QB= C-. Glennon sucks, Petermen sucks, Connor Cook sucks, Don Hollas sucks, Kizer sucks, Hostetler rocks, but that's all irrelevant. The one thing I expected to find out this year was what the deal with Carr is. With Antonio Brown, Ty Williams, Waller, etc. in the mix we could finally judge Carr accurately instead of blaming his woes on a bad supporting cast. Then AB flaked, Williams got hurt and suddenly Hunter Renfrow was the best WR in the building. Until he too got hurt. I think we figured Carr out anyway though and I'm afraid we're squarely in the Dalton zone. He's not good enough to win with but he's not bad enough to just dump without a plan. The problem is that he is far above average on the short to medium passing game. He will not though, throw deep, extend plays with his legs or improvise at all. If the play gets out of whack somehow he just spikes the ball wherever he is on the field. If he feels pressure, spike. WR lined up wrong, spike. He has to scramble, spike. First down, fourth down, right before half, last play of the game, SPIKE. He just has no gunslinger in him at all. Infuriating. Despite all of that though, with a really good running game and a absolute disaster on defense, they were winning. And the ship didn't fall apart until injuries on the defense remove whatever playmaking ability they had. If he had a great running game and an average defense, they would probably be Wild Card contenders but nothing more. I think the only way the team should move on is if they draft one and can benefit from the cheap contract. No Winston, Fitzmagic or Brady types.
RB= A+. Hey, this unit looks good! Just run it back again. Who knows, maybe even Crowell gets back and contributes. Who knows.
WR= D. Yikes. Injuries to Williams, Renfrow and the exit of Antonio Brown left this unit a mess. Williams looked pretty good when he was playing but he's not a number one guy. Renfrow is a great slot guy maybe but also not the guy. Even if Carr could or would throw deep, there wouldn't be anyone down there to catch it. This desperately needs upgrading with speed and more speed.
TE= A. Holy shit another winner. Waller looks like the real deal and Foster Moreau looks pretty good too! This could be a poor man's Gronk/Hernandez minus all the murder. When defenses realized that Carr was just going to go short all the time, this unit suffered as the LB's and S's just ignored the receivers and tried to stop these guys. Without an upgrade at WR, it'll happen again.
OL= B. Pretty good, all things considered. Miller was quite a bit better than last year, Trent Brown was as good as advertised, Hudson was Hudson and even Incognito was pretty good. Especially run blocking. Depth and age are a problem though. When Brown, Incognito or Jackson got hurt the replacements were terrifying. It also seems really hard to believe that Incognito can stay playing well and out of trouble for a whole nother year. Should be at least decent going forward. It better be since running the ball is the factor that team success hinges on, entirely.
Coaching - I have no idea what compels Gruden to do what he does. They run the ball on approximately 107% of the time on first down. Short pass on 2nd, incomplete on 3rd. Like clockwork. This is the most damning critique of Carr in my opinion. Gruden doesn't trust him or the receivers at all. And maybe he shouldn't. Makes me very nervous about this offseason though and the possibility of watching Jordan Love start the first game in Vegas. I'd still rather have him then some of these other playoff coaches who seem to have no comprehension of basic space and time.
Next up, the Defense. AHHHHHH!
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