O-line Grades: Week 12 @ ATL

[Tour2ma]

O-line Grades: Week 12 @ ATL

11 meaningful series this week with 39 1st-half plays and 37 2nd-half plays... 76 total.

1st Half: S1 - 12:43; S2 - 5:53; (Q2) S3 - 14:54; S4 - 11:15; S5 - 5:47; S6 - 0:55
2nd Half: S7 - 15:00; S8 - 5:44; (Q4) S9 - 9:30; S10 - 3:37; S11 - 0:44

Revelation(s) of the week: Multifunctionalism is a must in Shanny's O... and the amount required is growing.

I'm sure it's been going on most of the season to some extent, but this week I really noticed players "playing out of position" in our hurry-up. In the past I've seen, although perhaps not mentioned, Austin lined up as a 2nd TE in our 2TE wing set and sometimes he's even asked to block. Saw more of that this week.

I also remember FB Small going in motion out of the I to a WR set. But this week I saw us go from an I one play into a 4WR look the next, splitting both backs into WR spots. Same for SingleBack, 2 TE sets morphing into 4 wide in consecutive plays. Change the look without allowing the D to substitute unless it is at its own, 12-man peril.

I suspect we will only see more of this...

Rant of the week: Gave myself the week off. Happy Thanksgiving...

General Notes:

• Shanny unveiled a couple new looks early. First he put Agnew in the slot to the left (S2P9). He immediately followed that with a 2WR left look that he motioned the tighter WR out further setting up the Quick Screen Benji dropped (S2P10). AS mentioned in the "Revelation" there were a lot of old looks this week that placed personnel in unusual, new look roles.
• Line discipline returned to damn good this week with A Bito False Start was the lone blemish. TE discipline? Different story with Dray bagging his own False Start plus a Holding penalty for good measure.
• ATL D-line bigs gave our boys some issues this week. In particular Babineaux and Jackson. I'm wondering if the long NFL season is beginning to take its toll on our rookie wunderkind, Bito.
• The WideZoneRun is officially an endangered species. I only noted 4 this week.
• Two of our best runs (Crow's TD and West's 20-yd bounce to the outside left) were almost in spite of our O-line, with few pints awarded .
• For the third week in a row a pre-snap, end-zone shot caught Crow glancing to the side, and only to the side, the play (S7P8) was going to go. If I see it, you can be damn sure the opponent sees it. He gained one yard on the play. Seriously... does anyone know how to contact the staff about this? I sent an e-mail to "Football Operations" this week, but have no idea whether it will be read.
• "Unusual" clock operation in ATL... During our winning drive the countdown quick skipped through the 24th second. Thought maybe the operator was shaving a little time, but when the final 2 seconds ran off with our winning FG already in the net... I suspended my suspicions.
• Noticed Hoyer is still wearing a brace on his right knee... no biggie... just had not noticed it since pre-season...
• Lanning made a nice snag of a high snap on our game winning FG.
• Awesome awareness by Gordo to throw that botched reverse away. Hard to believe he's that mentally sharp after so long of a layoff.
• Hoyer made a great no throw just prior to being sacked to end our opening 2nd half series. At least he avoided one INT. Not sure how he held onto the ball though... was as hard as some of Big Ben's legendary pump fakes.
• Compared to all the games to this point Hoyer was frisky vs. ATL. But hold onto your hats as he showed the same slide he flashed against Buffalo last year.
• Audible of the Week: "Ice Flounder".. at least I'm pretty sure that's what I heard.

Weekly Box Count... Now Sponsored by "The Departed"...
1st : 8+ - 9; 7 - 17; 6 - 9; 5 or less - 4
2nd: 8+ - 11; 7 - 16; 6 - 9; 5 or less - 1
Ttl : 8+ - 20; 7 - 33; 6 - 18; 5 or less - 5


Weekly Special Request: From me: Break Down Hoyer's Footwork...

Don't jump out of your chair and down my throat, but I think ATL was Hoyer's best game in a while... mechanically. It felt that way watching the game and damned if it doesn't seem true upon further review. I hedge only because I have not formerly broken down BH's game before.

Thus week I added a "Hoyer footwork note" to every pass play. On every drop back pass I noted the step relationship of BH's feet at release and the "authority" of the pass. For the step I use analog clock dial, e.g., 12:00 being straight ahead and 09:00 being a complete bail.

On roll outs Brian always ended up jumping into the air. Especially on plays where he is running parallel to or away from the LOS. On these I noted last foot on the ground at release as it does vary. The one, late "scramble" when he was moving towards the LOS he strode forward as one would expect.

For all plays I rated "throw authority": a check © meant a tight, "authoritative" spiral on a good line; an 'O' meant good pass but with noticeably less zip; and 'X' meant weak, wobbler. And, of course, I also noted throw result.

Here's the breakdown:

Dropbacks: Total 36
12-6 w/ 4C&2O; 1130-12 w/ 9C&2O&1X; 11-6 w/ 5C&1X;
1030-3 w/ 2C&1O; 10-2 w/ 2O; 09-7 w/ 2C&1O&4X
Of the 24 throws striding to 1100 or later, Brian threw 18 tight balls ©, 4 OKs (O) and 2 weaklings (X).
For the 18 C's he was 13/18. For the 4 O's he was 1/4 w/ 1INT. For the 2 X's he was 0/2.
Of the 12 throws when he "stepped in the bucket" (remember Vic Davalillo?) or strode to 1030 or earlier, he went 6/12 w/ 4C (4/4), 4O (2/4), & 4X (0/4 w/2 INT).

Rolls/Flushed runs: Total 6
Roll Left: RightFoot- 1C, LeftFoot- 1O ; MoveUp: RF- 1C, LF- none
Roll Right: RF- 2C, LF- 1X
Small sample size, but when throwing off his right ("back") foot Brian threw 4 quality passes in 4 attempts. The results of these 4 were 4 completions for +15, +5, +7 and +24 yards. Off his left ("Front") foot he threw 1 C, completed for 9, and 1 O, a weak, high incompletion in Gordo's direction.


The Grades

Joe Thomas: 1st +9-2 net +7 w/ 2D+&1D-; 2nd +11-9 net +2 w/ 3D+&2D- ; Game Totals: +20-11 net +9

I believe this may be the first week Joe has ended up in single digits. This is owed to an unusual number of bad plays by Joe.

Errors started early when Joe missed an edge blitz (S2P1). While off play action the edge threat was clear and addressable but was not. BH dumped the pass to avoid a sack. Joe settled in for a good part of the game before earning his 2nd D- when he missed a backside cut block and West was caught for only a 3-yd gain (S8P8). His last came to start our winning drive when he allowed penetration and the rusher was able to hit the ball as BH began throwing it (S11P1).

Ending on a positive note, and there were many, Joe's D+ of the game came when he allowed penetration by ATL's edge setter taking himself totally out of the play, a Crow run for 6-yd (S7P2). What was remarkable was it was not an "Olay" type influence block like you'd see on a draw. It was more of an acting job," you're beating me, beating me... oops you're out of the play". Apparently it feels really good to at least be thinking you finally have the upper hand against Joe.

 

Other D+'s were earned for: a POA Drv block (S2P5); a sweet, outside seal (S2P9); a strong drive in block (S7P7) and a sweet outside seal (S9P4). I'm not too worried about Joe.

Joel Bitonio: 1st +10-3 net +7 w/ 1D+; 2nd +9-5 net +4 w/ 1D+&1D-; Game Totals: +19-8 net +11

First, despite his newly discovered tackling prowess, there is no truth to the rumor that Bito is moving to DT. Also apparently no traction for the idea to move him to Center...

Hard work for Joel in the trenches this week. He struggled with Babenaux's strength in particular. But despite the struggles suffered his only D- for drawing a False Start Penalty (S10P2). His D+'s both came for strong 2nd level, LB blocks, the 2nd of which combined with Joe's gem to set Crow loose for 18.


Nick McDonald: 1st +7-16 net -9 w/ 5D-; 2nd +11-9 net +2 w/ 1D+ & 3D-; Game Totals: +18-25 net -7

I saw none of the "isolation" I attributed to Romeo's game plan last week... so his numbers had to climb. Fortunately, while still a net negative, Nick's positive number grades climbed a good bit this week. For the most it's clear that Nick is primarily given 2nd level assignments. Even at this he bounced off of ATL LBs a couple times... whiffed some others. Most of the remaining times, when he is asked to take on a DT, it's as half of a Dbl Team.

Nick's lone D+ came for a nice POA Turn of a DT on his nose. He effectively sealed off the DT, one-on-one, permitting West to make a small gain up the middle (S8P7). His itemized D-'s are: "Bounced Off LOL" (S1P3), No Seal NT (S2P5), Big Rip (S2P7), Big Push (S2P8); 2nd & Knocked Down (S5P1); Was Controlled (S8P2); 2nd Missed LB (S9P6); and Bulled Pressure (S10P3). S10P3 produced BH's 2nd INT. On the "BigRip"... there's no shame when a it happens at the hands of one of the league's top DTs, but this one was by an ILB. Really bad, Nick and really sad.

Least we get too down on McD, I think his overall net -7 is his "highest" grade to date... so there's that.


John Greco: 1st +4-3 net +1 w/ 1D+; 2nd +7-7 net 0 w/ 1D+&1D-; Game Totals: +11-10 net +1

Weirdest grade to date. I've never seen so little action. John's column contains "O" after "O" after "O"... Some came through Dbl Team participation with McD. Double teams rarely yields anything other than a neutral "O". But there many more solo, "O's"... Just not a busy week for John.

John go his only D- for getting ripped to the ground (S9P7) on a pass rush resulting in a QB pressure. His D+'s came for a key downfield block on Gordo's 2nd WR screen (S6P2) and a pretty Chip+2nd effort on a Crow run left (S7P8).

I have a feeling John will be busier this week...


Mitchell Schwartz: 1st +12-7 net +5 w/ 2D-; 2nd +10-5 net +5 w/ 1D+&1D-; Game Totals: +22-12 net +10

Mitch posted his third consecutive positive week and I believe his best of the year. I'll say it... Mitch had a good game that was much more consistent than last week's up and down path. Of course, he wasn't facing JJ Watt this week.

Mitch primary issue early was handling his DE's inside move. He was clearly beaten inside for his first D- (S2P7) and ripped inside for his 2nd (S4P3).Thereafter he shut that down without opening the outside as he has in the past. His 3rd and final D- came when Bierman got under his pads and bulled him back into Hoyer for a sack (S7P10).


Other Blockers:

TEs: Good, productive outing by our dynamic duo this week.

• Dray: +14-4 net +10 w/ 3D+&2D- Two penalty D-'s have been discussed. THe D+'s came from: A line-worthy Chip+2nd on Gordo's 22 yd screen (S2P9); and a fine drive block on West's short run (S3P4).
• Barn: +7-5 net +2 w/ 3D+&1D- Busy week for Barn. D+'s awarded for: Big block on Crow's 1st TD (S2P11); a shorter run by West (S3P4); and an edge seal on another West run (S8P5). His D- earned for getting severely blown into the middle of the line. It was he that West bounced off of at the start of his 20 run around left end.
• One last Barn note... he had the game's most important, unintended block when he whiffed on his assigned LB and ended up roll blocking the backside LB to the ground. Crow raced past the assigned LB, but might well have been caught by the backside on his 26 yd TD run.
• Taylor: N/A

RBs:

• Agnew III: +7-8 net -1 w/ 2D+&2D- Screaming "placeholder" here... Blocking produced: a big blast D+ (S2P9); a big pop LB hit (S7P3); a big D- LB whiff (S8P7); and a big blast D- for knocking Bito off the DT he was blocking (S9P1)... yes, the DT made the tackle. Missed proper hole a couple times including one glaring example when he blasted Mitch (who been pushed 3-yds deep) trying to get to the corner when the clear path was inside Mitch (S9P6). In other action Ag lined up wrong twice on one play... wrong side then not on LOS. On the plus side, he takes Hoyer's directions well.
• West: +2-2 net 0 w/ 1D+ for an LB blitz p/u (S3P5).
• Crow: +4-4 net 0 w/ 1D- for missing a blitz p/u that leveled BH late (S11P2). Still a mixed bag for Crow... batting .500 on blitz p/u's.

WRs: A little more life here this week...

• Gordon: +3-1 net +2 Nothing spectacular in his debut, but some solid work and leadership for group. Did try to block a DE once... emphasis on "try" (S2P6).
• Austin: +4-0 net +4 w/ 2 D+ on an inspired, driving block on Crow's 1st TD run (S2P11) and a shorter run by West (S3P4). I see healthy competition between our two, big WRs.
• Gabe: +1-2 net -1 Nothing noteworthy...
• Hawk: +1-0 net +1 Getting in the game...
• Benji: zilch... again... C'mon man!

[Zombo]

Great stuff again. If we ever get McDonald into the "positive" side ... watch out!

 

Zombo