WinstonAs much as I Bashed Winston's play after Saturdays game, he did not look that bad. As another poster put it, Winston and Mariota are pretty much neck-and-neck right now. He struggled at first and had a few bad throws, but eventually put together a couple of good drives. This inspired my enthusiasm. I expect him to improve next week.GilkeyWow. All I heard all TC long was how the guy showed up at TC and OTAs looking like a different player. I'm sure he put in work in the gym to earn that accolade, but he is not a capable C or OG at this level. Period. He whiffed on so many blocking assignments and was the cause of two to three fumbles. He therefore made Winston look much, much worse than he really was. I expect to see him to take mostly second half reps next week. EdwardsMore wow. On one play, which was a 3rd-and-7 scenario deep in the opponents red zone, Edwards flat out quit trying to block his man. He let his arms fall to his side as he turned around only to gaze at our 1st overall draft pick. To no surprise, his assignment caused the pocket to collapse and forced #3 to use his feet. And it's a good thing Winston knows how to use them, because he turned the would-be sack into the offense's first touchdown of the night. This play was representative of Edwards' effort throughout the contest. I expect him to join Gilkey in taking less first half reps and an increased number of second half reps next Monday. D.SmithHe got whipped on his first snap and Winston payed the price for it. But he looked pretty good after that. He is a rookie, so I'm sure we'll see him whiff badly on his assignment at least a handful of times during the regular season, but the kid is real big and has the power to just maul his opponent. I saw him engulf his assignment more than a handful of times in Saturday's game, which was reassuring after my initial live viewing. I expect Smith to start on Monday night and I think he will show us more of the same. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't have another major whiff and get our QB killed in the process. MarpetI just can't say enough good things about this kid. I don't want to hear about how he is only a DIII prospect and that the jump will be too big for him in his rookie year. He has shown us in practice and in the game that he can mix it up with the best of them. He has the size and power to stonewall any opponent's bull rush. His only flaw is that he is less technically sound than he needs to be, but that is an easy problem to solve. The only thing this kid needs are more reps. Reps. Reps. Reps. This is exactly why I don't want us to go out and overpay for a guy like Evan Mathis. The more reps Marpet gets, the quicker he will get the technique side of his game down. When that happens, we could have one of the NFL's top OGs on our hands. I expect him to join D.Smith on the starting line for Monday night's game and think he will do a fine job. SimsIt seems to me that this guy's draft status is the only thing keeping him listed ahead of Rainey and James on the team depth chart. I thought Lovie knew RBs, but I think he missed on this pick. The guy has shown me no positive signs in the year and a half he's been a part of this team, which is concerning when you consider that the RB position is not a role that takes a long time to learn and develop in. Usually a high draft pick, who is going to have success at this level, is able to step in and show promise early on. I expect to see him continue to be used behind Doug Martin and hope he starts to show us some good things next week. G. JohnsonLooking like a good pick up so far. Made a few nice plays. Was able to beat generate some pass rush on a limited number of snaps, but was instrumental in stifling Minnesota's run game. Highlight of the night was when he beat his man then turned back up into the pocket to prevent a would-be TD run by Teddy Bridgewater. I expect more of the same next week, but am hoping for an improvement the number of his QB pressures. J.SmithHe looked so good for us at the end of last season, but last Saturday it seemed as though he was getting stonewalled play after play. But I noticed that he exited the game a little earlier than the other members of our starting front. Apparently he is being held out of practice with a banged up shoulder, and I hope that is what was preventing him from making any positive plays. I expect him to be sidelined with his shoulder for next week's game and hope he recovers well. Sidbury Jr. Like D.Smith and Winston, Sidbury Jr. started off on the wrong foot. But as the game progressed, he seemed to generate more and more of a pass rush. I like some of the things this kid showed and expect him to get more snaps next week. If J.Smith is out vs. Cincinnati I expect Sidbury Jr. to start.
