PP's DVR player evaluation - Preseason Game 1

[PushnPencils]

Since I now have my DirecTV HDDVR...I made use of it to take closer look at the team. It'll be a pretty generic overview, but hopefully will present who stood out and who didn't. Brady, Moss, and Edelman have been pretty well covered so I left them out. Here's my thoughts.

Matt Light had a bad night in the run game. Never been a fan of his run blocking. He's not aggressive in his run blocks and gives up too early.

This in turn cost....

Maroney a lack of running space to the left side on two plays in particular. If Light had been a little less lackadaisical LoMo may have done a little more on those plays.

Contrary to popular belief...Lomo did very little UNNECESSARY dancing behind the line. I replayed his run plays a few times each....and Maroney was truly a victim of having no place to run.

Dan Koppen gets manhandled on running plays.

The O-line pass blocking was truly outstanding.

Chris Baker is a great blocker to boot. Plays confidently in both aspects of his game. #1 TE?

Wilhite to me is a stronger, more agrressive version of Asante. Bright kid...always in the right position.

Jerod Mayo IMHO will be an all-world MLB. He is in on every damn play and sheds blockers with the best of them. Absolutely awesome player.

I can only judge Myron Pryor on one game so far. But WOW! Great motor. Pursues and makes plays into the secondary. Tremendous quickness and first step. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Other than one pass pressure that forced a holding call.....LeKevin Smith was a weak link on the D-Line in the first half.

Meriweather is Rodney Harrison reincarnated. Team leader, awesome physical presence and a much smarter player than I first thought.

Lay off James Sanders. He did very little wrong and was a solid player the entire time he played.

Terrence Wheatley looked pretty bad and got beat WAY too often.

Pierre Woods was horrible. Other than one play which he had QB pressure. He did NOTHING. He could not hold the edge AT ALL on runs and got absolutely destroyed by a full back on one play.

TBC looked good rushing the passer, but on run plays was a non-entity.
Adalius Thomas looked lethargic.

Burgess had some nice pass pressure...in limited playing time.

Other than one dropped pass and one pass Brady threw into tight coverage, not much else to judge Galloway on.

Gary Guyton was active, had a nice deflection but seemed to come in on the back end of plays alot.

Alex Smith had a bad night of blocking.

Eric Alexander had the worst night of any player on the team. COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE in every aspect of the game.

Pat Chung with more time and experience is gonna be an awesome player.

Butler, I thought overall, had a great evening. WR's had a little bit of seperation on him twice....but luckily pass pressure forced bad throws to them. Great night overall though. Quick and looks super confident.

SeaBass....other tha getting lost on a broken play....looked pretty dominant.

Connolly, Britt, Yates and Wendell looked pretty lost and crappy.

BJGE better not get cut...he is a very nifty runner. Makes some nice plays on his own.

Steve Willams was creating some nice push in the second half.

Tank Williams and Mike Richardson had pretty poor showings.

 

[GostkowSKI]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Excellent run down, thanks for taking the time to do it. You picked up on a lot of things I didn't see just watching the game once.

I didn't really notice Koppen struggle in the running game at first glance, what did he seem to have trouble with - picking up run blitzes or down linemen?

 

[PushnPencils]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Excellent run down, thanks for taking the time to do it. You picked up on a lot of things I didn't see just watching the game once.

I didn't really notice Koppen struggle in the running game at first glance, what did he seem to have trouble with - picking up run blitzes or down linemen?

On run plays, Koppen seemed to get overpowered. He holds his own on pass plays but on run plays, defenders seem to get too much penetration and push into backfield.

 

[GostkowSKI]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

On run plays, Koppen seemed to get overpowered. He holds his own on pass plays but on run plays, defenders seem to get too much penetration and push into backfield.

Interesting, definitely something I'll keep an eye on next week. Thanks again.

 

[JSn]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

No thoughts on Kaczur or the right side in general? I want to run the DVR back, but no time so far. I thought in nearly all situations (run/pass), the right side looked very good even this early on.

 

[signbabybrady]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Nice breakdown PP.

Just curious how you can justify carrying 5 RBs/ who does he beat out if it is just 4???

Lay off James Sanders. He did very little wrong and was a solid player the entire time he played.

Also did he have any big plays? I got roasted by Box of Rocks because I didn't notice him and he said he thought he had a few nice plays.

I gave some analsys of him based on past performance that was to his defense as I think people criticize him for not making big plays but also don't realize that he doesn't get burnt often and doesn't stand out negatively.

I think BOR got on my asking about his PT so did he seem to get a lot of reps.

I admitidly wasn't looking out for him but did watch it twice so I was ashamed to have missed him the way I did. I meant to watch a 3rd time to see what I missed but haven't got to it yet.

 

[PushnPencils]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

No thoughts on Kaczur or the right side in general? I want to run the DVR back, but no time so far. I thought in nearly all situations (run/pass), the right side looked very good even this early on.

The right side was pretty solid. A majority of LOMO's run plays went left, so that's where most of the action happened.

No backside pursuit came from the right side....so that's good.

 

[fillylabinga]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Jeez. You had to go and mention Maroney, huh? Lord knows we don't need another one of those threads...

Interesting comments on the Safeties (good) and the LBs (bad).

I felt like the Pats got burned a lot last year with little stuff up the seams and over the middle. So hopefully more experience for the Safeties would make a big difference in the passing game. In a couple of years when Chung is the starter this could be the strength of the D.

The LBs continue to be a worry though. Hopefully, with Burgess and TBC and good depth on the DL the pass rush will be much improved esp. on 3rd down and long. But they've got to force 3rd and long first! I was hoping that Woods would have improved vs. the run, but that doesn't sound like it's the case. And I've always thought AD was only a so-so run defender. This looks like something to watch in the next couple of games.

Thanks for the recap.

 

[PushnPencils]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Nice breakdown PP.

Just curious how you can justify carrying 5 RBs/ who does he beat out if it is just 4???



Also did he have any big plays? I got roasted by Box of Rocks because I didn't notice him and he said he thought he had a few nice plays.

I gave some analsys of him based on past performance that was to his defense as I think people criticize him for not making big plays but also don't realize that he doesn't get burnt often and doesn't stand out negatively.

I think BOR got on my asking about his PT so did he seem to get a lot of reps.

I admitidly wasn't looking out for him but did watch it twice so I was ashamed to have missed him the way I did. I meant to watch a 3rd time to see what I missed but haven't got to it yet.

BJGE is a nice player. If he gets beat out because of roster numbers...it'll be a shame....but understandable.

Sanders has the sad situation of being solid...but unspectacular. He is a player coaches can appreciate but the benefits of his game are not evident on TV. Solid tackler, rarely out of position and is the safety valve on the defense. He is usually preventing someone elses mistake on the field from becoming a full blown catastrophe.

 

[signbabybrady]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

BJGE is a nice player. If he gets beat out because of roster numbers...it'll be a shame....but understandable.

Sanders has the sad situation of being solid...but unspectacular. He is a player coaches can appreciate but the benefits of his game are not evident on TV. Solid tackler, rarely out of position and is the safety valve on the defense. He is usually preventing someone elses mistake on the field from becoming a full blown catastrophe.

I agree with your BJGE comment and what you say about Sanders is what I was saying. BOR made it out like I missed someting very obvious outside of the fact I asked how much PT.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Good analysis. Woods is still invisible and can't set the edge despite what some people think. If I was in denial about Chad Jackson, they are in denial about Woods. He had a perfect chance to stop McCoy from taking a screen for 19 yards, but let some slow ass O-lineman dive at his legs and take him out of the play. Although people may think I hate this guy, I'm trying my hardest to root for him because the Pats don't have many options. Also, Wheatley had a very bad game as he completely whiffed tackling Maclin.

Other notable plays

- I'm not Sanders' greatest fan, but he made a nice hit in the open field early in the game.

- I didn't notice Koppen getting pushed around, but it doesn't surprise me that someone else noticed it

- I don't know what it is, but Maroney seems to get the worst run blocking when he is on the field. Also, it's hard for a RB to get into any rhythm when you give him only one or two carries per drive.

- Merriweather looks pretty aggressive, I think he was blitzing the QB very early in the game.

 

[holyredeemer]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Very good rundown PP. I'd just like to add, and I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but every time I see Alexander on D, I get shivers down my spine. No matter what the guy does, he always gives up big plays. I understand he contributes in other facets of the game, but every time he's on D...:bricks:

 

[patsox23]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Thanks for the work that went into this. Hope you keep it up.

 

[reflexblue]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

- I don't know what it is, but Maroney seems to get the worst run blocking when he is on the field. Also, it's hard for a RB to get into any rhythm when you give him only one or two carries per drive.

I've been thinking the same thing for a long time, i thought it was just me. Its inexplicable, it seems like when ever Maroney runs thers no hole for him.

Its almost like the defense knows hes going to get the ball and WHERE hes going to run, and they flow to that point.

 

[reflexblue]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

BTW good stuff MR. Pencil, and SBB yours is pretty good also.

 

[DaBruinz]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Good analysis. Woods is still invisible and can't set the edge despite what some people think.

Do you know what it even means to "set the edge?" I ask because I watched the game and Woods CLEARLY set the edge on several running plays, keeping the RB from bouncing to the outside...

 

[tombonneau]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

- I don't know what it is, but Maroney seems to get the worst run blocking when he is on the field. Also, it's hard for a RB to get into any rhythm when you give him only one or two carries per drive.

I've been thinking the same thing for a long time, i thought it was just me. Its inexplicable, it seems like when ever Maroney runs thers no hole for him.

Its almost like the defense knows hes going to get the ball and WHERE hes going to run, and they flow to that point.

I'm with you two. I might be a self-confessed LM apologist, but it really seems like half the time there is already a dl in the backfield the second he gets a handoff. We've seen what a healthy lm can do (end of 2007) but his detractors seem to willfully ignore this lest they not have a convenient whipping boy.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

Do you know what it even means to "set the edge?" I ask because I watched the game and Woods CLEARLY set the edge on several running plays, keeping the RB from bouncing to the outside...

I guess PushnPencils and I are the minority because we don't see it.

Pierre Woods was horrible. Other than one play which he had QB pressure. He did NOTHING. He could not hold the edge AT ALL on runs and got absolutely destroyed by a full back on one play.

 

[bbell31]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

after the first preseason game(based on that performance) the future cuts look to be eric alexander, galloway, tank williams, yates, nunn, herana daze jones....and yes men my boy wheatley wasnt looking to dandy in the first game but i am confident he is going to be ahead of wilhite in the future..darius butler, chung, guyton, edelman, meriweather, mayo, and sum others were quite impressive thus far

 

[glm]

Re: PP's DVR player evaluation- Pre-Season game 1

after the first preseason game the future cuts look to be eric alexander, galloway, tank williams, yates, nunn, herana daze jones....and yes men my boy wheatley wasnt looking to dandy in the first game but i am confident he is going to be ahead of wilhite in near future..darius butler, chung, guyton, edelman, meriweather, mayo, and sum others were quite impressive thus far

Galloway is not getting cut.