It took me a few days but I have finally finished grading the players from the first preseason game. This is the first position and will post three or four positions a day starting tomorrow. These rating grade reflect how they played against the competition they faced.

Quarterback

2010 Preseason Photo by Brett Bivens

1) Charlie Whitehurst (B+)

None of the QB’s played a perfect game but Charlie had the best out of the group.

                    The Good:

He showed good timing with his receivers and on multiple occasions the ball was already on target by the time the intended target made his break. When his throws were accurate he had good ball placement most of the time. Showed poise in the pocket looking off the safety to open the field for his intended target and showed toughness by standing in the pocket and taking the big hit to deliver the strike. His mobility was put to the test today and he was able to avoid the rush and turn would be sacks into positive plays including a first down.

                    THE bad:

On a fade he had the coverage on the inside and instead of throwing the ball to the outside leading the WR to the sideline he threw the ball on the inside shoulder putting the defensive back position. Golden Tate went up and knocked the ball out of the defenders hands or it would have been intercepted and on a deep fade he under threw his receiver who had his man beat. While in the Shotgun he miss handled a low snap on one play and on another play he cut the field in half by turning his body away from his 2nd and 3nd options forcing him to throw into coverage while he had a man open on the other side.

2) Josh Portis (C+)

When he came out he looked very nervous and this is to be expected from a undrafted free agent who has had very little time to prepare for his first NFL action.

                    THE GOOD:

Lets face it this kid is an athlete and has some serious speed at the position but he has the ability to use it while (in most cases) still keeping his eyes down the field looking to throw the ball (including the play where he threw his TD pass). For being such an inexperienced young player from Division II he does a pretty good job reading the defense and throwing to the right receiver.

                    THE BAD:

At the beginning of the game his throws were all over the place. He threw passes short, high and sometimes wide. Sometimes he has a breakdown reading the defense and makes poor decisions because of it. He also needs to learn how to read the pre-snap defense and check out of bad plays.

3) Tarvaris Jackson (D+)

This grade is a bit skewed by the fact that he has only been able to practice for roughly a week. Even then he was throwing to guys who weren’t able to play in the game on thursday.

                    THE GOOD:

In one word, LEGS. He used them to move around the pocket to keep the play alive and to scramble when nothing was open.

                    THE BAD

Has a tendency to throw the ball high which is the worst possible way to miss. I saw a lot of this while watching video of him from Minnesota as well. On one play he got “happy feet” and panicked from a little pressure. The problem was that when he decided to run he ran right into the pressure and got sacked. He needs to learn to throw the ball away when nothing is open.

I was talking to Sam Monson from ProFootbalFocus.com (@ProFootballFocus) about Tarvaris’ play and he gave me a nice outsiders perspective on his outing. He sent me his notes and does an outstanding job breaking down each one of Jacksons plays. I am going to share them with you so we can get an outside perspective.

·      Jackson:

o   3rd down and 6, hits his RWR on a crossing pattern for a 1st down in the face of
a 6-man rush. Nice play.

o   Dump off on 1st down on at least his 3rd read across the field against a 4-man
rush and zone coverage.

o   Free play against Chargers who had jumped offsides, overthrows a bullet 25-yards
downfield for TE Zach Miller, who was looking for a penalty on the coverage.  

o   Ugly sack/intentional grounding when he was flushed from the pocket.  5-step
drop, wanted to hit his RWR on a hitch but was covered tightly by Quentin Jammer and
had to pull it down.

o   Picks up 9 on the run on 2nd and 21 after 4-man rush gets pressure from the HB
on the left. Was looking down field until he saw good yardage on the run.

o   Quick out on 2nd and 4.  Read the blitz off the right side and hit the correct
receiver but the ball was a little late coming out and the coverage converged to
shut down the play.

o   3rd and 3 – Dances around and picks up the 1st down, BUT, came away from his
intended first target, a deep route from his LWR who got good release off the line
and was facing just a single high safety.  These are the throws Jackson has to talk
himself into making, or at least attempting.

o   Lofted pass incomplete to the HB out in the flats on 2nd and 10. Looked like
there was a little too much air under it, but the HB could and should have brought
it in

o   Sacked by blitzer beating the FB outside.

o   Coverage sack with a 3-man rush. Clean pocket initially, Jackson  found nowhere
to go with the football, eventually the pressure got to him, dump-off option Leon
Washington tripped over a LB as he was breaking across the field, which didn’t help.