QB and Wide Receivers
The more tape I watch the more I get convinced we need a #1 WR more than any lineman.
Boutte, Douglas and Henry are WR/TE keepers. The rest of them can go or be replaced by some other JAG.
Boutte-He had Sauce on him quite a bit and as expected did not separate on a regular basis, but he was better than Polk was in the first game when Sauce was on Polk. This is a case of a #2 receiver being assigned to the #1 corner. He had some plays, but Sauce was the winner in most of the matchups but not really a big negative IMO. Besides having some plays, when Sauce was not on him he had better separation. His drop on Maye was clearly afraid of getting hit, but was sliding, 2 hands on it, so was avoiding hit and had 2 hands, should have caught it but I get it. The other "drop" was a bad throw by Jacoby behind him, not as much on Boutte IMO.
He's looking the part of a good #2 receiver. He turned Sauce around on the big play on the last drive, stuck his foot in the ground, made Sauce turn his hips and broke to inside, this was a #1 receiver route. You make a couple big plays and get open 4-5 times against a top corner that's a win despite the fact 90% of the time you are blanketed. Boutte continues to show he's a keeper and he should only get better. He's only 22 years old. Great future with Maye. Get him opposite a solid #1 and we are going to score some points.
Henry-How can you not love Henry, might be the most underrated TE in the NFL. He's not an all-pro but he is playing at a pro bowl level. Great re-signing, the team would be in trouble on offense without Henry, probably the 1 guy that can't get hurt in the receiving core.
Douglas-He's a good slot receiver, I don't watch enough slot receivers to say where he ranks but he's got to be in the top dozen. Smart, good hands, good quickness. Turns 24 this year. You have 24 years old DD and 22-year-old Boutte that are keepers and can build a relationship with Maye. He's not Edelman, might not be as good as McConkey but not an area you need to upgrade over other needs, he can hold down the slot for years.
Thornton-Guy can't separate or get off the line, made the crosser based on a busted coverage, had a screen pass, just not an NFL receiver IMO. I was out on him after watching tape earlier in the year and see nothing to say any different. He had 12 snaps, small sample but I just don't see it with him. He did get mildly pushed on the drop down the field, but he did not need to jump, he let the ball get to his body, pretty much did everything he should not have done trying to catch that ball. I would say Chase level player catches it but I also think any other WR that played for the Pats in that game catches that pass.
Osborn-Had good game last week, had 9 snaps this week, not much to go on, didn't stand out, had 1 play I thought he was open. Still better than TT, so based on last week play him more and TT less? Not sure it matters?
Bourne-52 snaps, 3 targets and zero receptions, Yikes! Also just does not separate and has had issues catching. I give him a pass on the middle drop, that was 100% hospital ball by Jacoby. The one down the field, another bad throw by Jacoby, made it difficult, BUT you are an NFL receiver, getting hands on the ball you got to catch them. He's not open regularly, not showing much this year so far, if someone gives up a 5th for him, I am all in on that trade.
Hooper-He's an NFL TE, a backup TE but and NFL TE. We should draft a TE next year around the 4th round and develop him. Hooper will suffice for a year, he does not hurt you as a backup/second TE, is fine.
Polk-Best game of year, no mistakes!
Quarterbacks
Drake Maye-PFF had him at a 93.6 rating before he left the game, only Herbert with a 95.3 was better. Again this week, I did not really have a play that I thought the read was bad. On the first pass to Boutte down the sidelines, that was a good pe-snap read, Boutte just could not get away from Sauce. On all 3 scrambles he had some tight window throws or a throws short of the sticks maybe, but the scramble was more yards and more likely to be successful. He's so good at seeing the pass rushers lose lane integrity, know the man to man defense and knows he has 10 yards+ available. He has also shown another burst on run plays 2 weeks in a row. The TD this week he just went up a notch to get to the end zone. Boutte pass/drop over middle, was a 3rd read on 3rd and 12, placed perfectly at the sticks. You have a handful of QB's that can do that. He looks better than at UNC and at UNC he was the best QB in college football 2 years straight no matter what anyone said. Get him a #1 receiver, I don't care if you need to trade up for 1 in the draft. McMilan or Hunter seem to be the 2 choices. DO IT!
Jacoby Brissett-Up and down tape for Jacoby. He took the right read for the first 9 plays, at least 6 were first reads. Then it seemed every other play was a smart decision and every other 1 was wrong. The Boutte drop was a bad throw behind him. The Hooper 1 on 1 to the EZ throw was an OK read, this was a play Maye runs, Jets lost Contain, easy 10- yard pickup for Maye, he also had KJ on the same play Maye threw the TD on last week but chose the covered Hooper 1 on 1. That's a play Maye has a passing TD to KJ or has a run for a first down in the red zone or a run for a TD. Jacoby made a great throw and Henry a great catch on final drive. This was after he made a bad read and made a bad throw on the play before. He followed the good throw to Henry with the downfield "drop" by Bourne, but a terrible throw, was supposed to be back shoulder, threw it to the inside, was a tough adjustment by Bourne, Jacoby just made that very hard to catch with a bad throw. He also had DD and Boutte as better options. He then scrambled and dumped to Rham for short gain but had Henry and also DD as better options. He smartly scrambles for a first down, follows that with an inaccurate throw to DD on a scramble.
Made a good throwaway decision, then the big Boutte throw which was good anticipation. He had a blitzer coming at him and got it out there. He leads Boutte it is a TD, I give him a pass because of the blitzer. Though I will say Jacoby is slow to react to blitzers and pressure. It's like he does not see them until it is almost too late much of the time. He had a good scramble and dump off to Rham and then after the TD run he had a really well designed and executed pick play for the 2-point conversion.
He made bad throws and bad reads but alternated them with a good play that got chunk yardage and had 3 really good plays, the Henry completion and the Boutte completion plus the scramble for first down. He made the last drive a higher difficulty level than he needed it to be but it ended up working. He had a 64.3 PFF and Maye had a 93.6, seems about right in terms of comparison of play.
I thought spacing was better, AVP probably called his best game. I would like to see less run on first down and more play action but outside that he had some really nicely designed plays, even some creativity!
Overall, what stands out is:
-Maye is great
-Jacoby was very inconsistent and had a ton of bad but came thru with clutch plays when he had to
-Boutte, Henry, and Douglas are the only keepers at WR/TE (Polk and Baker we shall see)
-Please do everything humanly possible to get a #1 receiver, even if it is a lower level #1
PFF Pressures:
Brown-4
Lowe-3
Jacobs-3
Jordan-1
