The Big Sweaties Report, Preseason Week 2 vs Steelers 8/19/23

[Ralonzo]

I'm gonna put on my Bono Sideline Safety Glasses and feed my ego here. 

How bad was the OL? Let's waste a beautiful Sunday morning taking a long look.

 

1st series - 73-66-60-64-79
1st & 10) Quick slant. Morse pancakes a guy.
2nd & 2) Cook does a happy dance behind the LOS. Line was blocking down right, and he needed to follow them, they got good push. That's on the RB.
3rd & 2) Josh has a good pocket but bails RIGHT into Watt and dirts it. That series isn't on the line, 2 skill position fails on 2nd & 3rd.

 

2nd series - 73-66-60-64-79
1st & 10) Middle run Cook snuffed by LB, looks like Morse late getting to 2nd level for that hole.
2nd & 8) Complete Davis. Allen again bailing the pocket into trouble. although it looked like pressure Dawkins had locked on and the end would have been taken wide enough to just stand in there. But it's Josh so it's a 1st down.
1st & 10) Out to Diggs. Pitts brings 5 again, line takes care of business there.
1st & 10) Handoff Cook right, Morris' man gets inside leverage and disrupts the play in the backfield. Dawkins guy was inside too, but if Morris seals it there's a big hole to run in.
2nd & 9) Josh out route to Davis on the far sideline. Dawkins was getting walked back again.
1st & 10) Herbig power-to-speed move beats Dawkins and he gets a hand on Josh, inc. Rest of the line barely budges. Pitts bringing 5+ rushers again. Refs start trying to find a reason to throw a flag starting right about here. This becomes a theme.
2nd & 10) WR screen to Harty. Brown DESTROYS a DB who turtles, causing the refs to throw a block in the back flag. Crap call.
2nd & 19) False start McGovern.
2nd & 24) Incredible throw Allen to Davis. Brown gets straightened on the power rush, and it didn't really look like a bad hold but it was one hand on the front one outside the frame, which if the end sells it will draw a flag mostly.
2nd & refs) Draw Murray, somehow they left Kincaid to block two Steelers which went predictably.
3rd & refs) Screen Murray, what can you do, that series was decided when the Steeler bailed on taking the block from Brown.

 

3rd series - 73-66-60-64-79
1st & 10) Steelers shift, Morris thinks they're doing something else and touches up. False start. Problem here is Morris trying to think.
1st & 15) Slant Diggs, McGovern moves a Steeler off the pile in an airborne fashion.
2nd & 7) Slant Diggs who is blanketed by the ... linebacker?
3rd & 7) It looks like Dawkins beat wide by Highsmith, but he might have been expecting a more effective chip from Kincaid. He didn't start the slide step until Kincaid had already not slowed down the edge an iota. Allen stepped up into a huge gap. In a real game Allen runs for real, rather than getting to the LOS and thinking "Oh crap, I'm not supposed to run" and doing a James Cook impression dancing to the sideline and back. In doing so he deleveraged the other 4 blockers and they had no chance.

 

4th series - 73-76-71-64-79
1st & 10) Murray to the left behind the pulling RT Brown, who makes the key block on the LB in the hole to spring him.
1st & 10) Murray to the left tries to take it wide behind... oh. Morris, Kincaid and Sherfield, and right into 4 or 5 black jerseys. That went predictably.
2nd & 11) False start Dawkins.
2nd & 16) Slant Kincaid for 22. Torrence gets his hands on a blitzer, and it looks like, ok he's just gonna push him wide or hold him up a second, but 55 gets LAUNCHED. That's some impressive punch.
1st & 10) Murray dive for not much. Bates got stood up and Brown lost inside leverage.
2nd & 9) False start Kincaid.
2nd & 14) Barkley dirts an easy throw to Kincaid. Line holds up, QB fails to execute. It's a case of someone being the leak wink every play.
3rd & 14) Barkley hangs Sherfield out in the middle zone but he's a brick. Dawkins was getting walked again but did enough. 76 looking solid.
1st & 10) Out to Harty. Line does a good job identifying the rushers, Brown rightly passes one off to Torrence to pick up the wide blitzer.
1st & 10) Looks like Morris was supposed to run a route to the right flat but forgot. Linemen had released and were ready to downfield block. He's playing himself off the roster so far.
2nd & 10) Slant to Kincaid continues to be uncoverable. Brown gets to punch a corner blitzer, line was just fine.
1st & goal) Murray handoff was well-blocked but they didn't account for the QB making the tackle.
2nd & goal) Barkley with a decision worthy of a 3rd or 4th stringer for the int. Pitts still blitzing the Bills right side who is consistently picking it up.

 

5th series - 74-76-70-71-72   <--- this is interesting, with 70 and 71 both in, Anderson is C, BATES is RG.
1st & 10) Dive Murray for a 1st down. This edition of the line was moving bodies on that play, half of them getting to the 2nd level.
1st & 10) Barkley with a luftballoon for a pick. Very well blocked in the rare event of Pittsburgh rushing only 4. Personal foul on Doyle for blocking a guy; refs trying to tip the game again (as we see on the Pitts o-series following).

 

6th series - 74-67-70-65-72
1st & 10) Barkley audible hits Morris left flat. Van Demark identifies the blitz and picks it up.
2nd & 8) Barkley hot read is tipped up and picked by the corner blitzer. Exactly the right read; wrong execution.

 

7th series - 74-67-70-65-72
1st & 10) Big mess on the right side of the line. Boettger gets buried, Doyle tries to come off his block and make up for it and cripples himself. Boettger tried to get Doyle's leg last week too.

7th series - 74-67-70-65-77
2nd & 10) Mims behind Broeker and Anderson who MAUL the interior of the Pitts line.
1st & 10) Barkley to Isabella. Boettger beat again but ball came out.
1st & 10) Mims tries to roll up Anderson's left knee 
2nd & 10) Quessenberry destroyed by Herbig who gets to Barkey before he even finishes his drop, causing the fumble & turnover. 65-77 on the right side is a disaster. They can't make this roster.

 

8th series - 74-67-70-65-77
1st & 10) Handoff Evans, 70-65-77 actually does a good job down blocking left, but RB cuts right into the defense.
2nd & 6) Pitts crowding the box. Handoff goes right for no gain. Boettger goes to the 2nd level to block their Matakevich 2.0 who sheds him easily and makes the tackle. Sheesh.
3rd & 6) Slant to Shorter for 1st. Pitt actually runs a stunt against 65-77, lol, you don't need to do that. Just rush them.
1st & 10) Handoff Evans loses 1. 65-77 down block left, Steenbergen comes across to wham the edge, but whiffs the edge instead.
2nd & 11) Slant Shorter. Quess was getting walked by Herbig, most of the line was getting walked but it was a rhythm throw.
3rd & 3) Thompson quick throw for the 1st. Perfectly adequate there, 70 had nobody to block but was hunting.
1st & 10) Deep shot inc. Anderson doing everything you want the C to do assisting the guards.
2nd & 10) Quick out to Shavers. Anderson flings another Steeler to the turf, Evans with a good job on the blitz pickup.
3rd & 3) Pittsburgh brings 6, Allen correctly throws hot but Quess' guy jumps and bats down the pass.

 

9th series - 74-67-62-70-77
1st & goal) TD Mims, nice cut behind Anderson sealing TWO Steelers inside for the walk-in. Anderson is a hoss, that was impressive.

 

10th series - 74-67-62-70-77
1st & 10) Evans cutback behind Anderson's block again for 9. What stands out about 70 is how easily he turns defenders to gain his leverage and open the holes.
2nd & 1) Another run, this time behind Broeker and Van Demark on the left who move the Steelers easily.
1st & 10) Another dive run behind Broeker and the pile moves a bit.
2nd & 7) Swing to Evans. Middle blitz picked up, ball comes out hot but minimal gain.
3rd & 5) Pitts shows everything but only rushes 4. Consequently the hot throw is doubled and inc. Blocking was fine there too.

 

11th series - 74-67-62-63-75
1st & 10) Quick out to Shorter. Mean low block by 74 on the edge #40. Gouraige engulfs his edge rusher.
2nd & 3) Nice job Broeker & Van Demark opening a hole for the RB. 2 minute warning now.
1st & 10) Slant to Thompson, line holds up easily. We're going hurry-up, Pitt only rushing 4.
2nd & 5) Out to Wilson, again quick rhythm and Pitt not doing crazy stuff.
1st & 10) Scramble, dumpoff to Mims. Gouraige gets beat inside on a speed-to-power but tackles his guy, that was far worse than what Brown did for his hold. Van Demark runs his guy around the world.
1st & 10) Allen to Steenbergen. Gouraige shows good anchor on his single block.
1st & 10) Out to Shorter. Left side 74-67 handles a stunt easily.
2nd & 3) Skinny post to Shorter TD. Van Demark starts to budge on a bull rush but Broeker comes over to smack.
2PT) Mimsy walks in behind LG GOOD. Broeker turns his man out easily and Mancz mops up.

 

Overall:

 

- Every member of the starting OL was the weak link on a play or two.
- Dawkins had the roughest game among the starters, but generally there was enough sloppiness all over.
- Brown was not as bad as the forum is making out, he probably have made more plus plays than most other starters. He's just high variance.
- McGovern's quick exit means either he was dinged or he's got it locked down at LG.
- When the Steelers went basic rush-4 drop-7 they didn't accomplish much. It looked like they game-planned this one, tons of blitzes all game long. or, that's just what they do all the time. The Bills adjusted pretty well, Pitts didn't get a whole lot of free rushers for the amount they sent 5+. IRL it'll burn 'em against Allen, or maybe even Allen. Not so much against Barkley.
- Get f'ed refs, over-officious jerks. I have no explanation on the Doyle PF, for instance.

- How the f did a Danny Smith-coached ST pwn the Bills, wasn't he the WOAT special teams coach when he was here? Like, "Special" had an alternate interpretation?

 

Tea leaves:

- Anderson ought to be the primary backup at C at this point. He looks like he can be a plus-starter down the road a little and may be ready now. With Torrence obviously elevating to starter and McGovern locked in I don't think there's room for him, Bates, and Edwards to back up the interior 3 positions, though. There's a trust factor with Bates but honestly, but he's peaked. 70 did some athletic/strength things 71 can't. I wouldn't want to expose Anderson to waivers with the tape he's laying down. Edwards as G-only while Anderson and Bates having 5-position flex might make a difference, although Edwards has done nothing to not make the team.
- 65 and 77 don't make my final roster. I have to assume the long look at the latter after Doyle was carted off was deciding whether he can play at even a stopgap level anymore. Both were a notable liability even against the 2nd team.
- Broeker should make it to the practice squad, he was solid.
- Van Demark is a roster lock as the swing tackle right now.
- If you're bringing Peters in it's not to replace 73 or 79, it's to replace 77. Unless Gouraige gets a long look next week and shows out and does that himself.
 

[I'm Spartacus]

Can appreciate you long in depth post, but wouldn't it be easier (and quicker) to just say our o-line play sucked last night? 😥

[Ralonzo]

2 minutes ago, I&#x27;m Spartacus said:

Can appreciate you long in depth post, but wouldn't it be easier (and quicker) to just say our o-line play sucked last night? 😥

 

Well, there's the rub. Watching play-by-play, it wasn't as bad as it's being made out to be. That should be in the synopsis. And there were guys who outperformed expectation - Anderson most notably, but also Van Demark and Broeker.

[LEBills]

8 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

 

Well, there's the rub. Watching play-by-play, it wasn't as bad as it's being made out to be. That should be in the synopsis. And there were guys who outperformed expectation - Anderson most notably, but also Van Demark and Broeker.

I appreciate your post, I went back and watched the series where Josh was in and came out of it with the same conclusion…the line wasn’t that bad. Our interior looks better than it has in a long time. And Torrence is the first piece now in place of building a really good line in the future, he looked very good.

 

Dawkins will be ok, Brown is the weakest link (and hopefully gets upgraded next year) but I don’t think that is going to be a big problem for the offense. It was an ugly game overall, but when you break it down into individual plays, things were not that bad.

[balln]

1 minute ago, LEBills said:

I appreciate your post, I went back and watched the series where Josh was in and came out of it with the same conclusion…the line wasn’t that bad. Our interior looks better than it has in a long time. And Torrence is the first piece now in place of building a really good line in the future, he looked very good.

 

Dawkins will be ok, Brown is the weakest link (and hopefully gets upgraded next year) but I don’t think that is going to be a big problem for the offense. It was an ugly game overall, but when you break it down into individual plays, things were not that bad.

The team continues to struggle against 3-4 w a bear front or a wide 9 4-3. Basically edge rushers way outside our tackles. 
 

I still see long developing routes. Josh had underneath stuff - didn’t take it (Gilliam was wide open outlet on one inc). And ineffective chipping.

 

FIX it. DORSEY!

[Brand J]

Even though he’s shown promise, I’m all for moving on from Quentin Morris and finding the nastiest blocking TE you can after cuts. Kincaid is our best receiving TE, Knox is a mixture of a blocker and receiver. We need a specialist for that 3rd TE spot and Morris isn’t reliable enough to be receiving TE only. 

[SCBills]

6 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Even though he’s shown promise, I’m all for moving on from Quentin Morris and finding the nastiest blocking TE you can after cuts. Kincaid is our best receiving TE, Knox is a mixture of a blocker and receiver. We need a specialist for that 3rd TE spot and Morris isn’t reliable enough to be receiving TE only. 

Completely agree. 
 

Good OT’s aren’t just floating around but you can find high end blocking TE’s if we need to resort to giving help to Brown/Dawkins frequently. 

[SCBills]

Does this match up?..

 

 

[AuntieEm]

27 minutes ago, balln said:

The team continues to struggle against 3-4 w a bear front or a wide 9 4-3. Basically edge rushers way outside our tackles. 
 

I still see long developing routes. Josh had underneath stuff - didn’t take it (Gilliam was wide open outlet on one inc). And ineffective chipping.

 

FIX it. DORSEY!

 

 More like s

Take what is open Josh!!

Edited August 20, 2023 by AuntieEm

[Don Otreply]

Nice write up Ralonzo, gives a much clearer picture of what was happening, looks like execution is the issue.  Josh needs to take the easy stuff when it’s available, I really hope Dorsey is having Josh work that into the game strategy, oh well, we shall see won’t we…, 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Don Otreply

[Royale with Cheese]

Threads like this are the best.  Detailed information from someone who understands what he’s seeing.

Appreciate this!

[GoBills808]

Favorable interpretation of their play imo

 

The third and 7 for example- 'deleveraged' is a nice way of saying they just stood around after Allen broke the pocket when Dawkins man (Highsmith) gets around

 

Highsmith was actually the one who ended up making the tackle...he looped all the way around through 5 guys just standing around watching

 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Ralonzo said:

I'm gonna put on my Bono Sideline Safety Glasses and feed my ego here. 

How bad was the OL? Let's waste a beautiful Sunday morning taking a long look.

 

1st series - 73-66-60-64-79
1st & 10) Quick slant. Morse pancakes a guy.
2nd & 2) Cook does a happy dance behind the LOS. Line was blocking down right, and he needed to follow them, they got good push. That's on the RB.
3rd & 2) Josh has a good pocket but bails RIGHT into Watt and dirts it. That series isn't on the line, 2 skill position fails on 2nd & 3rd.

 

2nd series - 73-66-60-64-79
1st & 10) Middle run Cook snuffed by LB, looks like Morse late getting to 2nd level for that hole.
2nd & 8) Complete Davis. Allen again bailing the pocket into trouble. although it looked like pressure Dawkins had locked on and the end would have been taken wide enough to just stand in there. But it's Josh so it's a 1st down.
1st & 10) Out to Diggs. Pitts brings 5 again, line takes care of business there.
1st & 10) Handoff Cook right, Morris' man gets inside leverage and disrupts the play in the backfield. Dawkins guy was inside too, but if Morris seals it there's a big hole to run in.
2nd & 9) Josh out route to Davis on the far sideline. Dawkins was getting walked back again.
1st & 10) Herbig power-to-speed move beats Dawkins and he gets a hand on Josh, inc. Rest of the line barely budges. Pitts bringing 5+ rushers again. Refs start trying to find a reason to throw a flag starting right about here. This becomes a theme.
2nd & 10) WR screen to Harty. Brown DESTROYS a DB who turtles, causing the refs to throw a block in the back flag. Crap call.
2nd & 19) False start McGovern.
2nd & 24) Incredible throw Allen to Davis. Brown gets straightened on the power rush, and it didn't really look like a bad hold but it was one hand on the front one outside the frame, which if the end sells it will draw a flag mostly.
2nd & refs) Draw Murray, somehow they left Kincaid to block two Steelers which went predictably.
3rd & refs) Screen Murray, what can you do, that series was decided when the Steeler bailed on taking the block from Brown.

 

3rd series - 73-66-60-64-79
1st & 10) Steelers shift, Morris thinks they're doing something else and touches up. False start. Problem here is Morris trying to think.
1st & 15) Slant Diggs, McGovern moves a Steeler off the pile in an airborne fashion.
2nd & 7) Slant Diggs who is blanketed by the ... linebacker?
3rd & 7) It looks like Dawkins beat wide by Highsmith, but he might have been expecting a more effective chip from Kincaid. He didn't start the slide step until Kincaid had already not slowed down the edge an iota. Allen stepped up into a huge gap. In a real game Allen runs for real, rather than getting to the LOS and thinking "Oh crap, I'm not supposed to run" and doing a James Cook impression dancing to the sideline and back. In doing so he deleveraged the other 4 blockers and they had no chance.

 

4th series - 73-76-71-64-79
1st & 10) Murray to the left behind the pulling RT Brown, who makes the key block on the LB in the hole to spring him.
1st & 10) Murray to the left tries to take it wide behind... oh. Morris, Kincaid and Sherfield, and right into 4 or 5 black jerseys. That went predictably.
2nd & 11) False start Dawkins.
2nd & 16) Slant Kincaid for 22. Torrence gets his hands on a blitzer, and it looks like, ok he's just gonna push him wide or hold him up a second, but 55 gets LAUNCHED. That's some impressive punch.
1st & 10) Murray dive for not much. Bates got stood up and Brown lost inside leverage.
2nd & 9) False start Kincaid.
2nd & 14) Barkley dirts an easy throw to Kincaid. Line holds up, QB fails to execute. It's a case of someone being the leak wink every play.
3rd & 14) Barkley hangs Sherfield out in the middle zone but he's a brick. Dawkins was getting walked again but did enough. 76 looking solid.
1st & 10) Out to Harty. Line does a good job identifying the rushers, Brown rightly passes one off to Torrence to pick up the wide blitzer.
1st & 10) Looks like Morris was supposed to run a route to the right flat but forgot. Linemen had released and were ready to downfield block. He's playing himself off the roster so far.
2nd & 10) Slant to Kincaid continues to be uncoverable. Brown gets to punch a corner blitzer, line was just fine.
1st & goal) Murray handoff was well-blocked but they didn't account for the QB making the tackle.
2nd & goal) Barkley with a decision worthy of a 3rd or 4th stringer for the int. Pitts still blitzing the Bills right side who is consistently picking it up.

 

5th series - 74-76-70-71-72   <--- this is interesting, with 70 and 71 both in, Anderson is C, BATES is RG.
1st & 10) Dive Murray for a 1st down. This edition of the line was moving bodies on that play, half of them getting to the 2nd level.
1st & 10) Barkley with a luftballoon for a pick. Very well blocked in the rare event of Pittsburgh rushing only 4. Personal foul on Doyle for blocking a guy; refs trying to tip the game again (as we see on the Pitts o-series following).

 

6th series - 74-67-70-65-72
1st & 10) Barkley audible hits Morris left flat. Van Demark identifies the blitz and picks it up.
2nd & 8) Barkley hot read is tipped up and picked by the corner blitzer. Exactly the right read; wrong execution.

 

7th series - 74-67-70-65-72
1st & 10) Big mess on the right side of the line. Boettger gets buried, Doyle tries to come off his block and make up for it and cripples himself. Boettger tried to get Doyle's leg last week too.

7th series - 74-67-70-65-77
2nd & 10) Mims behind Broeker and Anderson who MAUL the interior of the Pitts line.
1st & 10) Barkley to Isabella. Boettger beat again but ball came out.
1st & 10) Mims tries to roll up Anderson's left knee 
2nd & 10) Quessenberry destroyed by Herbig who gets to Barkey before he even finishes his drop, causing the fumble & turnover. 65-77 on the right side is a disaster. They can't make this roster.

 

8th series - 74-67-70-65-77
1st & 10) Handoff Evans, 70-65-77 actually does a good job down blocking left, but RB cuts right into the defense.
2nd & 6) Pitts crowding the box. Handoff goes right for no gain. Boettger goes to the 2nd level to block their Matakevich 2.0 who sheds him easily and makes the tackle. Sheesh.
3rd & 6) Slant to Shorter for 1st. Pitt actually runs a stunt against 65-77, lol, you don't need to do that. Just rush them.
1st & 10) Handoff Evans loses 1. 65-77 down block left, Steenbergen comes across to wham the edge, but whiffs the edge instead.
2nd & 11) Slant Shorter. Quess was getting walked by Herbig, most of the line was getting walked but it was a rhythm throw.
3rd & 3) Thompson quick throw for the 1st. Perfectly adequate there, 70 had nobody to block but was hunting.
1st & 10) Deep shot inc. Anderson doing everything you want the C to do assisting the guards.
2nd & 10) Quick out to Shavers. Anderson flings another Steeler to the turf, Evans with a good job on the blitz pickup.
3rd & 3) Pittsburgh brings 6, Allen correctly throws hot but Quess' guy jumps and bats down the pass.

 

9th series - 74-67-62-70-77
1st & goal) TD Mims, nice cut behind Anderson sealing TWO Steelers inside for the walk-in. Anderson is a hoss, that was impressive.

 

10th series - 74-67-62-70-77
1st & 10) Evans cutback behind Anderson's block again for 9. What stands out about 70 is how easily he turns defenders to gain his leverage and open the holes.
2nd & 1) Another run, this time behind Broeker and Van Demark on the left who move the Steelers easily.
1st & 10) Another dive run behind Broeker and the pile moves a bit.
2nd & 7) Swing to Evans. Middle blitz picked up, ball comes out hot but minimal gain.
3rd & 5) Pitts shows everything but only rushes 4. Consequently the hot throw is doubled and inc. Blocking was fine there too.

 

11th series - 74-67-62-63-75
1st & 10) Quick out to Shorter. Mean low block by 74 on the edge #40. Gouraige engulfs his edge rusher.
2nd & 3) Nice job Broeker & Van Demark opening a hole for the RB. 2 minute warning now.
1st & 10) Slant to Thompson, line holds up easily. We're going hurry-up, Pitt only rushing 4.
2nd & 5) Out to Wilson, again quick rhythm and Pitt not doing crazy stuff.
1st & 10) Scramble, dumpoff to Mims. Gouraige gets beat inside on a speed-to-power but tackles his guy, that was far worse than what Brown did for his hold. Van Demark runs his guy around the world.
1st & 10) Allen to Steenbergen. Gouraige shows good anchor on his single block.
1st & 10) Out to Shorter. Left side 74-67 handles a stunt easily.
2nd & 3) Skinny post to Shorter TD. Van Demark starts to budge on a bull rush but Broeker comes over to smack.
2PT) Mimsy walks in behind LG GOOD. Broeker turns his man out easily and Mancz mops up.

 

Overall:

 

- Every member of the starting OL was the weak link on a play or two.
- Dawkins had the roughest game among the starters, but generally there was enough sloppiness all over.
- Brown was not as bad as the forum is making out, he probably have made more plus plays than most other starters. He's just high variance.
- McGovern's quick exit means either he was dinged or he's got it locked down at LG.
- When the Steelers went basic rush-4 drop-7 they didn't accomplish much. It looked like they game-planned this one, tons of blitzes all game long. or, that's just what they do all the time. The Bills adjusted pretty well, Pitts didn't get a whole lot of free rushers for the amount they sent 5+. IRL it'll burn 'em against Allen, or maybe even Allen. Not so much against Barkley.
- Get f'ed refs, over-officious jerks. I have no explanation on the Doyle PF, for instance.

- How the f did a Danny Smith-coached ST pwn the Bills, wasn't he the WOAT special teams coach when he was here? Like, "Special" had an alternate interpretation?

 

Tea leaves:

- Anderson ought to be the primary backup at C at this point. He looks like he can be a plus-starter down the road a little and may be ready now. With Torrence obviously elevating to starter and McGovern locked in I don't think there's room for him, Bates, and Edwards to back up the interior 3 positions, though. There's a trust factor with Bates but honestly, but he's peaked. 70 did some athletic/strength things 71 can't. I wouldn't want to expose Anderson to waivers with the tape he's laying down. Edwards as G-only while Anderson and Bates having 5-position flex might make a difference, although Edwards has done nothing to not make the team.
- 65 and 77 don't make my final roster. I have to assume the long look at the latter after Doyle was carted off was deciding whether he can play at even a stopgap level anymore. Both were a notable liability even against the 2nd team.
- Broeker should make it to the practice squad, he was solid.
- Van Demark is a roster lock as the swing tackle right now.
- If you're bringing Peters in it's not to replace 73 or 79, it's to replace 77. Unless Gouraige gets a long look next week and shows out and does that himself.
 

 

Excellent post and pretty much what I am seeing.

[NeverOutNick]

Great analysis!! Hope the regime doesn’t stay loyal to the blah we’ve had as depth and moves forward with potential diamonds in the rough like Van Denmark. 
 

RB Mims and DE Jonathan are a couple other guys I’d love to keep around if it were possible. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by NeverOutNick

[Ralonzo]

Van Demark is a cinch IMO but he's much better at LT than RT. Doyle was supposed to be the insurance at RT, but that's gone. Quessenberry can't be an option here, he's losing reps badly against rookies and crumb bums.

 

The guy I'm really really high on after two games now is college T Anderson. He's been spectacular in run and pass pro sets, at both C and G, getting to the second level, and physically demolishing guys. Let's not do the Teller thing again and keep the marginally serviceable vets over the kid with big upside.

 

I wonder if Chicago wants Bates' contract? I mean, they wrote it...

50 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

Favorable interpretation of their play imo

 

The third and 7 for example- 'deleveraged' is a nice way of saying they just stood around after Allen broke the pocket when Dawkins man (Highsmith) gets around

 

"Deleveraged" means, 4 OL are blocking their opponent in <--- that direction, i.e. <--Steeler-Lineman-Allen-.

 

Allen runs past the pocket so that now it's <--Allen-Steeler-Lineman-. Tough to block that assignment, and yes the lineman ease down because as far as they're concerned the play has gone past them, their job is done. Dawkins was a try-hard there because he got posterized by Highsmith.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Ralonzo

[GoBills808]

6 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

Van Demark is a cinch IMO but he's much better at LT than RT. Doyle was supposed to be the insurance at RT, but that's gone. Quessenberry can't be an option here, he's losing reps badly against rookies and crumb bums.

 

The guy I'm really really high on after two games now is college T Anderson. He's been spectacular in run and pass pro sets, at both C and G, getting to the second level, and physically demolishing guys. Let's not do the Teller thing again and keep the marginally serviceable vets over the kid with big upside.

 

I wonder if Chicago wants Bates' contract? I mean, they wrote it...

 

"Deleveraged" means, 4 OL are blocking their opponent in <--- that direction, i.e. <--Steeler-Lineman-Allen-.

 

Allen runs past the pocket so that now it's <--Allen-Steeler-Lineman-. Tough to block that assignment, and yes the lineman ease down because as far as they're concerned the play has gone past them, their job is done. Dawkins was a try-hard there because he got posterized by Highsmith.

I understood what you meant

 

I find it significantly more difficult than you to excuse easing up when you quarterback still has the ball in your vicinity but that is why I said this is a very favorable interpretation 

[Ralonzo]

I'm questioning what you expect them to do when Allen runs past both them, and the guys they're blocking. Block them in the back? Tackle them? Why are you so singularly focused on this one down which almost certainly never plays out that way in the regular season with Allen changing his mind and sprinting first to the sideline and then back to the middle of the field? Legitimately, what are you expecting there in the middle of a completely broken play?

[Matt_In_NH]

3 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

Even though he’s shown promise, I’m all for moving on from Quentin Morris and finding the nastiest blocking TE you can after cuts. Kincaid is our best receiving TE, Knox is a mixture of a blocker and receiver. We need a specialist for that 3rd TE spot and Morris isn’t reliable enough to be receiving TE only. 

They can just bring in an extra tackle if they just want a blocker.   Actually they do that a lot

2 hours ago, NeverOutNick said:

Great analysis!! Hope the regime doesn’t stay loyal to the blah we’ve had as depth and moves forward with potential diamonds in the rough like Van Denmark. 
 

RB Mims and DE Jonathan are a couple other guys I’d love to keep around if it were possible. 

I would love to see the 53 and who you waive to do that

[Brand J]

Just now, Matt_In_NH said:

They can just bring in an extra tackle if they just want a blocker.   Actually they do that a lot

Doyle served in that role. The reason I’d like it to be a blocking TE rather than OT, because there’s still the threat of a pass. Lee Smith wasn’t targeted too often, but the defense would still have to respect him as a receiving threat more than they would an OT.

[Matt_In_NH]

Just now, JayBaller10 said:

Doyle served in that role. The reason I’d like it to be a blocking TE rather than OT, because there’s still the threat of a pass. Lee Smith wasn’t targeted too often, but the defense would still have to respect him as a receiving threat more than they would an OT.

When you want the beef up front it does not matter.  They can always throw to the eligible player.   Doyle caught a td pass from that position.  We don’t agree about needing a blocking te.