(by Ross Jacobs)
All backups here once again, but in this case I’m not too disappointed because there were several rookies and younger players I wanted to see. Granted, none of them really blew me away, but still, it was good to see them in some action.
The game itself was a defensive slugfest, two of the best defensive coordinators in the league completely outclassing the offensive side of the ball. You better believe Jesse Minter is going to have this Baltimore defense cooking sooner rather than later.
Player Notes...
-- Of course the big story here was JJ McCarthy once again, and all I’ve seen from anyone is blasting him for a single throw and calling him garbage for it. One single throw, as if the whole rest of the game didn’t matter and this one play (which they can’t even interpret correctly) is all the proof that he’s irredeemable. It’s completely insane at this point. Why does this poor kid get absolutely trashed for every tiny mistake (perceived or not) and yet somehow Caleb Williams and Cam Ward and Justin Fields just skate on by despite their numerous flaws and issues? I will never ever understand what the catalyst is that causes the masses to dogpile one player and not others.
But as to McCarthy, I thought he played a pretty decent game overall. He was mostly under control, going through his reads, perhaps a little hastily at times, he was making the right decisions for the most part, and he even showed off a little razzle dazzle, escaping pressure and firing off a 50-yard completion to a receiver in 1-on-1 coverage.
The aforementioned “bad” play, what everyone perceived as a gross overthrow on a “routine” goalline pass, was actually not even bad. If you watch the play, the edge rusher came speeding around the corner and jumped at the last second. McCarthy adjusted his throw and was forced to give the ball more lift to try and get it up and around the leaping defender. But then the receiver being targeted gave the absolute poorest effort jumping I’ve ever seen. He barely even left the ground. Was the ball a bit too high? Yeah, but McCarthy had to throw it high or else it would have been batted down. But the receiver could have helped him out and at least left his feet…
All that to say, even if you assign McCarthy all the blame for that single throw, it still hardly means he’s a bust. That is just lazy analysis and, frankly, bullying at this point, people piling onto a 23-year-old that’s already fought through hell just to be where he’s at.
I’ve mentioned it before, but we just witnessed Sam Darnold become a halfway decent QB and Superbowl winner seven years into his career. He was complete crap before that, but he worked his way into a good player over time. These QBs need time and reps, and it is just downright idiotic at this point to totally write a guy off simply because he’s not Patrick Mahomes right out of the box.
I have no idea what will happen with McCarthy in the future. I’d like to believe Kevin O’Connell is not so stupid as to ditch him this quickly, but then I’m rapidly losing faith that he’s a real QB whisperer the way we’ve been giving him credit. McCarthy needs more time developing, that much is obvious, but maybe a new environment really is best for him. Who knows. All I do know is the kid has all the talent to make it eventually and he’s got the moxie and the mental fortitude to fight through the criticism. I’m not betting against a player like that.
But enough about McCarthy. Multiple other interesting players got a little time here.
-- All offseason I keep hearing rave reviews from Demond Claiborne. I scouted him before the draft and I wasn’t impressed--and watching him here I’m still not impressed. He’s the equivalent of these small, fast receivers that can’t get touched in summer practices and so they look like superstars blazing big play after big play. But then the pads come on and contact is a real thing and there are no wide-open gaps to run through, and suddenly those little fast guys don’t look quite so good when they can be tackled.
-- Ditto Ravens rookie receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, another superstar in practice but fraud in real games. He’s skinny, can’t fight through press coverage, and can’t separate. The only thing he’s really good at is catching alleyoop balls. You can’t survive in the NFL like that.
-- Much more impressive was his fellow rookie Elijah Sarratt, a real, professional wide receiver. He only got a single catch here, a screen pass that didn’t go for much, but the confidence he caught the ball with and the movement skills were legit. Unfortunately, I was dismayed to see Sarratt running extremely late in the game with the soon to be cut guys.
I can’t imagine they would actually cut the 4th round pick, but it’s disappointing to see him so far back in the pecking order. For my money he’s already the second-best receiver on the team. He’ll become a starter eventually, but it may take some time. My comp for him, Jakobi Meyers, was 28 before he put up his first 1000 yard season.
-- My QB crush from the draft, Joe Fagnano, got a good amount of time here and he looked as advertised, cool, calm, working the progressions and delivering the ball smoothly and with excellent precision. He really does look like diet Joe Burrow. It was egregious that he was undrafted and friggin Drew Allar was a 3rd round pick.
-- The two rookie TEs for Baltimore look decent, nothing special, nice developmental guys.
-- Sadly we didn’t get to see Adam Randall here. He’s out with some kind of physical ailment. But I was dying to see him so I looked up all his touches from the Week 1 game and…meh. He looks ok, definitely improving his vision, physicality, and recognition of blocks, but I don’t see any signs of the high end athleticism either. He looks like Phil Mafah, which is fine, it’s something, but Mafah was a late round pick precisely because he’s not very athletic or explosive. I was hoping to see more from Randall.
-- And my final note is on much maligned Vikings rookie 1st round pick, nose tackle Caleb Banks. Many people said the Vikings reached for Banks with the 18th pick, and I disagreed strongly. I feel they actually got a nice discount on him because of the injury he suffered to prematurely end his final college season. If we had more tape on him, Banks easily could have been a top 10 overall pick at that size and with those movement skills. The exact same thing happened with Jeffrey Simmons. And man, in his short moment here, it’s easy to see that vision. Banks is a specimen out there, and when/if he gets his fitness right and learns what the heck he’s doing out there, he’s going to be a force.
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