Hawkblogger - TOm cable may have a blind spot

Good article discussing the weakness in selecting pass protectors and how much better the running game is compared to pass blocking. Of course last year, both were horrendous, if not for #s 24 and 3 who knows how far we would have made it.

http://www.hawkblogger.com/2014/07/tom- ... -spot.html

The tendency of this front office to prioritize run blocking over pass blocking has been heavily remarked on for a couple of years now, but attributing it to Cable is sort of myopic. Carroll brought Cable in because he liked what he was doing with the offensive line in Oakland and it fit his own vision of a run first team that protects the football.

Carroll also emphasizes explosive plays (increased sack rate), we have a mobile QB who tries to extend plays with his feet rather than dumping off the ball (increased sack rate), and our 2013 schedule featured a dangerous collection of defensive lines. Wilson's TTS was still amongst the best (or worst) in the NFL depending on how you are trying to spin it.

I suspect the only thing that would change about that Hawkblogger article if we had a different O-Line coach would be the name in the headline. "Mike Devlin may have a blind spot..."

The reason if is fair to attribute it to Cable is that Pete and John have deferred to Cable on which linemen they take. Taking road graders who can pass block has been a think for him since he took Carp and Moffitt.

Scottemojo":3khi75uk said:

The reason if is fair to attribute it to Cable is that Pete and John have deferred to Cable on which linemen they take. Taking road graders who can pass block has been a think for him since he took Carp and Moffitt.

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I don't know if he has, but I would think that Cable, being the Run Block specialist he is, would hire an assistant that is near as qualified as a Pass block specialist.
He's probably too hard headed, to ever do something or even consider doing something like that.

A lot of what we hold against Cable really just boils down to injuries, a young OL group, and Wilson holding the ball longer than any other NFL QB.

I sometimes disagree with his in-house talent evaluation, but I don't blame him for targeting road graders with suspect pass-pro. There happens to be another team in our division that targets the same type of players, and they have one of the most dominating lines in the league.

-- One other thing to keep in mind, is that sometimes you have to pick your poison. To get offensive linemen who are both great pass blockers and run blockers, chances are we would have to use a bevy of high first round picks on them. Or if we developed stars at every position, we would be unable to pay them, and they would leave. I believe the reason that Cable suits what we are trying to do, is that he can take players and teach them to run block as a unit, thus masking the deficiencies they have.

-- We simply cannot afford to have the secondary we have developed, the defensive line we have bought, the depth in the backfield we have, nor the about to be paid QB we have, if we have invested a ton of money into the oline. Therefore the other option is to have a coach who can develop a unit, instead of just demand all the best players for his group.

Mase

Scottemojo":2vf23z1o said:

The reason if is fair to attribute it to Cable is that Pete and John have deferred to Cable on which linemen they take. Taking road graders who can pass block has been a think for him since he took Carp and Moffitt.

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I'm not quibbling over individual responsibility but about philosophy. Attributing our offensive line solely to Cable's personal biases misses the in-game benefits we get from it that align with Pete's system and the financial benefits we get from it that align with Schneider's vision.

Perhaps Cable bought the wrong brand of sweetener for the break room coffee but the entire front office worked together to come up with the strategy to purchase break room supplies from the guy on corner in an unmarked van.

Is it Cable's fault that his players can't stay healthy enough to build the chemistry and camederie the best O-Lines in the league have?

You can talk about how he missed on Carpenter (who had injury setbacks), Moffitt (who lacked the desire), and Seymour (who was poached off the Practice Squad).

But at the same time it was Cable who developed Okung to what many of you consider a Top 10 Pro Bowl talent LT (when healthy).

It was Cable who took Unger and transformed him into an All-Pro.

It was Cable who took McQuistan, who was out of the league, and got servicable starts out of him.

It was Cable who gave Giacomini, a legitimate opportunity to develop into a starting RT.

It was Cable, who had the balls to take a chance on Sweezy and develop him into a starter not down the road but immediately. And Sweezy as the potential to be a dominant guard someday.

It was Cable, who stuck by James Carpenter and gave him chance after chance after chance until he was able to gain some of his confidence back. Now Carpenter is healthy and ready to unleash all of the pent up potential. Like Sweezy, Carp has the tools to be a dominant OG.

It was Cable, who developed Lemuel Jeanpierre, Alvin Bailey, and Michael Bowie and these guys were able to start and play when needed. And you might overlook that but I remember how much more horrible the O-Line was between 2008-2010 when no one was prepared for injuries.

I hear a lot of people say "Cable sucks" but who could have done what he's done with the line he inhereted, it wasn't pretty but this was the O-Line that won a Superbowl for Seattle. And it has no where to go but up... and if progressions continue to trend upwards and heatlh stabilizes the O-Line has the potential to be very good.

And if it doesn't at least we know we have the talent to survive it if we must.

AgentDib":3o3fyyqr said:

Scottemojo":3o3fyyqr said:

The reason if is fair to attribute it to Cable is that Pete and John have deferred to Cable on which linemen they take. Taking road graders who can pass block has been a think for him since he took Carp and Moffitt.

Click to expand...

I'm not quibbling over individual responsibility but about philosophy. Attributing our offensive line solely to Cable's personal biases misses the in-game benefits we get from it that align with Pete's system and the financial benefits we get from it that align with Schneider's vision.

Perhaps Cable bought the wrong brand of sweetener for the break room coffee but the entire front office worked together to come up with the strategy to purchase break room supplies from the guy on corner in an unmarked van.

Click to expand...

I don't contend it's a bad thing, just being accurate. The one thing I don't like is that it seems Cable has almost all the juice on who they take.

The reality is that Seattle runs half the time and is play action passing for 40 percent of the passes. 7 out of ten snaps are going to feature the skillset of a run blocker.

Remember when Tarvaris first got here, and a pre season game featured Carpenter repeatedly whiffing on Von Miller? How weird is it that another pre season game will likely feature Tarvaris getting chased by Miller while another rookie RT whiffs on Miller? A lot of road traveled to arrive at the same place.