clyde21 wrote:arich35 wrote:I am fine with Colby taking over and hopefully securing that spot for the future. This draft class has a chance to be pretty damn good with Stout, Sigle and Colby being later round picks as starters already
our later round guys always contribute, it's the earlier rounds that are the problem.
we'll see with Mykel but early returns on Alfred aren't good
Collins was a lot better in this one. He was strong against double teams, got a legit pressure, absolutely blew up his guy on a couple plays. His PFF score was solid, but also likely hurt by some missed tackles downfield. He could stand to clean up his angles, but you don't often hear 330-pound DTs and "downfield" in the same sentence, so I'll certainly take it.
It hasn't all been great with the rookies, but I'm excited that we can kind of see the trajectory for these guys and it looks really promising.
Williams has generally been a rock against the outside run, and he's already making plays on the interior as a pass-rusher next to Bosa, too. He's probably never going to be an elite edge rusher. Fine. If he can be elite against the run and then a good inside pass-rusher who plays 60+% of snaps, that's a good pick.
Collins has taken his lumps, but you can see the physical ability and the effort. Being the first second-round pick to break the log-jam says a lot about his attitude and mentality. He wants to get out there and play. He definitely needs to improve his consistency, but if he can do that, he can be a beast. Again, I'm not sure he's ever going to be a great pass-rusher, but if he can also be elite against the run while using his power and length to collapse the pocket on the occasional pass rush, that's a good pick.
Martin hasn't played yet, but his improvement even during the preseason was remarkable (granted he was awful in his first game). You saw the speed and explosiveness, but you also saw the rust from not playing. He's still a little too slow to see it and trigger, but the raw material is there, and the passion is there. I'm confident he'll be starting sometime soon, and might already be if Winters wasn't balling out.
Stout took his lumps in the first game, but he bounced back with a nice game in this one. Still plenty to clean up in terms of his physicality past five yards, but he's mixing it up in there and not backing down. He seems to have the makings of a 10-year slot player.
I've been disappointed we haven't seen more of CJ West. The injury really seems to have derailed his remarkable camp. Hopefully he's working back into it despite limited snaps. He's hurting for opportunities in part because we've been trotting out four DEs on obvious passing downs. He has some physical limitations, but I'm confident he'll get it, too.
Sigle has been a revelation to date. First game he was great. This past game he struggled more. Hard to criticize his play on the TD. He was in good position, but the throw and catch were great. He needs to refine his instincts in coverage, but he's a beast against the run and seems to be getting to the right spots in coverage. Will the light turn on in terms of ball skills? It doesn't always (see: Culliver, Chris), but if it does, particularly with his speed, dude could be an all pro. Really excited to see what he and Mustapha can do together.
And Colby looked really good from what I saw, too. I didn't notice any collapses, though admittedly I have trouble evaluating interior OL play in the run game. His pass blocking was very strong, though he missed a stunt once that very arguably cost us a TD on the long ball to Pearsall (Pearsall also slowed down inexplicably). I saw some highlights of great run blocks by him, getting across interior shade defenders or making blocks at the second level, but presumably he missed some, too. I'd absolutely love to see him lock up the LG spot.
The biggest thing for me this season has been that our young guys are getting loads of playing time (8 players from the past two drafts starting or getting significant playing time), a ton of our skill players on offense are hurt, we were without our QB, and we're still 2-0. It bodes well for late in the season, though we'll have to start coming out of games healthier for things to fall into place.
