Okay, so I said very little about the first game on purpose. What is there to really say about a game where starters barely play, and no one really knows what they are doing. At least that is how I look at it.
But, after two games I will now say a few things about both games in general.
Yes, we all know that the team don't game plan, play call, scheme or basically do anything that happens in a real game. So I don't think you can look at the results in any meaningful way.
But here it is:
Offense:
RW needs to lose weight, or find that second gear he had in years past. What some posters said about him seeming slow strikes me as correct. In addition, he also seems mentally slow in his anticipation of pass rush pressure. This is especially true from the edges. I was pissed last year about the interior pressure that gave him no time. But I always knew he could handle the outside guys. I give him a pass now, but really hope this doesn't progress into the regular season.
The O-Line actually looks serviceable. Now I'm not saying great, but I think we all would take average and run with it. Our interior three look pretty good to me. And this from a guy who has really slammed the Britt experiment at center. He actually looks the part. I seen really good double teams with him and Glow on several occasions. What is not to like? Sowell did decent, which I will take. He gave RW enough time on both the sacks from his side. Those were on RW, not him. Gilliam did okay, but seems to still need some work. Not really concerned though.
CW ran really well for a second game. He has really turned it around, which we started to see late last year. Right now with a completely healthy Rawls we have a very strong 1-2 punch. Pope looked good, but against much lessor competition. Collins looks bad, and not sure how one can say anything different.
Vannett looked really good to me. He is getting his blocking assignment met, and ran good routes. I think he will replace Willson by the mid point of this season.
Baldwin and Lockett looked great. Kearse didn't do much, but not worried about it. The others didn't really impress me that much.
Defense:
Our starting DT's have an issue. It makes no sense to have Rubin and Reed in at the same time. Rubin seemed to stand around both games. Reed had a really good second game, with some interior pressure. But what I really saw was Jefferson in the backfield multiple times making plays. Now that doesn't mean he dominated, but he did have 4 assisted tackles. Pretty good to me. Also McDaniel looked really good. I would move him next to Reed as a starter, and not even blink. Rubin should back up Reed. Also, Clark had a really good game. He is going to play a lot this year and make a real impact. Avril and Bennett really didn't do much this game, but wasn't expecting anything more.
Our LB's look okay. Not really impressed so far with Wagner this preseason, but who can tell if that means anything right now. Wright played really well. Our SLB combo didn't really stick out to me.
The Simon experiment to me is done. I think Shead, Lane and Sherman are our top three. Stick in Tye Smith and Burley and you have it. Browner doesn't need to play, as some wanted. He will be ready. Same with Kam.
Last, get Gresham back. We went thru this crap in Holmgrens tenure and it can costs us a game. I still don't get what PC and JS were thinking. To save a $100K or 2? Please.
