Just listened to Kyle Crabbs’ Tuesday pod on Locked On Dolphins which I throughly recommend. He did an all 22 review of every offensive snap against the raiders (defense to come later this week) and graded each player PFF style from -2 to +2. His results were in line with my eye test but still interesting:
The good
Douglas was his highest rated player with 12 above expectations plays but perhaps even more impressively for a rookie just one below expectations play. The positives included his catches but also some blocks and clear out routes. Just a good day at the office.
Next on the list were Proctor (11 plus plays, also 6 minus but that’s not bad for a rookie) then Paul with 10
The bad
by far the worst graded player was Austin Jackson who had 14 below expectations plays. Ok he’s going up against Maxx Crosby most of the time but it was bad. In the 4th quarter when we were in deep drops he had 9 negative plays on 20 snaps which is catastrophic. To put that in context Crabbs said it graded about the same as Jackson Carman against the titans in 23! I know Austin is a better run blocker and obviously Crosby is elite but that is still terrible.
The other guy who scores the most negatively was Malik Washington. 1 positive against 7 negative plays. I’ve made no secret that I think he’s hugely overrated by some dolphins fans – he’s a decent returner and WR 4 which is great for a 6th rounder – but when he’s getting 8 targets mostly deep and Achane and Dulcich are getting 7 combined that’s a problem. He’s a small slow receiver, he’s fine for schemed touches and underneath routes where he can use his shiftiness but using him as an outside receiver is asking for trouble. For me Tolbert needs to be on the game day roster until Bell can crank up his workload to take those snaps
The mixed
Malik Willis has the most positively graded plays (18) and tied for the most negatively graded (14) but with a good positive score overall. This is unsurprising both because QBs will always get the most chances to get plays that stand out, but also the nature of his play. I saw him do things many QBs can’t, but also saw him miss checkdowns Cousins took all day on the other side of the ball. I think he can maintain or increase the positive side with more reps, the key will be cutting down on the negatives.