1st Quarter Season Thoughts

[BACK2MACKSACK]

Our team is lacking weapons to develop plays in the second level.

On a positive note: Inside zone running is strong.

[soulman]

About as expected.  Maybe a bit better now that Fields is starting and we're relying on a running game again.

The primary objective now should be to build a strong foundation around Fields.  Wins and losses are secondary.  Fields is showing that he's the guy we need to bolster for the next decade.  If they don't mess this up we finally have a franchise QB.

[Sugashane]

I like this, maybe we can do quarterly breakdowns and do the plus/minus for how each quarter has gone.

 

I'll do a little breakdown.

HC - Nagy was abysmal with Fields but (whether his own choice or by force of hand) he relinquished the playcalling. That is a positive in my book. As a HC I did not see any time management issues or anything else that caused a big concern. For all the Nagy bashing I take part in, I have zero issue with him having input or relaying things to Lazor. He has a different perspective since Lazor is in the box) so long as Lazor gets to make the calls.

OC - Lazor has not faced an actual good defense but did really well vs the Lions and called a pretty good game vs the Raiders. Did enough that Williams and Nassib were non-factors for the most part. Neither is Garrett or Clowney though so still something to watch, but for the most part he has been fine. He keeps a focus on the run, uses Bars as an extra blocker (meaning he doubled down when took advantage of their weaker run defense and recognizes the poor overall blocking our TEs have), and has done a pretty good job of protecting Fields.

DC - Desai has been a big surprise for me in a good way. The DB play has been fairly poor compared to what I expected in terms of broken coverages. I thought that would be a stable that he would have covered. But the passrush has been stellar. The best we have had since 2018 and it is without Hicks or Goldman being healthy/in football shape. He has Quinn getting his hand in the dirt where he has said (and many people here) and it is doing well. Even has Quinn killing it as a run stuffer! His first game was horrendous but again, we were massively outmatched in skill positions and it was his first game calling plays. I won't hold that against him. We see it week 10+ and I would but for the first quarter he has been fantastic. 3rd down coverages have been mediocre but without reviewing it looks like most have just been the offensive guy beating the defensive guy, not because there was a poor playcall. We have had some miscommunications though, is that Desai or guys like Bush not getting the call right? I don't know.

OL - Castillo has done a good job. The OL talent is average at best but has blocked better than I expected. CLE they were demolished but that was not his fault, it was Nagy putting WAY too much faith in guys like Peters singling up Garrett, plus abandoning the run game (3 runs in the 2nd half, 1 being a direct snap) put them at an even bigger disadvantage. With competent playcalling the OL has performed well and I'm not seeing near as many missed blitzers as years past.

QB - Production has been bad but that was to be expected. Fields is going to be a work in progress but with him starting we get to have a lot of time to SEE progressions, or lack thereof. That will be huge in deciding if Nagy and Lazor are the guys to tie Fields' development to. Production is also not stellar because the staff knows the run game is the strong point of the offense and isn't trying to force TDs with Fields (something I actually am happy with). They are taking TDs in the way they know best, and hopefully as defenses key in on the runners in the redzone it makes easy throws for Fields.

RB - The strong point of the offense. Monty one of the top 10 hardest runners in the game without question and there will be plenty who put him in the top five (though not top 5 overall IMO). Williams has a lot to offer as a receiver and has good vision, shifty too. Herbert has some impressive vision and is a fighter too. Usually didn't go down on first contact (he was literally the first run after someone pointed that out on here in the gameday thread lol). Herbert may make it easy to forget Cohen since Williams is a receiver as well.

WRs - Mixed bag here. Mooney has been the best but ARob has flashed. Doesn't seem like anyone gets much opportunities to do anything in the intermediate  to deep game. We have conservative playcalling and it hurts the production. Guys like Byrd and Goodwin need to be used to challenge deep since they aren't shrugging off contact or shifty enough to make people miss in small spaces.

TEs - Disappointing overall. Kmet has done nothing overall, he is not even looking like a real athlete out there. Graham has been used in like 20% of the snaps and a nonfactor in the passing game, but he has had some seriously nice blocks to offset some of the usual poor ones. Horsted will always be the first guy to catch a Fields TD.

OL - Considering there was so much being put on Jenkins and Borom the OL has recovered well. Peters is a shadow of his old self but has been pretty good when not being asked to cover an All Pro on his own. Ifedi has been up and down, as his whole career has been. Really the IOL has been average IMO, Mustipher being the weak link. Bars has a mean streak to his blocking I wish we saw from everyone else not named Peters. For the pieces we have they are doing fine. It would be damn nice to see Jenkins and Borom getting in and mixing it up.

DL - Hicks is banged up, Goldman coming back after over a year of nothing, and the DL has been really good. A lot of rotation with guys like Blackson and Hunt to spell Nichols and I have been impressed. Edwards has been good until yesterday, playing like an idiot was disappointing. Goldman went from being manhandled by a back up to having flashes of his old self. Tonga may have the best anchor on the team. Maybe we put him at C. Only partially joking too.

EDGE - Wow. Mack is looking like his old self, still being a top run defender and passrusher too. Quinn is having a stellar season and isn't one-dimensional like he has always been known to be. Gipson has taken strides forward and looks completely different than last year. He is making impact plays. Rotating him will help keep the other two healthy late in the season.

ILB - Smith is a stud, hopefully the rest of the league starts to see it. He is getting Peanut treatment because he isn't a loud, brash personality that talks a ton of crap to the camera. Ogletree has been a huge surprise. He has been a solid number two, and has played better than a lot of top ILB/MLBs in the NFL. DT didn't seem as slow as I expected yesterday. Still would rather he just be a situational player on some early downs or redzone, but he should at least be fresh.

CB - Johnson has been damn solid. He has had some duh moments (2nd year, not unexpected) but he has been far and away the best DB we have so far. Vildor has been bad to average, as has Shelley, and Crawford was abysmal to start. Its the weakest group on the team IMO.

S - EJax has been a mixed bag, having a terrible game, then a good game. He is a weak tackler but has made some plays and missed some easy ones too. Not great. Gipson is a guy who is average and steady. He doesn't offer a ton but doesn't give up a ton usually. Bush has had some decent plays vs the run but was horrible in coverage.

K, P, LS - Santos is a stud. I'm almost fine with keeping POD just as a placeholder. Scales is Mannelly's illegitimate son.

 

We are 3-2 right now and about to enter a brutal part of the schedule. I'm not sure we end the seconds quarter with a record better than 4-5.

[Bfan]

Excellent analysis.  The one comment I would make is more of a bold prediction.  You know how everyone talks about coaching trees.  I would not be surprised if Desai is planting his own tree in a few years. Smart, quick to adapt, always learning, willing to experiment, and a real teacher.  That strikes me as the kind of coach who makes a real name for himself.

[Sugashane]

3 hours ago, Bfan said:

Excellent analysis.  The one comment I would make is more of a bold prediction.  You know how everyone talks about coaching trees.  I would not be surprised if Desai is planting his own tree in a few years. Smart, quick to adapt, always learning, willing to experiment, and a real teacher.  That strikes me as the kind of coach who makes a real name for himself.

At least this one won't leave us as a positional coach like Staley did. lol