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NFL preseason thoughts: Desmond Ridder looks ready, Patriots offense doesn’t

Most fans, coaches and players are happy the NFL preseason is over, but I thought it was pretty fun. We got to see a lot of young backup quarterbacks light it up and lead entertaining comebacks. Some teams had their “dress rehearsal” games go well, while others experienced a reality check.

Even in the final week of the preseason, there was a lot to learn, including clues about how players and teams will perform in the early part of the regular season.

Here are my key takeaways:

No need to panic about the 49ers offensive line…yet

The 49ers have three new presumed starters along the interior of their offensive line, none of whom have much experience. Right guard Spencer Burford is a rookie, center Jake Brendel is a veteran who has only three career starts, and left guard Aaron Banks is a second-year player who played hard last season. The speed of their development will be critical for a 49ers offense that will be breaking in new quarterback Trey Lance. In the 49ers’ final preseason game, against the Texans, the offensive starters played three series but crossed midfield only once, turning the ball over on downs on that possession.

Lance missed a few opportunities against the Texans, but he was constantly under pressure and didn’t get a lot of help from the running game. Naturally, there is a lot of panic about the offensive line, but the film shows backup tackles allowed most of the pressure. Left tackle Trent Williams will play in the opener, and right tackle Mike McGlinchey should be back from injury as well. The inexperienced interior was fine against the Texans. Coach Kyle Shanahan even said he thought Banks played better this week than he did against the Vikings in Week 2 of the preseason.

Banks did miss a notable block on fourth down against the Texans because he was late off the ball, and the offensive line was called for a few penalties in the game — not ideal but correctable. The 49ers’ backup tackles were beaten inside a lot, so it looked like the interior was to blame. Banks, Burford and Brendel still have improvements to make before Week 1, but it’s a good sign that they weren’t dominated by the Texans like some thought they would be.

Patriots’ offense needs time to sort things out

So far, the Matt Patricia and Joe Judge experiment has looked like a disaster. On seven Mac Jones-led drives this preseason, the Patriots offense averaged 1.4 points per drive, turned the ball over once and had four three-and-outs. The New England starting offense scored just three points in four possessions against the Raiders backups in the final week of the preseason. The Patriots couldn’t run the ball or protect Mac Jones, and their receivers didn’t get open. Overall, they looked like a discombobulated unit.

Of course, it’s preseason, so maybe they weren’t trying to show too much of the playbook, and they still have time to clean things up. But they played much cleaner football last season with a lot of the same players.

The Patriots hope they can hang their hat on an outside zone running game, but the offensive line has struggled to get down some of the nuances of the scheme. According to Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar, the Patriots had minus-9 net yards (including a penalty) on four outside zone carries. Jones was sacked twice in his four drives against the Raiders, and when he did have time, he looked jittery in the pocket.

DeVante Parker, whom the team acquired in a trade this offseason, was the focus of the starting offense, but he struggled to create separation against backup corners. On four targets, Parker caught two passes for 9 yards and was called for an offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone. Once, it appeared he ran the wrong route and mucked up the play.

This offense lacks a true No. 1 receiver and a dominating offensive line, but the Patriots do have a good quarterback going into his second year and some useful players. We shouldn’t make any sweeping judgments based on preseason sample sizes, but we can at least conclude that the Patriots offense has a lot of work to do and it might take time to figure things out. An experienced and crafty offensive coordinator could cobble together an above-average offense with this group, but Patricia and Judge have little to no experience leading an offense.

Justin Fields looks more decisive

An encouraging preseason performance doesn’t mean Justin Fields is taking the next step, but when watching players, I want to see some sort of trait or improvement that can translate to the regular season. Last season, Fields had a tendency to hold on to the ball despite playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. But against the Browns last week, he threw the ball in rhythm, often throwing as his receivers made their breaks.

First quarter, 6:13 remaining, 1st-and-5

Here, the Browns were in a form of Cover 3 with the field-side corner (bottom of the image) responsible for a deep third. That corner can’t let anyone get behind him, which is why it’s typically difficult for teams facing Cover 3 to throw corner routes, the route tight end Ryan Griffin ran on this play.

The cornerback bit up on the short out-breaking route. Although Fields typically isn’t looking for the corner route against Cover 3, he saw the corner stop his feet and immediately made the decision to throw deep.

Fields threw the ball right when Griffin was getting his head around. If he threw the ball any later, the cornerback might have had a chance to recover and Fields might have been sacked because his left tackle got bull-rushed into his lap.

Fields will have to prove he can process quickly when defenses get more complicated in the regular season, but it’s a welcome sight for the Bears to see Fields not hold on to the ball while remaining aggressive.

Malik Willis’ progress is encouraging, but he’s not a starter yet

Before the NFL Draft, I, like many others, thought Malik Willis could use a year to sit. He came from a simplistic offense at Liberty that hardly used straight dropback concepts, and those types of reps are vital to succeeding in the NFL.

I would have been bullish on Willis’ future even if he looked like a disaster this preseason, but his development has been a little further ahead of where I thought he would be. He has flashed his big-time traits and made plays in the pocket, but he has also shown that he is not quite ready for the spotlight. In the Titans’ Week 3 preseason game against the Cardinals, Willis had four off-target throws on 23 attempts, held on to the ball and took a few unnecessary sacks, including one in the red zone.

Second quarter, 10:32 remaining, first-and-3

Here, the Titans had an “arches” concept called. Initially, it appeared the Titans were trying to create a rub for the running back, but it didn’t work. So Willis looked to his next progression: the shallow crosser.

The defense was in man coverage with a hole defender helping on inside routes. The hole defender dropped to the shallow crosser. Instead of looking to his next read, Willis waited for his receiver to clear the hole defender. If he had instead looked to his next read, he would have seen the “arches” route break open.

Waiting for the shallows to open up wasn’t a bad decision. Willis had enough time for the route to clear, but he threw it behind his receiver and the pass fell incomplete. He might have been able to get rid of the ball a little faster if he had gone to his next read.

“There were some things we talked about improving him,” coach Mike Vrabel said after the game. “Communication between him and Todd (Downing) during the game, his ability to get us to the line of scrimmage efficiently, his ability to keep his eyes downfield. Numerous times, he slid up in the pocket. … (He’s) always learning. I love his attitude, like all these other guys.”

All in all, Willis made progress from week to week, which is all you can hope for with a developmental prospect. Willis may not be the Titans’ primary backup when the season starts, but he did enough this preseason to build excitement for the future.

Desmond Ridder is ready for his shot…whenever that is

Compared to Willis, Desmond Ridder is on the opposite end of the quarterback-readiness spectrum. He’s a poised, polished prospect who played in a Cincinnati offense that utilizes many dropback concepts that translate to the pro game. What I loved most about Ridder’s game at Cincinnati was his aggressive mentality. He patiently waited for routes to develop and made aggressive decisions from sound readings. In the preseason, those traits translated. He made tough downfield throws from the pocket.

The stats in the above tweet are from Week 2 of the preseason, but Ridder was just as impressive against the Jaguars last week despite a couple of interceptions. His first interception was a forced decision, but he faced immediate pressure up the middle and he and his receiver weren’t on the same page. His second interception was an underthrown heave with seven seconds remaining in the first half.

One of Ridder’s most impressive traits is his recognition of what constitutes an open receiver based on defender body positioning. This allows him to find windows when other quarterbacks might check the ball down.

First quarter, 10:36 remaining, third-and-8

On the previous play, the Falcons called almost the same play. The Jaguars defense fooled Ridder with a tricky disguise, which caused him to look to the single receiver (bottom of the screen), where they dropped an underneath defender to help.

This time, the defense appeared to drop into a form of three-deep zone called Cover 3 mable. The cornerback to the three-receiver side played off with outside leverage. A quarterback shouldn’t throw routes that run into the leverage of a defender too often, but in this case, the corner was playing with a lot of cushion and with his hips facing inside.

Ridder got to the top of his drop, calmly slid up in the pocket because of the edge pressure and threw the ball in rhythm to the out route.

Ridder threw a perfect strike to the sideline to convert on third down. This is just one of several impressive throws he made downfield from the pocket in this game.

The Falcons seem set on starting Marcus Mariota in the season opener, but unless he is playing at a high level and the Falcons are winning, they’ll want to find out what they have in Ridder this season so they can make an informed decision on how to maneuver around next year’s draft. Ridder looks like he’s mentally ready to handle being an NFL starter.

(Top photo of Desmond Ridder: Brett Davis / USA Today)

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