Good Read >>> "In the line of Fire"

This may eventually be moved to the NFL forum. But, it really is an instructive write up about what offensive linemen must put up with and overcome. Everyone benefits from articles like this >>>> [urltargetblank]http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/feature/25577288/in-the-line-of-fire[/urltargetblank]

Let's talk about Pro Football Focus since it is a group that grades players -- and you guys -- and it is featured on Sunday Night Football in large part because Cris Collinsworth is an owner. Assignment-wise, can they possibly know what your assignment is on each play?

Massie: No. They don't know the play. They don't know what each lineman has to do.

Long: If you turn on the film, you can see it's a zone concept. But there may be a Bob concept in there. There may be a wham concept in there. There may be we're booking this guy. We're not going to block him. But on film, it might look like Bobby Massie didn't even touch the guy. When in reality, Bobby went and got the linebacker and put him on the safety. And Cris Collinsworth doesn't know that.

Richburg: We were talking about when a running back gives up a sack that it's automatically our fault because nobody knows what the assignment is. If the quarterback is down, it's our fault.

Could you watch each other's tape and know what the assignments should be?

Long: Probably not because I am not in their O-line room.


Warmack: People come across as very knowledgeable about things they don't know to make their jobs more important in value. Nobody wants to ask questions anymore to try and learn from somebody who actually does the job themselves. I feel like there's a lot of arrogance in the field like they come across as they know when they've never played the position at all. If somebody asked them if they played the position at all, they would be offended by it.

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As a previous coach for a long time - this is why it is basically impossible to judge individual player performance. Without knowing what his role was in the play - how in the world can I possibly know if he did it correctly.

Even times when it looks obvious - what if he was supposed to get help from the RB or TE and it never came so now his angle is off?

It is not to say to never watch tape - but take small sample sizes with a grain of salt and trust what the coaches do as they have all the information. Essentially, if you have an opinion and it turns out right - it was probably more luck than anything.

Word of Muth, great author, is a former lineman, and very informative stories.

That probably helps explain why I so often end up with personal grades on players that are totally at odds with PFF grades. If something just goes awry on a play my first instinct is to blame the playcall or the coaches. If a player just straight up gets his ass kicked, I tend to hold that more against the player. I don't think PFF's system is really set up for this kind of nuance. It seems like the way they grade is binary. They grade as if every play on the field is determined by the players, every play has winners and losers on the field, etc.

Some people think we can't grade performance on the field at all while others judge harshly on tiny little mishaps. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think most people are capable of telling the difference between a terrible lineman and an all-pro without needing to have played OL in the NFL or know exactly what play was called. It's not like coaches or front offices have this degree of insight or information when they draft OL or sign them to mega deals in FA. They simply go by the eyeball test with imperfect information, allured not by individual plays but by traits, skills, and the track record of the player- cobbled together with a healthy dose of common sense.

Yet on the other hand, we should be careful about rushing to conclusions on individual plays, since there are times when an evident mistake wasn't the lineman's fault. Maybe that player did what he was supposed to do, but he didn't get help, or it was a flawed playcall, or the coaches didn't need him to do much on the play, etc.

Either way, I think people who try to hush other people's opinions for a lack of omniscience are really no closer to being right than the people who throw fits over a missed cut block. We are all humans and will all be wrong from time to time, but that doesn't mean the eyeball test, when applied with care, doesn't have a good deal of value.