First observation: I think the game plan with the first and second unit offenses was altered a bit due to this being a preseason game. Both Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder showcased their running ability against the Lions. But both quarterbacks stayed home in the Jets game, with zero rushing attempts between them. I'd say that was not simple circumstance - Mariota had one play in particular that just screamed for him to take off and run for the first down, but he stayed put and threw the ball anyway. That pass was a poor decision under normal circumstances, but the fact that Ridder also did not run at all suggests that it was simply a preseason thing and that he was intentionally staying put. The play calls at the end of the first offensive series also screamed preseason. The team had the 52-yard pass play to Kyle Pitts followed by the perfect rollout strike to Bryan Edwards and had first and goal at the nine yard line. And then the play selection suddenly became so vanilla that even Mike Mularkey would have called it too conservative. The first down run up the middle was laughable - the formation had brought everyone in to the line so that virtually the entire defense was stacked in the box. That was followed by two very short passes (the first was dropped) that had no realistic chance of reaching the end zone. Taken on its own, it would be frustrating. But not wanting to show anything on film with the season opener (against the division rival Saints) just two weeks away makes perfect sense. So... vanilla it is. Mariota's numbers were quite good (137.5 passer rating), but even that didn't tell the whole story. He completed six of ten pass attempts. One of the four incompletions was an intentional throwaway. Another was dropped. I believe the third was an intentional "misfire" where a completed pass would have resulted in a loss. (That was the play where I'm convinced he would have taken off and run for the first down had this been a regular season game.) The last one truly was off target, but it was placed away from the defender. Unfortunately, he also placed it behind his receiver on an "in" route so that it had no chance at being completed. Maybe more time working with his various receivers will help with that sort of placement. Grady Jarrett didn't play. Since he's one of the few utterly obvious roster locks, the coaching staff used the opportunity to get more reps for potential backup linemen. Jalen Dalton started in Jarrett's place. Dalton had a solid game and likely nailed down his roster spot and a spot in the active rotation on the line, except for one problem... he got hurt. So now the defensive line is down Vincent Taylor (IR), Eddie Goldman (retired), Bryce Rodgers (injury settlement) and Dalton (waived/injured), with Marlon Davidson (arthroscopic knee surgery) likely to miss a few weeks of the regular season as well. Outside of prospects Darrion Daniels and Abdullah Anderson, there is still no word of signings to reinforce the line. At least for now, it's shaping up to be Jarrett, Anthony Rush and Ta'Quon Graham (who had another solid showing) as the starting three. Behind them? It gets dicey, especially while Davidson is out. It's all prospects: Derrick Tangelo, Timmy Horne and Nick Thurman round out the group. Horne had the fumble recovery that set up the win against Detroit, but otherwise the group as a whole has done nothing convincing. The best candidate is still The Player To Be Named Later. At this point, I can only guess that the the team will be watching the waiver wire at the final roster cuts. It's also possible that they'll sign a veteran after week one, when salaries are no longer guaranteed for vested veterans. It's also possible they'll stick with what they have. But to me this group is a weakness and the most glaring weak point on the roster. Some of the prospects who stood out in the first game against Detroit got playing time with the first or second units against the Jets. Cornerback Dee Alford and receiver Jared Bernhardt both made the most of it with good games in their first half performances. Never mind the practice squad. Both of them are now making hard charges towards winning spots on the 53-man roster. Potential nickel back Mike Ford didn't have the kind of bad game against the Jets that he did against the Lions, but Alford and Darren Hall each had "flash" plays that stood out. Isaiah Oliver did participate in the joint practices, but the coaching staff held him out of the actual game. It's still likely that Oliver is the nickel back for the regular season, with Ford, Hall, Alford and Corey Ballantine as the main four contenders for either two or three backup spots. If I had to call it right now, I'd give the nod to Hall and Alford, with Ballantine still on the bubble and Ford not making it. Arthur Smith was pretty hard on Desmond Ridder when he came off the field on a couple of occasions. I suspect that at least one of the illegal motion penalties (and likely both) came because Ridder rushed to call the snap rather than making sure everyone was set. He also had a miscommunication, throwing a deep pass to nobody that resulted in an intentional grounding call. Those penalties were pervasive among the second and third unit lines. Swing tackle candidate Rick Leonard certainly didn't help his cause. He had two holding penalties while the team was in scoring position, with one coming on a run play at the 1-yard line. Both penalties helped to kill touchdown opportunities, with the team settling for a pair of field goals instead. For the second time this preseason, the offense had a play where the entire offense went on the snap... except that center Matt Hennessy didn't snap the ball. In both cases, the left guard ended up being tagged with the false start penalty. This week it was Jalen Mayfield who was made the fall guy as Hennessy worked with the second unit line. Meanwhile, Drew Dalman was solid with the first unit, so the battle for the starting center job is still too close to call. As a whole, the entire second half was ugly with a capital ugh. But then, third string QB Feleipe Franks hasn't even been practicing at quarterback. (He's converting to tight end - and is actually making a pretty good show of it.) So I'll sum up his night this way: he needed some reps, and he got some reps. I had named receiver Auden Tate as a "bonus pick" for players that I wanted to watch closely in this game, because he was in real danger of falling out of the hunt for a roster spot. Turns out the coaches had already decided that they had seen enough. Tate did not appear in the game and was one of the players released the next day to get down to the 80-man limit. Geronimo Allison was also among the cuts, which was a mild surprise considering that other prospects presumably farther down the list are still around. But he had plenty of snaps in both preseason games and had clearly been passed by others such as Jared Bernhardt and Cameron Batson in addition to the quintet already ahead of him (Drake London, Bryan Edwards, Damiere Byrd, KhaDarel Hodge, Olamide Zaccheaus). So the verdict is in, and Allison is out. Releasing him now will free up extra snaps in practice and the final preseason game to complete the evaluations of players like Frank Darby (late draft pick last year), Batson, Stanley Berryhill (undrafted rookie prospect) and newly arrived KeeSean Johnson.
Follow-up: Rick Leonard's two holding calls were indeed a disaster for his chances at winning the swing tackle role. The Falcons released him today and resigned tight end prospect Tucker Fisk, who had been part of the first round of roster cuts. I certainly understand releasing Leonard as soon as they decided he wasn't going to make the roster. I don't get signing a tight end to replace him though. Including Feleipe Franks, bringing back Fisk now puts eight tight ends on the 80-man roster, and the team already made it clear the others are ahead of Fisk when they released him the first time around.
