The first three plays went to
Johnson against Seattle. That’s trust. They put more blockers in the box and put
the onus on Johnson to make the perimete
http://www.cardinalsfootballauthentics.com/antoine-bethea-jersey-authenticr defender miss. That’s trust. They
lined him out as a receiver. About time, but that’s trust. Against, the 49ers,
if McCoy trusts Johnson again, they should win.One of the areas that I thought
McCoy improved was using different formations. It seemed like previously you was
clear as day when the Cardinals were going to run. Sunday it would be under
center with three wide receivers and a tight end. Or out of shotgun with four
receivers. He spread Seattle out and it worked. San Francisco gave up over 100
yards to a Chargers rushing offense that has an offensive line that has
struggled as much as Arizona’s.It goes back to what we talked about after week
one. Giving a guy like Johnson the ball under 15 times a game in mind-boggling.
We saw against the Seahawks that eventually, he’s going to break one. Even
though Johnson only had three catches, his usage was so much better. It wasn’t
anything crazy, either. Something as simple as this:The old “throw the ball to
your best player” works. Give Johnson some confidence in space and I feel like
it translates to him running better. We saw that Sunday and I believe we’ll see
more of it against the 49ers. I believe he’ll break a long one off to the right
side, an area where the 49ers struggle to stop the run.I do think it goes
without saying that having a quarterback that can actually throw will help open
things up for Johnson. I’m interested to see how much more the playbook opens up
for Josh Rosen in his second start.Rosen at rest: Preseason Week 3 rookie QB
breakdown With the third week of the preseason over, we’ve now got three games’
worth of stats and film on all five first-round rookie QBs??all except for Josh
Rosen, that is. Coach Wilks held Rosen out of Sunday’s win against the Cowboys
with a minor-sounding thumb injury. (Not that they needed him in the dominating
victory.)But Rosen’s draftmates all played in the pivotal third preseason game,
so it’s worth checking in to see how they did, as well as seeing how their
overall preseason performance thus far compares to Rosen’s. He’s had one golden
game and one not-so-golden game. Did he rise or fall in the rookie QB rankings
despite not playing last week? The stats/tape of the other QBs will tell us. So
let’s dive in.Baker Mayfield – Cleveland BrownsStat Line: 8/12, 76 yards, 0 TD/1
INT, 3 carries for 10 yards, 2 sacks takenPreseason Totals: 26/45
Youth Haason Reddick Jersey , 363 yards, 2 TD/1 INT, 10 carries for 32 yards, 4 sacks takenQuick Thoughts: Mayfield was mostly bottled up this week in
an ugly 5-0 win against the Eagles. The Philly D is talented and deep, and they
likely studied a little tape on the first overall pick, both of which led to his
mediocre numbers—including his first INT. (Which didn’t really seem to be his
fault, as his intended receiver ran into a defender: see 5:29 on the tape.)
Still, even with this slightly subpar showing, Mayfield has impressed this
preseason and should have the Browns’ QB job sooner rather than later. Check
Mayfield’s tape here.Trending: Steady osh Allen – Buffalo BillsStat Line:
6/12, 34 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 1 carry for 3 yards, 5 sacks takenPreseason Totals:
24/45, 210 yards, 2 TD/0 INT, 7 carries for 50 yards, 7 sacks takenQuick
Thoughts: I’ve been somewhat high on Allen this preseason
Womens Patrick Peterson Jersey , but he had an absolutely nightmarish game in his first preseason start. It was like an even more extreme version of
Rosen’s debut (minus the snapping issues). The Bengals D-line was seemingly in
the Bills’ backfield before the snap on several plays, racking up 5 sacks and
countless hits. It’s hard to judge Allen’s play too harshly after this game, as
his WRs were dropping passes even when he had time to throw (see 3:33 on the
tape). But if this is what happens when Allen gets the start against a prepared
defense, it’s gonna be a long season in Buffalo. Check Allen’s tape
here.Trending: Down osh Rosen – Arizona CardinalsStat Line: DNP (thumb
injury)Preseason Totals: 16/29, 148 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, 0 carries for 0 yards, 0
sacks takenQuickish Thoughts: Obviously, Rosen didn’t play due to the thumb
injury, but it’s worth noting that there was a bit of a concern among draft
analysts about Rosen’s injury history at UCLA. And the last thing Cardinals need
is to have to worry about Rosen’s durability given starter Sam Bradford’s own
Mr. Glass-like reputation. But, like I said above, the injury sounds minor and
Wilks was just being proactively conservative with his rookie QB. And it sounds
like he at least has a chance to play in the preseason finale against the
Broncos, so we may yet get one more look at Rosen before the preseason is over.
(I hope we see him out there, personally.)Trending: Steady am Darnold – New
York JetsStat Line: 8/16, 86 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, 2 carries for 13
yards
Youth Markus Golden Jersey , 0 sacks takenPreseason Totals: 29/45, 244 yards, 2 TD/1 INT, 4 carries for 21 yards, 3 sacks takenQuick Thoughts: Darnold
was??fine against the Giants, just like he’s been all preseason. The Jets really
haven’t asked him to do much, and he’s looked relatively competent within the
confines of their very conservative offense. (It seems like every other throw is
a quick toss to an RB flaring out of the backfield.) He hasn’t thrown the ball
downfield much, but he has had success on play-fakes and designed rollouts (and
has been fairly mobile as well when needed). This week, he stayed in the pocket
a bit more with positive results (see the two throws starting at 2:28 on the
tape). But all the other QBs have had their Ron Wolfley “Wow!” moments; Darnold
has merely been steadily adequate. Check Darnold’s tape here.Trending: Steady
amar Jackson – Baltimore RavensStat Line: 7/10, 98 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, 3
carries for 39 yards and 1 TD, 1 sack takenPreseason Totals: 21/43, 266 yards, 2
TD/0 INT, 12 carries for 86 yards and 2 TDs, 4 sacks takenQuick Thoughts: Last
week was a breakout game for Jackson (albeit against the Fins’ unimpressive
backups). I’ve been critical of Jackson’s abilities as a passer to this
point
Youth Tre Boston Jersey , but I can’t deny he looked much better against the Fins. His throws looked crisper than they have thus far, and he made a few
nifty plays downfield (see 2:41 on the tape). And he’s obviously a threat
anytime he runs the ball. I still question whether he would be an effective
every-week starter right out of the gate, but you can’t argue with his
production so far. Could he be this year’s Deshaun Watson? Check Jackson’s tape
here.Trending: Up inal ThoughtsAfter three weeks, here’s how I’d rank each of
the rookie QBs based on their preseason stats and tape:Baker Mayfield (??Lamar
Jackson (Josh Rosen (Josh Allen (Sam Darnold (With only one strong game
(and one dud) on his resume, Rosen drops a spot in the rankings behind a surging
Jackson, who has scored in every preseason game and just had a monster game.
Both are still behind Mayfield, who looks like he could (and perhaps should?) be
starting in Week 1, and ahead of Allen and Darnold. Allen has looked very
impressive at times, but he’s clearly trending downward after last week’s
disaster of a starting performance. But his line and receivers gave him
absolutely no chance in that game, so I can’t drop him below Darnold just yet,
who is perhaps being held back by his own offensive coordinator himself. All
that said, none of these guys has been *bad*, or even below-average. I like what
I’ve seen from each of these young gunslingers.Although their coaches have yet
to make a final (public) decision, all five of these guys could see the field
this week in the preseason finale. We’ll check in next week for a final
breakdown/ranking as we enter the regular season. If you have any thoughts on
what you’ve seen from these rookies, or what you hope to see from Rosen if he
plays this week, go ahead and drop us a comment! It’s going to be fascinating to
follow these guys throughout their rookie seasons.