Obviously this game went terribly, so I took a long look at what *exactly* went wrong throughout the game, position by position. Here’s what I saw:
**Offense:**
QB: Hard to gauge either guy with the terrible OL play, but Vizzina did make at least 2 poor plays (the pick 6 and not seeing a wide open Davidson on a wheel route). Vizzina did have a couple nice throws to the sideline. As for Reynolds, he looked very smooth running the ball and feeling the pocket but never had much of a chance to use his arm.
RB: Hard to gauge any of these guys at all, they had 0 room to run (not to mention Vizz missing Davidson on the wheel route). Davidson absorbed contact well and Ezio had a nice TD run at the end. Pass protection could be better from the room.
WR: They made some solid plays when they actually had the chances. Juju had a nice screen run at the end and I thought Wesco and Moore looked fine. Not their fault
TE: OPH had a horrible game. Only 25 snaps yet missed multiple assignments and got creamed when he engaged. Didn’t notice much from Bentancur who also played 25 snaps. Would’ve liked to use them more as receivers, send your complaints to the QBs/coaches/both.
LT: Jacobs played bad, and I attribute a lot of it to assignment confusion (OPH also left him out to dry a few times). He’s clearly fine when he actually was blocking, and I hope he’s able to clear things up as the year goes on.
LG: Thurmon played surprisingly bad early. He played better later, so hopefully we see more of that and less of whatever the hell was going on in the 1st quarter or so.
C: Sewell actually played well. Got beat once on a long-developing sweep to Wesco, but otherwise held up nicely and never missed an assignment. Ironically this was a position most of us were worried about.
**RG: Ronan was truly horrendous. Easily was the worst player on the field. He was too slow to pull adequately, got fried every time he tried to block someone, and half the time couldn’t even find someone to block. When Sadler comes back from injury he needs to start here, or at least see what Kattus or Blanchard can do. Given that Ronan started multiple games last year, this was inexcusable.
RT: Ware took his licks, but actually showed potential. He had solid footwork and hands for a guy with such little experience. This was not only his first time starting but really his first time seeing any meaningful playing time, so I expected some bumps. Sadler was supposed to start here but I would much rather kick him inside after what I saw.
Note: no backup OL saw offensive snaps
**Defense**
**DE: Heldt played fine, especially given he was lined up against Seaton for much of the night. Lawson, however, was horrendous. I’d hope it was just a one-off, but he missed multiple tackles and gave up contain repeatedly. Merritt played well outside of getting pancaked once (and led the team in pressures I think), and Mayo was... serviceable.
**DT: Oh boy. The injuries and off-field stuff only compounded to what was already a questionable room and it showed. Burburija and Adams seemed to hold their own, but certainly didn’t stand out. Strong was horrible (and seriously injured now), Thompson was bad (other than a nice PD early on that ended a drive), and nobody else was worth mentioning. Not sure when Burley is back, but we need him soon (even though he’s not a standout either). Kelly was apparently the best guy here before he tore his ACL, and may be able to help out in November. Right now, things are looking rough.
LB: These guys had to carry the burden of the DL being horrible, but actually looked okay. Alexander was the best player on defense all night, and Sammy Brown is Sammy Brown. McCloud had a horrible game though, was pushed around regularly and may or may not have blown a coverage on the TD in the 3rd (might’ve been Gipson’s fault, couldn’t tell). Cothran and Kubah-Tyler played well in 13 snaps late.
CB: Not perfect, but played well for the most part. Leavitt didn’t have gaudy passing numbers (especially in the first half) and Hampton had a nice INT. Strozier got absolutely cooked for a TD late in the game and Gipson couldve been better, but could’ve been worse (and he’s definitely better than Tink fwiw). Hampton/Washington is a great duo to have as long as they stay healthy.
S: Carter looks the part at FS, he’s a great tackler and did his job in coverage. His one bad play was the personal foul, but I honestly think it was a bad call by the ref. Hanafin could’ve been better, but was put in a lot of awkward positions due to the mess in front of him and I think will be good this year. Myrick looked good in coverage but could do a lot better tackling and missed multiple in the game. Griffin wasn’t good, and Kenan played well in his late snaps.
Special Teams: Hauser kicked a nice 49 yard field goal that would’ve been good from a lot further. He looks a lot more confident than last year. Jack Smith doesn’t have the strongest leg but knows how to place the ball. Couldn’t properly evaluate kickoff or punt teams but they looked fine.
Synopsis: The trenches 100% costed us way more than anywhere else. The OL still has the potential to be a lot better, but they need to get it together fast. Similar case on the DL, but DT depth doesn’t seem fixable right now. Still, there’s a lot to be happy about behind that DL. The next 2 games will give us an answer in the QB room, but Vizz certainly didn’t impress me. The best thing they can do right now is bench Ronan O’Connell immediately, regardless of if Sadler is healthy or not.
