HawkBloggerWife was in charge of watching the kids while I watched this entire game, and you can only imagine how excited she was that a pre-season game went into OT. For my part, I love the second half. The game had a little of everything, and was pretty entertaining for a pre-season contest. In fact, both Hawks games have been pretty fun to watch so far.
That said, there was more negative than positive in what I saw.
The Bad
Sean Locklear
Word is that he is out the remainder of the pre-season with a sprained left knee. Crap. It will be good to see what Ray Willis has got, but we really need to get healthy on the line.
Charlie Frye
This guy looked like an abused animal; skittish, undiciplined and without confidence. I can’t remember the last time I saw an NFL QB throw off his back foot so often. Oh wait, we just played Rex Grossman. Anyway, all you folks wanting to see Seneca play WR just had a major blow delivered with that game. We lose any game Frye starts at this point.
Courtney Taylor/Ben Obamanu
Okay, just the fact that I can continue to put them in a single bucket because neither had done a single thing worth mentioning is really not good. I certainly hope Logan Payne is getting a look with the #1 offense because he will at least be a superior run blocker if he plays. One of these two guys better have a massive game next week.
TJ Duckett
This guy is exactly who I thought he was, and that’s a very bad thing. I still believe Justin Forsett is a better short yardage runner than Duckett. He is a massive waste of roster space.
Julius Jones
He looked like a straight-line runner without much speed. His numbers weren’t bad, but he looked like he was running in molasses all night. There was a noticeable pickup when Morris entered the game (and even more when Forsett did). Remember the concept of upgrading a position means that you bring in people that are better than what you already have.
Special Teams
Blah blah blah, it’s the pre-season. Don’t really care, but they looked bad.
John Carlsen
It was a mixed bag for Carlsen, but two false starts and at least one costly holding call were things Holmgren hates to see. He did continue to make great catches away from his body. He is our best receiver at TE, no question.
Mansfield Wrotto
This guy may not make the team. He was getting OWNED all night. I saw him pushed into the backfield over and over again on run plays, pass plays, timeouts, you name it. I don’t see the fire there or the talent.
The Good
Defense
Great showing by the entire defense. The Bears offense did nothing. They also were given many opportunities thanks to Frye’s crappy play, but held their ground nonetheless. The run defense was particuarly solid and the pass rush was promising.
David Hawthorne
That guy makes the roster without a doubt. We probably won’t see him on the field until next year, but I look forward to it. I still haven’t seen him in coverage, where Lofa excels, but he plays the run with ferocity.
Josh Wilson
Nice game for a kid who stunk it up last week. Great pass defense early that saves a TD. He is also a good blitzer and showed that a few times again.
LeRoy Hill
He’s good. Thought you should know.
Steve Vallos
I’m grading a curve as he did have a holding penalty, but he was mostly invisible. That is a good thing. If he can just hold his own, we can function.
Brandon Coutu
It was good to see him make some longish FGs. I liked seeing Mare’s deep kickoffs even more.
Jordan Kent
Nice first half for the kid. He looked like an NFL WR. This was the first game I’ve seen him make plays on something other than a fly route or fade. That’s important because we need players who can do more than run fast in a straight line. His hands were pretty good as well, although he missed a TD right through his hands that would have been really bad in a regular season game.
Logan Payne
He made plays when he was given a chance. Nice hands, nice drive turning upfield for extra yards. Fantastic blocking. On Forsett’s long run in the 4th qtr, he drove his man 20 yards downfield. Joe J has returned?