Buckeye News Around the net Wrap up on NFL Preseason Week 1

Orlando Pace, Donnie Nickey, Antonio Pittman, Larry Grant, Drew Carter, and Michael Redd.

By Bill Smith

Preseason NFL Report

Scouting Reports

            Orlando Pace T ST has been off the field since game 1 of the 07 season and it showed.  He was very rusty in the first series playing against a pro bowl quality DE Kyle Vanden Bosch.  Pace gave up a sack and had other 3 bad pass plays allowing VB to put pressure on his QB.  In the second possession he got his feet underneath him and played much better.  Overall he scored 1 point in a quarter of play which is still an F grade.

            Donnie Nickey S TN did not help his cause at all in the Titan's first preseason game against the Rams.  Nickey played the second half and struggled.  He took bad angles to plays and missed 2 tackles one of which came on a touchdown run by fellow ex-Buckeye Antonio Pittman.  He ended up with -3 scouting points which is an F grade.

            Antonio Pittman RB ST had an excellent game.  He showed power and the ability to gain yardage after contact.  He also showed he can catch the ball.  His speed got him around the corner on a 4 yard TD run where he beat Nickey.  He is not aware enough of the blitz in protecting his QB and allowed a sack by a cornerback.  He also missed a block on another pass rusher.  Overall however, he scored 9 points in a little more than a quarter of play which yields a grade of A-.

            Jay Richardson DE Ok did alright against SF in the annual battle of the Bay.  He started and played the first quarter.  He had a QB pressure and caused a holding penalty on a second pass rush that was not called but should have been.  In addition he held up well on runs to his side.  Grade A

            In that same game Larry Grant LB SF helped his cause with good play.  On a run to his side, he missed the tackle but did well on 2 other runs at him including throwing away a blocker and making a key tackle.  He did fine on a couple of pass coverage assignments as well.  With 7 points in a half of play he earned a B Grade.

            Drew Carter was slightly injured on the opening play of the SF/OK game and did not return.  He is listed as day to day.

            Michael Redd is getting only 13 minutes per game (after 2 games) but has 3 of the 12 3 point goals on the team.  He is averaging 5.5 points per game and has contributed 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent.  He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com.  He has also published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com