Blogging The Boys
Each week we dive into each team’s rookie class and compare how they stack up against each other. (Grades for each player are the overall offensive or defensive grade handed out by PFF.com)
First Round
Booker’s tape against Arizona looked like grown-up guard play in a chaotic night. The Cardinals threw their whole disguise package at Dallas and Booker mostly kept his assignment clean. While the Cowboys were chasing the game, the box score says it all with five sacks for 40 yards, but this wasn’t a meltdown for Booker so much as a long-yardage issues. On the ground, Dallas still clawed out 123 rushing yards on 21 attempts, that’s 5.9 yards-per-carry, with several of those coming behind the right-side. This shows Booker played well in both parts of the game.
Zooming out, the season snapshot says Booker is a steady riser. Booker’s pass blocking grades have been getting better with each game, and his game against the Cardinals saw his highest grade yet, at a whopping 86.0. His run-block work grades at the very the top among the rookies guards (79.0), and he’s improving week-by-week. So far this year, he’s been charged with just one sack on 288 pass-block snaps, that’s the third most among the rookie guards, and the only players to have allowed less sacks all have less pass-blocking snaps than Booker. This is exactly what you want from a first-year starter and his routine is stabilizing, the splash is beginning to show up, and the rookie rescue moments are all non-existent.
Now comes the next stage, Las Vegas. Maxx Crosby remains one of the league’s toughest solo assignments and is an every-down menace who wins with change of pace, a vise-grip, and a second effort that never dies. ESPN’s ranks him eighth in the league’s best edge win-rates at 18%, and the Raiders had a high of six sacks and 21-pressures against Tennessee.
Grade: 71.5
Second Round
Donovan Ezeiruaku’s Arizona tape looked like a rookie pass rusher playing with a veteran’s plan. He pressed the corner with his insanely hot motor, used a strong long-arm to straighten the tackle’s set, and snapped back inside when the feet over-committed. The payoff landed early with one clean sack in the first half and a handful of pocket pressures that forced Jacoby Brissett into hurried throws. The box score matched the eye test and Ezeiruaku finished with three tackles, five pressures and one sack in a game where Dallas was otherwise chasing Arizona’s rhythm.
Looking ahead to Las Vegas, the challenge is a split personality. If he draws Kolton Miller for long stretches, that’s a technician’s exam. Miller has been one of the league’s sturdier pass protectors, grading second among the leagues tackles in PFF’s pass-block metrics at 89.8. That means wins will come late and on second effort rather than with clean, instant edges from Ezeiruaku. On the other side, DJ Glaze has flashed but still gives...
