49ers Offensive Line

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Yikes....his 3 worst games were the ones he started....lol.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Agreed! This O-line is the biggest reason I have trouble being optimistic about this upcoming season. IF we had a top tier O-line, I'd believe that we could overcome all of the shiz that happened this off-season. All of the optimism about better offense in every facet won't mean didly squat if the line can't block. Understand, this line won't have to just be good or quality, they're gonna have to be GREAT. A mid-level O-line won't get it done. No sane person can truly believe that our defense will be as dominant as 2011-13. That means our offense will have to greatly increase. To increase, they're gonna have to be able to run when they want, pass when they want - which means that line has to open holes, hold up for 5 and 7 step drops and not hold anybody. That's gonna take a truly dominant offensive line. It doesn't matter if we have a burner and true "x" receiver if we can't hold up for 5 and 7 step drops. It doesn't matter how explosive Hyde, Hunter and Bush may be if the line can't move everyone out of the way. The playcalling won't matter nor CK's classwork if he doesn't have time to work through progressions 2-4.

Furthermore, even if our starting 5 is dominant - can we really be sure that we could take ANY injury to our O-line?? It's hard for me to believe that we have 6-8 of the best kept secret O-lineman in the league.

I respect your work jonny, but I disagree. I think average to above average OL play will get the job done this year. Kap is even good under occasional pressure when his pocket is usually secure. Throwing to the backs and calling more screens can help keep defenses off balance. Booting Kap out of the pocket off of zone action can ease the burden on the OL in the run and pass, and using stretch runs to reach the outside will make inside zone (including zone read) more effective.

Coaches and Kap can do a lot to get success out of average OL play, imo.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Yikes....his 3 worst games were the ones he started....lol.

He started 4, and the whole team (excluding Kap and Frank, iirc) quit in Denver.

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Yikes....his 3 worst games were the ones he started....lol.

He started 4, and the whole team (excluding Kap and Frank, iirc) quit in Denver.

Yup. I see he started 4 games, his last start was decent by PFFs standards. Maybe he performs better in a ZBS. His draft profile describes him as having a good mix of power/athleticism/awareness.

I agree with your above post that we can get away with an average/above average OL with playcalling that keeps teams off balance.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Yikes....his 3 worst games were the ones he started....lol.

He started 4, and the whole team (excluding Kap and Frank, iirc) quit in Denver.

Yup. I see he started 4 games, his last start was decent by PFFs standards. Maybe he performs better in a ZBS. His draft profile describes him as having a good mix of power/athleticism/awareness.

I agree with your above post that we can get away with an average/above average OL with playcalling that keeps teams off balance.

The other scores aren't terrible. -1 and -2 are pretty close to average, and still pretty subjective. I disagree with the way PFF appears to emphasize run more than pass for Gs. Point is, we can survive the occasional -1 or -2 from a couple of guys. that -6ish nonsense in terrible. Lots of teams have won games with about three of their OL in the -1 and -2 area.

Originally posted by NinerGM:
WRATH, but wouldn't you say it takes quite a bit of practice (timing) for OLs to become effective with screens? I'm a huge fan of screens but most fail because of poor execution or detected rather early and blown up by a defense. Good screen teams that I've seen have been running screens for quite a long time or scheme extremely well. What are your thoughts on teams just switching to screens being a staple part of the offense and how soon do you think this group can get their perimeter game down? (Of course I'm a fan of bubble screens and crack screens).

This data table was interesting also....

With that in mind, here's a look at how quarterbacks used the screen game in 2014.

All Screens



– Matt Ryan benefitted from a healthy Julio Jones who picked up the third-most yards on wide receiver screens in the league.
– Ryan tied with Alex Smith to lead the league with five touchdowns on screen passes.
– Redskins QB Kirk Cousins led the league with 11.0 yards/attempt on screens while teammate Robert Griffin III ranked third at 8.6.
– On the other end of the spectrum is Titans quarterbacks Jake Locker and Charlie Whitehurst who averaged 3.7 and 1.7 yards/attempt respectively.
– Blake Bortles led the league with 61 completions on screens.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/04/02/qbs-and-the-screen-game-2014/

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Yikes....his 3 worst games were the ones he started....lol.

He started 4, and the whole team (excluding Kap and Frank, iirc) quit in Denver.

Yup. I see he started 4 games, his last start was decent by PFFs standards. Maybe he performs better in a ZBS. His draft profile describes him as having a good mix of power/athleticism/awareness.

I agree with your above post that we can get away with an average/above average OL with playcalling that keeps teams off balance.

The other scores aren't terrible. -1 and -2 are pretty close to average, and still pretty subjective. I disagree with the way PFF appears to emphasize run more than pass for Gs. Point is, we can survive the occasional -1 or -2 from a couple of guys. that -6ish nonsense in terrible. Lots of teams have won games with about three of their OL in the -1 and -2 area.

For sure. I've watched games where I thought a player did a great job, then looked up the PFF score and it was -1. That seems to be a decent game by their standard, and as you said, it's all pretty subjective. Most important thing is the o-line playing cohesively as a unit.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by NinerGM:
WRATH, but wouldn't you say it takes quite a bit of practice (timing) for OLs to become effective with screens? I'm a huge fan of screens but most fail because of poor execution or detected rather early and blown up by a defense. Good screen teams that I've seen have been running screens for quite a long time or scheme extremely well. What are your thoughts on teams just switching to screens being a staple part of the offense and how soon do you think this group can get their perimeter game down? (Of course I'm a fan of bubble screens and crack screens).

This data table was interesting also....

With that in mind, here's a look at how quarterbacks used the screen game in 2014.

All Screens



– Matt Ryan benefitted from a healthy Julio Jones who picked up the third-most yards on wide receiver screens in the league.
– Ryan tied with Alex Smith to lead the league with five touchdowns on screen passes.
– Redskins QB Kirk Cousins led the league with 11.0 yards/attempt on screens while teammate Robert Griffin III ranked third at 8.6.
– On the other end of the spectrum is Titans quarterbacks Jake Locker and Charlie Whitehurst who averaged 3.7 and 1.7 yards/attempt respectively.
– Blake Bortles led the league with 61 completions on screens.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/04/02/qbs-and-the-screen-game-2014/

We had a 100 yards in screens? I call B.S.!

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by NCommand:
We had a 100 yards in screens? I call B.S.!

IKR!!!!! I saw this too and that's why I want WRATH or johnnydel or thl or you NCommand - someone who watches tape like a coach. I DO NOT remember this but hey it could have come off of one or two plays that I can't recall.

Originally posted by NinerGM:
WRATH, but wouldn't you say it takes quite a bit of practice (timing) for OLs to become effective with screens? I'm a huge fan of screens but most fail because of poor execution or detected rather early and blown up by a defense. Good screen teams that I've seen have been running screens for quite a long time or scheme extremely well. What are your thoughts on teams just switching to screens being a staple part of the offense and how soon do you think this group can get their perimeter game down? (Of course I'm a fan of bubble screens and crack screens).

This data table was interesting also....

With that in mind, here's a look at how quarterbacks used the screen game in 2014.

All Screens



– Matt Ryan benefitted from a healthy Julio Jones who picked up the third-most yards on wide receiver screens in the league.
– Ryan tied with Alex Smith to lead the league with five touchdowns on screen passes.
– Redskins QB Kirk Cousins led the league with 11.0 yards/attempt on screens while teammate Robert Griffin III ranked third at 8.6.
– On the other end of the spectrum is Titans quarterbacks Jake Locker and Charlie Whitehurst who averaged 3.7 and 1.7 yards/attempt respectively.
– Blake Bortles led the league with 61 completions on screens.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/04/02/qbs-and-the-screen-game-2014/

Originally posted by SoCold:
36th best
lol backups know when you check down better than Kap
Funny how we always complained about Alex checking down now we have a guy that yolo going deep!

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by SoCold:
36th best
lol backups know when you check down better than Kap
Funny how we always complained about Alex checking down now we have a guy that yolo going deep!

Hahaha. Perhaps they considered when CK dropped back to the goal line, bobbled the ball against the Chargers, and he ran for 100 yards a screen. A screen to himself.

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Biggest thing that caught my eye here was the cmp % and yards-per-attempt for teams that execute the screen game well. We're talking about some seriously nice, consistent gains. Boggles the mind how we tried to be a ball-control offense without a screen game.