El Duderino
Posts: 2156
Joined: 7/27/2007
From: If you're not into the whole brevity thing ...
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My midseason grades:
QB: A - the only thing keeping this from A+ are the two key mistakes by Favre (though neither is entirely on him) against Pittsburgh. Even Jackson drove the length of the field for a TD in his only significant playing time. And Rosenfels might be the best 3rd QB in the history of the league.
WR: A- - a very nice blend of talent. Could use a bit more consistency getting open, but otherwise they are doing everything they need to do.
TE: B+ - Shiancoe continues to be a weapon in the passing game, though not to the extent we expected out of him. Kleinie and Dugan are good, but essentially limited to "OL who can go in motion". I particularly like how smart Dugan plays within his role.
RB: B+ - Talent-wise, they are an A to A+. But for whatever reason, they aren't playing as well as we know they can - particularly Taylor, but AD as well.
OL: B- - A- for pass-blocking, C- for run blocking. Honestly, I expected them to be worse, particularly in the pass game. But they're doing a pretty good job of keeping the old guy on his feet, which is a huge part of the team's success. Now, if they could just apply that performance to the running game ...
DL: A- - They've given up more than I'd like to see on the ground, but they also have given us the luxury of only sending four in the pass game much of the time. That's huge. And it looks like they're getting better as the season progresses.
LB: B- - We all know the score - we can't cover TEs. Outside of that, however, they are playing well. Good against the run, good getting to the QB, and reasonably good assisting the secondary against WRs when necessary.
CB: B+ - Have given up surprisingly few big plays to big name WRs. Sometimes the lesser known WRs do better than you'd expect, but I would guess that has a lot to do with us saying, "we'll let that guy beat us, but not your stud."
S: F+ - Ugh. Can't cover safeties. Out of position routinely in zone coverage. Forcing few turnovers. Nonexistant in run support (not that that really matters with this front seven). What DO they do well?
K: A - Longwell is steady as always. One blocked kick is his only unsightly stat, but that was on the line, not the kick.
P: C - Just inconsistent. He's had some brilliant play, but he's had some nasty shanks that have cost the team. If he can tighten up his consistency, he'll be among the best in the league.
Coverage: B- - Generally solid, but have given up a few big plays. Not the serious liability that they have been in recent years.
Returns: A - Harvin earns an A+ for his play, which has been essential to our success. Punt Returns could be better, but there haven't been the glaring breakdowns that we have seen with some PRs over the past few years.
OC: B - Trending upward. The team is coming to games prepared, they're making good in-game adjustments, and the play calling has gotten steadily more aggressive. Not the '98 Vikings or '07 Pats, but not bad at all. 27 or more points in all games but one - not too shabby.
DC: B- - There's too much talent on this D for them to be allowing teams back into games. Gameplans and preparation seem fine, but in-game adjustments appear non-existent.
HC: A- - Chilly finally has all the pieces he wants, and the results speak for themselves. The main area that I want to see improvement is in killer instinct. I think Chilly may have expressed this to Bevell this past week, as is evident from the fact that we went for the TD and didn't settle for the field goal on the last drive. Now he just needs to get the message across to Frasier.
Head office (Spielman, Brzezinski, Childress): A - Finally filled the most important hole on the team, shored up special teams, and have set us up for the future with good young talent, good cap position, and without giving up too many draft picks. The only thing keeping me from giving them an A+ is the safety position.
Owner: B+ - Has opened his wallet and made it clear that he wants to win more than anything else. Hasn't let the stadium issue be a distraction. And has stayed out of the spotlight, allowing his team and its play to speak for itself. Resolve the stadium situation, and bring back the classic uniforms, and you've got yourself a perfect owner.
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The Dude Abides.
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