Hello out there, football fans. Check out the most important news from around the football world Saturday:
In his postgame interview Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll announced left tackle George Fant suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Friday night’s game against the Vikings. Fant took over as the Seahawks starting left tackle mid-season last year.
Fant had a rough first year as a starter, grading as the worst tackle out of 76 qualifiers while earning an overall grade of 30.2. Fant was poor in pass protection, earning the third-lowest pass blocking efficiency at 91.1. He allowed 47 pressures including seven sacks on just 414 pass-block snaps.
Rees Odhiambo, normally a guard, joined the first-team offense in Fant’s absence against the Vikings. He performed well considering the circumstances, earning a 71.8 overall grade. Odhiambo played 13 snaps at left tackle in 2016.
Buffalo Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn could return soon according to head coach Sean McDermott. Glenn is still recovering from an ankle injury he suffered in the middle of last season and received a pain-killing injection earlier this week.
Before having his season ended due to the injury, Glenn was still playing well. His 82.8 overall grade last season ranked 21st out of 76 qualifying tackles. Glenn’s 657 snaps in 2016 were the lowest amount played of his career.
Glenn is a premier pass blocking tackle and in 2016 he earned the 10th highest pass blocking efficiency at 96.4 while only allowing 17 total pressures. Glenn’s pass block grade of 85.0 ranked 14th.
With Glenn’s backup, Seantrel Henderson suspended for the first 10 games of the regular season, the Bills are still searching for options. Internally Michael Ola and Dion Dawkins could be candidates. Ola was solid in the first preseason game earning an overall game grade of 73.5 while Dion Dawkins was solid in the second earning a 75.3 overall grade.
Los Angeles Chargers G Dan Feeney is in the mix for the starting right guard spot according to ESPN’s Eric D. Williams. He was the team’s third-round pick in this year’s draft.
Feeney was very effective his last two seasons at Indiana. His 86.3 overall grade in 2016 ranked 21st among all FBS guards and his 2015 grade of 84.6 ranked 41st.
Feeney had a rough outing in his preseason debut against the Seahawks earning just a 36.7 overall grade which ranked 102nd among guards for the week. He struggled in pass protection allowing three pressures on 23 pass block snaps earning a pass blocking efficiency of 90.2 which ranked 103rd.
Across two preseason games now, the New York Jets have totaled 13 points. That after the team managed 6 points in a 16-6 loss to the Detroit Lions Saturday.
On 30 total pass attempts, QBs Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty combined to complete 17 (15-for-24 for Petty; 2-for-6 for Hackenberg) for 174 total yards. Petty showed some competence, with an 81.7 overall grade and a single interception that came on a 50/50 desperation heave.
LB Darron Lee put up a good game for the Jets, with an 83.2 overall grade that included four stops, a QB hurry, and 23 yards allowed on four times targeted. After Lee put up a middling rookie year in 2016, the Jets have to hope his strong preseason performance bodes well for 2017.
The Los Angeles Rams improved their preseason record to 2-0 after beating the Oakland Raiders 24-21 Saturday night. Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, and Josh Reynolds all scored touchdowns for the Rams.
In what has to be a positive for a sign desperate for a few of them, the Rams got a strong performance from former first overall draft pick QB Jared Goff, who put up an 82.7 overall grade behind an adjusted completion percentage of 89.5, with 160 passing yards and 8.0 yards per attempt. After Goff struggled mightily as a 2016 rookie, signs for optimism are very welcome in Los Angeles.
The Rams also got a reassuring performance from rookie Cooper Kupp, who looks set to become Goff’s security blanket in Los Angeles. He was targeted seven times Saturday, hauling in six for 70 yards and a score, and putting up 3.68 yards per route run in the process. That was all good for an 81.2 overall grade for Kupp, and makes him an interesting rookie to watch.