Found this on another site and thought it was pretty good evaluation. Enjoy the read and perspective:
1. Offense
• Quarterback: B -
Ryan Fitzpatrick was his typical self, razor sharp on short/medium throws to Marshall & Decker (curl, dig, routes) and a little bit off on deep throws (post, go routes). The anticipation just isn't there, plus it seemed like whenever he tried to go deep he had a defender in his face. But overall it was a good game for him, he was able to thread the needle when it really mattered, he didn't turn the ball over, he got rid of the ball quick, made some plays with his legs and found his open receivers. It would be great if we could get his completion % up to the mid 60s or at least in the 60s period, and it remains to be seen how far we can go without really having explosive plays in the passing game and somebody to stretch the field, especially now with Devin lost for the year (ACL). Before the game I'd predicted a 350 yds, 3 TD performance and he almost matched those numbers. That said, it was the Titans defense so let's not get too carried away.
• Running Backs: B
All three backs were solid for the most part. Chris Ivory (B) had a good game and was able to make a couple of bigplays happen with his bread & butter run up the middle where he sucks up all the defenders inside and then uses his speed to bounce to the outside. He absolutely blew up a couple of defenders on separate plays but he could have had an even better game if he didn't try so hard, sometimes it's better to just go up the middle for a gain of 3-4 yards instead of trying to make miracle plays happen by spinning your way to the sideline and get tackled for a loss instead. Bilal Powell (B +) continues to show off his vision and playmaking ability. He's developing into a nice weapon who out of the shotgun can run the ball if the line isn't crowded and get 10+ yards or catch the ball out of the backfield and create bigplays the way he has the last 2 games. A perfect compliment to Ivory. Stevan Ridley (C -) wasn't quite as good but to be fair it seems like whenever he's on the field the blocking isn't all that great so usually he has to fight his way back to the line of scrimmage first. He tries to force the bigplay but it isn't happening and you can see after each play how frustrated he is.
• FB / TE / HB: C
This is probably as good of a game as Tommy Bohanon (C) is going to have for us. While he's still ineffective at moving guys at least he hit the right holes and took out the right defenders for the backs to get a couple of extra yards, creating some holes. Jeff Cumberland (C) was a nonfactor again in the passing game but he had some good cutblocks. Kellen Davis (C+) had a similar performance but he played over twice as many snaps and he did a great job taking out the edge guy for Ivory to gain those extra yards on his runs along the sidelines. Quincy Enunwa (C) is still adjusting to his new position, doing some things he has never done. Blocking in space (cut blocks and tackling on special teams) still completely new to him so it's gonna take time and a lot of reps for him to improve there, I gave a few examples last week. When he's matched up with somebody head to head he does a great job sealing off the edge but his cutblocks for the most part weren't good, you can just tell he doesn't know yet how to pull those off. It's like watching somebody try to box for the first time. He also got flagged once for a chop block. It's a work in progress and it's not really his fault, he was just thrown into a situation nobody expected him to be in but I think with a strong offseason and if he focuses on getting better blocking in space and those things he can be a really good contributor next year. He also had a nice catch for 10 yards (after a cutblock when he was on the ground).
• Wide Receivers: B
The stats are a little misleading because of a blown coverage that resulted in a 69 yard catch and run TD, but the receivers did what they had to do. And if we would have pressed and tried to put up more points they could have had huge games and I doubt the Titans could have done anything to stop them. Brandon Marshall (B) has shown over the last few weeks why he's considered one of the best when it comes to getting yards after the catch, just a flawless performance. Eric Decker (B) has established himself as a clutch receiver, a go to guy on 3rd downs and arguably a top 3 redzone target. He always finds a hole in coverage and is almost impossible to cover 1 on 1 on short / medium throws, especially when he lines up in the slot and inside. That's pretty much it. Devin Smith (N/A) can't be graded because he didn't get any chances to make something happen. He was targeted a couple of times on deep balls and he was open a couple of other times when he ran his go/post routes, but it just wasn't his week and this is how his rookie year ends, the same way he started out (with an injury). Bummer. We'll see how Chan adjusts the offense now. Kerley is also banged up and somebody has to take over outside for Devin. Maybe that's Enunwa, maybe it's Decker. Either way it's a big loss.
• Offensive Line: A -
This was a tremendous performance by the entire offensive line. The run blocking wasn't as strong but the pass protection was very good. Ferguson (B +) took on a couple of different type of guys, edge rushers (LB Morgan) and big run stuffers (DE Casey) and he had no issues keeping either guy off Fitzpatrick. Carpenter (B +) had a couple of key blocks when he was asked to pull and he had to deal with a lot of stunt rushes / blitzes that didn't confuse him and where he'd pick up the right guy. One guy came through (DT Klug) for a sack once but that's bound to happen. Mangold (A -) is not getting any younger but he still shows the same effort you'd see out of a rookie. He runs downfield, he throws his body around just to get another block out of the play and protect the RB or QB and maybe get him an extra yard, it's really commending because you don't see guys over 30 do that anymore. His pass and run blocking was excellent all game. Winters (B -) probably had his best game of the season. He struggled bigtime last week with quick pass rushing DT's, this week playing a 3-4 defense he had a little more help and wasn't asked to block those guys 1 on 1 anymore. He threw a couple of outstanding blocks on screen passes to Powell and he had good chemistry with Mangold and Breno for the most part so nobody snuck through. Breno (B -) also had a solid performance. He got a lot of help from Kellen Davis in the running game and in pass protection but he held his own. But he has to stop trying to fight guys and get in everybody's face after the snap all the time, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten flagged for that at least once every game so far. It's too much.
Scroll down for Part II (Defense).
"I look forward to building an organization that people can be proud of, that's built with character, that's built with toughness, built with discipline."
- Eric Mangini
1. Offense
• Quarterback: B -
Ryan Fitzpatrick was his typical self, razor sharp on short/medium throws to Marshall & Decker (curl, dig, routes) and a little bit off on deep throws (post, go routes). The anticipation just isn't there, plus it seemed like whenever he tried to go deep he had a defender in his face. But overall it was a good game for him, he was able to thread the needle when it really mattered, he didn't turn the ball over, he got rid of the ball quick, made some plays with his legs and found his open receivers. It would be great if we could get his completion % up to the mid 60s or at least in the 60s period, and it remains to be seen how far we can go without really having explosive plays in the passing game and somebody to stretch the field, especially now with Devin lost for the year (ACL). Before the game I'd predicted a 350 yds, 3 TD performance and he almost matched those numbers. That said, it was the Titans defense so let's not get too carried away.
• Running Backs: B
All three backs were solid for the most part. Chris Ivory (B) had a good game and was able to make a couple of bigplays happen with his bread & butter run up the middle where he sucks up all the defenders inside and then uses his speed to bounce to the outside. He absolutely blew up a couple of defenders on separate plays but he could have had an even better game if he didn't try so hard, sometimes it's better to just go up the middle for a gain of 3-4 yards instead of trying to make miracle plays happen by spinning your way to the sideline and get tackled for a loss instead. Bilal Powell (B +) continues to show off his vision and playmaking ability. He's developing into a nice weapon who out of the shotgun can run the ball if the line isn't crowded and get 10+ yards or catch the ball out of the backfield and create bigplays the way he has the last 2 games. A perfect compliment to Ivory. Stevan Ridley (C -) wasn't quite as good but to be fair it seems like whenever he's on the field the blocking isn't all that great so usually he has to fight his way back to the line of scrimmage first. He tries to force the bigplay but it isn't happening and you can see after each play how frustrated he is.
• FB / TE / HB: C
This is probably as good of a game as Tommy Bohanon (C) is going to have for us. While he's still ineffective at moving guys at least he hit the right holes and took out the right defenders for the backs to get a couple of extra yards, creating some holes. Jeff Cumberland (C) was a nonfactor again in the passing game but he had some good cutblocks. Kellen Davis (C+) had a similar performance but he played over twice as many snaps and he did a great job taking out the edge guy for Ivory to gain those extra yards on his runs along the sidelines. Quincy Enunwa (C) is still adjusting to his new position, doing some things he has never done. Blocking in space (cut blocks and tackling on special teams) still completely new to him so it's gonna take time and a lot of reps for him to improve there, I gave a few examples last week. When he's matched up with somebody head to head he does a great job sealing off the edge but his cutblocks for the most part weren't good, you can just tell he doesn't know yet how to pull those off. It's like watching somebody try to box for the first time. He also got flagged once for a chop block. It's a work in progress and it's not really his fault, he was just thrown into a situation nobody expected him to be in but I think with a strong offseason and if he focuses on getting better blocking in space and those things he can be a really good contributor next year. He also had a nice catch for 10 yards (after a cutblock when he was on the ground).
• Wide Receivers: B
The stats are a little misleading because of a blown coverage that resulted in a 69 yard catch and run TD, but the receivers did what they had to do. And if we would have pressed and tried to put up more points they could have had huge games and I doubt the Titans could have done anything to stop them. Brandon Marshall (B) has shown over the last few weeks why he's considered one of the best when it comes to getting yards after the catch, just a flawless performance. Eric Decker (B) has established himself as a clutch receiver, a go to guy on 3rd downs and arguably a top 3 redzone target. He always finds a hole in coverage and is almost impossible to cover 1 on 1 on short / medium throws, especially when he lines up in the slot and inside. That's pretty much it. Devin Smith (N/A) can't be graded because he didn't get any chances to make something happen. He was targeted a couple of times on deep balls and he was open a couple of other times when he ran his go/post routes, but it just wasn't his week and this is how his rookie year ends, the same way he started out (with an injury). Bummer. We'll see how Chan adjusts the offense now. Kerley is also banged up and somebody has to take over outside for Devin. Maybe that's Enunwa, maybe it's Decker. Either way it's a big loss.
• Offensive Line: A -
This was a tremendous performance by the entire offensive line. The run blocking wasn't as strong but the pass protection was very good. Ferguson (B +) took on a couple of different type of guys, edge rushers (LB Morgan) and big run stuffers (DE Casey) and he had no issues keeping either guy off Fitzpatrick. Carpenter (B +) had a couple of key blocks when he was asked to pull and he had to deal with a lot of stunt rushes / blitzes that didn't confuse him and where he'd pick up the right guy. One guy came through (DT Klug) for a sack once but that's bound to happen. Mangold (A -) is not getting any younger but he still shows the same effort you'd see out of a rookie. He runs downfield, he throws his body around just to get another block out of the play and protect the RB or QB and maybe get him an extra yard, it's really commending because you don't see guys over 30 do that anymore. His pass and run blocking was excellent all game. Winters (B -) probably had his best game of the season. He struggled bigtime last week with quick pass rushing DT's, this week playing a 3-4 defense he had a little more help and wasn't asked to block those guys 1 on 1 anymore. He threw a couple of outstanding blocks on screen passes to Powell and he had good chemistry with Mangold and Breno for the most part so nobody snuck through. Breno (B -) also had a solid performance. He got a lot of help from Kellen Davis in the running game and in pass protection but he held his own. But he has to stop trying to fight guys and get in everybody's face after the snap all the time, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten flagged for that at least once every game so far. It's too much.
Scroll down for Part II (Defense).
"I look forward to building an organization that people can be proud of, that's built with character, that's built with toughness, built with discipline."
- Eric Mangini