Image by Ryan Gray

Quarterback

1) Tarvaris Jackson (D+)

Last week C+

THE GOOD:

Tarvaris becomes better when he is on the move as demonstrated by a 15 yard pass hitting his receiver on the numbers in stride. He had good ball placement on a screen pass allowing his back to catch the ball and turn upfield without losing momentum.

THE BAD:

His accuracy was a problem while throwing in the pocket throwing behind his receiver on a slant and under throwing a deep fade on a play where Golden Tate made a great adjustment on the ball and still made the catch. On Jackson’s interception he stared down Tate the whole time and could see he was throwing into double coverage but still chose to throw the ball to him.

2) Charlie Whitehurst and Josh Portis (D)

Last week: Charlie B and Josh didn’t get graded

THE GOOD:

Charlie may not be as fast as Tarvaris but he did a good job using his feet to avoid pressure and buy extra time. What he did better than Jackson was keeping his eyes down field while looking for an open receiver and was able to make two big plays while doing this. He was reading the defense well and going through his progressions most of the game.

THE BAD:

Whitehurst had a lot of accuracy troubles in the game. He threw it wide, high a couple times including one so high that 6’6″ Kris Durham couldn’t jump up and reach the ball, he also threw behind his receiver a couple times. His pocket awareness came into question when he felt flushed and ran straight into a defender who was being well blocked getting himself sacked. On one play he threw into coverage when his receiver had no chance to make a play. Josh made a poor decision throwing a ball that should have been intercepted. He also had trouble with ball placement on a deep fade throwing on the inside shoulder and slightly behind his receiver when the ball should have been over the outside shoulder because the corner had inside leverage.

Running Back

1) Thomas Clayton (B+)

Last week Thomas led the backs with a B

THE GOOD:

Thomas showed off his power lowering his shoulders driving in for his touchdown and with a stiff arm later in the game to pick up extra yards. He showed off quickness with a sharp cut into the hole and another one cutting it outside.

THE BAD:

He tends to shy away from linebackers and their presence caused him to choose the wrong hole twice.

2) Leon Washington (B)

Last week C

THE GOOD:

Everyone has seen Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception but on saturday we got to see and equally impressive preseason deflection reception from Leon. He had a wicked cut in the backfield making a would-be tackler miss and bouncing the ball outside for a pick up of 5 yards instead of a loss on the play. Washington also gained extra yards by keeping his legs pumping and running hard.

THE BAD:

Leon was limited in effectiveness by his amount of playing time.

3) Justin Forsett, Dorson Boyce and Vai Taua (B-)

Last week: Justin B- while Dorson and Vai were not graded

THE GOOD:

Justin showed he can do more then run the ball when he made a nice one handed catch on a screen pass that was throw too high. He showcased his quickness on a couple runs using his cuts to avoid tacklers. Dorson is very powerful and he showed it while blocking and running the ball. As a blocker he was able to seal the lane and had a crushing block towards the end of the game when he got hurt. When he was given the ball he lowered his shoulders and keeps his legs pumping to gain extra yards. Via is a tough runner who keeps his legs pumping to gain extra yardage. He showed some agility avoiding tacklers and scored a touchdown.

THE BAD:

Forsett’s vision was off choosing the wrong hole to run through. Boyce was delivering a hit on the guys he was responsible to block but not stick with the block allowing them to recover and still make a play. Taua lacked the patients to allow his blockers the time needed to set up their blocks and showed a lack of vision when he could have cut it outside for a touchdown but chose to cut inside to tacklers.

6) Michael Robinson (C+)

Last week C

THE GOOD:

On a touchdown run he had the lead block and was able to move the pile enough for the score.

THE BAD:

Would like to see him making more impact blocks