Grading your roster post draft and (most) FA

Morning all.

Fair amount of time to go between now and pre-season starting, but at this point the rosters are taking shape with FA slowing down and the draft over.

So what do you think of your team right now?

In Oakland, I'm happier than I expected to be. We've torn the old roster apart and we are much better off for it talent-wise.

The defense could probably have done with a pass rusher from the line, but late round pick David Bass seems like good value if he can translate his skills to the NFL. Our corners are a million times better this year, but that isn't saying too much. DJ Hayden obviously has something they like to be the unequivocal 1st round choice, although I am still a bit nervous about his medical history affecting his play. Probably the best part of our re-tooled defense is the linebacking corps, which is promising. Maiava looks like a bargain pick up and Sio Moore is a versatile addition who could possibly play with his hand in the dirt on passing downs. Burnett and Roach are frankly much safer than McClain and Burris - although Burris should still have a role.

Offensively we've lost both our leading receivers from the past two seasons in Heyward-Bey (is he a bust yet?) and Myers. Add to that we traded our starting QB and we're probably looking a bit shaky. On the plus side we are back to a power running scheme which will help McFadden and we're looking at a genuine 3-way camp battle to be the starter at quarterback, with even Raiders fans not sure who they want to win out. Flynn holds pole position, but I like Tyler Wilson and Pryor. We added depth at RB and drafted two TEs with the hope of replicating Myers production. I'm not too optimistic that our offense will have a good year, but Streater, Reece and Ford can make plays for us.

All in all we probably look like a 4/5 win team at best on paper. But if we didn't make the changes we have done I think we'd be looking at worse than that. Call it cautious optimism.

I reckon a C- grade is fair...

The Pats pretty much re-signed everyone, bar Welker. Happy with Vollmer especially, Talib is a low risk one.

Bit worried about the WR's, need the draft picks too come off really. I think Donald Jones might come off good.

The defence needs to be better, more pressure, hopefully Jones and the guy we drafted will do well.

QB , A+
RB , A
FB, A
WR, A-
TE B
OT B
OG B-
C A+

DE A
DT A
OLB B
MLB A
CB A+
Sfty A+

K B
P B

QB: A
RB: A
WR: B
TE: B
OL: A+
DE/DT: B
LB/OLB: A+
CB: B
S: B
ST: B
Coaching: A+

B for your TEs is optimistic, cherries.

Pretty much agree with you there Sodhat.

I was screaming at the TV when we picked our first round choice. Like I said at the time can have the best CBs in the league, but if you're not pressuring the QB then they'll still get torched

However saying that our defense looks improved, its our offense which looks like it may struggle this year. No more than 4 wins I reckon, then loads of cap space the year after and we'll start to see improvement

sodhat wrote:B for your TEs is optimistic, cherries.

Miller broke out in the play off and McCoy has been solid all season , and this guy we drafted has been looking awesome in camp

We're into x looked good in rookie camp time.

You know its the offseason when...

.. Cherries tells us Russell Wilson is an A+ QB

Yeah, TE - B might be a stretch but Wilson as A+ might be taking the biscuit.

So is Kaepernick A.

I'm beginning to tune out the NFC West.

I'll give them both a B+ (Kaep and Wilson)

Yeah, B+ seems fair. A's to me are the really top players like Rodgers, Brady and Brees. Kaep, Wilson, Luck and Griffin being mid/high B's with a view to becoming A's next year.

cherriesfna wrote:

sodhat wrote:B for your TEs is optimistic, cherries.

Miller broke out in the play off and McCoy has been solid all season , and this guy we drafted has been looking awesome in camp

Translation- He had one big game that was almost half of what he did the rest of the season (clearly showing just how far above crap he was the rest of the season), he (McCoy) average a catch a game (notify every commentator in the league every player from now on is at worst 'solid'), he is beating a tonne of nobodies he's the next Gonzalez.

Also how has nobody pointed out you gave your WR group an A-? You have one good receiver and he spends his time struggling with mysterious migranes. If your WR group is an A I think Green Bays/Denvers/Atlanta are probably A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ at a minimum

Harvin rice Tate , all above average recievers

How is Tate above average? He shows up once every three games. Rice was hugely overpaid too.

uh tate over 15yards per catch, 7 Touchdowns, clutch, also threw aTDs 2 drops all year and a playmaker. he is the human pinball.

Dont matter if rice is overpaid, he still is an aboveaverage WR same stats pretty much as tate. bailed wilosn ou sometimes,

IMO tate is the better of the two,

and weare forgetting baldwin who is also pretty damn good.

i watched this team 22 timeslast yearand i know tate is above average

QB: E, Vick is a placeholder, Foles had some decent moments. Barkley is a 4th rounder. Slight chance Foles or Barkley does something so they dont get an F.
RB: A, Shadys one of the best, Browns a nice #2 if he sorts out his fumbling. Polk and Jones decent depth
WR: C+, Jackson should see his numbers pick up under Chip. Maclins alright. Avants alright. Cooper and Benn could be decent contributors.
TE: A, position of strength before they added Ertz. Celeks a pretty good TE, before you add 2 chess pieces in Ertz and Casey.
OL: B+, Starters are great, depth is unconvincing. Watkins might be cut.

DL: C+, Cox saves this group. Sopoaga is a stopgap, Logan should contribute.
OLB: B-, They have a surplus of pass rushers, question is whether they can convert. Barwin had a lacklustre 2012 after a great 2011.
ILB: B+, Questions whether Ryans can play in the 3-4, and Kendricks converting to ILB. Both are nice players though.
CB: C, Fletchers a flier, Cary Williams might not have the talent of Nnamdi or DRC, but he puts in 5x the effort. Poyer and Boykin have some upside.
S: C, Chung is meh. Kenny Phillips is good but aft injured. Its never clicked for Allen. Wolff is a sleeper if he gets it together. Coleman sucks.

K: A, Henerys pretty good and young.
P: C, signed someone from the Texans and Brad Wing.

I never really thought about doing it like that, but that is far better

QB - D, at least until we find out what we have in Flynn, Pryor and Wilson. I'm more optimistic than I was before but we still effectively have three unproven players here.
RB - B-, could be higher if McFadden stays healthy and produces. Depth is a concern, we signed Jennings and a rookie and that's it right now.
FB - A, Reece is probably our best player. Flexible, a playmaker in space, an improving blocker and one of the best FBs going.
WR - C, Ford being back helps, Moore is solid but sometimes erratic, Streater looks like a great find. Still a young corps overall and there is some upside in there.
TE - D, we have two rookies and only a positive training camp to go on. Ausberry is a good receiver, Gordon a good blocker, but we have no real #1 at the position.
OL - C+, interesting to see Watson if he can start at RT. We are solid with Veldheer on the left, Wisniewski in the middle. Could stand to improve at guard.

DL - C, mish mash of solid players and guys with points to prove. Interested to see who lines up where, and whether Houston remains an end or flips inside to tackle. Nothing spectacular here though, still a glaring hole for a pass rusher to fill.
LB - B-, one of the stronger areas of the defense now I'd say, solid rotation of 5 or 6 guys that can get playing time, and Moore is a good pick up in rd3.
CB - D, pretty terrible last year and a lot will depend on DJ Hayden living up to his round 1 pick. Jenkins will have to show more than he did with the Cowboys. Porter and Hansen are both ok, nothing special. We have the problem of facing Manning twice a year with these guys.
S - C, Branch has been consistently our best player back here but he's going to need help. Young is a good pick up. We'd be much more comfortable if Charles Woodson were to return though...

K - A, he's big, Polish, and rarely misses inside 50. Plus he can make them from up to 63 yards away. Still not worth a first rounder, but hey-ho.
P - D, King has a big leg and I liked him in preseason last year. Massive job to replace Lechler who was one of the best around.

cherriesfna wrote:uh tate over 15yards per catch, 7 Touchdowns, clutch, also threw aTDs 2 drops all year and a playmaker. he is the human pinball.

Dont matter if rice is overpaid, he still is an aboveaverage WR same stats pretty much as tate. bailed wilosn ou sometimes,

IMO tate is the better of the two,

and weare forgetting baldwin who is also pretty damn good.

i watched this team 22 timeslast yearand i know tate is above average

That has absolutely no relation to whether or not he is a good RECEIVER (NOT PASSER). I would also point out there's a difference between "above average" and A-, yes A- is above average but so is C+ there's a big gap there and though Harvin is good I think he hasn't shown himself to be one of the elite WR's in the league and certainly not good enough to elevate your WR group to an A-. Sidney Rice is far from above average in my eyes he's had basically one good year and that's with a future HoF QB and then 2012 was probably just about above average maybe slightly by a pretty small fraction. Calling Baldwin "pretty damn good" might have held some more weight if he hadn't just regressed quite badly from his rookie year.

I have to agree with Derby here as well. Tate and Rice seem to be to be quite average (maybe slightly above average although their stats wouldn't suggest it). Rice, the leading receiver, was 48th overall in yards behind Andre Roberts and outside the top 60 when it comes to receptions. Average seems to be a fittign description. Harvin is excellent when on the field. Baldwin didn't have a great 2nd year and can't see him getting the ball all too often with Harvin there. Without Harvin I'd give them a high C, with Harvin that would be bumped up to a B. As with quarterbacks, A's should be given to really top drawer players like with the Broncos or Falcons.

Wilson only threw about 20 times a game so what do you expect there tats to be, judging there 15 yards per catch average if Wilson threw around 30 times even they'd both probably eclipse 1000 yards, you probably didn't even watch a Seattle game last year until late in the season so you can't judge solely on stats

They had high YPC because the Seahawks had no short to intermediate pass game for most of the season

LaVon Brazil averaged over 16 yards per catch, LaFell had more than Tate too, doesn't mean they are above average receivers. I watched plenty of Seattle games and its obvious Tate isn't an above average receiver. Hell, Manningham is better and I wouldn't put him in that category either. The Seahawks don't have such a great WR group that one of your guys later in the depth chart is above average, he is just another receiver, he's good but not above average if that counts as an A or B grade

I think if they had an elite receiving group, or even an A- one they would've asked Wilson to throw the ball a bit more, but that's beside the point. Em, I did watch them in the playoffs and a couple of games during the season, didn't watch all their games but I didn't watch all games for most teams, and I can still see that Julio Jones is excellent and the Jaguars aren't great. Once more though that is beside the point. Yards per catch isn't a great barometer, they are below both Josh Gordon and Chris Givens and those mentioned by niner. They are also ranked higher than Green and Andre Johnson, but are clearly worse than those two. Either way I would consider both Rice and Tate to be outside the top twenty receivers definitely. They'd be somewhere between 30-50th if you ask me, which is to me is average to slightly above average.

Here’s my take on the Browns
QB: C-. Weeden and Campbell aren’t likely to lead this franchise to a Super Bowl any time soon, but they’ll be fine until we trade up for Bridgewater next year.
RB: B. Not quite sure what is going on with the depth behind Richardson, but I’m excited to watch Richardson as the #1 back, hopefully he can stay healthy this year.
WR: B. Genuinely excited about what Gordon, Little and Bess can do as the starting receivers just a shame I’m not so excited about our QBs. Felt they needed to add some experience to our WR group and they did that while not overpaying or adding people with only a few years left.
TE: C. Haven’t seen anything special from Davis but hopefully his one year deal will make him perform to keep himself in the NFL. Hope Cameron can have a breakout season now that he should be seeing more of the field.
OT: A-. One of the best LT’s in the league and I expect Schwartz to become one of the league’s best RT’s too, it’s a minus because of the fact Schwartz only has 1 year in the league.
OG: C. Weak point of the OL and they didn’t really help it out in the draft or via free agency.
C: A-.
DL: B+. Not quite sure who is playing where but look forward to see what pressure Horton can create with Bryant, Rubin and Taylor.
OLB: B-. Kruger hasn’t really had to be “the guy” before so worried about that, Sheard and Mingo are learning a new position moving from DE so worried about that, hopefully with the DL getting pressure Horton can use these guys to get to the QB regularly.
MLB: B-. Fan of D’Qwell Jackson but worried about whoever may be at the other MLB spot, plus most say the 4-3 was better for Jackson.
CB: B. Haden is great unfortunately I haven’t seen anything of McFadden, but I hope he can win the starting spot as I don’t want Skrine starting, I know he was slowing down but wouldn’t have complained about Brown being back.
S: C+. Big fan of Ward but would have liked to keep Young, unfortunately we didn’t so I’m assuming it’s between Hagg and Gipson well Hagg got the starting job last year and lost it to Young so not too confident about that.

Feel free to tell me how bad we are.

New York Jets

QB: C Sanchez can be viable in this system and Smith was my number 1 rated QB in the draft. Let's not say anymore about it.

RB: B- Chris Ivory has shown flashes, as have Mike Goodson and Bilal Powell, but nothing consistent enough (mainly due to injuries and circumstance rather than talent) to merit a higher rating.

WR: C+ Holmes is an aging number 2 receiver. Kerley has great hands and is consistent but can't really control a game from the slot. Stephen Hill has potential to be a top 10 WR if he learns to catch the ball. You may laugh at that, but the guy is super talented.

TE: D Nothing to note here. Jeff Cumberland is an average TE at best and I have little hope that UFA's will make any impact. We could do with former Rugby player Hayden Smith getting on the field.

OL: B+ We have strong foundations with D'Brick and Mangold. Austin Howard played well at RT last season and looks to take more steps forward. We added a whole bunch of depth and versatility in the draft plus veteran FA Guards, Willie Colon and Stephen Peterman, can be stop gaps and coach up the young ones.

DL: A- Muhammad Wilkerson is the most underrated player in the league and Coples played well in a limited role. Sheldon Richardson is a player I love that can cause disruption but is unproven in the NFL so far. Don't sleep on Kenrick Ellis either. Mass destruction.

LB: C David Harris is consistently average. Demario Davis looked good and is set to break out with a new starting role. At OLB, Antwan Barnes was a good addition but has never played more than a situational role and Calvin Pace is just a body.

CB: B Antonio Cromartie is a shut down corner. Dee Milliner looks to be a good addition and if he translates well to the NFL, this can bump up to an A-. Kyle Wilson is an okay slot guy.

S: D Dawan Landry is solid but getting older. No one else has had any experience of playing an acceptable amount of snaps.

Overall, we are average with some upside. However, we are relying a lot on youngsters to prove themselves in a starting role (Coples, Davis, Hill and one of the Safety's) and for the rookies to make an impact straight away (Richardson and Milliner). I don't see a situation where we have a top 5 pick in the 2014 draft. We will be a top 10 defense - again.

I think you're being too harsh on the CBs NYJ. Most teams would kill to have the Jets depth at cornerback. Cromartie is a pro-bowler, Wilson could be a number 1 corner on a lot of teams, Milliner too probably. Lankster could start on some other teams and is an above average nickel corner. Trufant found his niche last year covering smaller, shiftier receivers. Didn't he hold Welker to 2 catches in a game last year?

JmD wrote:I think you're being too harsh on the CBs NYJ. Most teams would kill to have the Jets depth at cornerback. Cromartie is a pro-bowler, Wilson could be a number 1 corner on a lot of teams, Milliner too probably. Lankster could start on some other teams and is an above average nickel corner. Trufant found his niche last year covering smaller, shiftier receivers. Didn't he hold Welker to 2 catches in a game last year?

It was mainly because we haven't seen Milliner in the NFL yet. If he lives up to his first round status then it would certainly be an A.

bump http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1682779-the-top-5-nfl-teams-at-every-position/page/4

That list is terrible. The Eagles are nowhere near 4th.

haha just had to put it, dont agree personally, and im also sick of the bandwagoners now,
preferred it when no-one cared about us and we just went about it.
then again this comes with being a good team 

How good the Seahawks' receivers are depends on how often they through the ball. With their OL they don't need to do it that often. Harvin is the only guy that would really scare people. Rice is the next big guy, a very good number two and potential number one. Tate is decent, and Baldwin had his moments last year but struggled compared to rookie year. I think I would have the Falcons top overall in the receving corps stakes if not the wide receiving options

On WRs alone I'd probably go:

1. Denver
2. Green Bay
3. Atlanta

From there down it could really be a combination of any teams in my eyes.

the only ones I really think that people can't argue with at all are:

1. Seahawks having best CB's
2. Patriots having best TE's
3. 49ers having best MLB and OLB's

The Patriots best TEs has taken a bit of a hit, what with Gronk spending about 90% of the offseason on an operating table and Hernandez's future up in the air. I don't know if Ballard is as atheltic or capable as those two but he should do decent at least.

BamBam wrote:.. Cherries tells us Russell Wilson is an A+ QB

I wanted to pick up on this grade inflation too!

Obviously the Pats TE corps is currently in limbo, but Ballard is a pretty decent TE, did well with the Giants.

Not looking good for Hernandez, but Gronk is still a beast

Colan (niner) wrote:the only ones I really think that people can't argue with at all are:

1. Seahawks having best CB's
2. Patriots having best TE's
3. 49ers having best MLB and OLB's

I'd now start to argue the Pats TEs being the best if things work out they way they are going this off season but I get your point!

Sorry I'm late to the party. Been busy with the Stanley Cup playoffs.

QB: A, I bELIeve in ELI. David Carr isn't so bad either.
RB: D, Erm........... let's hope Wilson and Brown can live up to the brief shades of play we saw last season.
WR: A, Nicks, Cruz, Randle. No problem here. Don't forget big bad Kris Adams who has 2 receiving yards since joining the league undrafted in 2011.
TE: E, We have Bear Pascoe, his name alone is all that it is good.
OL: B, Baas, Beatty and Snee are a solid foundation. Brewer and Booth are not the best but as a unit they keep Eli up long enough to do something.

DL: A, JPP and Tuck had a rough time last year but are still great. Looking forward to seeing how they're shifted around with Austin, Jenkins and Joseph.
OLB: F, Erm...... Jacquian Williams improved a little. Rivers is old. Paysinger looks promising when he plays.
ILB: F, yeah.
CB: B+, Ross is back. Missed him more than we should have at times last year. Prince and Webster should have a good bounceback year. Interesting to see what comes of Terrell Thomas.
S: B+, Rolle, Stevie, Mundy, and the underrated Will Hill.

You don't need anything above C grade linebackers when your front line and secondary are this good.

K: C, See who wins out of Buehler and Brown. Think Buehler will come out on top, the one thing about Brown is he spent 4 years in St Louis indoors and didn't play the whole year with one team last year both teams he was on were outdoor teams.
P: A, Weatherford is the man. Thank you, again, New York Jets.

Giants have Brandon Myers at TE too!

Yeah forgot about that. Bump the position to a C.

You rate your secondary a lot higher than most would I suspect

What would you say is a fair neutral grade? I wouldn't go below C if I had to lower it.

Webster was terrible last year, Prince was ok but looked better than he was by comparison. Aaron Ross is pretty bad.

Rolle is ok but overpaid, Browns interception total made him look better than he is. Steelers fans won't miss Mundy and I think I remember Will Hill more for his tweets.

If the pass rush works, its fine, but on paper I couldn't give that more than a D.

Their safeties are worth a B- (you could question if Brown is a one year wonder but we'll see). Their CBs got burned a fair bit last year from what I remember a C is probably about right. I'd give the Bucs the same about now.

Webster, like a lot of our secondary, was carrying an injury for most of the season and made Josh Freeman look like a HoFer.

Rolle and Brown could emerge as the top safety combination this year. Aaron Ross was bad in Jacksonville because he had trouble settling in. He isn't the best but he was clearly missed last season.

No way in hell are Rolle and Brown emerging as the league's best safety tandem. Guys who I would have ahead of them in that category include: Reshad Jones and Chris Clemons, Thomas Decoud and William Moore, Ed Reed and Danieal Manning, Major Wright and Chris Conte, Donte Whitner and Eric Reid, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. They are well down on that list.

A lot of guys carry injuries over the season, even with that I wouldn't have Webster in a top 10 CB list in the league.

Rolle probably has 1 or 2 years left in NY without a severe pay cut.

Stevie Brown really isn't that good

The few times I watched him he was in the Antonio Cromartie school of defending, get beat a lot but come up with a lot of interceptions. At least Brown actually gives a shoite most of the time.