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Well, we are 4 games into the season and even though there is still a lot of football left to play depending upon future Covid contagion league wide, I thought it might be amusing to take an honest look at what we have seen so far and opine on it.
First the good.
Pros:
1. Oline is much improved. Austin Jackson is holding his own at Left Tackle as a rookie which is very promising. He has demonstrated that he can hang and that he has good athleticism and enough to play well in this league. He needs some more development, but he looks like a keeper which is really nice to see. Solomon Kindley looks like he is going to be an absolute beast with a bit more seasoning and Flowers and Karas have been solid additions. Need to work on their run blocking a bit more, definitely room for improvement there, but pass protection has been solid. Robert Hunt offers some developmental depth, and if he improves enough to earn a starting role at some point either this or next year, then you would have to say that the draft on the line would have been enormously successful. Of course, a lot of the grading of this draft will come down to Tua, but the Oline additions look really good so far and the coaching and player development also looks like it has been really good on the Oline for the first time in literally decades.
2. Running backs have improved with Gaskins being a surprise with both him and Breida averaging 4 yards per carry, which as we all know is an improvement over last years backs. Running game still has room for improvement, but there are some decent pieces to work with on the roster this year as opposed to last.
3. Davante Parker has gotten a bit tougher which was good to see. He went back in the game yesterday and that's not something that would have happened in the past.
4. Gesicki looks like he has improved. I wish the coaching staff and or QB would go to him more in the Red zone, but it was good to see Preston Williams bounce back last week vs the Jags after he dropped a TD week 1. Receivers look pretty good.
5. Kyle Van Noy has been as good as advertised.
6. last 2 Draft classes look pretty good so far although this years draft will ultimately be measured by Tua. But Wilkins, Van Ginkel, & Gaskin look like they will be pretty good players for us, and this year so far Austin Jackson & Solomon Kindley look like long term starters on the Oline, Robert Hunt has the potential to develop into another one. Noah (I'll call him Iggy for short and fear of misspelling his last name) clearly needs development, but the potential is certainly there and Brandon Jones also looks like he has potential. Of course I think we are all eager to see what Tua can do and I think the time is coming soon, maybe against Denver?
7. Texans look really bad this year and have a tough schedule. Their 1st round pick that we own looks probably to be a top 10 or even top 5. So that's positive.
Cons:
1. Secondary has been disappointing. Byron Jones absence has exposed Iggy, even though above I mention he does have potential, he's just a bit too young and inexperienced to be thrown to the wolves so far which is what happened with Byron Jones being out with a groin injury.
2. Fitzpatrick has been inconsistent. If that continues the calls for Tua will grow louder and his absence from the starting lineup will become harder to justify.
3. Defense is ranked either 29th or 30th in some very important categories such as yds, passing yards, rushing TDS, red zone TD %.
4. Pass Rush has gone from non existent 1st couple of weeks to mediocre.
5. Coaching has been inconsistent. Yesterday failure to challenge that 3rd down conversions where the replay showed that Fitz was clearly behind the LOS when he released the ball killed momentum and should have been challenged. the 57 yard completion at the end of the 1st half yesterday that allowed the Seahawks to score another touchdown in homelike like 16 seconds was inexcusable and was a coaching lapse as much as a blown coverage. Halftime adjustments have been inconsistent and non-existent in some games, and the failure to get the ball in the hands of Matt Breida more and to convert red zone opportunities in touchdowns has been a combo of Fitzpatrick and coaching as far as what seems visible to me.
All in all, in general the team is improving and isn't the dumpster fire it was last year, but I think unless Fitzpatrick rattles 5 or 6 wins in a row all of a sudden Tua time is coming as it should and then we can truly evaluate the season. Coaching has had some ups and downs this year, ups being player development and coaching on the Oline for example, down in that defense looks actually worst than last year and Flores has made a couple of questionable calls or failed challenges in the past few games, but I don't think it's fair to say he is trash or isn't a good coach like I've read from some posters. I think he's a good coach, but he's a young coach and it's expected that he'll make some mistakes too.
Just some observations, I'm curious to see what others think?
First the good.
Pros:
1. Oline is much improved. Austin Jackson is holding his own at Left Tackle as a rookie which is very promising. He has demonstrated that he can hang and that he has good athleticism and enough to play well in this league. He needs some more development, but he looks like a keeper which is really nice to see. Solomon Kindley looks like he is going to be an absolute beast with a bit more seasoning and Flowers and Karas have been solid additions. Need to work on their run blocking a bit more, definitely room for improvement there, but pass protection has been solid. Robert Hunt offers some developmental depth, and if he improves enough to earn a starting role at some point either this or next year, then you would have to say that the draft on the line would have been enormously successful. Of course, a lot of the grading of this draft will come down to Tua, but the Oline additions look really good so far and the coaching and player development also looks like it has been really good on the Oline for the first time in literally decades.
2. Running backs have improved with Gaskins being a surprise with both him and Breida averaging 4 yards per carry, which as we all know is an improvement over last years backs. Running game still has room for improvement, but there are some decent pieces to work with on the roster this year as opposed to last.
3. Davante Parker has gotten a bit tougher which was good to see. He went back in the game yesterday and that's not something that would have happened in the past.
4. Gesicki looks like he has improved. I wish the coaching staff and or QB would go to him more in the Red zone, but it was good to see Preston Williams bounce back last week vs the Jags after he dropped a TD week 1. Receivers look pretty good.
5. Kyle Van Noy has been as good as advertised.
6. last 2 Draft classes look pretty good so far although this years draft will ultimately be measured by Tua. But Wilkins, Van Ginkel, & Gaskin look like they will be pretty good players for us, and this year so far Austin Jackson & Solomon Kindley look like long term starters on the Oline, Robert Hunt has the potential to develop into another one. Noah (I'll call him Iggy for short and fear of misspelling his last name) clearly needs development, but the potential is certainly there and Brandon Jones also looks like he has potential. Of course I think we are all eager to see what Tua can do and I think the time is coming soon, maybe against Denver?
7. Texans look really bad this year and have a tough schedule. Their 1st round pick that we own looks probably to be a top 10 or even top 5. So that's positive.
Cons:
1. Secondary has been disappointing. Byron Jones absence has exposed Iggy, even though above I mention he does have potential, he's just a bit too young and inexperienced to be thrown to the wolves so far which is what happened with Byron Jones being out with a groin injury.
2. Fitzpatrick has been inconsistent. If that continues the calls for Tua will grow louder and his absence from the starting lineup will become harder to justify.
3. Defense is ranked either 29th or 30th in some very important categories such as yds, passing yards, rushing TDS, red zone TD %.
4. Pass Rush has gone from non existent 1st couple of weeks to mediocre.
5. Coaching has been inconsistent. Yesterday failure to challenge that 3rd down conversions where the replay showed that Fitz was clearly behind the LOS when he released the ball killed momentum and should have been challenged. the 57 yard completion at the end of the 1st half yesterday that allowed the Seahawks to score another touchdown in homelike like 16 seconds was inexcusable and was a coaching lapse as much as a blown coverage. Halftime adjustments have been inconsistent and non-existent in some games, and the failure to get the ball in the hands of Matt Breida more and to convert red zone opportunities in touchdowns has been a combo of Fitzpatrick and coaching as far as what seems visible to me.
All in all, in general the team is improving and isn't the dumpster fire it was last year, but I think unless Fitzpatrick rattles 5 or 6 wins in a row all of a sudden Tua time is coming as it should and then we can truly evaluate the season. Coaching has had some ups and downs this year, ups being player development and coaching on the Oline for example, down in that defense looks actually worst than last year and Flores has made a couple of questionable calls or failed challenges in the past few games, but I don't think it's fair to say he is trash or isn't a good coach like I've read from some posters. I think he's a good coach, but he's a young coach and it's expected that he'll make some mistakes too.
Just some observations, I'm curious to see what others think?
