Andre Smith: Huge Improvement at Left Tackle

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-02-2019, 12:29 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: We know how it all started.  Remember?  Andre Smith at the combine with his massive man-boobs flapping, right?  He had some good years with the Bengals at right tackle as well as some underachieving seasons.  Andre spent time in Minnesota and Arizona and now he’s back in Cincinnati — at left tackle.

At left tackle Andre is a different player.  While he has always been terrific as a run blocker at either position, his pass protection is noticeably better at left tackle.  This makes sense because Andre played left tackle with the Crimson Tide and his platform and footwork reflect this.  At right tackle his pass protection techniques looked robotic to me but at left tackle his natural instinct comes through.

The Cincinnati offensive line isn’t going to be stellar in 2019 but in pass protection I see a huge improvement already.  Jim Turner has a very effective pass blocking technique which forms a pocket, moves the pocket, and sometimes expands the pocket.  The run blocking will improve as the season progresses and Andre Smith will be a big part of it.

One of my fav Andre Smith moments was a game against Philly, I believe, where he and a defensive lineman locked horns and their facemasks got locked together.  The guy on Philly pulled his head out of his helmet first and Andre stood there a moment with what looked like a conjoined twin sticking out of his helmet.

I have to give the Bengals credit on several things before the season even started:  They were proactive getting a lot of competition for Boling's spot:  Bringing in Jerry and drafting Jordan to compete with Westerman ended up with a very solid young guy that could be our LG for years to come.  And he will be on the cheap for some time.  Let's not forget the importance of that as they try to sign Green, Dalton, and Mixon.

They also brought in BW Webb for the slot CB position as Dennard was a question mark health-wise.  Turns out he was absolutely needed.

They also went out and signed several UDFA WRs to compete for the back of the roster spots and have a good competition that was ultimately won by Damian Willis.  Not saying the guy is AJ Green, but he is certainly better than what we had before backing up the spot.  

And although it really had a sad ending, the drafting of two RBs in Rd 6 was very smart.  If Anderson had stayed healthy, he looked like a steal (and maybe will be someday) but the depth here with Williams was smart as if they had only taken one and that player went down...

Lastly, the drafting of Sample.  He was thrown the ball just enough in the PS that opposing teams need to respect him as a threat, but he appears to be an excellent choice to stay in and help against some of the tougher DEs (Clowney?) and he can still slide out and be a checkdown for Dalton.  

The team seemed to be much better prepared heading in to the season with the lingering issues that could have been major problems if they didn't address them proactively.