My four big question marks going into the season

[RF2044]

RT, WR, QB, DE. How'd they do yesterday?



RT--Foy looked like he got beat a couple of times, but there was only one play that stood out as "bad." I'm hopeful that this indicates that he'll be solid and improve over the course of the season. The offensive gameplan seemed heavily predicated upon lining up and smashing the ball down the opponent's throat. They weren't able to do that effectively, showing that the whole OL [not just Foy] have some improvement to do.


WR--I haven't looked at the boxscore, but I'm not sure that other than Broyld, that any WR got more than one reception. There were flashes of good things--Flemming got his first career reception, Kobena getting open deep, Broyld making some tough YAC, etc. but not enough. This whole group needs to step it up and provide more.


QB--I expected more from Drew Allen. I get it: it was the kid's first start, against a tough opponent, and he's only had a few weeks to get in sync with a group of new teammates. But even factoring all that in, he didn't perform up to my expectations. I'm not burying the kid just yet, but we need more from our QB for this team to get back to a bowl. He DID do some good things. He also made some poor throws. Can he iron out the kinks and maximize the good?


DE--I saved these guys for last, because IMO they performed the best out of the four units I was concerned about. Both Welsh and Robinson looked to be in great shape, and they made plays. We got some pressure on the QB in a variety of ways, but the DEs also each got a sack, and hit the QB several times. Neither of these guys are going to be confused with Freeney in terms of pass rush, or even Brandon Sharpe for that matter, but based upon yesterday's performance I'm comfortable saying that the DEs are going to be better than I expected.


So, out of the four big question marks, only 1 of 4 got answered positively in game 1. The other three are all on offense--lots of improvement needed on that side of the ball.

 

[orange79]

Broyld 4, West 3, Flemming and PTG 2, Clark, Wales, Smith, and Parris 1 each.

I wish I knew more about X's and O's, because I sure couldn't tell whether Allen was simply missing WR's long AND short, or if the WR's were running the wrong routes.

Also, my wife pointed out to me early on, just how much Allen seemed to be locking in on one receiver. It got a bit better later in the game, but she was right. First game jitters, I suppose.

 

[longtimefan]

Broyld 4, West 3, Flemming and PTG 2, Clark, Wales, Smith, and Parris 1 each.

I wish I knew more about X's and O's, because I sure couldn't tell whether Allen was simply missing WR's long AND short, or if the WR's were running the wrong routes.

Also, my wife pointed out to me early on, just how much Allen seemed to be locking in on one receiver. It got a bit better later in the game, but she was right. First game jitters, I suppose.

RE: locking in on one receiver--I thought that he did that on the game-ending interception. I'd like to see the full game film, because, on TV, it looked as though Allen had a receiver breaking open on a right-to-left post pattern on that play. And, I don't think there was any safety help on the left side of the field.