Cam Newton Shines vs Arizona Cardinals: Opening Day Thoughts on Rookies Around the League

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Eagles vs Rams

The thing to note here is who was Not playing. Both Robert Quinn and Danny Watkins were healthy scratches. Watkins was not a surprise. If you read Mocks the Watkins scratch won’t surprise you. I had him rated much, much lower than elsewhere. Third-fourth round. Didn’t like the pick then, don’t like it now. It’s saying a lot considering how bad the Eagles offensive line looked at times today.

Greg Salas and Lance Kendricks each got their first N.F.L. catches. The Rams have loved what they have seen from Kendricks (said the announcers during the game).

Casey Matthews had 4 tackles, but the run defense for the Eagles was not good today. Steven Jackson is a stud. He only had 2 carries though before leaving the game with an injury. When Cadillac Williams came in the Eagles made him look like he should have been a top five pick in the draft like he was.

How explosive is the Eagles offense. Well, considering I just ripped their running defense and OL play and they still won by 18 points says all you need to know.

Sam Bradford and Danny Amendola both left the games with injuries.Tough breaks for the Rams. They’ll play the Giants next week in the battle of the all IR teams (well I’m exaggerating for the Rams).

Tennessee/Jacksonville

The headliners for this game would be the quarterbacks if they played, but they didn’t. Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert watched their teams battle it out. The Star of this game offensively was Kenny Britt. He’s a bit of a knucklehead, but he’s very talented. akeem Ayers had a solid stat sheet: 7 tackles, 4 solo.

Jamie Harper had a few nice plays, but he didn’t touch the ball a lot. Tyson Alualu is just a good player.

Bengals and Browns

First off, did you take my advice? In our NFLmocks picks The Bengals were one of my two locks of the week this week. The Browns were favored by 7 points! WHY????! The Browns should not be favored by 7 points vs everyone. (My other lock is the Patriots -7 with the Dolphins). Anyway, onto the young guys.

Andy Dalton

Left the game with an injury. When he played though he didn’t throw an interception. 10 completed passes for 81 yards out of 14 attempts. As you can tell from the stat line it was a lot of dink and dunking. I’m pretty sure the Bengals will be picking a talented QB in the 2012 N.F.L. draft.

a.J. Green

He had 1 big catch for 41 yards and a touchdown. I’m not worried about Green though. he’s talented and is just a complete difference maker. The Bengals will be glad they drafted him for a long time.

Jermaine Gresham

Expect a good year from Gresham. Whether Andy Dalton or Gradkowski is quarterbacking this team, Gresham will see a lot of opportunities. Gresham is a very talented receiver and had a very nice game today. 6 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals have Gresham to control the middle of the field and A.J. Green to open the field up with Cedric Benson running like he did today the Bengals offense could be much, much better than people anticipated.

Browns

Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard

I didn’t get the first round pick, but in a prisoner of the moment statement. Am I crazy? Taylor spent much of his day making plays. 6 tackles from the defensive tackle spot is impressive. I still think the Browns defense will struggle this year and they have to take two steps back before they go forward (which is why I had them ranked 30th in my most recent power rankings), but Taylor is a nice building block.

Sheard had 3 tackles today. he wasn’t as impressive as Taylor, but was solid.

Joe Haden

Haden’s a champ. He’s always steady in coverage. Today he tossed in a sack to boot.

Colt McCoy

Not a great game for McCoy in my eyes. His stat line looks all right. 19 for 4 with 2 touchdowns and an interception for 213 yards. But this is the Bengals we’re talking about? He’ll be fine. He needs more weapons.

Mohamed Massaquoi

Hey a big play made by Massaquoi! Massaquoi could be a nice number two WR in this league, but he needs that dominant 1 across from him.

Giants at Redskins

Giants

This is forthcoming in detail on Wednesday and Thursday.

Redskins

Anthony Armstong

His stat line was not impressive. 2 catches for 24 yards and a touchdown, but this man has ability. He’s only in his second year, but he’s already 28. He runs fast and makes good adjustment on passes. He has inconsistent hands though a big no no for a N.F.L. WR.

Ryan Kerrigan

If you watched any highlight shows you saw the awesome play he made for the pick six. He was also generating pressure and blew up some run plays. Played really well. Didn’t watch his coverage, which is a big adjustment for him, but with Eli running for his life, coverage wasn’t much of an issue today.

Dallas Cowboys vs New York Jets

Sean Lee.

Lee Stood out to me. I watched him a lot last year and he looked hesitant at times. Tonight he was flying all over the field and making plays. He was playing very fast and showed the ability that made him a second round pick last year. The Cowboys have Lee and Carter in their 34 with Ware and Spencer for the foreseeable future. That’s a very talented linebacker group. Is it Pittsburgh Steelers good? Not sure, but I bet it could be pretty close if Lee continues to play the way he did tonight.

I actually started to write this about halftime of the Jets-Cowboys game when Lee was all over the place in the run game and coverage, but he also had a pick six. Looked great tonight.

Dez Bryant

What else can you say about this guy? This is why players are called “Character concerns”. You don’t have a character concern with a late round pick because most late round picks don’t last anyway. But when it pans out you get a Dez Bryant. He’s probably The most physically gifted WR in the league right now. When they don’t pan out. They’re Pac Man or Ryan Leaf. He did leave the field early in the third quarter.

Tyron Smith

Good. Has played well so far.

Rest of the Young Cowboys offensive line

No es bueno.

Demarco Murray

Murray has 15 yards on 3 offensive touches.

Jets

Kyle Wilson

Hey Kyle Wilson’s on the field and not sucking. That’s a huge improvement from last year. I like Wilsons tenacity and natural ability. Looks much more comfortable this year than last year.

Muhammad Wilkerson

Didn’t even notice him much. Not standing out. I’ll watch him closely moving forward.

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