Preseason week 1

[AZK]

This could be the last few breaths of Paxton Lynch's career as a starting option as well. It should be obvious if things have slowed down for him yet.

As a Broncos fan who was hopeful when he was drafted I'm not expecting much anymore he's an injury waiting to happen, has horrible anticipation on throws and has no feel for the pocket. We'll see tonight if he's taken this offseason seriously but I'm guessing not.

[gmoftheyear]

Looking forward to seeing Josh Rosen and Freeman tonite

[gmoftheyear]

Vikings looked sharp on first possession. Looks like Cousins to Diggs could be big. And on the opposite side, The Denver defense looks like it will continue to regress in 2018.

[BlackOmega]

well so far looks like the Vikes made the right choice at QB!

[FantasyFreak]

well so far looks like the Vikes made the right choice at QB!

Nice throw to Diggs on the sidline. Solid grab, too, but the ball placement was perfect. Good coverage, better throw.

Side note: Drinking game. Take a drink every time the announcer says something along the lines of "the coaching staff really like this guy".

[hockeyBjj]

Cook is smartly being held out, but if pre season play calling from a new OC is any indication, Cook is going to get huuuuge touches and opportunity especially in ppr

[FantasyFreak]

NFL is getting so ticky tacky. That call against the Cardinals on that fumble was brutal. Just brutal.

[Krypto_King]

This could be the last few breaths of Paxton Lynch's career as a starting option as well. It should be obvious if things have slowed down for him yet.

As a Broncos fan who was hopeful when he was drafted I'm not expecting much anymore he's an injury waiting to happen, has horrible anticipation on throws and has no feel for the pocket. We'll see tonight if he's taken this offseason seriously but I'm guessing not.

maybe Chad Kelley! It feels like you have to cut bait on Lynch at this point

[MEuRaH]

Barkley looks amazing. He is every part the stud I thought he would be. I'm concerned about the O-line for this season, but year 2, 3, etc he's going to light it up if that line improves. This team will have to use a lot of draw plays with a line this bad.

I was already a Kerryon believer before, but this day really upped my love for him. Dude did exactly what I expected and then some: He waited patiently for his blocks and he made defenders miss in a phone booth. His ability to catch is good, and he was able to get speed in the open field as well. Super impressed. My only concern with KJ is injury-related. He fell down on his shoulder a number of times, and once hard on his tailbone. There's a right way and a wrong way to fall to the turf and KJ is doing it the wrong way. Very concerning, but the talent is definitely legit. Not as impressive as Barkley, but easily the 2nd most-impressive rookie RB of week 1.

Royce Freeman is middle of the road for me. His speed and open-field running is why I loved him, and I saw exactly that in the game vs the Vikings. But he doesn't make people miss at the line and only gets what's in front of him (at the line). This guy is a boom-or-bust player. He'll get you 150 yards and 2 touchdowns one week, and then 35 yards the next. If he's up against a strong LB core, that'll be his down week.

I think a lot of people need to pump the brakes on Sam Darnold. Statistically he had a good game, but if you watch him he does quite a few double-pumps. He's not faking it either, he's just unsure of his throw. I think he has to learn to trust his gut more. He had a lot of happy feet in the pocket. He's showing all kinds of good stuff, and I think he'll be pretty decent eventually, but it won't be this season.

Michael Gallup did not impress at all. He caught a long touchdown that the corner gave him (literally, the corner stopped). All Gallup did all day long was run up the field or post patterns, with a few jump balls. Where's the route tree? He'll be a good redzone WR, but I wouldn't expect many big weekly performances, and without a route tree, his future will be limited. If someone else in your league is impressed, I think he could be a good candidate to sell already.

I've been (arguably) the biggest Rashaad Penny hater on these forums, but I'm going to dial it back a bit. I didn't think his shiftiness was good enough for the NFL level, and I was proven wrong a few times. He made people miss and then had the speed to outrun them to the edge a number of times. Once is a fluke, but I think he did it 4 times? OK fine, I was wrong. He has a wiggle and it's pretty decent. His hands also look good too. Best hands of any RB I saw. Props to him there too. He still can't read his blocks precisely, and his vision is still suspect at times. He had a chance to bounce left outside on a play with zero defenders but instead chose to take the inside route (outside the tackle) and got punished for doing it. He didn't run inside much, so that was concerning. He kept wanting to bounce outside and outrun people. Gotta see more on this guy. Oh, and the Seahawks O-line is as bad as I thought it was. Fullback was useless. It's gonna be a long season for Penny & Wilson. Chris Carson, meanwhile, ran with the 1s and didn't disappoint. He followed his blocks, he made people miss, and had the power to push the pile. He looked like a starter, not a stud. I easily see Penny spelling him on 3rd downs to start the season. I'll admit it though..... Penny could be a decent starter someday.

Kalen Ballage's stock went up and down. He played with the 1s (up), and did well using his blocks (up) and made people miss (up). He displayed great speed running to the outside (up). His faux pas was when he hurdled a 6' defender (WOW) and lost the ball doing it (DOWN). Dude...... that play alone could have put him in a different category, but to lose the ball when a defender didn't even touch you..... come on man. That was a huge negative. He rebounded with a nice run afterwards. Overall, the kid was impressive, but that decision to hurdle a guy for no reason (wasn't for a 1st down, touchdown, etc) and then lose the football? Bad decision. Fixable, so I'm not scared. People are going to miss out on this kid.

Lamar Jackson is 1-2 seasons away. Confident and cool (Darnold could use some of this) but consistently went to his 1st or 2nd read before he took off. He took a lot of hits doing it too. Relying on your legs isn't a good thing. This sucks for me as I took the dude in 2 leagues, and I am not happy so far. Darnold has a far better chance to start this year, as confidence comes with understanding the playbook and knowing the situations, like Lamar seems to get. But Lamar's issues are ingrained and will be harder to unlearn.

Josh Rosen has a lot of work to do. He's not special yet. His decision making is poor. He looked confused at times. He's a good 1-2 years away from anything. Hard to judge the future, but right now it doesn't look good.

Ronald Jones looked like the worst RB of the day. Didn't look speedy or shifty, had one good stiff arm the entire time, but couldn't make people miss and didn't outrun anybody. He also only carried the ball in his right arm the entire time, which is a MAJOR concern that I brought up way back in April. If defenders always know where the ball is going to be, swiping at it is easier. Guy didn't fumble a lot in college, but his time will come in the pros. This is easily a flop of a draft pick.

DJ Moore is well ahead of his time. He ran crossing routes, zone routes, went deep, bubble screens..... wow. His hands look awesome, his ability to find soft spots in zones was on par, he came back for the ball when he needed to, and he has magic feet after the catch. He's the real deal. If I had an older WR like AJG or Julio, I'd strongly consider trading for Moore plus picks, and I'd feel confident that in 1-2 years I'd get the better end of this deal. DJ Moore is going to be a star in this league.

Josh Allen is EASILY the most under-rated rookie so far. Poise? Check. Ability to feel pressure? Check. Ability to adjust passes (soft vs bullet)? Check. He avoided rushes, found open receivers, chucked it deep with ease... omg he looked amazing. The only thing he has to work on, which is the same for nearly every rookie QB, is to learn to give up a play when the defense clearly has won. There were a number of times where he tried to force a play to make something happen and it almost cost him. I drafted Lamar & Rosen in a few drafts, but right after sending this submission, I'm going to try to get Allen instead. Best looking QB of the group. Dude has "it".

Nick Chubb is exactly what I expected. He'll run and get what's given to him and that's it. Doesn't catch. Doesn't wiggle. Vision isn't there other than where his blocking is supposed to be. Not impressive, swing and a miss imo.... although he did pass block very well. Maybe the dude should be moved to fullback.

Baker Mayfield was the 2nd best looking QB last night, just a touch behind Allen. Decisive, confident, avoided the rush, and omfg he even threw the ball away when he could! That's already a step ahead of most people, well done. His accuracy was so bad though... and that could be anything. Was it nerves or lack of skill? Hmm.

Hayden Hurst looks great. He's a big fast target with soft hands, playing for a team that loves tightends. Hurst is going to be fantasy relevant THIS year, which says a lot since rookie TEs almost never do this (Yeah..... Engram had a great season but that's also because every other pass-catcher for NYG died last year).

[AZK]

This could be the last few breaths of Paxton Lynch's career as a starting option as well. It should be obvious if things have slowed down for him yet.

As a Broncos fan who was hopeful when he was drafted I'm not expecting much anymore he's an injury waiting to happen, has horrible anticipation on throws and has no feel for the pocket. We'll see tonight if he's taken this offseason seriously but I'm guessing not.

maybe Chad Kelley! It feels like you have to cut bait on Lynch at this point

Paxton was legitimately the worst player on the field last night, it was downright embarrassing for him. On the bright side Twitter had a ton of fun with it.

[Pullo Vision]

I think a lot of people need to pump the brakes on Sam Darnold. Statistically he had a good game, but if you watch him he does quite a few double-pumps. He's not faking it either, he's just unsure of his throw. I think he has to learn to trust his gut more. He had a lot of happy feet in the pocket. He's showing all kinds of good stuff, and I think he'll be pretty decent eventually, but it won't be this season.

Michael Gallup did not impress at all. He caught a long touchdown that the corner gave him (literally, the corner stopped). All Gallup did all day long was run up the field or post patterns, with a few jump balls. Where's the route tree? He'll be a good redzone WR, but I wouldn't expect many big weekly performances, and without a route tree, his future will be limited. If someone else in your league is impressed, I think he could be a good candidate to sell already.

First off, thanks for putting this out here.

That said, I didn't get very far before I found things that needed a response. I think Darnold deserves a pass for what you describe here, given he recently joined the team- still learning teammates and playbook.

Gallup?- just read a piece on WR coach Sanjay Lal's view on the game. The Cowboys know their WR issues will put pressure on the run game, so they want to put on film they can effectively attack deep and practice how to do it better.

I'm not concerned about what you said- don't think it says anything about Gallup's limitations.

[MEuRaH]

I think a lot of people need to pump the brakes on Sam Darnold. Statistically he had a good game, but if you watch him he does quite a few double-pumps. He's not faking it either, he's just unsure of his throw. I think he has to learn to trust his gut more. He had a lot of happy feet in the pocket. He's showing all kinds of good stuff, and I think he'll be pretty decent eventually, but it won't be this season.

Michael Gallup did not impress at all. He caught a long touchdown that the corner gave him (literally, the corner stopped). All Gallup did all day long was run up the field or post patterns, with a few jump balls. Where's the route tree? He'll be a good redzone WR, but I wouldn't expect many big weekly performances, and without a route tree, his future will be limited. If someone else in your league is impressed, I think he could be a good candidate to sell already.

First off, thanks for putting this out here.

That said, I didn't get very far before I found things that needed a response. I think Darnold deserves a pass for what you describe here, given he recently joined the team- still learning teammates and playbook.

Gallup?- just read a piece on WR coach Sanjay Lal's view on the game. The Cowboys know their WR issues will put pressure on the run game, so they want to put on film they can effectively attack deep and practice how to do it better.

I'm not concerned about what you said- don't think it says anything about Gallup's limitations.

Yeah, I get it with Darnold and all rookie QBs. They all need a break as that's the toughest position to play in sports. I said similar stuff about all other rookie QBs too. You're right, but that's also what I was talking about when I said "he'll be pretty decent eventually".

The reason Gallup concerns me is because of what former Cowboys have said about their frustration with the offense. It's been pointed out by many former Cowboys that the coaches like their WRs to go deep, and slot/TEs to do crossing patterns. That's it. Dez didn't have much of a route tree, Terrance Williams either. Now here comes Gallup and it looks like the same old offense. It's predictable yet again. Not good. You kind of confirmed it with your response.

Gallup has the ability to get jump balls and snag them out of the air (GOOD!) but that's not sustainable long term and he didn't show me anything to believe he would be able and/or allowed to do anything else otherwise. If he was a WR for another team, my view my be different.

[Cowboysfan33]

(MEuRaH wrote)Michael Gallup did not impress at all. He caught a long touchdown that the corner gave him (literally, the corner stopped). All Gallup did all day long was run up the field or post patterns, with a few jump balls. Where's the route tree? He'll be a good redzone WR, but I wouldn't expect many big weekly performances, and without a route tree, his future will be limited. If someone else in your league is impressed, I think he could be a good candidate to sell already.



I’m hoping you’re wrong on this one but they’ve been moving Beasley and Tavon Austin around a lot in training camp so they are talking like they will move the WRs around more this season. I think it’s more about Gallup being a rookie and learning the playbook than anything but we’ll see, I agree that was an easy TD but it’s not Gallup’s fault that Jimmy Ward sucks

[Phaded]

I think people need to calm down with the reactions and drawing the conclusions from this (both good and bad).

It is week one of the pre-season, players everywhere are still learning - ESPECIALLY the rookies..

You cannot draw anything and I mean anything meaningful from week one of the preseason. You may see some flashes and glimpses of what we already knew or what you believed - but people need to reel it in a bit, I know we are excited football is back but you need to take all of this with an extreme grain of salt.

[MEuRaH]

I’m hoping you’re wrong on this one but they’ve been moving Beasley and Tavon Austin around a lot in training camp so they are talking like they will move the WRs around more this season. I think it’s more about Gallup being a rookie and learning the playbook than anything but we’ll see, I agree that was an easy TD but it’s not Gallup’s fault that Jimmy Ward sucks

I already covered this in my follow up post. The outside WRs do post & go routes. The slot WRs & TEs do crossing patterns. Beasley & Austin are slot WRs, Gallup is the X or Z. Nothing you said disagreed with anything I said.