The rookie watch

JMP wrote:Jones has so far shown no ability to read a defense.  It's just drop back and throw to the first option. The Pats are doing a great job of protecting him, but he hasn't been impressive at all from what I've seen.

You know I love you like a brother from another mother but dude...just give it up. Jones is already better than Tua. Grier done whiffed yet again. It's over.

DolFan 316 wrote:

JMP wrote:Jones has so far shown no ability to read a defense.  It's just drop back and throw to the first option. The Pats are doing a great job of protecting him, but he hasn't been impressive at all from what I've seen.

You know I love you like a brother from another mother but dude...just give it up. Jones is already better than Tua. Grier done whiffed yet again. It's over.

Nope - Jones has been a robot...literally, snap, set and throw.  Can he read a defense?  Who knows...he hasn't done it yet.  He's the master of the short pass.  The Pats are completely hiding him.

Rousseau 2 sacks while Phillips didn't do squat. #saltinthewound

Holland was a good pick. Waddle is a good slot receiver.

DolFan 316 wrote:Rousseau 2 sacks while Phillips didn't do squat. #saltinthewound

I can honestly say I did not see Phillips today.  I assume he played, but if so he pulled a Charles Harris.

JMP wrote:

DolFan 316 wrote:Rousseau 2 sacks while Phillips didn't do squat. #saltinthewound

I can honestly say I did not see Phillips today.  I assume he played, but if so he pulled a Charles Harris.

Box score sez he had three tackles, so there's that.

I *really* hate to be right about things sometimes.

Since everyone's apparently too depressed to follow the rookie players already (that didn't take long) here's a Week 2 update.

QB: Wilson has 70 attempts for 468 yards and 5 INTs. Mac Jones has one fewer attempt, one fewer yard and no INTs.

RB: 6th rounder Elijah Mitchell leads all rookies in rushing yards. My boi Williams is second, but hasn't scored yet. Everybody's darling Najee Harris has just 83 yards on 26 carries (3.2 YPC, ugh) but he at least has 6 catches for a score.

WR: Rondale Moore, who's basically an injury-prone Waddle, leads all rookies in catches and yards. Ja'Marr Chase, who couldn't hold onto the ball in preseason, is the only rookie with 2 TDs so far. But at least Waddle has more catches and yards than Smith, so that's something.

Four rookies have one INT each. Rousseau and Azeez Ojulari (#50 overall pick) have 2 sacks each. Even Oweh, who had no sacks last season in college and has decided to go by Odafe now instead of Jayson, has a sack. Who knows when Phillips will get one.

Anyone know how the rookie TE are doing? Long was inactive. We could sure use a blocker that can catch.

Kyle Pitts has 9 catches for 104 yards.

Steelers' rookie TE Pat Freiermuth has 5 catches for 60 yards so far.

Here's some info on Trevor Lawrence from NBC Sports Edge:

Trevor Lawrence leads the NFL with a 36 percent uncatchable pass rate through Week 2.

No starting quarterback has been more inaccurate than Lawrence through his first two NFL games, which has seen the No. 1 overall pick average 5.4 yards per attempt -- the second lowest behind only Andy Dalton. Jacksonville's offense has struggled mightily in its first two games of the Lawrence era outside an impressive opening Week 2 drive against the Broncos. Lawrence and the Jags will once again be forced into pass-heavy game script this week against Arizona. Lawrence should only be deployed in superflex formats for now.
Source: Sam Monson on Twitter
Sep 21, 2021, 9:29 AM ET

It is definitely time to call Grier into question.

Bengals had no more draft stock than we did the past two seasons, and they now have their QB and go-to WR and just beat the Steelers on the road decisively with 2 TD's from that combo.

Herbert just beat the two-time defending AFC champs on the road.

We have a very Wannstedt/Gase looking offense after three games. Every first down is a struggle.

At least Wilson and Fields seem to suck, that's the one consolation I'm holding on to right now. Also, Lawrence the supposed generational talent continues to be ruined by Uh-ban.

Just wait until Herbert beats the Raiders next week...

Essentially zero meaningful contribution from the 2019-20 Grier draft classes, with more outright busts than even average players. Did Iggy see the field today and if so, how awful was he?

DolFan 316 wrote:At least Wilson and Fields seem to suck, that's the one consolation I'm holding on to right now. Also, Lawrence the supposed generational talent continues to be ruined by Uh-ban.

Just wait until Herbert beats the Raiders next week...

Essentially zero meaningful contribution from the 2019-20 Grier draft classes, with more outright busts than even average players. Did Iggy see the field today and if so, how awful was he?

I didn't see him. He might have had an out of body experience with Coleman though. I saw the backside of his jersey enough today.

Coleman was absolutely horrific today.

Najee Harris only averaging 3 yards a carry but is 2nd in the class in receptions. Who thought he'd be used as a third down receiving back??? Anyone??? Bueller???

DolFan 316 wrote:Najee Harris only averaging 3 yards a carry but is 2nd in the class in receptions. Who thought he'd be used as a third down receiving back??? Anyone??? Bueller???

Harris is not a third down receiver - he plays pretty much every down and they throw him the ball constantly because Roethlisberger's arm is shot. I absolutely expected Harris to be a big-time receiver - that was his strength at Alabama. The Pittsburgh OL is awful so rushing yards will be tough to come by, but he will rack up receptions for sure.

JMP wrote:Harris is not a third down receiver - he plays pretty much every down and they throw him the ball constantly because Roethlisberger's arm is shot.  I absolutely expected Harris to be a big-time receiver - that was his strength at Alabama.  The Pittsburgh OL is awful so rushing yards will be tough to come by, but he will rack up receptions for sure.

Still not performing anywhere near worth a first round pick. Any mediocre RB in today's NFL can catch dumpoffs all game long. And it's not helping their offense score. They only have 5 more points than THIS team

More rookie updates:

Kyle Pitts now has 11 catches for 139 yards and no TDs on the season.

Ja'Marr Chase with another big game yesterday: 4 catches for 65 yards and 2 TDs.

Mac Jones was horrific yesterday, with 3 INTs and doing nothing noteworthy till garbage time.

DolFan 316 wrote:

JMP wrote:Harris is not a third down receiver - he plays pretty much every down and they throw him the ball constantly because Roethlisberger's arm is shot.  I absolutely expected Harris to be a big-time receiver - that was his strength at Alabama.  The Pittsburgh OL is awful so rushing yards will be tough to come by, but he will rack up receptions for sure.

Still not performing anywhere near worth a first round pick. Any mediocre RB in today's NFL can catch dumpoffs all game long. And it's not helping their offense score. They only have 5 more points than THIS team

The Steelers offense is horrible...no OL and a QB on his last leg. Harris has certainly been a disappointment as a runner, but I'm just pointing out that he's not a third-down back - he's an every-down back.

None of the top RBs drafted the past 2 years are exactly lighting up the league this season.

Interesting rookie QB comparison:

Jason Hrina
@MiamiDPunx
·
3h
Rookie QBs thru 1st 3 starts:
Lawrence: 54.2%, 669 yards, 5TD/7INT
Wilson: 55.2%, 628 yards, 2TD/7INT
Jones: 67.5%, 737 yards, 2TD/3INT

For context, 2020 rookies:
Burrow: 64.5%, 821 yards, 5TD/1INT
Tua: 62.7%, 510 yards, 5TD/0INT
Herbert: 72%, 931 yards, 5TD/3INT

Tua doesn't have 5 TD.

Tua doesn't even have 300 yards passing this year

This Jason Hrina dude must be one of those far left "fact checkers" because everything he posted about Tua is just blatantly wrong.

first 3 starts in 2020, he means; which does include that excellent game in Arizona.

HalCHorn wrote:first 3 starts in 2020, he means; which does include that excellent game in Arizona.

WHOOPS~! And I'm usually great at reading comprehension too

But even then Tua's yardage looks pathetic, and nobody should be surprised at Wilson or Jones struggling, or that Fields is already sucking big time, and Trey Lance can't even get on the field yet. It's like seeing everybody raving about Rosen and Darnold before the 2018 draft all over again.

The shocker is Lawrence not tearing it up out of the gate, but he still has as many TDs as anyone else on the list, plus it's easy to tell that Uh-ban's ruining him.

CarsonChris wrote:Tua doesn't have 5 TD.

He did in his first 3 NFL starts, which is what the stat referred to.  It was a comparison of the first 3 starts for this year's rookies compared to the first 3 starts of last year's rookies.