Bleacher Report's Preseason Week 2 NFL Awards
In some ways, it felt like we jumped back in time during Week 2 of slopfest football, otherwise known as the 2016 NFL preseason.
First, we had Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III catapulting balls deep downfield and showing us an extended glimpse at the passer who was once the NFL's Rookie of the Year. It's too early to determine just how much magic potion Browns head coach Hue Jackson has in his quarterback cauldron. But two games is all we've been given to judge his experiment so far, and the results have been encouraging.
That's the same amount of time we've had to wonder if the Dallas Cowboys can breathe life back into the career of running back Alfred Morris. In his second game running behind the moving stone wall that is the Cowboys' offensive line, he averaged 6.5 yards per carry. If you squinted, the Morris who finished second in rushing in 2012 with 1,613 yards was visible.
No vision adjustment was needed while watching Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez. He's been the same adequate-at-best quarterback for seven NFL seasons. Nothing is changing in Denver yet, either, and now Sanchez could be in danger of losing more than just the starting job. The 29-year-old might be looking for meaningful football employment if he can't at least hold down the backup spot.
Then there was Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney thrashing and tossing blockers aside as though he's back at South Carolina. And Cleveland's Terrelle Pryor did the sort of things unfathomably athletic humans do, but for a different team than the few that tried him at quarterback. And yes, at a different position, too.
It all brought about a tingly nostalgic feeling, as though everything is aligning for what's old to become new again. Ah, the hope and/or despair of the preseason.
Let's dive into this week's awards to see who else is supplying dread or excitement.
Player of the Week
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Winner: Tie: Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III (three votes); Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (three votes)
We'll get to Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney a little later on, as he took home several pieces of imaginary hardware this week. For now, the focus is on Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III and the beginning of his possible career renaissance.
Such a grand statement is admittedly dangerous, and some brake-tapping is needed here. The last time we saw Griffin in the preseason, he was taking three sacks on only 17 dropbacks in 2015 while averaging 3.4 yards per pass attempt.
But his dog-house residency with the Washington Redskins was in its early stages then. Times have changed for both Griffin and the Browns now.
A new head coach has arrived in Cleveland, and Hue Jackson is working on his reputation as the Cesar Millan of quarterbacks. When he was the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator, Jackson coaxed two critical late-season wins out of games that AJ McCarron started. The Bengals also came within a last-minute field goal of winning a playoff game with McCarron under center.
Jackson now has the ultimate salvage project on his hands in Griffin, who is still young and brimming with athletic potential. The 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year has often lacked vision and anticipation with his throws, but he had plenty of both Friday night against the Atlanta Falcons.
He needed only six completions on eight attempts to finish with 96 yards and two passing touchdowns. He also added 36 rushing yards by using the scrambling burst that makes him a dynamic threat.
Griffin will have plenty of support at wide receiver with Terrelle Pryor emerging, Josh Gordon returning from a suspension after four games and rookie Corey Coleman expected to be healthy for Week 1. If what we saw Friday wasn't a mirage, the Browns will make a speedy return to relevance.
Others receiving votes: None
Team of the Week
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Winner: Dallas Cowboys (four votes)
The scoreboard is meaningless in every preseason game. Instead, a different scoreboard matters more to coaches, and the Dallas Cowboys have received a glowing report card.
This scoreboard has boxes, and teams progressively hope to put a nice red check mark beside all of these questions:
- Are your stars rounding back into form quickly during game action? Wide receiver Dez Bryant has that covered with 74 receiving yards and two touchdowns on only four receptions.
- Are your injured studs recovering well? Quarterback Tony Romo made his triumphant return Friday. He played two series and completed four of his five pass attempts for 49 yards.
- Is there depth emerging at key positions for when injuries inevitably occur? Later on, we'll get giddy about backup quarterback Dak Prescott and the possible return of the old Alfred Morris, a running back who can produce more than a dust cloud. For now, let's just highlight the Cowboys' 300 total yards of offense in the first half alone during Friday's 41-14 win over the Miami Dolphins.
All is well in Big D for now, but it's still August. There's plenty of time for a defense torn apart by suspensions to be exposed.
Others receiving votes: Cleveland Browns (two votes)
Breakout Player of the Week
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Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Vernon Hargreaves (four votes)
Five teams allowed an opposing passer rating over 100 in 2015, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were one of them at 102.5. They also allowed 31 passing touchdowns (tied for 25th) and finished the season with only 11 interceptions (tied for 21st).
That all led to an obvious conclusion: The Bucs needed to draft a shutdown corner who could anchor their defensive backfield for many years and be a turnover-generating menace.
The latter need is the greater short-term concern, and 11th overall pick Vernon Hargreaves has already provided an infusion of ball-snatching. He grabbed his first two NFL interceptions during Week 2 of the preseason, both coming off Jacksonville Jaguars backup quarterback Chad Henne.
The 2015 All-American cornerback is known as a tenacious and aggressive defender, with the vision to jump routes and trust his instincts. He also showcased his soft hands on both interceptions against the Jaguars. One required a leaping midfield catch, while the other was a close-quarters lunge after Henne left his deep throw short.
Yes, both interceptions came with the preseason caveat that Henne is awful. But Hargreaves still demonstrated the closing speed and acceleration to the ball that Tampa hopes will help make him an immediate-impact player.
Others receiving votes: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (one vote); Tennessee Titans wide receiver Tajae Sharpe (one vote)
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Goat of the Week
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Winner: Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez (five votes)
When will it stop being strange to see the defending Super Bowl champions conducting a quarterback competition? The weirdness hasn't worn off yet, and it won't until Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak announces his Week 1 starting quarterback.
It's true that Denver won't lean on whoever he names to win games. And it's true that the Broncos defense provides such a heavy sledgehammer that it can compensate for mistakes the quarterback makes, much as it did last year with Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler. So, yes, gaffes in the form of turnovers will be tolerated to some degree.
The Broncos don't have a choice in the matter after Mark Sanchez spent the offseason as their default QB-competition leader. When Sanchez is first in line for anything—with his 84 career regular-season interceptions, just two fewer than his touchdown total—the mistakes will come in bunches.
But Sanchez has at least looked competent for stretches in his career. You don't have to go back too far to see a glimpse of that guy, as he averaged 7.8 yards per pass attempt over eight starts for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014.
If the kind of, sort of trustworthy Sanchez could show up even half the time while being supported by a quality rushing attack, the Broncos would be set. But even that is a bridge too far.
Through two preseason games, Sanchez hasn't been able to avoid following up successful drives with crippling flameouts. The most recent example came Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers when he led a second-quarter drive that ended in a field goal after starting from Denver's own 18-yard line.
Sanchez immediately proceeded to erase the next two drives with a pair of red-zone fumbles. He also took three sacks on the night.
To review: The defending champs are left at quarterback with a wildly inconsistent veteran, a raw rookie in Paxton Lynch or Trevor Siemian, a seventh-round pick who hasn't yet attempted a regular-season pass.
Others receiving votes: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Landry Jones (one vote)
Rookie of the Week
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Winner: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (six votes)
Fair warning: This is the beginning of our weekly preseason gushing over Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. A few more slides of deserved slobbering will follow.
Let's also get the standard preseason caveats out of the way. For the second straight week, Prescott received a significant chunk of the Cowboys' quarterback snaps while playing into the third quarter (Romo played just two series). That meant part of his evening came against second-team Miami Dolphins defenders. And as usual, he exploited a vanilla defense that didn't game-plan for his specific skill set. For the record, he'll take on all rocky road defenses, too.
Now, go ahead and forget all of that. The typical preseason disclaimers matter little when we're talking about a fourth-round quarterback who came with concerns about his footwork and vision during the predraft process.
Through two games, Prescott has misfired just five times on his 27 pass attempts (81.5 completion percentage) and thrown for 338 yards with four passing touchdowns. He's nimble as well, which he demonstrated by scoring two rushing touchdowns Friday.
Not too long ago, guys like me would write someone along the lines of "the Cowboys' fate in Year X rests with Romo's increasingly breakable body." With each passing week, it's feeling more and more like we can put those statements in a dumpster.
The Cowboys still need Romo. But their season won't become a pile of rubble without him.
Others receiving votes: None
Best QB Performance
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Winner: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (four votes)
Hey, did I mention that Prescott averaged 13.3 yards per pass attempt Friday? Well, that happened, and of his 12 completions, six went for 15-plus yards. That includes his 58-yard bazooka shot to wide receiver Brice Butler.
He also posted a perfect passer rating, and he unsurprisingly demonstrated an ability to maneuver around pressure while still being accurate on the run. Prescott's passer rating under pressure against the Dolphins fell by only a few ticks compared to when the pocket was clean, according to Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson.
He was supposed to be a promising but developmental project who could factor into the Cowboys' 2017 plans, or maybe even ascend the depth chart later in 2016. But we've been waiting for a stumble, for the raw Prescott to show up.
And we might be waiting for a while still.
Others receiving votes: Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III (two votes)
Best RB Performance
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Winner: Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris (four votes)
In 2014, the Cowboys had a powerful running back who was adept at cutting, blasting through a gaping hole and then creating missed tackles downfield.
That was DeMarco Murray, and including the playoffs, he absorbed the punishment of 497 touches. With Romo still at risk of snapping something at any time, the Cowboys will surely be asking first-round pick Ezekiel Elliott to shoulder a similar load during his rookie season.
That makes running back depth a key life-sustaining resource for Dallas. Elliott already sat out for two weeks of training camp due to a hamstring injury. The Cowboys' rushing offense needs to keep chugging if he misses any regular-season time.
That likely won't be a problem, as it seems Alfred Morris is beginning to wake up and rise from his NFL grave.
It's been four long years since Morris became everyone's latest example of running back bargain hunting. As a sixth-round rookie, he rushed for 1,613 yards in 2012 for the Washington Redskins. Slowly, the plodding reality of who he is set in, and in 2015, he averaged a mediocre 3.7 yards per carry.
Then, suddenly, the 2012 version of Morris returned Friday when he posted 85 rushing yards on 13 carries (6.5 yards per attempt). He looked like his former bowling-ball self because Dallas' dominant offensive line can sprinkle Pro Bowl pixie dust on anyone.
The Cowboys can collectively sleep well knowing there's a sound insurance policy in place if Elliott scales the rookie wall and if Darren McFadden keeps getting dinged up.
Others receiving votes: New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount (one vote), Seattle Seahawks running back Troymaine Pope (one vote)
Best WR Performance
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Winner: Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor (three votes)
It's important to pause and absorb what Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor is doing right now. Because no matter what happens from here on out, he's already placed himself in a category with few others.
Being serviceable at one position and good enough to make an NFL roster is insanely difficult. The Oakland Raiders deemed Pryor worthy of a third-round pick in the 2011 supplemental draft, and their experiment with him at quarterback lasted 10 starts over three seasons.
The appeal of Pryor's athleticism at football's most important position didn't stop there. Three other teams (the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals) were intrigued enough give him an offseason look to see if he could be salvaged as a passer.
Now we're seeing the newly reinvented Pryor, and he's catching passes instead of throwing them.
Pryor is playing a position that is still new to him, one which he didn't even play in college. He just turned 27 in June, which is way too old to be learning the nuances of a different role. It should also be much, much too old to be excelling at that position.
However, common-sense expectations are quickly fading for Pryor after two preseason games.
On a mere three catches, he's already piled up 107 receiving yards and a touchdown. Nearly all of that yardage came on two deep heaves, with Pryor hauling in 49- and 50-yard throws, the latter against Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant. All of that follows Pryor's lone reception in 2015, which was a 42-yarder against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17.
There will still be scuffling as Pryor keeps learning the intricacies of being an NFL wide receiver—and specifically, the finer points of route running so he's not surviving on his athleticism alone. But there are early indications he can be a difference-making presence.
Others receiving votes: Tennessee Titans wide receiver Tajae Sharpe (two votes); Houston Texans wide receivers Will Fuller and Braxton Miller (one vote)
Best TE Performance
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Winner: Denver Broncos tight end Virgil Green (six votes)
Denver Broncos tight end Virgil Green has dutifully clung to a roster spot after being selected with a seventh-round pick way back in 2011. He had to wait patiently while playing behind Julius Thomas and then Owen Daniels. Over five NFL seasons, Green has only recorded 35 career receptions.
He's now being given a chance to be something rare in the NFL: a player developed patiently over time while lasting through two coaching staffs.
Green has always been a skilled blocker, which is how he's stuck around for so long despite a limited pass-catching role. But with Daniels gone, the Broncos need a new tight end to shoulder more offensive responsibility. More importantly, they need a comfortable short-passing option for a group of quarterbacks that manage chaos poorly and are difficult to trust.
So far, it's looking like Green is that guy. The Broncos have designed specific plays for the 6'5", 255-pound lumbering tight end. He's responded by catching all seven of his targets this preseason for 83 yards. That includes 57 yards on four receptions during a Week 2 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
He's also demonstrated his open-field speed and tackle-breaking ability with 51 yards after the catch already, per PFF.
Others receiving votes: None
Best Defensive Performance
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Winner: Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (five votes)
We all knew that if Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney could stay healthy, his team's pass rush would make opposing quarterbacks go through multiple underwear changes every week.
Anything short of a third-year kaboom in 2016 will result in Clowney descending to draft-bust status. That's inevitable when a first overall pick is still failing to leave an impression in his third season. But Clowney's emergence slowly bubbled during the second half of 2015, and the dynamite is now getting prepared for an explosion.
Clowney was finally healthy from Week 11 onward in 2015, or at least closer to his usual self. Over that six-game stretch, he recorded 3.5 sacks and was a constantly disruptive presence in the backfield with 15 total pressures, per PFF.
That same Clowney returned to treat blockers like fluffy couch pillows during his preseason debut in Week 2. He recorded a sack against the New Orleans Saints along with three pressures and two defensive stops on only 28 snaps, per PFF.
If defensive end J.J. Watt returns from back surgery quickly come September, the Texans' pass rush is about to be terrifying. Granted, we've said that in the past, too, and then Clowney promptly suffered an injury of his own. He's missed 15 of a possible 32 regular-season games over two years.
Others receiving votes: San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Marcus Rush (one vote)
Best Decision
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Winner: The Cowboys giving Prescott lots of playing time to see if he can be a viable backup immediately (four votes)
The long-term goal of any mid-round quarterback is to become the future franchise arm. That's a tough ask for a quarterback who needs something most coaching staffs don't have: time.
But the even tougher challenge is what the Cowboys are asking of Prescott. They needed someone to become a viable backup behind the notoriously brittle Romo, whose collarbone is now made purely out of Styrofoam.
That meant they had to give Prescott the ultimate rookie hot-coal walk, especially after Kellen Moore went down with a broken leg. They had to know whether an untested, unproven rookie could be trusted against NFL defenses.
They needed that answer fast, and the solution was simple: trot him out again and again.
Prescott has taken over half of the Cowboys' preseason snaps (52.5 percent, per PFF). He's also accounted for 68.5 percent of the Cowboys' preseason passing yards, and had a hand in six of their eight touchdowns (four passing and two rushing).
He's been asked to repeatedly function at a high level, often while throwing to first-team receivers against first-team defenses. The Cowboys did that to see if they already had an in-house option to replace Moore, and then to reassure themselves that, yes, Prescott is the guy.
Others receiving votes: The 49ers signing quarterback Christian Ponder (one vote); the Broncos giving quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch lots of preseason snaps (one vote)
Worst Decision
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Winner: Tie: The Buccaneers drafting kicker Roberto Aguayo in the second round (two votes); the Broncos relying on Sanchez (two votes)
If you twisted yourself around many, many times, it was possible to justify the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' decision to use a second-round pick on a kicker. The common reasons cited were two simple facts. One relates to NFL life as a whole, and the other tells us the reality of depressing Bucs football in 2015:
- After the NFL moved extra-point attempts back, a once-automatic point became less of a gimme. Successfully earning that one point now means converting on a 33-yard field-goal attempt. That should still be easy for most kickers, but it's no longer a chip shot you can make while blindfolded and in a straitjacket. The 71 missed extra-point attempts in 2015 was the highest number since 1977, according to NFL research. A greater emphasis has been placed on consistent precision.
- The Bucs were among the worst field-goal kicking teams in 2015, ranking 30th with an overall conversion average of 72.5 percent. They were one of only three teams below the 80 percent plateau.
So Tampa selected Roberto Aguayo out of Florida State in the second round. Investing heavily and early in a clear need is a wise move at any position except kicker.
At best, kickers should be Day 3 picks. Even the two aforementioned circumstances don't elevate them beyond that status.
If you're drafting a kicker in the second round, then he better be a shining, golden exception who never misses. Ever.
Aguayo met that description during his college career. At an 88.5 percent success rate, he was the third-most accurate kicker in NCAA history. He didn't miss a single extra-point attempt throughout his time with the Seminoles, and he whiffed just nine times on field-goal attempts from any range during his three college seasons. Even more impressively, he was perfect from inside 40 yards.
After two preseason games, he's already missed an extra-point attempt, and in Week 2, he sent two field-goal attempts sailing wide (from 49 and 32 yards).
Yes, it's still August, and these misses don't matter yet. But there will be front office decision-makers looking for work if Aguayo keeps up this shank show during the regular season.
Others receiving votes: The New England Patriots letting quarterback Tom Brady play with scissors (one vote); the Steelers not finding a competent backup quarterback (one vote)
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