Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Bucs had some solid production from their rookie draft class in 2023 — see how we graded it at the end of the year?
The Buccaneers’ 2023 draft class was not the splashiest, but it would be hard to argue that it wasn’t one of the most impactful. Five of their drafted rookies played at least 500 snaps, more than any other team in the NFL. Much of Tampa Bay’s success including their postseason run is owed to the contributions of their rookie class.
Here are the season grades for the Bucs’ 2023 draft class:
Bama Report Card: Grading Alabama’s 2021 season
It was a Jekyll and Hyde kind of a season for Nick Saban and the 2021 Alabam football team. There were moments when it looked like a vintage Alabama team, but there were also moments that left you scratching your head in disbelief.
A lot of the inconsistency is understandable. The 2021 version of the Tide was not only full of youth and inexperience, but they also battled several key injuries throughout the entire season. In fact, you could make the argument that Nick Saban and his bunch squeezed about as much out the season as anyone could have hoped for.
Most programs would be incredibly happy with Alabama’s “down season” if that meant making it to the CFP national championship game. But as most of you know, Alabama isn’t most schools. The standard is high, therefore fan expectations are even higher.
Now that the season has ended and we have had a couple of days to reflect on the season, let’s take a look at the final report card for this 2021 Alabama football team.
Texas received a lower grade than Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and West Virginia.
It’s no secret Texas underperformed throughout the 2020 college football season. Continue reading “Big 12 Football: USA TODAY Sports season end grades”
The running back position was seen as the weak-link on the offensive side for the Bears heading into the 2019 season, and that proved true.
The running back position was seen as the weak-link on the offensive side for the Bears heading into the 2019 season. After trading running back Jordan Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles and drafting his replacement, did they do enough to improve the position not only for last season, but moving forward?
Here are the grades for each Bears running back for the 2019 season:
The crown jewel of the Bears 2019 draft class, the third-round selection was billed as the “missing piece” on offense whose skill set was the perfect fit in coach Matt Nagy’s offense. Montgomery’s rookie season, however, didn’t exactly take off like many hoped.
Taking over for Howard, who was traded last offseason, Montgomery struggled to get into a flow early in the season primarily due to his questionable usage, only carrying the ball an average of 12 times through the team’s first six games. When he did get the ball, Montgomery chose to show patience when finding the hole instead of bursting through, which burned him from time to time behind an offensive line ranked 29th in run blocking by Football Outsiders with 3.86 adjusted line yards.
Still, the former Iowa State Cyclone showcased his bruising running ability nearly every carry, refusing to go down on first contact and even carrying multiple defenders for five or more yards. His season was disappointing considering the expectations prior to the season, but a significant amount of blame falls on the play calling and offensive line woes. He finished the season with 242 carries for 889 rushing yards, averaging 3.7 yards per carry (ranked 41st in the NFL among players with 100 carries more).
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