NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – 49ers vs Saints.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No Marques Colston.

QBs

• Alex Smith – Barely had time, and when he did the passes were too low, behind, etc.  Terrible.
• Drew Brees – Under some pressure.  Had time on one deep ball that was perfect, but dropped.
• Chase Daniels (NO) – Short, quick QB.  Had a nice run outta pressure for a 1st down.
• Colin Kaepernick (SF) – Rookie. Looked better than Smith, but that’s not saying much.  Has crazy speed and running ability, but was very inaccurate when passing the ball.  Threw two INTs too.

RBs

• Joique Bell (NO) – Has some speed, Tough to bring down…moving piles, etc.  Fun to watch.
• Anthony Dixon (SF) – Runs: 4, Targets: 1 – Looked average
• Frank Gore – Runs: 4 – Like always, ran well with defenders draped over him
• Kendall Hunter (SF) – Really Quick.  Ran better than Dixon.
• Marc Ingram – Runs: 1 – Had sweet TD with 2nd string.
• Darren Sproles – Runs: 1
• Pierre Thomas – Runs: 5, Targets: 1 – Got a few yards here and there and stuffed.  Yawn.

WRs

• Braylon Edwards – Targets: 2
• Lance Moore – Targets: 1
• Robert Meachem – Targets: 2 – Had a bad drop

TEs

• Vernon Davis – Targets: 2
• Jimmy Graham (NO) – Targets: 2

Def/ST (1st string)

• 49ers – Pass: Great, Run: Great
• Saints – Pass: Excellent, Run: Good- Blitzed like crazy and rattled Smith.  Had Punt Return for TD.

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• 49ers – 5 Drives, Runs: 8, Passes: 9
• Saints – 4 Drives, Runs: 7, Passes: 8

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• 49ers – Pass Blocking: Awful, Run Blocking: Average.  Both QBs got pounded
• Saints – Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Average

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Steelers vs Redskins.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No Torain, Cooley, Heath Miller or Hines Ward.

QBs

• Rex Grossman – Did a good job of making quick passes under pressure.  Almost all short-to-mid range passes…surprisingly very accurate.  Great TD pass after muffed snap.  Potential sleeper!
• Ben Roethlisberger – Terrible protection so couldn’t stay up long enough to make good passes.

RBs

• Tim Hightower – Runs: 10, Targets: 2 – Just like in Arizona, doesn’t have awesome speed or strength, but knows how to run between the tackles and defenders.  With the fantastic O-Line blocking, Hightower looked like a sweet RB2.
• Rashard Mendenhall – Runs: 1, Targets: 1 – Looked good on only rush attempt.
• Isaac Redman (PIT) – Starts slow after the hand off, but picks up steam and when he gets through the D-Line, gains huge yardage.  Big dude had some nice rush attempts.  A must have if Mendenhall ever got hurt.
• Evan Royster (WAS) – Runs: 2, Rookie
• Darrel Young (WAS) – Targets: 1 – Sweet run after catch…spinning, juking, etc.

WRs

• Anthony Armstrong – Targets: 4
• Terrance Austin (WAS) – Targets: 1
• Antonio Brown (PIT) – Targets: 1 – Caught everything and looked like the best Steelers WR on the field
• Jabar Gaffney (WAS) – Targets: 5
• Donte Stallworth (WAS) – Targets: 1
• Mike Wallace – Targets: 1
• Santana Moss – Targets: 9 – Caught TD – Seemed to be Grossman’s #1 target and caught everything catchable thrown his way

TEs

• Fred Davis (WAS): Targets: 2 – Had bad drop

Def/ST (1st string)

• Redskins – Pass: Great, Run: Average – Kept the pressure on Roethlisberger
• Steelers – Pass: Below Average, Run: Below Average

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Redskins- 5 Drives, Runs: 12, Passes: 24
• Steelers- 1 Drives, Runs: 1, Passes: 4

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Redskins – Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Great – O-Line made huge holes for Hightower.  Grossman had tons of time when he rolled out.
• Steelers – Pass Blocking: Below Average, Run Blocking: Great

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Jaguars vs Patriots.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No MJD, Brady, Ocho Cinco, and Gronkowski.

QBs

• Blaine Gabbert
• Brian Hoyer (NE)
• Ryan Mallett (NE) – Made some great passes, but others were off.  Went through projections well.

RBs

• Rashad Jennings – Runs: 6 – Ran strong with good speed.
• DJ Karim (JAC)- Runs: 2, Targets: 1
• Stephen Ridley (NE) – Run: 2, Rookie, 1 yd rushing TD.  Smaller RB, but runs yard and claws for yardage.  Had two more TDs (rushing and receiving).
• Danny Woodhead – Runs: 5.  Always gained positive yards and looked good.

WRs

• Jarek Dillards – Targets: 1
• Julian Edelman – Targets: 2
• Jason Hill – Targets: 3.  Looked good.
• Taylor Price – Great back of end zone stretching catch.  Has blazing speed and great hands.
• Mike Thomas – Targets: 2, dropped easy one
• Tiquan Underwood – Targets: 1

TEs

• Zach Miller: Targets: 2
• Aaron Hernandez: Targets: 4, Lost fumble, and fumbled again.  When he didn’t fumble, made great catches and YAC yards.

Def/ST (1st string)

• Jaguars – Pass: Average, Run: Good.  2 Fumble forces
• Patriots – Pass: Great, Run: Average. Got coverage sack.

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Jaguars – 4 Drives, Runs: 8, Passes: 11
• Patriots – 4 Drives, Runs: 6, Passes: 6

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Jaguars- Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Good
• Patriots- Pass Blocking: Great, Run Blocking: Good

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Ravens vs Eagles.  Statistics below are for when both 1st string offenses and defenses are playing.

QBs

• Kyle Boller – The few passes he made were way off.
• Tyrod Taylor (BAL) – Awful pass directly to defender.  Threw a pick in the end zone.  Stinks.
• Mike Vick – Stayed in pocket and still looked like a top of Tier 1 QB this year.
• Vince Young – Looked ok.  Had awesome play shaking defenders and making long pass

RBs

• Ronnie Brown – Got tons of 2nd string carries.  Wasn’t super fast, but very elusive to get the extra yards.
• Dion Lewis (PHI) – Rookie – Smaller RB, but has some nice speed, followed blockers well, and was shedding defenders.
• LeSean McCoy – Runs: 1
• Jalen Parmele (BAL) – Bigger RB with some speed.  Impressive.
• Ray Rice – Runs: 5, Targets: 1 – Looked good
• Owen Schmitt (FB) (PHI) – Run: 1

WRs

• Anquan Boldin – Targets: 1
• Jason Avant – Targets: 2
• Chad Hall (PHI) – Targets: 1 – Caught everything thrown his way.  Little guy like Wes Welker.
• Riley Cooper – Targets: 2 – Great jumping catch

TEs

• Dennis Pitta (BAL): Targets: 2, Made awesome, reaching over defender catch!
• Brent Celek: Targets: 2, Dropped one, Caught 3 yd TD

Def/ST (1st string)

• Ravens- Pass: Average, Run: Great
• Eagles- Pass: Excellent, Run: Great, Got a coverage sack

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Ravens- 2 Drives, Runs: 5, Passes: 7
• Eagles- 1 Drive, Runs: 2, Passes: 7

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Ravens- Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Good
• Eagles – Pass Blocking: Excellent, Run Blocking: Average

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Seahawks vs Chargers.  Statistics below are for when both 1st string offenses and defenses are playing.

QBs

• Tavaris Jackson – Runs: 2, Ran really well out of the pocket, but pressured alot and sacked twice due to poor blocking and great coverage.  Only threw two long ones which were both inaccurate.
• Philip Rivers – Had only one bad pass, the rest were perfect.  Looked like a Tier 1 QB.  Led the NFL in pass yardage last year.
• Charlie Whitehurst – Passed better than Tavaris, but it was against the 2nd string Chargers defense

RBs

• Thomas Clayton – Target: 1
• Marshawn Lynch – Runs: 3 – Ran hard, looked good
• Ryan Matthews – Runs: 2, Targets: 1
• Mike Tolbert – Runs: 2, Targets: 1, Receiving TD
• Leon Washington – Runs: 5 – Appeared to look better than Lynch due to run blocking scheme

WRs

• Chuck Baldwin (SEA) – Targets: 1, Rookie
• Vincent Jackson – Targets: 3, BEAST!
• Golden Tate – Targets: 2, returned Punts too

TEs

• Corey Sperry (SD): Targets: 1
• Zach Miller: Targets: 2

Def/ST (1st string)

• Chargers – Pass: Excellent, Run: Below Average
• Seahawks – Pass: Below Average, Run: Excellent

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Chargers – 1 Drive, Runs: 4, Passes: 6
• Seahawks – 2 Drives, Runs: 10, Passes: 8, One run was supposed to be a pass play but QB ran b/c of excellent coverage

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Chargers – Pass Blocking: Excellent (Rivers was untouched), Run Blocking: Below Average (got real positive yardage once)
• Seahawks – Pass Blocking: Below Average (without Okung), Run Blocking: Great (consistently got positive yardage), Lost LT Okung and replacement stunk

Just like they’ve done the past few years, the NFL Network will be airing all of the 2011 Preseason games…schedule is here.