Houston Texans Adv. Statistics and Grades [Updated for Week 2] I purchased a subscription to ProFootballFocus for the season and figured that, if you all were interested, I'd highlight some players who performed particularly well or poorly. For background, PFF grades each player on each snap. You can read about it here: http://www.profootballfocus.com/about/grading/ Let me know if there's sufficient interest for this to continue. Week 1: Spoiler Offense: Positives Derek Newton +5.7 Newton, long perceived as the weak link of the offensive line, played the best game of his career on Sunday. Last year, Newton ranked as the 5th worst tackle taking more than 50% of the snaps in the entire league, with a cumulative grade of -28.3 Newton was a positive in both pass blocking (+1.6) and run blocking (+3.9). His week 1 grade was the highest among ALL tackles in the NFL. Andre Johnson +2.0 Not much explanation needed here, Andre Johnson had a solid outing that we've come to expect from the All-Pro. CJ Fiedorowicz +1.5 Fiedorowicz was quietly effective on Sunday afternoon, even though he didn't catch a single pass. He posted +2.2 as a run blocker, which was a struggle for the rest of the offensive line. It's also worth pointing out that Ryan Fitzpatrick's +0.9 was good for 6th in the league (pre-MNF). Negatives Arian Foster -1.6 Despite eclipsing 100 yards rushing, Foster had a pedestrian day by his standards. It took him 27 attempts to amass his rushing total, and he had a key fumble in the red zone. Chris Myers -1.8 Myers had a bad day, and you didn't need the grading system to see it. Last year he ranked as the 6th best center in the league, despite being a net negative in pass blocking. On Sunday, he allowed a sack and a hurry, and wasn't helpful in the run. Ben Jones -2.3 Continuing the offensive line woes, Jones also had a woeful day in pass blocking and run blocking. Many fans hope rookie Xavier Su'a-Filo will take the left guard position at some point, though his rough preseason (-8.7) indicates that the transition won't take place for some time. Brandon Brooks (-1.3) and Duane Brown (-0.8) rounded out poor offensive line play for the Texans. One would expect Brown and Myers to bounce back. Defense Positives JJ Watt +7.4 Not much explanation is here, but it's worth noting that Watt posted the best score in the entire league. Absolutely dominant. Whitney Mercilus +2.1 Mercilus capably filled in with Clowney out, posting positive grades in both the pass rush (+1.7) and run defense (+0.3). He had 2 hurries and a hit on the QB. Kendrick Lewis +1.7 Perhaps a surprising name on the list, Kendrick Lewis had a great game in pass coverage, where he got most of his positive grade (+1.6). His back-up and sometimes running mate (since the Texans ran a lot of 3 safety sets with Swearinger as a LB) Danieal Manning also put up a +1.0 Brooks Reed, although he did some visibly positive things, struggled in pass coverage (-1.4). He still was a positive on the whole with +0.6. Negatives Tim Jamison -1.4 Jamison played some NT over Jerell Powe, and struggled to make an impact as a pass rusher or in run defense. The Texans will need to get some production out of other members of the defensive line, as run defense was a significant problem. Jerrell Powe -1.8 Powe struggled mightily with run defense all game. This was apparent when just watching the tape. DJ Swearinger -2.3 This may be a surprising name because Swearinger made some visible big hits and had a forced fumble. Unfortunately, his run defense was terrible (-2.2), and given that he lined up as a faux-linebacker for some of the game, it was important that he execute well there. His forced fumble also came after awful pass coverage. He was a positive in the pass rush (+0.7). It's worth noting that PFF doesn't question the validity of penalties and the one against Swearinger was questionable. Jadaveon Clowney was fairly neutral (-0.2) in his time on the field. He was a real positive in the run defense, but struggled to get his game going with the pass rush. That being said, on tape he spent a lot of time in the backfield. He also was excellent in the pre-season (+4.4). Brian Cushing had a rough first game back as well, posting a grade of -0.4. He had a good day as a pass rusher (+1.3) but struggled mightily in run defense (-1.7). Week 2: Offense: Positives Ben Jones +2.2 Ben Jones was the worst offensive player last week, but was the best this week. The entire offensive line put on a run blocking clinic; each starter getting over +2.0 in run blocking, with the exception of Duane Brown, who was +1.1. The rest of the O-line: Brandon Brooks +1.7, Derek Newton +1.3, Chris Myers +1.1, Duane Brown +0.3 Ryan Fitzpatrick +1.8 Many fans claim that Ryan Fitzpatrick has just been a "game manager". While it's true that Fitzpatrick has managed the game well, he also made some impressive long throws on third down and had a fantastic touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins. Fitzpatrick was once again 6th among all QBs in the league (barring Monday Night Football) and has shown that he's more than capable of making plays when needed. Andre Johnson +1.7 Johnson had another quiet but effective game in week two. He hauled down 6 of his 7 targets and caught several of them for third down conversions. He still looks sharp and shows no signs of slowing down. Arian Foster was more effective this week (+0.8), as a runner and a pass blocker. Only six players who played a snap on offense posted a negative grade. Negatives Alfred Blue -0.5 Alfred Blue struggled to get yards in his first few carries. It's worth noting that he showed flashes of good vision towards the end of the game. The other backup RBs also struggled behind good run blocking (Jonathan Grimes at -0.8 and Ronnie Brown at -0.6), though it's worth noting that this was done while intentionally running out the clock. Damaris Johnson -1.3 Damaris Johnson continues to be a puzzling player for Texans fans. It's unclear what role he fills better than Keshawn Martin (who received a grade of -0.3 himself, and he hasn't been effective as a returner (not included in this grade) or as a slot receiver. Hopefully the coaches are seeing something in practice that fans will soon see on the field. Ryan Griffin -2.2 Ryan Griffin can be an effective as a pass catcher, but struggles as a blocker. This was apparent on Sunday, as he received multiple holding penalties (and didn't block well either). Having Fiedorowicz back next week (who did well last Sunday in this area) should help immensely. Defense: Positives DJ Swearinger +2.2 Swearinger drastically improved his performance over last week, particularly in the area where he struggled the most: pass coverage (+1.3). Swearinger was fantastic by any conventional statistical analysis as well and was a playmaker. Jonathan Joseph +1.6 J-Jo seems to have bounced back from his injury plagued last season, and has been fantastic in pass coverage (+2.5). The Texans' secondary was arguably more effective than their front 7 this past Sunday, something not many would have predicted. Jared Crick +1.2 Crick played a great game across from JJ Watt, capably stopping the run (+0.5) and rushing the passer (+0.6). This is welcome news for Texans fans, who worry that JJ Watt is the only positive on the defensive line. It's also worth noting that he faced one on one coverage for most of the game, given the attention Watt commanded. He was the only member of the front seven to post a positive grade. Daryl Morris (+1.1) and Andre Hal (+0.8) were both effective as young corners. Kareem Jackson (+0.1) was visible but only marginally effective overall, as he struggled in run defense. Negatives AJ Buoye -1.9 Buoye was the only member of the secondary to post a negative grade this week, which is impressive. Buoye played the ball pretty well on a key touchdown pass near the end of the game, but got there a little early. Whitney Mercilus -2.2 After an effective game last week, Reed struggled to get a good pass rush going against the Oakland line (-1.7). Mercilus has always struggled with consistency, and the linebackers will need to step up against more competent offenses, especially with Clowney out. Every linebacker who played a snap posted a negative grade. Tim Jamison -3.7 Once again, Tim Jamison was incapable of playing effectively as a defensive tackle. In particular, he was awful in run defense (-2.2) and committed bad penalties. JJ Watt (-1.7) and Brooks Reed -1.2, the stars of last weeks defense, both struggled this week. Some of Watt's struggles may have stemmed from gameplanning. Brian Cushing (-0.4) continues to work himself back into form, but did make strides in run defense (+0.8).
If Watt keeps up his performance, and at the end of the year he is not considered for MVP...the award is trash. That is your QB equalizer.
It's nice to see that Derek Newton may be a great fit for this type of blocking scheme. However we could see Myers cut at the end of the year. He was always more suited for zone blocking.
If I recall correctly PFF graded Watt as even better last year than the year he won DPOY. We are all truely witnesses.