Associated Press
One word comes to mind when analyzing preseason performances—context.
Many will tell you the preseason doesn't matter and should be completely disregarded, and that may be true for the purposes of evaluating an entire team or trying to predict a team's talent level or success. But for individual players, the preseason does matter.
Many players—Terrell Davis and Victor Cruz come to mind as my two favorites—have used the preseason to propel their careers. As cutdown day nears and teams look to steal players who impressed in the exhibition games, there are also many rookies whom evaluators are excited their team grabbed in the 2019 draft, as well as those whom they are sad they didn't get.