Throughout the season following each game I will be looking at the rookies and how they fared each week. This will consist of thoughts such as the positive and negatives from that game, areas to watch or work on and clips to support what I’m sharing. Hopefully, this will shed some insight on some things you may or may not have seen.
Week 1 vs San Francisco 49ers
Active Players
#77 Broderick Jones (Round 1) – 4 offensive snaps, 1 special teams snap
Jones saw his first action late in the game after Chukwuma Okorafor had to come out of the game. All four of his offensive snaps were pass protection and he displayed good balance and used his length well. He faced an attempted stab move on his first rep and held his ground well. The next rep was versus a speed rusher, and he got some help from the running back. The third rep started with speed up the arc with a late spin inside by the pass rusher. He mirrored the defender well and was in good position to handle the spin. His final rep was again against a speed rusher up the outside and he used his strength to shove the rusher past the quarterback.
It was a small sample size but over all he handled his first snaps well.
#24 Joey Porter, Jr. (Round 2) – 7 defensive snaps, 2 special teams snaps, 1 solo tackle
Porter was used in a specific role in his debut, used exclusively as the left cornerback on third and long plays. He has a trio of reps as a deep third defender in Cover 3. His second rep was in Press coverage versus Deebo Samuel and stuck in his pocket through the route. On his third play, it looked like he wasn’t hearing the defensive call but luckily the play went the other way. Play number four he was beaten off the line by the quickness of Brandon Aiyuk, but he recovered quickly. On rep number five, he used a good jam in Press coverage but slipped coming out of his break.
He was not targeted on any of his plays. He did receive credit on a mid-fourth quarter scramble by Brock Purdy where he was the closest defender when he went down.
#95 Keeanu Benton (Round 2) – 29 defensive snaps, 1 special teams snap, 3 tackles, 1 solo
Benton may have received more snaps than originally planned after Cam Heyward went down. He played most of his snaps at nose tackle but did have some snaps at the 3 technique as well. As a pass rusher he most often used a club/swim move and displayed effectiveness right off the bat. His first pass rush snap was a nice rep to get past the center. He later showed his strength to yank the left guard out of the way to get into the backfield.
As a run defender, his quickness was very good even when he wasn’t the quickest at the snap. The guards had a very difficult time trying to get across his face on Reach blocks. He has the power to handle double teams as well as stack and shed defenders. Overall, it was a good showing for Benton in his first game. With Heyward out, he will have a lot on his plate very early this season.
#80 Darnell Washington (Round 3) – 24 offensive snaps, 8 special teams snaps
Washington also probably played more snaps than expected. Pat Freiermuth was dealing with a chest issue giving Washington more snaps in the second half. In the passing game, I had him running sixteen routes in the game with the Deep Curl, Short Curl, and Post as the most common routes. He was not targeted in the game. His route running and Zone awareness need some fine tuning, but the potential is there. He had a couple of pass protection assignments and handled them well.
As a run blocker, he had a good game. My favorite part of his blocking is his ability to sustain blocks. He used his length on the backside of Zone blocks and played with good balance. He has a nice block versus Nick Bosa putting him on his back when Bosa tried to get inside. His hands got wide in a couple blocks but was able to adjust quickly.
#51 Nick Herbig (Round 4) – 16 defensive snaps, 20 special teams snaps, 1 assist tackle.
Herbig had his work cut out for him having to square off with Trent Williams for a lot of his snaps. As a pass rusher, he showed good snap quickness but was handled well by Williams on the outside rushed. He did show the quickness to get inside of Williams on one snap but was met by the left guard who shoved him outside where he ended up near T.J. Watt who was sacking the quarterback. He had one play in coverage picking up the running back out of the backfield.
Against the run, he was solid holding his ground on the front side of the play forcing the runner inside. From the backside he displayed good effort and speed. His lone tackle came in the third quarter attacking from the backside and combining with Markus Golden to make the stop.
#74 Spencer Anderson (7th) – Did not get in the game.
Rookie of the Week – Benton (Week 1)
Inactive for Week 2 – None
Practice Squad – #79 OL Joey Fisher (UDFA SF), #40 OLB David Perales (UDFA PIT)
Reserve/Injured – #27 DB Cory Trice Jr.
