05-05-2016, 06:15 PM
(05-05-2016, 01:07 PM)fredtoast Wrote: You are not the jury.
On my side of the jury I have PFF, FootballOutsiders, Sports Illustrated, and even Evan Mathis himself.
So it looks like I win.
(04-30-2016, 11:49 PM)fredtoast Wrote: --PFF rankings are a joke.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/03/01/ranking-the-free-agents-offensive-interior-linemen/
Quote:4. Evan Mathis, Cincinnati Bengalshttps://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/02/22/ranking-the-2012-free-agents-guards/
Age as of 1st September 2011: 29
2010 Grade: +6.2
Key Stat: Played just 114 snaps in 2010.
Behind The Numbers: After a great start to the 2009 season, Mathis returned from a brief injury and found himself in a rotation with Nate Livings. It was a strange decision, but not as strange as Mathis being dropped to the bench for nearly 90% of the 2010 season. When he got his chance he played as well as you’d expect, allowing one pressure and generally winning his battles in the trenches. Mathis could be one of the steals of free agency.
Quote:2) Evan Mathis, Philadelphia Eagleshttps://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2010/07/02/2009-offensive-line-rankings/
Age as of 1st September, 2012: 30
2011 Grade: +34.6
Key Stat: In 22 starts, has only finished a game with a negative overall grade once.
Behind the Numbers: That negatively-graded game was in Week 9 of the 2009 season, a game he left after 15 snaps in Baltimore due to an ankle injury. Whenever Mathis has been allowed to start, he has always impressed. Stuck in a baffling rotation with Nate Livings in Cincinnati, his quality was hidden somewhat, but when given a chance by Howard Mudd and the Eagles this season he ran with it. He and Jason Peters formed the best left side in football in 2011. This was Mathis’ first season approaching sixteen starts, he fell one short, so the market may still be limited for him in terms of a body of work supporting a big contract. That said, he has proven in two stops now to be one of the better guards in the league and for a team not looking to break the bank for a quality guard, Mathis should be top of their list.
Quote:No. 7 — Cincinnati Bengals (Run No. 8, Pass No. 6, Penalties No. 29) This is a huge positive move for the Bengals, but you can’t help thinking that but for some strange coaching decisions it could have been even better. With Evan Mathis installed as the full-time starting LG the Bengals won six of seven games and he played as well as anyone. But when he returned from mid-season injury the coaches saw fit to rotate him with the vastly inferior Nate Livings. In addition, as the season wore on, the permutations and frequency of use of unbalanced lines became less a sign of clear strategy and more an indication of desperationhttps://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2010/03/02/pass-blocking-productivity-part-2/
Quote:One of the most surprising things is how the Bengals rotated their left guard position when both were fully fit. Evan Mathis is the better run blocker and is leagues ahead of Nate Livings when it comes to pass protection. Mathis ranked in the top 10 and Livings finished just outside the bottom 10. Mathis played more than 100 additional snaps but gave up no sacks throughout the season, compared to the three Livings allowed. This makes you wonder why the Bengals featured Livings more when both were fit; it’s something to watch heading into free agency and the offseason.https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/02/23/ranking-the-2011-offensive-lines-part-2/
Quote:13. Cincinnati Bengals (5th)http://www.cincyjungle.com/2011/1/6/1920278/offensive-rushing-problems-in-2010-look-no-further-than-everyone
Run Rank 18th, Pass Rank 6th, Penalties Rank 30th
The Bengals had some problems at right guard without Bobbie Williams on the field. Clint Boling struggled in the first four games and Mike McGlynn wasn’t overly impressive when he came in at the end of the season. What happens at the guard spots will be something to watch going forward, as the line as a whole did an excellent job in putting Andy Dalton in a position to succeed.
Best Player: It remains Andrew Whitworth (+11.0) who had some problems with his run blocking brought on by a mid-season knee injury, but was one of the finest pass protectors in all the league.
Worst Player: Left Guard Nate Livings (-10.4) had some fine moments (especially his shut down of Antonio Smith in Week 14), but was all too often capable of being beaten like a drum. Ahtyba Rubins’ handling of him in Week 12 is a solid example of this.
Quote:PFF rates Whitworth, Kyle Cook, Evan Mathis and Williams as good run blockers while Jermaine Gresham (the team's worst rated run blocker), Andre Smith, Anthony Collins, Dennis Roland and Nate Livings were rated with negative scores. And yes, it's still confusing why Mathis only received 114 offensive snaps compared to Livings, who participated on 1,014 snaps.https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/03/30/nate-livings-consistency-concern/
Quote:Livings hasn’t received a positive grade from PFF for a complete season in any of the past four years we’ve been grading.Let me guess, theses rankings are a joke, but PFF is inexplicably on your side?
http://articles.philly.com/2014-01-05/sports/45862115_1_howard-mudd-jason-peters-demetress-bell
This is what Mathis himself said . . .
Quote:"I'll always give him tons of credit for teaching me so much new information at that point in my career," Mathis said of Mudd.Here is what Alexander said on rotating Mathis and Livings . . .
Quote:“I had never done that before. I’m opposed to it. I don’t think it’s the right way to go. I think you settle on a guy and go,” Alexander said of the platoon. “But it was a situation where it was better. It was a unique situation. And we’ll look at that and decide if it’s going to be one of those guys, or both, or what.”http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/O-Line-embraces-move-back-to-09-style/93751472-cc70-4996-bffb-d4a0ad8ecfe5
Quote:Alexander thinks the change back in style is going to help the big, physical Livings ("He's improved and can still improve"), but he'd like free agent Evan Mathis, Livings's backup, to return. Alexander realizes Mathis wants to start some place, but for the moment he's keeping Livings as his incumbent.
The Bengals changed schemes between 2009, 2010, and 2011, but Alexander clearly favored fat ass Livings over the athletic Mathis because he prefers fat ass Olinemen like Max Jean-Gilles who was signed to replace Mathis, but his fat ass was released before the start of the season.
