick last year. He showed some promise and I give him an A for hos moxie(I liked the way he stands in and takes a hit) but his accuracy is crap and he has a tendency to make some bad decisions. Coker, didn't really see enough of him to make a proper critique but what I did see, he is green as hell.
RB-Funny thing about this position. We're actually too deep which is something this team hasn't been able to say in a good long time. I liked what I saw out of K. Williams and would like to see more but Stepfan Taylor didn't impress me although he did make a nice TD run around the outside but Niklas blew that one. This Penny kid is going to be a nice addition to the PS but that's about it.
TE-As was said, Niklas looked good on one catch but after that he was a dumpster fire. Momah let a key pass slip through his fingers but otherwise was OK. Don't remember seeing Christian at all but for a 7th round compensatory pick(Mr. Irrelevant IIRC) I'm not expecting Dave Casper but this is a position I'm going to pay attention to going forward.
OL-Oi. If any of our starters go down, we're toast. The 2nd and 3rd team o-linemen couldn't block the blocking sled last night and that was against the Oakland scrubs. There were 3 or 4 Oakland defenders in the back field the entire 2nd half last night consistently. I certainly we can pluck someone from the cap scrap heap before the season started. The starters, however, looked pretty good but still need some seasoning.
DL-I wish I paid more attention to this group but I didn't see a heck of a lot of QB pressure.
LB-Again, this is a problem, especially in the middle. Okafor looked good though which is a plus. Need him to step up. We're still bad at covering receivers/backs/TE over the middle but that is what happens when you pretty much ignore that position in the draft. Again, hope we can find help here.
DB-Not going to get too upset here because we're not 100% healthy but we're lacking depth here. We'll see how things progress going forward.
Special Teams-This is something I just don't get. As great as BASK has been in bringing in talent, why we can't find a single player who is adept at ST is beyond me. I'd say ST is crap but they really need to improve a ton just to get to crap. Simply terrible last night. JJ Nelson is not a kick returner. Not even a little bit. That fumble on the punt was so bush it was sad. He was barely touched. If you're going to cough it up that easily then may I suggest you hold onto it with both hands.
P-BA said during camp that Butler is ahead in this by a lot but from what I saw last night, Butler better be watching his back because the kid isn't half bad. He's not exactly Ray Guy but he did look better than Butler but not by much. We'll see next week.
Well, that's about it. 1st pre-season games are always iffy but things better look better the next 2 weeks because if this is a prelude to what's to come, we're in trouble, at least depth wise at some positions.
