Tag: Rookie Grades

Raiders DE Tyree Wilson is PFF lowest graded first round rookie thru 3 weeks

Tyree Wilson has been the NFL’s worst first round rookie thru 3 weeks

Taking a player at seven overall doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to be the seventh best player in the draft. And it isn’t a great disappointment if his talent level doesn’t line up perfectly with his draft position. But you do hope he isn’t literally the worst player taken on day one of the draft.

So far this season, that has been the case according to Pro Football Focus.

Tyree Wilson comes in with a grade of 36.2 after three games this season, which is the lowest grade of any first round rookie according to PFF.

Wilson had another quiet day, playing just 11 snaps against Pittsburgh and making little impact. Given his draft status, the starting edge role opposite Maxx Crosby should be his, but he isn’t producing enough to justify something greater than occasional snaps.

It’s hard to say whether Wilson’s 11 snaps last week were more a product of his disappointing first two games or missing two practices last week with an illness. Pretty bad when you don’t know whether he was kept off the field for being sick or just plain bad.

But if you think his grade was negatively effected by this past week, you’d be wrong. He was given a grade of 54.2 in those 11 snaps, which means he was considerably worse in the previous weeks which led to his low overall grade.

With Chandler Jones out for personal reasons, Tyree Wilson was supposed to step up. Yes, he was thrust into that role a bit earlier than the team had hoped, but that’s just to say they probably were fine with not getting his best. Not that they expected to get less than nothing from him and have to look elsewhere to replace Jones.

That elsewhere has been a combination of third year De Malcolm Koonce along with practice squad call up Isaac Rochell and DT Jerry Tillery sliding outside on occasion.

Nothing has really worked. But that’s why you draft a player at seventh overall. For them to be the answer. And when they’re not, you are kinda screwed.

Grading the Commanders’ 2022 rookie draft class

What grade would you give each of Washington’s rookies for 2022?

The Washington Commanders entered the 2022 NFL draft with only six selections, thanks to a March trade for quarterback Carson Wentz. In addition to giving up a third-round pick in 2022, the Commanders and Colts swapped second-round picks in 2022 and Washington also gave up a 2023 third-round pick.

With multiple positions of need, many fans wanted to see the Commanders move back. Washington did that, trading the No. 11 overall pick to the New Orleans Saints for the No. 16, 98 and No. 120 overall selections. The Commanders selected Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson in the first round, used the No. 98 pick on Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr. and moved back from the No. 120 selection to add North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell and Nevada tight end Cole Turner.

So the goal for head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew was to add more picks to the 2022 class. That’s what happened. How did the class perform in 2022?

We grade Washington’s 2022 draft class.

Grading every rookie from Colts’ 2022 draft class

The Colts’ rookie class now has a full season under its belt. Here’s how we graded them.

The 2022 season has come and gone, which means we got a strong look at the Indianapolis Colts’ rookie draft class.

Grading a rookie based on his first season is a bit ridiculous. While some rookies make the transition look easy, it is anything but. There are several factors both on and off the field that impact a player’s performance during his rookie season.

We should also remember that these players, for the most part, are still extremely young. They are still growing up and learning how to deal with the delicate balance of professional sports and life outside of football.

So these grades aren’t concrete, and they certainly can change even as soon as the end of the 2023 season. Think of this more as a review of their rookie campaign with some insight into how they impacted the Colts during their first season.

Here’s a look at the grades for the Colts’ 2022 rookie draft class:

Grading the Commanders’ 2022 draft class at the bye week

We grade each of Washington’s rookies through 13 games.

The Washington Commanders were 7-5-1 at the bye week and will report back to work this week in preparation for their Week 15 showdown with the New York Giants.

The Commanders were off Sunday, yet moved up from the No. 8 in the NFC playoff race up to the No. 6 spot. The two teams ahead of Washington, the Giants and Seahawks, both lost Sunday.

Before we ramp up coverage for Week 15, now is a good time to review Washington’s 2022 rookie class. Injuries have played a part in our grades for some of the Commanders’ rookies, but overall, the early indications are this could be a promising group.

After 13 games, here are our grades for Washington’s rookie class.

Jaguars CB Tyson Campbell was the best defensive rookie in Week 12, per Pro Football Focus

Campbell earned a 90.5 grade from PFF, his highest of the season.

For much of the season, the decision to draft Tyson Campbell in the second round looked like it may have been a bit questionable for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After trading C.J. Henderson to Carolina following Week 3, Campbell became a full-time starter on the outside, which came with a bit of a learning curve.

At one point, Campbell was the worst-graded cornerback in the NFL in pass coverage, but he’s seen an impressive turnaround in the second half of the season. He’s played much better over the last month, and he faced his toughest challenge on Sunday when he was the No. 1 corner in place of Shaquill Griffin, who was out with a concussion.

It resulted in the best game of his career.

He earned his first interception to go with three pass breakups, and that gave him the best grade among all defensive rookies in Week 12 with a 90.5 score, per Pro Football Focus.

He had an elite 90.9 coverage grade, easily his best mark of the season, and he proved he can be a very strong option on the outside. Granted, the Falcons are without Calvin Ridley and their top outside receiver target is currently Russell Gage, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless.

The challenge this week in Los Angeles will be even tougher, though, especially if Griffin is unable to go again. Campbell likely won’t draw too many matchup with the NFL’s leading receiver, Cooper Kupp, who mostly plays in the slot, but he will have to face a talented pair of outside receivers in Odell Beckham Jr. and Van Jefferson.

Campbell is beginning to look like the player he was drafted to be. The Jaguars will hope that progress continues down the stretch in what appears to be a lost season.

Report card: Grading the Colts’ 2021 rookie class at midseason

Handing out grades for the Colts’ rookie class in 2021 at midseason.

The Indianapolis Colts are, more or less, halfway through the 2021 season, which means we’ve gotten a decent look at the rookie class getting their first taste of the league.

Given the construction of the roster and the fact that Chris Ballard had the fewest rookie picks of his career in 2021, there hasn’t been a ton of production from the class through nine games.

Grades are arbitrary. Most of the time they will differ from how a team feels about the development of a player but we’re still going to do them even if it is simply to gauge how that development is going a handful of games into these young careers.

Because the Colts waived fifth-round pick Shawn Davis earlier this season, he won’t be included in this. We’ll go through the draft picks and an additional undrafted rookie who now finds himself on the active roster.

Here are our grades for the Colts’ rookie class halfway through the 2021 season:

Kyle Pitts the highest-graded rookie pass-catcher through Week 7

Pitts has the most yards a rookie tight end has ever racked up in their first six games.

Former Florida tight end Kyle Pitts certainly entered his NFL career with a lot of hype. He was the fourth overall pick, making him the highest-drafted tight end in the modern era of the league, and he was considered by many to be the can’t-miss prospect of the draft.

Seven weeks into his professional career, those expectations seem to have been fair. Pitts has been dominant so far, reeling in 31 catches for 471 yards (the most a tight end has ever accrued through his first six games) and a touchdown.

Pitts is certainly passing the eye test, but advanced analytics are high on him, as well. According to Pro Football Focus, Pitts is the highest-graded rookie pass-catcher so far this season.

That surpasses even Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who has almost singlehandedly transformed the Cincinnati offense as a rookie. He already has 754 yards and six touchdowns, and he’s been the favorite target of second-year quarterback Joe Burrow so far.

But Pitts’ production is unbelievable from a rookie tight end, a position that generally carries a bit of a learning curve at the NFL level. Even with the high expectations, Pitts has been even better as a rookie than many thought he would.

He’s on an Atlanta Falcons team that sits at 3-3 and is almost certain to improve on its finish from last season. The Falcons passing game is improving, and between Pitts and receiver Calvin Ridley, it has the potential to become one of the league’s best.

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Here’s what the critics are saying about Trevor Lawrence after 6 games in the NFL

Trevor Lawrence is drawing mixed reviews through Week 6.

Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence hasn’t exactly been a Day 1 gamechanger, as he’s had to go through the learning curve that all rookie passers do. He’s had some issues with accuracy and decision-making at times, but he continues to play sharper and more confident week after week.

He had arguably his best game as a pro in the team’s win over the Miami Dolphins last week, as he was 25-of-41 for 319 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. That was enough to draw a solid “B+” grade from Sporting News’ Joe Rivera.

Lawrence continues to grow as an NFL quarterback, with Sunday’s win over the Dolphins his most polished performance yet as a passer.

The wunderkind threw an absolute dime to Marvin Jones Jr. for a touchdown (who made a nice catch on the back end) and looked sharp and accurate when he was on the move and flushed out of the pocket.

While there were more than a handful of drops — and some throws that could have (and should have) been picked off — Lawrence is showing more and more control over the Jaguars offense while Jacksonville banks their first W of the season, and of the Lawrence era.

Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller agreed that Lawrence is improving, but he’s not totally sold. He ranked New England’s Mac Jones and Chicago’s Justin Fields ahead of Lawrence in his rookie quarterback rankings.

Now is as good a time as any to admit that Trevor Lawrence has struggled with accuracy so far this season. His ball placement has consistently been off by a hair, and it’s hurting Jacksonville’s passing attack.

And it’s not as if there’s a whole lot to like about the passing concepts the Jaguars insist on running. There are minimal instances where I look and think, “they did a good job of scheming that guy open there.”

So the problems are two-fold. Receivers aren’t getting much separation, and Lawrence has been consistently inconsistent with his ball placement. That is not a recipe for success.

…

Lawrence is seeing dissonant results in nearly every aspect of his play. Yet, that might say more about his environment than it does about his actual physical and mental abilities. After all, he has a first-time NFL head coach with … issues … and a combination of Darrell Bevell and Brian Schottenheimer as his coordinators.

Miller did, however, offer praise for Lawrence’s dime of a touchdown pass to Marvin Jones Jr. in the back corner of the end zone. Those are the kind of throws Lawrence has made with regularity this year, and they’re why the Jags can look past the mistakes that stem from the rookie’s gunslinging mentality.

However, that mentality has gotten Lawrence into trouble this season, and it’s certainly playing a role in his grading as the worst of the six rookie quarterbacks that have seen significant playing time so far, per Pro Football Focus.

Overall Rookie Grade: 56.8 (Rank: 6/6)
Week 6 Grade: 79.4

Lawrence this week looked a lot more like the Lawrence we always expected to see during his rookie season. It wasn’t perfect, but there was far more good than bad, which hasn’t been the case for much of his first few weeks in the league. He still made a turnover-worthy play, but it was a reasonable pass attempt left too far behind and to the inside of its intended receiver that gave the defender a chance to make a play on it — not the poor misreads or forced throws he has been guilty of in previous games. His high-end throws remain spectacular. Miami’s defense was depleted, but this now marks two good games from Lawrence in three weeks.

Lawrence’s play has been up and down at times, but the Jags haven’t given him a lot to work with, and he’s making plays in spite of it. He certainly needs to be sharper moving forward, but his play in the last few games has been encouraging.

Grading the top 10 picks from 2021 draft class after 3 weeks

Let’s take a look at each of the top 10 draft picks from the 2021 class after three weeks of NFL football

The good thing about drafting in the top 10 is that your team has a good chance of adding a blue-chip talent and potential impact player, but it’s also probably a sign that your team has more than a few roster holes.

That was the case for the Atlanta Falcons, who barely defeated the Giants in Week 3 to record their first win of the year. Atlanta’s game-winning kick by Younghoe Koo was set up by a 25-yard catch from rookie Kyle Pitts to put the team in field goal position.

Here’s a look at the top 10 draft picks from the 2021 rookie class with individual grades after three weeks of NFL football.

Andre Cisco was the preseason’s highest graded rookie safety, per PFF

Andre Cisco was one of Jacksonville’s preseason standouts, and PFF graded his preseason very well.

Jacksonville got an absolute steal when former Syracuse safety Andre Cisco fell to it at the top of the third round. Once considered a first-round prospect, Cisco’s college career was derailed by two separate knee injuries that caused him to only appear in 24 games with the Orange.

But those 24 games were spectacular. Cisco totaled 13 interceptions across them, and though the Jaguars knew his health could be a concern, it was easy to justify using a third-rounder on him, given his potential upside.

It’s still early, but that gamble seems to be paying off. Cisco is fully healthy, and he logged a lot of playing time in the preseason. He hasn’t officially been named the Jags’ starter opposite free-agent acquisition Rayshawn Jenkins, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

According to Pro Football Focus, Cisco was the highest-graded rookie safety in the preseason, coming in at 81.1. That slightly edges out Denver Broncos safety Jamar Johnson (78.8), a fifth-round pick out of Indiana.

In the Jags’ three preseason games, Cisco totaled eight tackles, two pass breakups, and a hit on the quarterback.

Cisco could end up being one of the best value picks from the entire draft, and it seems like just a matter of time before he supplants sixth-year Jacksonville veteran Jarrod Wilson, who wasn’t named to the final roster after starting in 30 games for the team in the last three years.