Patriots report card half time

[BobDigital]

This will be with units and players. I this will not be all players but will include all units. (EDIT) all grades are within context of position graded in only.

QB Unit A-
Brady A+, Jimmy A, Brisset C (i give him a small pass due to injuries)

RB Unit B
Blount B, White B+ Bolden F (only a few snaps but enough to knock this group down some)

TE Unit A
Gronk A+ Bennett A- (injuries have effected both but overall very happy.

WR Unit B+
Edelman B+ (too many drops so far but looking better recently) Hogan A-, Amendola B, Mitchell C

OL Unit B
Solder A- Thuney A- Andrews C+ Mason B Cannon A- (surprisingly Cannon has done very well.. Andrews needs to improve some though but not horrible but he is dragging the group down. Also Flemming Gets a B and Karras gets a B.

Offensive Grade B+/A- (It depends how much you want to count that first Bills game which really weighs it down from being clear A- or better). Under Brady it is an A though.

DE Unit B-
Sheard B, Nink C+ Long B- Flowers B (unit has held the edge okay but not great and not enough pressure or finishing.

DT Unit B
Brown B+ Branch B+ Valentine B- Johnson C+ (Valentine hopefully gets healthy and contributes more but Branch has been really good and Brown just a little bit behind him.

LB Unit B
Hightower A-, Collins B, Roberts B, McCellin C, Freeney C (Hightower has been all-pro worthy when healthy and Roberts has surprised. Collins has been at times very good and at others invisible so i split the difference but he has been more invisible than good the last 4 games. McCellin is a guy you never notice does his job okay but no plays. Freeney is the same.

CB Unit B-
Butler B+ Rowe B, Ryan B-, Coleman C+, Cy. Jones C- (Butler looking better and has been an A the last 2-3 games. Rowe I think will improve and for all the talk about Ryan he has been okay. This unit is trending up overall so i expect it to end the year about a B- overall easily.

Safety Unit A-
McCourty A- Harmon A- Chung A- (Good play all around. They have not surrendered anything too deep all year. The year long is 51 yards and was Butler 1v1 with Brown so not on the safeties. Chung deserves special mention here and is perhaps the most underrated player in the NFL.

Defense B. Has been pretty good but not elite.

STs Unit B+
Gost B, Allen B+, Cardona A, Kick covering B+ Kick returning B+ (Gost keeps this from being an A but hopfully that changes as he took a good step last week).

 

[chasa]

b+ is too high for white. Dude has had some of the WORST drops i've ever seen on screens.

 

[Froob]

Why is White rated higher than Blount?

 

[BobDigital]

b+ is too high for white. Dude has had some of the WORST drops i've ever seen on screens.

Why is White rated higher than Blount?

IMO has had had only 1 bad drop all year (that Drop last week) and has overall been a good duel threat guy. He is running for 4.1 (more than Blount) and has more YAC WR yards than total WR yards. (meaning his 8.9 yards per catch is not only incredible effective but incredibly safe and it is good to have a reliable way to gain good yards without taking the risk of throwing a int.

I am not saying he is better running the ball than Blount but this year he has certainly improved that part of his game. Also unlike Blount 0 fumbles.

Blount has more total yards cause he is the lead RB but White has been more effective so i gave him the better grade. It is not how much you play but how well you play that i am grading mostly.

Edit: Also worth noting that B+ makes him only the 5th best option to be on the field for a skill player behind Gronk, Bennett, Edelman and Hogan. So I think that is fair and true.

Also worth noting i struggled with whether to put Blount as a B+ or not but without a 4.0YPC average or better i couldn't do it :/

 

[archstanton543]

Solder A-? Did you see the last game he played? I know that's not necessarily indicative of the half season but that's gotta push him into B+ (at least) territory.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I would love to know what Cy Jones has done to earn a C-

He is clearly an F so far. Fumbled multiple times on kick return, made a bonehead fair catch call, gave up easy completions before losing his temper and getting ejected, since then he has been inactive. Despite being healthy.


That's a C- ?

 

[BobDigital]

I would love to know what Cy Jones has done to earn a C-

He is clearly an F so far.

I graded him only in the context of a CB. He has had some decent plays there and bad ones and then was benched so better options could play. If I factored in STs yes he'd be lower (but I only included those things in the STs grade I did. For now I put him as a below JAG CB.. maybe C- was still generous for a CB but honestly I don't remember many of his plays at this point haha.

He was not a complete disaster at CB just not good enough to start but that is mostly going from memory.

Now you got me thinking though maybe i should have put my STs grade a bit lower.

 

[BobDigital]

Solder A-? Did you see the last game he played? I know that's not necessarily indicative of the half season but that's gotta push him into B+ (at least) territory.

Maybe. If you wanna knock him down one spot that could be argued. I don't claim these are perfect just a discussion point and we have 2 weeks. I welcome other opinions.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Brisset C (i give him a small pass due to injuries)

He tore the ligaments in the thumb of his throwing hand and could barely grip the ball, yet he toughed it out. I'd give him an A for the Houston game and a complete pass for the Buffalo game.

 

[Patjew]

BB the coach: A++++++

BB the GM: F-------------

PJ the Poster: FFFFFF- infinity

 

[BobDigital]

He tore the ligaments in the thumb of his throwing hand and could barely grip the ball, yet he toughed it out. I'd give him an A for the Houston game and a complete pass for the Buffalo game.

He won the Houston game but really only made 2-3 plays (the long run for the TD being the big one) and did little else cause he wasn't asked to and not ready. I'd give him a B/B- for Houston cause i don't feel like i should grade on a curve for him and The Bills was a D or F but injured as he was and with a good D it is hard to really hold it against a young QB. It really was an impossible situation.

 

[BobDigital]

BB the coach: A++++++

BB the GM: F-------------

PJ the Poster: FFFFFF- infinity

You are one of my fav posters though!

 

[Patjew]

You are one of my fav posters though!

Thanks Bob!

 

[tasmlab]

I would love to know what Cy Jones has done to earn a C-

He is clearly an F so far. Fumbled multiple times on kick return, made a bonehead fair catch call, gave up easy completions before losing his temper and getting ejected, since then he has been inactive. Despite being healthy.


That's a C- ?

Participation award.

 

[Canuck]

QB A. Only Brissett's performance in the 16-0 loss to Bills keeps this from being A+
RB B. Top 10 in amt of rushing yards because we ran alot but ypc of 3.9 is not that great.
TE A. Top notch performance from both when healthy, injuries to both keep them from A+
WR B+. Good solid performance from Edelman, Hogan, Amendola
OL B. Only Thuney deserves an A. OL 17th in given up sacks and RB a reflection of OL run blocking

Offense: Passing A Running B. Total offense A because Brady is back

DT B. Brown and Branch are good but the rest drag down the rating
DE B. Good against the run but lack overall pressure on passing downs
LB B. Hightower only A in this group.
CB B-. Butler only A in this group. Rest mostly tight coverage and little blown assignments
SFTY A+ The strength of the secondary. They are all playing well

Defense B. This is a good solid unit but not elite. Lack of a pass rush and good but not great CBs lead to a higher then average yards per game and keeps this from being an A type defense. It's the Bend in the Bend but not Break defense that drags it down. The Not Break is A+

ST: B- Ghost, Cyrus Jones, too many drops. Not bad but Ghost really drags down the rating

Coaching: HC A, OC A, DC A
Other Coaches: B+

I pretty much agree with the OP assessment of the team. It's funny when you look at other teams and do the same thing, you see more B and C ratings.

 

[Schmo]

Guys I think you're overrating: the entire O line, Amendola (is not making it in the field...has played 162 offensive snaps, Mitchell has 173), Sheard (he needs to be the guy out of that group to be getting to the QB), Ghost (just shaky this year, makes me nervous... closer to a D)

I 100% agree with Blount/White. Might even put white at an A-. I didn't start the season as his biggest fan, but he's playing lights out.

 

[venecol]

IMO has had had only 1 bad drop all year (that Drop last week) and has overall been a good duel threat guy. He is running for 4.1 (more than Blount) and has more YAC WR yards than total WR yards. (meaning his 8.9 yards per catch is not only incredible effective but incredibly safe and it is good to have a reliable way to gain good yards without taking the risk of throwing a int.

I am not saying he is better running the ball than Blount but this year he has certainly improved that part of his game. Also unlike Blount 0 fumbles.

Blount has more total yards cause he is the lead RB but White has been more effective so i gave him the better grade. It is not how much you play but how well you play that i am grading mostly.

Edit: Also worth noting that B+ makes him only the 5th best option to be on the field for a skill player behind Gronk, Bennett, Edelman and Hogan. So I think that is fair and true.

Also worth noting i struggled with whether to put Blount as a B+ or not but without a 4.0YPC average or better i couldn't do it :/

Blount is leading NFL in rushing TD, your rating is too low.

 

[Boomer B]

I think some of the rankings are a little kind. Long hasn't done anything since the first few games. Our DT don't get much push. I would rank Blount higher though, he has been a pleasant surprise

 

[mgteich]

nitpicks
1) Solder and White are overrated.
2) The DE is much better than you say. They are doing their job. You seem to want a change in defensive strategy.

BOTTOM LINE
You put a proper spotlight on our worst unit by fat: our corners.

This will be with units and players. I this will not be all players but will include all units. (EDIT) all grades are within context of position graded in only.

QB Unit A-
Brady A+, Jimmy A, Brisset C (i give him a small pass due to injuries)

RB Unit B
Blount B, White B+ Bolden F (only a few snaps but enough to knock this group down some)

TE Unit A
Gronk A+ Bennett A- (injuries have effected both but overall very happy.

WR Unit B+
Edelman B+ (too many drops so far but looking better recently) Hogan A-, Amendola B, Mitchell C

OL Unit B
Solder A- Thuney A- Andrews C+ Mason B Cannon A- (surprisingly Cannon has done very well.. Andrews needs to improve some though but not horrible but he is dragging the group down. Also Flemming Gets a B and Karras gets a B.

Offensive Grade B+/A- (It depends how much you want to count that first Bills game which really weighs it down from being clear A- or better). Under Brady it is an A though.

DE Unit B-
Sheard B, Nink C+ Long B- Flowers B (unit has held the edge okay but not great and not enough pressure or finishing.

DT Unit B
Brown B+ Branch B+ Valentine B- Johnson C+ (Valentine hopefully gets healthy and contributes more but Branch has been really good and Brown just a little bit behind him.

LB Unit B
Hightower A-, Collins B, Roberts B, McCellin C, Freeney C (Hightower has been all-pro worthy when healthy and Roberts has surprised. Collins has been at times very good and at others invisible so i split the difference but he has been more invisible than good the last 4 games. McCellin is a guy you never notice does his job okay but no plays. Freeney is the same.

CB Unit B-
Butler B+ Rowe B, Ryan B-, Coleman C+, Cy. Jones C- (Butler looking better and has been an A the last 2-3 games. Rowe I think will improve and for all the talk about Ryan he has been okay. This unit is trending up overall so i expect it to end the year about a B- overall easily.

Safety Unit A-
McCourty A- Harmon A- Chung A- (Good play all around. They have not surrendered anything too deep all year. The year long is 51 yards and was Butler 1v1 with Brown so not on the safeties. Chung deserves special mention here and is perhaps the most underrated player in the NFL.

Defense B. Has been pretty good but not elite.

STs Unit B+
Gost B, Allen B+, Cardona A, Kick covering B+ Kick returning B+ (Gost keeps this from being an A but hopfully that changes as he took a good step last week).

 

[farn]

Too harsh on JB : a rookie who was intended to ride the bench all year and did an admirable job with little prep time and a significant injury.