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HardRightEdge
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You could pretty much tell after about 3 pass plays that Bakhtiari had the job. In the pass game, he's loose and fluid, good feet and hips, good balance and pad position, nice hand work. Then, when you take your eyes off him to watch something else, nothing bad is happening on that side. He's a rookie...somewhere along the line some Pro Bowl stud rusher will blow him up for 2 or 3 sacks or set Rodgers arunnin' for his life, or he'll miss some adjustments on blitz pick-ups and some guy will run free on his tab. That should be expected, then you watch to see if he's learned anything. He'll be tested right quick in week 1 against a couple of the best in the business. Newhouse always looks studied to me...he knows the moves but they don't look particularly natural...there are natural dancers and then there are Arthur Murray dances. And the guy just loses focus; I think he ends up on the bench.McMillan had a -0,6 grade. -0.4 against the run, -0.2 for coverage
I just checked Vince Young had -1.1 (was 0,9, they probably corrected one play or something), Colemann -0,8, Harell -0,5.
Perry had 1.4 run defense grade and a 0 pass rush and coverage grade.
You are correct 9 guys scored over +1 versus the run, only one guy (Daniels, +1.5) scored over +1 rushing the passer, and one guy scored over 1 for coverage (Bush, +1.2).
These grades are indeed just grades for one game. An as you pointed out many guys played just against second and third stringers so they might have scored better grades, than they would have scored versus first stringers. Moreover, the fact that the Arizona O-line isn't that great might have helped the grades of the defense. The fact that our O-line failed to create holes, might have hurt th RB grades. As pointed in another forum these grades are not perfect. They give however some impression of who played well, and who did not play well.
But to be honest I still view Bakhtiari as the bright spot of the game. And it seems like guys like Bob McGinn, Tom Silverstein and Vic Ketchman like him as well. Actually Zach Kruse made a play by play breakdown of Bakhtiari's play, and he was very positive.
I would give McMillan a lower grade than -0.2 in pass coverage. Besides the early burn (incomplete), he let that TE get open underneath too far down the field in what looked like zone to think it was acceptable. McMillan did chop the guy down, helping him drop it , but I'd give a minus for that one for being late. Maybe PFF gave him minus for coverage and plus for the hit, but you don't often see a guy get pulled out of the game in preseason week #1, but it seems to be more than cooincidence. Also, it has been reported that he's been running a lot of smack in practice and scolded for it by Sitton to no affect...perhaps a point was being made.
So the question remains, does PFF mark guys down for getting beat in coverage when the QB misfires? Who knows. It remains a black box.
You make a couple of excellent points there...do they adjust a TBs number up to compensate for poor O-Line numbers? I don't see how they could. You cannot assume a TB would hit a hole had there in fact been one, or what he might have done once he got there. Conversely, what if a TB made a long run but several D guys got -2 on the play? Do they take points away from the TB? Can't see how they could do that either...too much woulda, shoulda, coulda in that kind of adjustment as well. Or when they grade down a team's unit do they then grade down the opponent's opposite unit? Same problem.