Originally posted by NCommand:
Originally posted by WRATHman44:
Originally posted by thl408:
Originally posted by NCommand:
Originally posted by WRATHman44:
Originally posted by ModestoNiner33:
Originally posted by WRATHman44:
yep, and he doesn't take false steps. he's always in position, so even though he isn't especially strong or big, his body is always between his defender and the hole.
How do you think he projects to the ZBS.
I think he'd (he'll) do better in the ZBS than the power scheme we had the last 4 years. So will Staley, imo. Thomas is made for it, Davis ran it in college. Boone is a question mark, but if he struggles, Martin should be up to speed and Looney is MUCH better than general consensus, which was based on a dozen or so bad plays last year. You learn consistency through repetition, after all.
Spot on!
Without watching Kilgore in depth, I agree very much with what's said about Kilgore. He will not overpower anyone, but always has good positioning so that leverage is working for him. He seems to beat the defender to the spot, and uses leverage to hold the spot, that's sufficient to open holes in the run game. I trust WRATHman's assessment that it's his feet that allows him to do this.
Thanks, man. I had a great OL coach who always used to say, "If you can't put your man on his ass, then you work your ass into the hole." Kilgore's that guy who rarely gets a pancake, but almost always manages to work his ass into the hole. He's a tenacious technicial, imo.
Love it! So I recently came across a pic of M.Martin working out and it looks like he's slimmed down a lot. I'm wondering where his best fit would be if we do, in fact move to a ZBS. Thoughts?
To be honest, I don't think any of the interior positions are markedly different in a ZBS, from a physical perspective. There's not a lot of pulling, and the pulling that occurs rarely goes further than one man down the line. All three positions are equally likely to release to the second level, and all three positions have similar responsibilities in pass pro, though C seems to get to help out more frequently, while Gs usually have an immediate threat (that can change if either DT shifts, stunts, or slants, or if a LB blitzes). The main difference, imo, is that the Center is responsible for making calls and adjusting protection in the passing game. Coaches were pretty positive about Martin regarding that responsibility. In the run game, line calls should be made by the players combining to block a zone and echoed to everyone else, so C/G don't really have different responsibilities there.
So, I think he could do very well at both. I haven't seen him cut block, so if he stinks at that, he'd probably be better at center, since tackles and guards do the vast majority of backside cutting in a traditional zone scheme. We rarely cut on zone plays last year (Staley was the only guy I saw do it, and he did a GREAT job of providing a cutback lane), but all bets are off with this new staff. His "rookie strong" body was a liability last year, but that wouldn't be as big of a deal in a zone scheme, though better strength could help him anchor against a bull rush. I'm expecting him to be stronger this season, anyway.
