OL hits and sacks - Joe Goodberry

[Murdock2420]

(04-13-2021, 05:01 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Agreed, and this is where improved coaching comes into play.  Last year's OL seriously lacked recognition and communication of what was about to happen.  They in no way looked like any sort of synchronized unit, but rather like 5 random musicians each playing from a different sheet of music.  That falls onto coaching for not having those guys prepared to recognize, call out, and make proper pickups.

Coaching will help, so will continuity on the line but it also helps if you just have some raw talent out there. Guys that can make a mistake and then have the athletic ability to recover from that mistake. I think that last part is what separates the elite 1st round OL guys from the good players in round 2. The good players will make mistakes, have bad reps and get beat and once they are beat... that's it, QB is killed. The elite high end guys, make a mistake but have the ability to recover from that mistake and still provide good protection. 

I remember hearing the same debate about top tier CBs. The difference between the best and the rest was simply the ability to recover from a mistake. WR beats them and they have the ability to recover, make up ground and still provide good coverage.