Consensus Players' Report Card - So Far

[desi-patsfan]

so am i the only one who finds "grading" people in training camp as a ridiculous notion?

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I was at practice yesterday and Gaffney was CLEARLY the best receiver not named Moss. I thought that Welker would take that distinction. Wes was good, but Gaffney was Brady's "go to" guy, especially in the Red Zone. I think he'll really emerge as THE surprise of the season.

.

We saw that in the playoffs with all those catches. Keep in mind that Gafffney joined the team in week 3 or so last year so it was OJT and this is his first trainnig camp with Brady. If not for all those new WRs and it may still turn out that Gaffney is TB's new Deion, albeit with a few mre options at receiver than before. Food for thought.

 

[psychoPat]

Can we get a grade for James Sanders. He's been B+/A- material so far.

Agreed !

Sorry i overlooked Sanders entirely.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I do not think Caldwell should be a D, nor Light, not Cassel for that matter.
Cassel, I'd say more a C or C-....and Caldwell more a B. Same with Light. James not an F..that is for sure. Really hard to rate players..some have one bad practice and then are OK or improve...one can make a great play and then be inconsistent..the big test is in the games..and who plays, who shines and who does poorly.

Based on what I've read, Cassel is a huge disappointment; I'd put him in the bottom tier. (That is, no way is Cassel ever going to be a legitimate starting NFL QB if he continues to perform the way he's performed so far in camp.)

It seems no one wants anyone to be below expectations. Ideally, you'd have as many below the midpoint as above the midpoint, but it's also true that everyone is allowed to exceed expectations. People just get giddy when training camp rolls around, accentuate the positive and ignore the negative. Happens every year.

By the way, great idea for a thread!

 

[cstjohn17]

Great post, thank you for consolidating the feedback you have read. I am sure we all have our binkies and can disagree about a grade here or there but the consolidation of the information is useful, thank you.

Light may have been downgraded because of the new mullet he is sporting...

Caldwell / Gaffney - I think they are in a deadheat, personally I think Gaffney runs better routes and is in a better rhythm with Brady but they are essentially the same player. If either one of them shows anything at all on special teams it will be a huge advantage.

The final 4-5 roster spots are under the most competition I can remember. Less than 8 days to the first pre-season game, I can't wait.

 

[psychoPat]

I was at practice yesterday and Gaffney was CLEARLY the best receiver not named Moss. ....

...and leave Reche's "bug eyes" alone. I don't know how ugly they are, as long as they help him find the ball. He is fine. He's working hard. He's just not as productive as Jabar. It's obvious to all who are there. The bloggers and columnists are noticing. The people around us in the stands were noticing. It's not a popularity contest. We just see what we see.

....

Also:

It's hard to grade Maroney with the Red "non-contact" jersey on.

Two great remarks; one empirical, the other simple logic.

On Caldwell, i'm going to stand corrected.
Several responders are right. Reche's reports have been as much good as bad.
Mark him "C" for this purpose.
(Agree that the contempt for him that breaks out here is angrily excessive.)

 

[psychoPat]

so am i the only one who finds "grading" people in training camp as a ridiculous notion?

Maybe you're not the ONLY one ... and maybe you are right.
But it is one of the reasons we all meet here.

Heck, we grade players before t/c even begins.
We grade them before they're DRAFTED.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

so am i the only one who finds "grading" people in training camp as a ridiculous notion?

Not at all. Belichick gets a hoot out of so called media professionals who feel they are equipped to do this in season. I bet he'd be on the floor over the concept of collated impressions message board grading. LOL

We don't know what these guys are being asked to do, or with whom, or to what end. Gaffney has looked like Tom's #2 go to guy - in the absence of Stallworth. If he weren't absent we'd likely be hearing that Gaffney should be cut. If Moss misses time this week, old bug eyes may start making Gaffney look like chopped liver. Cassel has been unimpressive with the second team but looked pretty sharp with the first team in a lone half day appearance with that unit...go figure.

Belichick and Brady seem to be smiling as we approach the end of week 1 of TC. In my book that's an A- overall camp grade, which is the only grade that matters. This is about teaching and timing and getting or staying on the field. If I were grading on a curve the loss of Scott coupled with the continued absence of Asante, and now Randy's tweeked hammy coupled with the continued absence of Stallworth might knock that down to a B, but the depth that exists and the liklihood all but Scott will be back sooner rather than later would bump that back up to a solid B++. This time last year camp was probably charitably a C-.

It's funny but one of the things that 3 Lombardi's has brought us is a football media and fanbase of hypercritical nitpickers.

 

[spacecrime]

While you're on the subject, Erdo Ed has a thread in the Training Camp forum with links to his observations and camp photos...required reading and viewing for fans grading camp performance.

No way, Jose! I find that excessive knowledge and use of facts hinder my ability to form strong opinions.

 

[upstater1]

Gaffney is the #6 receiver even given his TC performance. But, I have two questions: What happens when Chad Jackson comes back? What happens to Stallworth if he doesn't come back soon enough?

 

[Rob0729]

Less than a week into camp, but we’ve had an ample supply of those first-hand camp reports and impressions
that we’ve been hungering for all these arid months.
Thought i’d try my hand at collating what i recall that
the credentialed bloggers and our own SeanBruschi, Mrs.B,
Pats1, and Pats726 have been saying about various guys.

It’s not what i think of these players. It’s my impression of what observers at camp have said –
usually multiple reports and by different posters.
Most players have gone largely unmentioned in those reports.

This thread can be improved by those who go to camp either corroborating or correcting
the players’ performance ratings... or by anyone who thinks i’ve (unwittingly) distorted the consensus
of what we’ve all been reading here – avidly and appreciatively. Here goes:

A ... consistently outstanding
Moss
Hobbs
Welker
Gaffney
Woods
Andrews
Adalius

B ... drawing favorable notice
Evans
Lua
Morris
Gutierrez
Izzo
Warren
Baugher
Wilfork
Washington
Mankins

C ... about as-expected or as-before
Tom Brady
Bruschi
Wright
O’Callaghan
Moore
Faulk
Miller
Green

D ... more bad press than good
Caldwell
Malone
Light
Kareem
Cassel
Anam

F ... worst on the field
Kranchick
James
Williams

How does Washington get a B? The guy has gotten more bad reports from Andy Hart, Mike Reiss, Albert Breer, and other beat writers than anyone. The general consensus is he is running wrong routes and dropping a lot of passes. Fred Kirsch on PFW said Washington "seems to make the easy catches look difficult and the hard catches look impossible. I don't see any way he makes this roster". And he gets a B for that?

I agree with others about Caldwell. He hasn't stood out other than one practice where he had the general consensus play of the practice, but he hasn't played poorly either by any reports.

 

[Rob0729]

So far Tory James has the most ints in camp...So I would give him a B

I agree that I have heard a lot of good things about James, but he did initially have some problems with the defense.

 

[Rob0729]

Agreed. Since it's been reported that Caldwell has been dropping easy passes, shouldn't he be ranked "C ... about as-expected or as-before"?

This Caldwell bashing is ridiculous. Caldwell had great hands last year. The guy dropped one pass during the regular season and people still think he drops a lot of balls because of two drops in the AFCCG.

 

[psychoPat]

How does Washington get a B? The guy has gotten more bad reports from Andy Hart, Mike Reiss, Albert Breer, and other beat writers than anyone. The general consensus is he is running wrong routes and dropping a lot of passes. Fred Kirsch on PFW said Washington "seems to make the easy catches look difficult and the hard catches look impossible. I don't see any way he makes this roster". And he gets a B for that?

....

Have i gotten Washington wrong?

Wasn't it MrsB who asked (and sorry, if it wasn't)
whether all the QBs had it in for him
because all their passes in his direction seemed to be too high ... too low ...
too far ahead ... behind
... and YET HE WOULD ARRANGE TO GRAB EVERYTHING.

More info, pls.

 

[psychoPat]

I agree that I have heard a lot of good things about James, but he did initially have some problems with the defense.

Perhaps a few of our eyes-in-camp
could spy especially on Tory James ... and tell us.

 

[Pats726]

Based on what I've read, Cassel is a huge disappointment; I'd put him in the bottom tier. (That is, no way is Cassel ever going to be a legitimate starting NFL QB if he continues to perform the way he's performed so far in camp.)

It seems no one wants anyone to be below expectations. Ideally, you'd have as many below the midpoint as above the midpoint, but it's also true that everyone is allowed to exceed expectations. People just get giddy when training camp rolls around, accentuate the positive and ignore the negative. Happens every year.

By the way, great idea for a thread!

I think it's REALLy very hard to judge when one is below..unless it's quite obvious. SO in many ways, it's more relative of one player in a position compared to others...and then throw in expectations and that can lower or make higher where a player is perceived to be. Really very hard to do..plus there are so many subtle things that one can not see...plus teh consistency of one practice to another. (Don't you think they videotape from 3 positions for a reason?) There are parts of the game..a player may do better in one than another..so? How does one grade that?
It's not as easy to see exactly. unless one is focusing in on a player or players. Fans can see the big catch (Caldwell), big tackle (moore) as well as the big muff (Kranchick) but it's a lot harder to get an idea how one is day to day and in other plays.
Many many things enterig in..makes it fun..and I do think one can see good trends (Woods) and to see Brady's frustration with his own play..but I think it extremely hard to see all and make grades. One may have an idea, but the shades of gray are quite hard to come by.
Nonetheless, it's training camp and until there's a game..it is something to talk about and discuss.

 

[Rob0729]

Perhaps a few of our eyes-in-camp
could spy especially on Tory James ... and tell us.

Here is a quote from Mike Reiss' blog on the 30th

2) Cornerback Tory James, a free-agent signee from the Bengals, has made a positive first impression. “Our system is a little bit different than what they played at Cincinnati last year, which is much more of a blitz-zone team," Belichick said. "I think he’s done well. He’s a smart guy. He’s very professional, he’s well prepared, he’s on top of it. I think he’s earned the respect of everybody by the way he goes about things. He’s a tall guy with some cover skills and speed. He’s sort of a hard guy to throw the ball over for the quarterbacks in cover-2, when he’s out in the flat and short areas.”

 

[Rob0729]

Have i gotten Washington wrong?

Wasn't it MrsB who asked (and sorry, if it wasn't)
whether all the QBs had it in for him
because all their passes in his direction seemed to be too high ... too low ...
too far ahead ... behind
... and YET HE WOULD ARRANGE TO GRAB EVERYTHING.

More info, pls.

From Albert Breer's blog:

We said it on Friday, and we’ll say it again, in the race for roster spots, Jabar Gaffney looks like he’s ahead of Reche Caldwell and Kelley Washington. Not only does Gaffney seem to have a solid rapport with Tom Brady, his command of the offense, where he’s supposed to be, and his ability to find openings in coverage make him a valuable piece. Where he might run into trouble is in that he’s not a standout on special teams, and you’d look for that further down the depth chart at receiver. Washington’s better there, but seems to still be struggling with the offense. There were two occasions on timing routes in passing skeleton where the former Bengal seemed to run the wrong route and make the wrong adjustment, with Cassel throws fluttering to the ground, and that usually a result of someone making a bad sight adjustment.

So according to Breer, the passes being off is because Washington is out of position. I saw the same thing posted on a couple of the other blogs too. I just don't have the time to find them. So some of the reports on this board that Cassel overthrew or underthrew Washington could be people misunderstanding that Cassel threw to the right area and Washington made the wrong adjustment.

Usually if you ask if a QB has it in for one player like that and not all the other WRs, it usually means the WR is doing something wrong, not the QB.

 

[psychoPat]

Thanks for the 2 lookups, Rob0.

I hope that IS the good-news story on James ... and that he keeps it comin' !

 

[Pats_Man1]

I agree that I have heard a lot of good things about James, but he did initially have some problems with the defense.

Of course he's gonna have some problems, becuz he's tryin to learn the Defense