Hi All-
Received multiple questions regarding my outlook on the performance by Will Hernandez's game against CLE. Below is a plank by play look at it.
All this said...and yes my grade on him out of college was not high...I do not view week 1 preseason, playing a few drives, as anything to be overly excited or upset about. A lot of veterans need a few weeks to get on track, let alone rookies in their first live NFL action.
In addition, I try as hard as I can to be objective with my grading and usually don't let my college grades impact them. Is it possible I may be subconsciously biased? Sure....as I think that is the case with most. But no, I am not looking down on Hernandez from the beginning.
PLAY 1
Run to right side. Hernandez picked up a blitzing LB Jamie Collins to his outside shoulder, had zero impact on the play for better or worse.
GRADE: NEUTRAL
PLAY 2
Quick pass to outside right. Manning threw the ball 1.55 seconds after the snap. Hernandez cut off DT Larry Ogunjobi inside, but Ogunjobi was the closest defender to Manning as he threw, as he used an effective arm-under rush move and was still right on Eli as he thew despite the short drop back. That said, no impact on the play.
GRADE: NEUTRAL
PLAY 3
Short run to middle right. No gain. Hernandez double teamed DT Jamie Meder, keeping him out of the action.
GRADE: POSITIVE
PLAY 4
Short pass right on 3rd down. Manning threw the ball 1.6 seconds after the snap. Hernandez stoned Ogunjobi, good hand placement and balance.
GRADE: POSITIVE
PLAY 5
Run right, tackled for a loss of 2 yards. Hernandez was blown off the ball as he tried to move laterally by Ogunjobi. He was ousted back 3-4 yards and that was why Barkley had to adjust his path and in to a TFL.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
PLAY 6
Playaction pass, incomplete up the middle. Hernandez pulled to outside right, picked up DE Emmanuel Ogbah, got his hands on. Manning threw the ball 2.3 seconds after the snap, 1 second after playation.
GRADE: POSITIVE
PLAY 7
3rd and 12, short pass middle. Manning threw the ball 2.5 seconds after the snap. Hernandez rid undersized pass rusher Chris Smith to the outside, easily controlled him. Received late help from Halapio.
GRADE: POSITIVE
PLAY 8
(2nd drive)
3 yard run up the middle. Hernandez worked to second level, pursued two defenders, LB Jamie Collins and S Gabriel Peppers. Both ended up on the tackle. Collins worked off the block and Peppers went untouched.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
PLAY 9
Outside run left, ended in 2 yard loss. Hernandez was in a zone block concept, first on DE Myles Garrett who ended near the TFL, second on LB Joe Schobert, who undercut Hernandez and was in on the action. The run wasn't gong anywhere, but Hernandez didn't move guys or lock anyone up.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
PLAY 10
Myles Garrett was called offsides, so this didn't technically count. However Manning was sacked by LB Michael Kendricks. He blitzed late and Hernandez was assigned to him. He got decent initial contact, but Kendricks escaped inside and took down Manning.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
PLAY 11
Short pass right. Manning threw the ball 1.4 seconds after the snap. Kendricks blitzed inside again, Hernandez didn't move his feet in time and Kendricks was in Manning's face as he threw. That was graded as a pressure.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
PLAY 12
Short pass right. Manning threw the ball 1.7 seconds after the snap. Hernandez and Halapio double teamed Ogunjobi effectively.
GRADE: POSITIVE
GRADE: POSITIVE
PLAY 13
Run right for 4 yards. Hernandez was blown off the ball by Jamie Meder and knocked back 2-3 yards right away. He was high off the snap. Stewart adjusted correctly and it did not matter.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
PLAY 14
Outside run right. Hernandez and Solder double teamed Garrett on the opposite side of the play. No impact for better or worse.
GRADE: NEUTRAL
PLAY 15
Incomplete screen pass right. Hernandez chipped Ogunjobi with a solid punch then locked up Kendricks in space. Very good job there, had the pass been completed, it would have been a nice gain thanks to Hernandez.
GRADE: POSITIVE
PLAY 16
Manning sacked. Terrible miscommunication inside by the guards, center, and running back. Three of the 4 were left on the ground. Hernandez whiffed on his late attempt to pick up Jamie Collins on inside-left blitz. Who knows who was supposed to block who on that play...however Hernandez didn't touch anyone and looked late to react.
GRADE: NEGATIVE
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6 positives. 6 negatives. 3 neutrals.
For context...the worst graded games last year (Bobby Hart and John Jerry)...they had about 15 negative plays over the course of the entire game.
Again big picture...and not being overly detailed about grades....this was not a good performance from an objective perspective.
...thanks for the detailed insights!
Remind me not to get into a debate with you about the performance of any particular player.
grades on 6 passing plays (ignoring one penalty): 1 negative 5 positive
And he MIGHT be
Speed of the game probably a lot to do with some whiffs, but I think you also thought in your write ups that Hernandez doesn't move his feet well.
Weren't you stating, as fact, that Lauletta's release is so slow that, along with his "noodle arm" his limit will be career backup?
Sy's review says the complete opposite so I'd love to hear you back up your argument.
grades on 6 passing plays (ignoring one penalty): 1 negative 5 positive
I was puzzled by that as well. I thought his strength was in the running game.
He did not look timid. I think it was play design. Quick passes...
Most rookie OL will tell you that the transition from college to NFL is so much about speed, hand placement, and learning to routinely play the game with your feet and not your hands.
Play design.
We took Shaun Williams and the Steelers took Faneca a couple of selection later. And they didn't need a guard, we did.
Anyhow, let's not give up on Will Hernandez just yet.
He was a fairly high pick and it was the guy's first pre-season game and it turned out to be a mixed bag. I think that is about what most people would expect. A little too early to put him in Canton or conclude that it was bad pick.
The key word here is instant. It's not a knock on his potential. It's just crazy how many people here think that a 2nd round rookie is going to be an automatic good starter in 2018. Realistically this line has one or two guys it can count on to be solid all year. Expect to see another year of short, quick passes.
Anyone should be able to respect that. The hope is he (and the rest of the line) improve as they work together more.
I realize he's a rookie and not All Pro yet, but I was surprised to see that considering his strength.
Welcome to the pros!
Impossible! :)
Will be interesting to evaluate the two and see how it plays out after Year One.
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grades on 6 running plays: 5 negative 1 positive
grades on 6 passing plays (ignoring one penalty): 1 negative 5 positive
I was puzzled by that as well. I thought his strength was in the running game.
PFF rates him highly in both. Arguably they like his pass protection more.
I think I am able to separate pre-conceived notions.
Example being Braden Smith, whom I wanted NY to draft over Hernandez...equally struggled in his debut. Was beaten badly on a sack by Rasheem Green.
Quote:
But how much of the assessment is unconscious bias to be consistent with your pre-draft grade on him?
I think I am able to separate pre-conceived notions.
Example being Braden Smith, whom I wanted NY to draft over Hernandez...equally struggled in his debut. Was beaten badly on a sack by Rasheem Green.
Thanks. Both guys played their first in game action ever. I'm sure they'll do better with time.
Quote:
But how much of the assessment is unconscious bias to be consistent with your pre-draft grade on him?
I think I am able to separate pre-conceived notions.
Example being Braden Smith, whom I wanted NY to draft over Hernandez...equally struggled in his debut. Was beaten badly on a sack by Rasheem Green.
I predicted Braden Smith would have been mentioned much sooner in this thread by someone. From all the draft talk I actually went to the colts forum to see how he did.
Chris Snee wasn't Chris Snee his first year either.
It absolutely is. I'mnot damning him by any means, I hope I don't come across that way. I care less about his performance, more about progress weekly. Learn from the mistakes.
It means NOTHING other than he's a rookie. It's not like every game he's going to be a good runblocker. If he were going against Snacks and WH was on another team, would you expect that matchup to be "even?" Willie is going to be all over the map. That should be the expectation with the hope he progresses with less and less inconsistent outings. But expect some games he gets his ass-kicked trying to run block.
Further, there is this flawed thinking because you've improved individually at an OL spot it means your OL will be fine. That's misguided. If for example the Giants center and their RT play pretty bad, it doesn't matter how much better a guy like Solder is vs last year's mess at LT. Unless you have a beast or two, BUT nobody on the OL is a beast. Solder is good but he is NOT a beast.
One final point. An indirect comment but it has to do with Willie too. I'm slightly concerned our GM might be a complete idiot if he doesn't believe in "positional value." I'm hopeful in the context he's speaking he just thought the QB's positional value didn't trump the star quality of SB. But it's something to look out for.
Hopefully he isn't that idiotic which would possibly mean he took Willie just because he's big. Thus he's possibly too dumb or stubborn to think out-of-the-box from his original beliefs (just one way to win.). As of right now I'm hopeful he knows what he's doing. Love to see the GM's philosophy kickass as well as Willie.
I love his style that he wants to see play on the field. I'm cautious though that a combination of the game changing and his stubborness may have passed him by.