Preseason Report Cards - Game 1 (BONUS! Bubble Watch)

[Bronn]

So week one of the preseason is in the books. No, the Panthers didn't win and no, I don't care.

As I watch these games now, having grown up with Panthers football, I like to think I look for things that I think the coaches are looking for. I try to keep an eye out for players I am eager to see in game situations. I make note of players' apparent strengths and weaknesses, and try to keep all these notes in the back of my mind so that I can reflect on them later.

Last night, I saw some good things, but I saw enough bad to make me realize that we still have a lot of growing to do.

I'll try to break down each area of play last night, but for brevity's sake I will kind of gloss over non-issues.

QB - I don't have much concern here. We have the reigning league MVP, and two solid guys behind him. A+

WR - This has been a point of conversation ever since Benji went down last year. We made it to the Super Bowl without him, but he is back and looks like he's doing just fine. The offseason talk, however, has been about who will flush out the roster at this position. I've always held that it will be Ted Ginn, Devin Funchess, Philly Brown, and Brenton Bersin. Nothing from last night changes my mind on this. Bersin had a lot of nice catches, and ran good routes. Byrd had a nice grab, yes... But a starting DB wouldn't let that catch happen. Hill had one decent catch, but he had a bad drop. Capers looked good from what I saw, but he was no Bersin. Garrett was unimpressive, and Norwood remains a ghost. I think we'll be fine if we stick with my predicted roster, and I'll give that group an A for last night.

RB/FB - I was rather disappointed with the group as a whole. Fozzy only had a couple carries. CAP and Wegher looked uninspired. Tolbert looked good, as was expected, but everyone else was just "meh." Nobody else looked like they really were trying, at least to me. It could have been lack of blocking that made it look this way, as our backups didn't open many run lanes. It could still be on Shula a bit as far as scheme and calls go. But, Baltimore wasn't fooled much at all by any of our option plays, and I was having flashbacks all game of DeAngelo Williams dancing around behind the line and falling down for a loss. We really need to work on this in the next two preseason games. C-

TE - Olsen needs no words. I don't recall even seeing Dickson on the field. Simonson looked okay, but he had a couple blocks that were kind of shaky. Sandland, on the other hand, blocked very well from the plays I was keying in on him. For whatever reason, we kept the TEs blocking most of the night after Olsen left the game. It could be that that is what they are grading at the position right now. If that is the case, Sandland made a great showing. Giving the group a B for effort, but it could get better once they start running more routes.

OL - I'm a little concerned on the depth here. After the ones went out, we didn't have too much of a pocket or run lanes for the rest of the night. I will admit, though, this is probably one of the least watched positions right now when I am scouting our team. The starters seemed to do a fine job, including Gradkowski. Otherwise, I will have to pay more attention to the group in the coming weeks. C+

DL - Big Vern did alright. He had a couple nice solo stops. Our starters did a good job. We didn't really get much pressure all night, and we had a lot of running lanes opened up due to poor technique, but I really don't think they were trying too hard to stop the run or get pressure. We'll be fine here, but I will be watching this group more closely as the preseason progresses. There is sure to be a couple battles for depth. One thing I will note, that I was a little disappointed by, was the lack of seeing Rakim Cox. I don't even think I saw him on the field, and I had high hopes for him this preseason/season. B-

LB - I have to give props here. I knew we were good, but I think we're actually the best and the deepest LB corps in the league. Mayo and Klein could start on a lot of teams, and Cash did well in the time he was in there. Blechen and Norris even had a couple decent moments. A

DB - I thought Bradberry and Worley did a good job. Both had some things I would like to correct. Bradberry needs to work on getting his head around and back to the action so that he can be aware of the ball coming towards him. Worley needs to work on his tackling still, and wrap instead of lunging with a shoulder. In fact, a lot of the backups need to work on this. Sanchez I didn't see much of. He did have a blitz later in the game that was a little too delayed, and the QB picked up on it and threw to the wideout that would have been Sanchez's assignment in man-to-man. Sanchez reacted well to it by breaking off his blitz and jumping, but he didn't touch the ball as far as I could tell. Overall, we stuck to our zones pretty well. If anything, we just need to work on better tackling in the secondary as a whole, and maintaining awareness for where the ball is. B+

Special Teams - Who cares? LOL just kidding. Gano is still solid. Punter is going to be a spot to watch. Coverage was okay aside from the dumb fair catch penalty. Return game was okay other than Byrd's junk at the end. We still need to work out the guys that will actually be on the unit, but I think we'll be fine. Right now, this preseason special teams play is rather unimportant, aside from maybe squaring up the punting situation. B

 

 

Now, for the part of this post I will call Bubble Watch...

I like to keep special attention on people I think are battling on the bubble for making the final roster. This weeks guys were:

Brandon Wegher/CAP - As of right now, I really don't know about either of these two. Neither showed much last night, and neither looked very great. It could have been the guys around them to an extent. Surely one of them will make the roster as the third RB, but I am not so sure anymore that both will. I can't give either of them the edge because they looked equal so far. To their credit, none of the run game looked very good last night.

Edge: neither

Beau Sandland/Scott Simonson/Ed Dickson - As I mentioned earlier in this post, I don't even recall seeing Dickson. Of course, he could have been in there a bit earlier on, but I was more focused on the impact players on offense at the time. Sandland blocked very well, and followed through with most of them. I did see one play, I think a run play, where his assignment went inside, and he kind of stood up and didn't know what to do or who to block. That was his only real down play I caught. Simonson was average from what I saw, but none of his blocks were as well executed as Sandland's.

I know I am going to be labeled as playing favorites, but...

Edge: Sandland

Brenton Bersin/Any other WR not named Benjamin, Funchess, Ginn, or Brown - Quite honestly, Bersin was the only non-starter bright spot I noticed from the backup guys. He caught pretty much everything sent his way, and his routes were pretty good (even though a few were a little repetitive.) As above in my previous observations, a couple other guys had a decent moment or two, but all indications were that nobody was getting very open after the first half. Most throws were into coverage, and we had a couple drops. That indicates, and I looked for specific instances of it, little separation (and, to the WRs defense, little time in the pocket for the QB.) This will be an ongoing battle, but right now it looks like...

Edge: Bersin... and it is by a mile...

[Nick_81]

2 minutes ago, Bronn said:

I don't recall even seeing Dickson on the field.

One thing I will note, that I was a little disappointed by, was the lack of seeing Rakim Cox. I don't even think I saw him on the field, and I had high hopes for him this preseason/season.

Neither of these guys played, due to injury.

[nctarheel0619]

4 minutes ago, Bronn said:

There is sure to be a couple battles for depth. One thing I will note, that I was a little disappointed by, was the lack of seeing Rakim Cox.

Yeah, he's probably done soon.  He wasn't playing at all, so that's the reason you didn't see much of him.  

[Bronn]

Just now, Nick_81 said:

Neither of these guys played, due to injury.

I thought that might be the case. Thanks for the head's up. I didn't look into it and was just lazy about looking into the injury thing.

[Bronn]

1 minute ago, nctarheel0619 said:

Yeah, he's probably done soon.  He wasn't playing at all, so that's the reason you didn't see much of him.  

I just learned he wasn't in the game due to injury. Hope he's able to get in there before it is too late.

[tiger7_88]

7 minutes ago, Bronn said:

RB/FB - I was rather disappointed with the group as a whole. Fozzy only had a couple carries. CAP and Wegher looked uninspired. Tolbert looked good, as was expected, but everyone else was just "meh." Nobody else looked like they really were trying, at least to me. It could have been lack of blocking that made it look this way, as our backups didn't open many run lanes. It could still be on Shula a bit as far as scheme and calls go. But, Baltimore wasn't fooled much at all by any of our option plays, and I was having flashbacks all game of DeAngelo Williams dancing around behind the line and falling down for a loss. We really need to work on this in the next two preseason games. C-

CAP made at least two hard-running 1st down conversions that had no blocking in front of him.

[nctarheel0619]

5 minutes ago, Bronn said:

I just learned he wasn't in the game due to injury. Hope he's able to get in there before it is too late.

Back injury dude, you can forget it.  

[Bronn]

5 minutes ago, tiger7_88 said:

CAP made at least two hard-running 1st down conversions that had no blocking in front of him.

Good point, but I still thought the group as a whole looked pretty rough. I'm probably being harsh, but I want this group to improve drastically before the Broncos game.

[Bronn]

1 minute ago, nctarheel0619 said:

Back injury dude, you can forget it.  

Yeah I investigated it after Nick's post. I missed that blurb earlier in the week about Cox's back problems. Sounds like they keep flaring up, and they've brought in DL off the street in the same breath. Not a good sign. I hate it for him, because he was one of the players I was hoping could make a leap this year for us.

[SportsCrazie4172]

I'll wait before calling Bersin our 4th option in WR..Im still not convinced with him but as the preseason goes on and he consistently keeps doing what we saw last night then I'll become a fan..

 

one thing to note though its one thing to catch a pass from Anderson and another to catch a missile from Cam..

[Bronn]

1 minute ago, SportsCrazie4172 said:

I'll wait before calling Bersin our 4th option in WR..Im still not convinced with him but as the preseason goes on and he consistently keeps doing what we saw last night then I'll become a fan..

 

one thing to note though its one thing to catch a pass from Anderson and another to catch a missile from Cam..

I think Bersin will be our #5. Also, don't slight Anderson (or Webb for that matter.) They could be starting on a lot of teams in the league right now.

[SportsCrazie4172]

Just now, Bronn said:

I think Bersin will be our #5. Also, don't slight Anderson (or Webb for that matter.) They could be starting on a lot of teams in the league right now.

I wasn't slighting them..I was only stating the "differences" in how Cam throws and how Anderson and Webb throws..

[top dawg]

So, Capers looked "good" and Garrett was "unimpressive," huh? @Bronn they had the exact two for 17. That's a little inconsistency.

[Bronn]

2 minutes ago, top dawg said:

So, Capers looked "good" and Garrett was "unimpressive," huh? @Bronn they had the exact two for 17. That's a little inconsistency.

I'm not watching the stat sheet. I'm watching the game.

Capers ran good routes and got open a few times. He also had a good catch called back because of offsetting penalties, I think. Garrett had a drop in the end zone IIRC, and he didn't get much separation.