Preseason Finale Recap

[eaglenj]

1. Mcelroy looked very good. I was surprised at his mobility, but he also looked pretty tall/strong in the pocket. Looks like a very solid guy to have as our 3rd string QB.

2. 2. Howard again played well, and had a good guy to go against in Graham. He did give up one sack, but on that play the defender got a great jump off the ball. Hopefully the extra reps helped him. At the end of the day, a VAST upgrade over hunter and hopefully it will show.

3. Jason Smith – watched him as much as I could and he looked fine to me, and was matched against Vinny Curry most of the night. One play in particular stood out (I believe it was the run when mcelroy got hit head on)….Smith blocked down on his original responsibility, and pushed the guy towards ducasse…once he was taken out of the play, another defender came from the outside and smith turned and got a pretty good block on him. A very heady, and athletic play. The best thing I can say is that it seems smith is generally happy to be here, which means a lot IMO, you can never underestimate a change of scenery in these situations, even for a pro athlete. Again, I feel he is a vast upgrade over hunter and we should be happy to have him as our swing/backup tackle.

4. Receivers – Riley had some nice catches and White had another bad drop. I have no clue what the team is gonna do here with the young guys and chaz. Maybe there will be a good vet released but either way, tough to say what this group will look like by Saturday evening.

5. RBs – I thought McKnight looked good, not sure why he doesn’t get any work with the 1s, but seems like there must be something amiss with him that the staff doesn’t like. Powell didn’t look great at first but did show some shiftiness…unfortunately im not buying the early TC hype from him, but hopefully im wrong. Mentioned this before, but im secretly hoping Moreno gets cut in Denver and we can grab him.

6. Defensively most of the secondary wont be contributing this year for us. I didn’t get to see as much of Antonio Allen as I wanted, and the announcers blamed him for that TD pass which I didn’t think was his fault at all, although it looked like he interfered with his man on the play.

7. Maybin didn’t really do much which was surprising. He really should be dominating 2nd and 3rd groups if he is going to be able to be more than a situational rusher for us. Maybe im missing something here????

8. The guys I watched the most were Demario and Marcus Dowtin. Demario was relatively quiet which was to be expected as he is a rookie and learning ILB. I think we will need to temper expectations of him a bit for 2012. I think he will be an excellent special teams player and hopefully situational coverage LB. Dowtin looked as advertised…fast and definitely not afraid to hit someone, and also very raw. Fortunately I don’t see anyone putting him on their 53, so hopefully we can get him on our PS and see what we have in 2013.

9. I think Mcintyre has to make the team as he is a more reliable backup OLB then maybin at this point. That probably only means one of bellore or maugua makes it which is ok with me. Personally I prefer Bellore.

10. Jay Richardson also probably played himself into a spot, which means teveseau is probably gone. Again, no big deal as ellis, poouha and Dixon are a nice interior group.

11. I really wanted to see the new punter have a great game….unfortunately im not sure if he did enough to beat out conley. Hopefully he did as conley’s inconsistency is a big problem for us.

[BRONX JET]

The new punter stunk. I thought Conley was above average this summer. He has shown improvement and I think people are judging him off last yr.

[MadCroatian]

have to watch the game on dvr still, but the stat line shows Coples doing pretty well. How much did he play?

[eaglenj]

Originally Posted by BRONX JET

The new punter stunk. I thought Conley was above average this summer. He has shown improvement and I think people are judging him off last yr.

For every good punt he has, conley flubs a 25 yarder....that is a problem

[BRONX JET]

That's just not true. Conley had one off game. Other than that he did a good job. Most of his punts were fine

[eaglenj]

Originally Posted by MadCroatian

have to watch the game on dvr still, but the stat line shows Coples doing pretty well. How much did he play?

He played a lot and was disruptive as usual. Tough to say/expect much more from him given he was playing against the 2s and 3s

[Jasper17]

Great analysis on 1-3

Originally Posted by eaglenj

4. Receivers – Riley had some nice catches and White had another bad drop. I have no clue what the team is gonna do here with the young guys and chaz. Maybe there will be a good vet released but either way, tough to say what this group will look like by Saturday evening..

I think Jordan White is a more valuable project at this point. Riley certainly didn't look bad but I think White gives you more on special teams.

Originally Posted by eaglenj

5. RBs – I thought McKnight looked good, not sure why he doesn’t get any work with the 1s, but seems like there must be something amiss with him that the staff doesn’t like. Powell didn’t look great at first but did show some shiftiness…unfortunately im not buying the early TC hype from him, but hopefully im wrong. Mentioned this before, but im secretly hoping Moreno gets cut in Denver and we can grab him..

Agree with you on this as well. I think right now, if Greene were injured, McKnight would be my number two. Just looks more ready to be that guy than does Powell right now. Powell is night and day ahead of where he was last year but will benefit nicely from getting some meaningful playing time this year. I'm indifferent about Knoplay Moreno.

Originally Posted by eaglenj

6. Defensively most of the secondary wont be contributing this year for us. I didn’t get to see as much of Antonio Allen as I wanted, and the announcers blamed him for that TD pass which I didn’t think was his fault at all, although it looked like he interfered with his man on the play. .

I feel OK about having Lankster and Trufant on against opponents 3rd - 5th receivers and the safeties are the most-improved area on the team barnone. Should get great special teams play from Smith, Bush, and Allen as well.

Originally Posted by eaglenj

7. Maybin didn’t really do much which was surprising. He really should be dominating 2nd and 3rd groups if he is going to be able to be more than a situational rusher for us. Maybe im missing something here????.

I was pretty underwhelmed by his performance also. However I think he is a lot closer to being an all-around backer this year than last.

Originally Posted by eaglenj

8. The guys I watched the most were Demario and Marcus Dowtin. Demario was relatively quiet which was to be expected as he is a rookie and learning ILB. I think we will need to temper expectations of him a bit for 2012. I think he will be an excellent special teams player and hopefully situational coverage LB. Dowtin looked as advertised…fast and definitely not afraid to hit someone, and also very raw. Fortunately I don’t see anyone putting him on their 53, so hopefully we can get him on our PS and see what we have in 2013..

I haven't been as impressed with Dowtin. He's certainly not bad and is a nice project for the practice squad but I don't see the speed or athleticism people talk about. Trent Edwards straight ran away from him on one of those scrambles last night. He took a poor angle on another play and really ran himself right out of a tackle. He would be well-served on the practice squad for the year.

Originally Posted by eaglenj

9. I think Mcintyre has to make the team as he is a more reliable backup OLB then maybin at this point. That probably only means one of bellore or maugua makes it which is ok with me. Personally I prefer Bellore..

Agree about McIntyre. He's had a great summer. He is undoubtedly your 3rd 3-down OLB. I was in the minority of people who liked him last year and I think he looks even better this preseason. Gives you a lot on teams also. In my projection with is in Jetman95's thread, I have room for both Mauga and Bellore as I think they both have different critical roles. Bellore does a great job on special teams and can play in the defense in a pinch, but Mauga is your number 3 3-down ILB right now. Davis is just a little raw to be on the field full time right now and I think Mauga has shown he can do that at least at an above-average level.

Originally Posted by eaglenj

10. Jay Richardson also probably played himself into a spot, which means teveseau is probably gone. Again, no big deal as ellis, poouha and Dixon are a nice interior group..

Posted my thoughts on Richardson in the waiver thread:

Originally Posted by Jasper17

Richardson is a very nice player. May develop into something down the road. The problem with him on this roster here in 0-12 to me is I'm not sure where he fits in schematically.

To me is very similar to Marcus Dixon, good size but not great. Probably is best as a 5-technique DE or a 3-technique tackle. The problem is, I don't know that he has the strength or the "anchor" to take on two offensive lineman which he'd likely do from both of those positions. He has a nice burst off the edge but he's not nearly fast or agile enough to play consistently on the outside.

Aside from all of that, who would he play in front of? Wilkerson? Coples? He might give you a little more pass rush than Mike Devito but Devito is about as stout against the run from his position as you can be. Those guys and a guy like Marcus Dixon at least have the strength to hold the point of attack. If he clears waivers, certainly a guy you snatch up for the Practice Squad..

Originally Posted by eaglenj

11. I really wanted to see the new punter have a great game….unfortunately im not sure if he did enough to beat out conley. Hopefully he did as conley’s inconsistency is a big problem for us.

Didn't show me much. Conley has had a pretty decent summer minus the Giants game. I just don't think there are punters out there that are markedly better and not on someone else's roster. It might be ridiculous to think but maybe thats a position to look at come rounds 5-7 in April. That said, I don't think Conley will cost us the season.

Great job on your analysis overall. Pretty evenly keeled objective observations of things.

[eaglenj]

Originally Posted by Jasper17

Great analysis on 1-3


Great job on your analysis overall. Pretty evenly keeled objective observations of things.

Thanks! I think now that it looks like richardson and MTV are going to be cut that we will keep all 3 of bellore, mcintyre and mauga. Seems like we will have some good kick and punt coverage units.

Also with ya on Dowtin. I remember the exact play you mentioned with trent edwards...i really hoped to see a burst of speed to bring him down and was underwhelmed. Hopefully we can keep him for a year though and see what happens.

[Jordy]

Originally Posted by BRONX JET

The new punter stunk. I thought Conley was above average this summer. He has shown improvement and I think people are judging him off last yr.

What about the two awful back-to-back shanks in the Giants game?

[Green&White51]

Good read. Thanks for posting.