The first full week of the preseason is hardly the time to make snap judgments relating to how things will go in the regular season and beyond, which is of course why everybody does just that. And with that caveat in mind, there were things that made themselves clear, even though we’re a long way away from conclusive results.
Here are 11 observations from the first week of the 2019 NFL preseason that may stick around for a while.
11. Josh Rosen may have no chance in Miami
When the Dolphins traded for the Cardinals quarterback on the second day of the draft, one assumed it was to make the UCLA alum the team’s future franchise quarterback. But at this point, nobody on Miami’s coaching staff appears too confident in Rosen’s short-term potential. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 191 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, but the main takeaway from Rosen’s tape in Miami’s 34-27 win over the Falcons was that he had very little time to do much of anything behind an offensive line that wouldn’t pass muster in the Pac-12. After the game, head coach Brian Flores said that Rosen took too many chances, but it’s hard to know what else he can do with no protection at all.
10. David Montgomery has what it takes to be the Bears’ every-down back
Montgomery lasted all the way to the third round of the 2019 draft despite some very credible tape from his time at Iowa State. Perhaps it was because Montgomery’s running style is more deliberate than explosive, but in his NFL debut in Chicago’s 23-13 loss to the Panthers, Montgomery showed everything you’d want in a bell-cow back. He ran three times for 16 yards and a touchdown, adding three receptions for 30 yards. Montgomery has outstanding contact balance, speed after contact and versatility, and he could easily be one of the steals of the draft.
9. Jalen Hurd could be a difference-maker for the 49ers
No coach in the NFL has a better sense of how to displace defenses with personnel movement than Kyle Shanahan, and the 49ers’ head man does that in a lot of ways. One of his primary constructs is to blur positional lines by motioning fullbacks wide and moving running backs and receivers all over the place pre-snap. It’s why Hurd, who transitioned from running back to wide receiver in college, should be a matchup issue for enemy defenses — as he was in San Francisco’s 17-9 win over the Cowboys. Hurd caught three passes on five targets for 31 yards and two touchdowns. More than a mere gadget player, Hurd has the route awareness and toughness in traffic to make a specific impact in this passing game.
8. The Seahawks have two big-play receiver prospects
It was already clear from his college tape and several spectacular plays in Seahawks practices that second-round wide receiver DK Metcalf has the physical skills (if not the top-level route awareness) to create major matchup problems, but Seattle may have another size/speed guy in Jazz Ferguson to make things even more unfair. Against the Broncos in a 22-14 preseason win, Ferguson caught four passes for 54 yards and a touchdown, showing off his speed, strength and catch radius throughout. Doug Baldwin’s retirement left a huge hole in Seattle’s receiver corps, but Metcalf and Ferguson could bring different kinds of problems to opposing defenses.
7. Dwayne Haskins still needs a lot of work
If Haskins weren’t a good quarterback, he wouldn’t have thrown for 50 touchdowns in his sole season as Ohio State’s primary starter. But the transition from the NCAA to the NFL can be most severe for even the most gifted QB, and for Haskins, the growth curve is clear. Though he clearly took positive steps forward in his ability to throw on the run — perhaps the primary liability he’s shown to date — Haskins looked rough in other areas during his reps in Washington’s 30-10 loss to the Browns. Haskins completed just eight of 14 passes for 117 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, and both interceptions were the result of simple field-reading issues the rookie will need to clear up sooner than later. If you see Case Keenum as the Redskins’ starting quarterback to begin the 2019 season, this is why. Haskins may need more development than some people thought.
6. Dallas Goedert wants to force Doug Pederson’s hand
When the Eagles selected Goedert out of South Dakota State in the second round of the 2018 draft, it was clear that head coach Doug Pederson and his offensive staff wanted to press defenses with more two-tight-end sets. With Zach Ertz already on the roster, there was talent enough to do that. In 2018, the Eagles ran more two-TE sets than any other team in the league, and they threw 36% of their passes to tight ends when no other team did so at above a 31% rate, per Football Outsiders. Goedert had a nice rookie season, but based on his performance in Philly’s 27-10 loss to the Titans, Pederson might be forced to increase the frequency of those 12-personnel packages, even with a stacked receiver corps. Goedert caught three passes for 50 yards against Tennessee and looked to be a matchup problem no matter the route.
5. Devin Bush might be the Defensive Rookie of the Year
Yes, it’s early to make such pronouncements, but what Bush put on tape against the Buccaneers in a 30-28 win was quite the statement in and of itself. The Steelers did something they very rarely do: They traded up in the first round to take the Michigan star after a 2018 season in which the absence of Ryan Shazier was quite obvious. With 10 total tackles and seven solo takedowns, as well as a near pick-six, Bush proved right away that he’s the prototypical modern linebacker — able to do everything from challenging run fits to blitzing to dropping back in coverage. The future is now for a rookie with the talent, and the opportunity, to turn Pittsburgh’s defense around.
4. The Steelers might not miss Antonio Brown at all
On the offensive side of the ball, the Steelers might be just fine without Brown, the former franchise wide receiver and current migraine for the Raiders. While Brown deals with everything from frozen feet to helmet grievances, things are looking up in the Steel City. James Washington, Johnny Holton and Devin Jones did what they did against a Buccaneers pass defense that appears to the same kind of dumpster fire it was in 2018, but Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t on the field, either. It was Joshua Dobbs, Mason Rudolph, and Delvin Hodges throwing to the backups, and Washington was especially impressive on vertical stuff. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert should give seminars on how to find hidden gems at the receiver position — remember that Brown himself was a sixth-round pick in the 2010 draft — and the Steelers might be just fine in the passing game, especially when you add JuJu Smith-Schuster into the mix.
3. The Dolphins could have a future star in Preston Williams
A domestic violence incident left Williams uninvited to the combine and undrafted despite a 2018 season for Colorado State in which he caught 96 passes for 1,345 yards and 14 touchdowns. And while such factors should never be minimized, what we’re left with in the short term is Williams’ potential as a receiver. Despite quarterback Josh Rosen’s difficulty in staying upright behind an offensive line that was repeatedly beaten to the punch by the Falcons’ defense, Williams was able to help Rosen out with several acrobatic catches in which he displayed impressive acumen to adjust to his oft-pressured quarterback. It’s early yet, and Williams will have to maintain a very clean off-field record to overcome his past, but he took a positive step forward on the field with his five-catch, 97-yard performance in a 34-27 win.
2. The Browns’ defense is the thing to watch this season
Yes, we know about Baker Mayfield. Yes, the Odell Beckham Jr. trade was big news. And yes, Cleveland’s offense might be as loaded and potentially unbeatable as any in the league. But when discussing the prospects for the first Browns playoff team since 2002, one must focus on a defense that was up and down in 2018, and has taken steps to improve. General manager John Dorsey was aided by two gifted players falling into his lap in the draft — LSU cornerback Greedy Williams lasted until the 46th overall pick in the second round, and Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson was still around with the 155th overall pick in the fifth round. Both players had interceptions against the Redskins — Wilson took one of his two picks back 40 yards for a touchdown — and if the kids are able to keep it up, the Browns are going to be a very tough out on both sides of the ball every game this season.
1. The Chiefs are more terrifying than ever
When I reviewed the college tape of Georgia alum and second-round Chiefs rookie Mecole Hardman, it was as a potential Tyreek Hill replacement. But since the NFL has mysteriously written off any sort of suspension for Hill despite his off-field issues, adding Hardman to an offense that set the NFL alight in 2018 is the equivalent of adding John Bonham to The Jimi Hendrix Experience or adding Joe Pesci to the first two “Godfather” movies.
Now, the team that came within a few plays of Super Bowl LIII should be the prohibitive favorite to make it to Miami for the next NFL championship. With Hill and Hardman as speed receivers, Travis Kelce as Patrick Mahomes’ short-to-intermediate security blanket, and a defense that should improve from front to back with new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and a new breed of talent via trade, free agency and the draft, Andy Reid’s team looks stronger than ever. Hardman was spectacular in Kansas City’s 38-17 win over the Bengals, and you can expect more where that came from.
