Did the OL Improve?

If you go off of Penny's success alone these past 4 weeks it's hard to argue the premise that the OL has improved. But I am not an X's and O's guy. Can one of you with a higher football IQ than myself pontificate on the OL and if there was genuine improvement and how good (or not) you feel about this OL moving forward?

Ray Roberts had a few things to say prior to the Arizona game >>> [urltargetblank]https://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=178103#p2601581[/urltargetblank]

Aros":37qetuml said:

If you go off of Penny's success alone these past 4 weeks it's hard to argue the premise that the OL has improved. But I am not an X's and O's guy. Can one of you with a higher football IQ than myself pontificate on the OL and if there was genuine improvement and how good (or not) you feel about this OL moving forward?

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At least from my observation the last 4-5 games this O line has played much better. People like to complain about Pocic I think he is working out just fine...

LTH

When you look a the run game production and the fact there were only 4 sacks in the last 3 games you could say they improved.

Any RB consistently around 130+ yards a game has got some good work happening in front of him.

The huge change I noticed was the reduction of drive killing penalties compared to past years. For 2021, the Seahawks offensive line ranked 4th fewest holding penalties and 5th fewest false starts. That's a huge improvement over past years.

Ethan Pocic didn't get going until he replaced Kyle Fuller at center. Pocic played better the more snaps he got. He played with 5 different guards on either side with one maybe two of those guards playing both sides. By my count, Ethan had only one penalty for the year. Ethan settled down the interior and perform with better confidence and provided leadership as the season progressed. I say resign him.

Gabe Jackson brought veteran leadership to the right side. He played well and played hurt IMO. He is under contract for 2022. Damien Lewis, Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe are the only other linemen under contract for 2022.

If the front office can get Penny under contract early on, the thought of Rashaad lining up 8 to 9 yards deep to take a hand off from a quarterback under center will be one heck of a recruiting tool for Solari to work with. That's assuming they have Mike Solari under contract for 2022. In my opinion, Solari is the proven key. With Solari, the offensive line can over come adversity and perform better as a season wears on.

Four guys under contract with a need for 11 to 13 additions for training camp. Every year is a reset.

Last year (2020 season) the o-line ranked 16th. If its higher than 16th, then yes.

But from my observation watching games this year, I think the o-line regressed. That's just me.

But I guess we'll just have to find out and see what the final ranking says.

Depends.

In time to pressure they were one of the worst, if not the worst in the league last year.

They looked worse this year but if they were literally the worst, it would be hard not to improve at some point...right?

They looked slightly less garbage the last 3 games. And actually decent run blocking the last 2.

Is that 'improvement'? Or just playing weaker defenses?

Jville":zo431744 said:

The huge change I noticed was the reduction of drive killing penalties compared to past years. For 2021, the Seahawks offensive line ranked 4th fewest holding penalties and 5th fewest false starts. That's a huge improvement over past years.

Ethan Pocic didn't get going until he replaced Kyle Fuller at center. Pocic played better the more snaps he got. He played with 5 different guards on either side with one maybe two of those guards playing both sides. By my count, Ethan had only one penalty for the year. Ethan settled down the interior and perform with better confidence and provided leadership as the season progressed. I say resign him.

Gabe Jackson brought veteran leadership to the right side. He played well and played hurt IMO. He is under contract for 2022. Damien Lewis, Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe are the only other linemen under contract for 2022.

If the front office can get Penny under contract early on, the thought of Rashaad lining up 8 to 9 yards deep to take a hand off from a quarterback under center will be one heck of a recruiting tool for Solari to work with. That's assuming they have Mike Solari under contract for 2022. In my opinion, Solari is the proven key. With Solari, the offensive line can over come adversity and perform better as a season wears on.

Four guys under contract with a need for 11 to 13 additions for training camp. Every year is a reset.

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Good stuff, thanks bro.

I think it interesting that Rashaad Penny broke out in the 11th hour .... so to speak.


And then Phil Haynes did the same sort of thing with the last two games of the season. Gosh he played well. On both the left and then the right side. He is a restricted free agent they should now feel compelled to resign.

The Offensive scheme changed in that they put Russell Wilson under center more and in the pistol and ran outside zone with playaction boot more with zoom motion. They got away from this in the middle part of the year and reverted back to inside zone gun runs with no movement.

The difference in these two approaches is the D-Line is forced to go sideways to maintain gap integrity rather than straight ahead. When you have an explosive back with great vision like Penny all it takes is 1 guy not maintaining his gap and it's curtains.

This helps the offensive line tremendously. They still struggle somewhat when they get in obvious passing situations, but at least it wasn't a constant onslaught anymore like it was for most of the season and the many years prior.

As a side note: Jake Curhan was inserted into the lineup and has been an absolute roadgrader at RT. Pocic is mid, but compared to the crap sandwich that was playing in front of him it made him look like a probowler.

Also they stopped running against loaded boxes. Penny has been running against soft boxes which means the O-Line have a numbers advantage in the running game. As revealed by Sam Gold in this video ->
[youtube]C1AfB22yvj8[/youtube]

This is a good thing and what I've been calling for. Making teams pick their poison. If teams want to sit back in a two high shell then make them pay by running with a numbers advantage. And when they stack the box beat them over the top with the best deep ball passer in the game utilizing play action and boots.

Not blindly running for running sake into loaded boxes, and then chuck it deep when you get behind the sticks against a 2 high shell. The highest degree of difficulty and a dysfunctional way to play offense.

They look like the Rams which is a good thing where the run or pass in neutral situations is dictated on the box they are facing, and the motion player can help reveal what coverage the defense is playing. If they can keep Penny, and find another young back in the draft that has top end speed and vision to lighten his load this can be totally sustainable, it is no fluke.

The fact that he made the title "Is Rashaad Penny actually good" says a lot. Geezus man, they guy has been balling, and he still can't just get straight GOOD JOB from people. Yes, he's a damn good back. He didn't get injured on purpose.

So basically he is saying Penny gets more yrds over expected than most all backs per carry. Except when the line fails to block then he sucks. He cant run against 7 or 8 in the box but his video shows otherwise. And he is not as good when he runs against the Rams with DTs Gregg Gains and Aaron Donald.
Penny surpassed just about everyones expectations the last few games. The Oline is kickin tail in the run game they are doing great at the OZ this year.

Curhan is kind of a Giacomini like player. A guy that really plays with a degree of nastiness.

Could be really key for us. Getting a long term solution at the right edge is a huge bonus. That's been a problem for us really since Breno.

I am optimistic about our OL, here is why:

The emergence of Jake Curhan as our RT heir apparent was huge, our run game improved when he started. He is young, cheap, and run blocks well. If he could start in '22, that will allow us to all resources for the future LT.

Pocic has been the whipping boy for seasons, and rightfully so. Our OL did improve after he took over at center this season, he is enjoying a 68 on PFF. He may not in line for any pro-bowl appearances, could he be serviceable? And he is still young and cheap too.

Lewis flashed some but still a liability on pass blocking. Got to wonder if moving back to RG could help? He didn't make that step forward in his second year.

Haynes flashed when he played and not injured. Pretty good backup but could he stay healthy and start?

Jackson is serviceable if not a star.

So we have RT, 3 guards, and a center, other than Jackson, all young and relatively cheap. This bunch powered Penny's runs and seems OK in the last few games, they are not penalty machines either. We could be a LT or a LT and C away from pretty good.

It did after they benched Fuller it started there and then took off once Curhan started. So they have found some talent on the o-line finally. Same goes for the secondary Reed Jones and Brown are the best weve had in years. There's reason for hope next year . Have to sign DK Reed and Jones then find a LT or resign Duane. Then add a good DT and sign Chandler Jones they do that i think they could be good enough to challenge for a trip to the NFC Championship game.

Jake Curhan made a big difference, and that helps Gabe Jackson play up to his potential. Otherwise Gabe is trying to make up for poor RT play.

Remember last year when we had that piece of garbage at LG? Poor Duane Brown was trying to play 2 spots, and it made things even more difficult for a struggling Ethan Pocic.

I prefer the front offices new strategy of trading for good OLinemen, instead of trying to draft them. They did great with Damien Lewis, but that's a rarity. And I believe Pete chose Damien based on what Ed Orgeron told him.

So yes, the Offensive Line we can't improved!!! Case in point, look at how well Duane Brown played when he only had to be concerned with his responsibilities! Sure, Chandler Jones got his, but he always does. Chandler also got mostly handled, and even thrown on the ground once.

And did you see the HOLES on the right side? I think that's from having Curhan at right tackle. So let's bring this line back intact, and draft a center early.

2 Defensive Ends first, then a Center. :179417:

Center better damn well be a MASSIVE priority to this team.

I get Giddy thinking about Chris Carson and Rashad Penny in the same backfield!

I can't think of a more dangerous pairing, the only thing close being Byner and Mack of the 1980s Cleveland Browns.

Jville":26cbyyzw said:

Ray Roberts had a few things to say prior to the Arizona game >>> [urltargetblank]https://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=178103#p2601581[/urltargetblank]

Click to expand...

That was a great listen, I've always liked Ray Roberts' take on O-Line performances.
He's acuetly aware of the small things that go unnoticed by a lot of us fans. :irishdrinkers: