04-17-2021, 07:14 PM
I stole this title from elsewhere. Lazy Saturday watching the NFL network while dealing with health issues.
Quinton Spain was a nice emergency signing last year that stabilized a terrible situation on the Bengals o-line. He didn’t play particularly well mind you and it represents back-to-back years of declining play for him. This from someone who has started 74 starts in 79 games. What gives?
I went back a few years to see what has precipitated his apparent decline. #1, Guards generally age poorly compared to centers and tackles. That is widely known. Part of it is on them. A lot of guards, generally stated, don’t take as good of care of their bodies. He carries too much weight and that has directly affected his declining movement skills. They naturally decline with age anyways (part of it is the smash-mouth nature of guard play) and unfortunately it is only exasperated by a less than ideal fitness level.
#2, he has adjusted poorly from a change from gap-power from his early career to an inside zone scheme brought in by the Bills in 2019. Bengals fans should be painfully aware of that problem as Turner failed in that regards with many of young o-lineman on this team for each of his two years. I personally don’t get it, inside zone should be eas not harder but there you have it. Spain’s passing sets have been basically the most consistent part of his game. If he does end up the starter, this is why.
Which brings me to a prediction. I think XSF may very well the starter at LG rather than the more experienced Spain. He has more lateral mobility and is just more of a finesse guy which is more in line with Pollack’s wide zone. I think he would match up well with Jonah and Trey.
Now a couple of notes of a few things I have read over the last week.
1. The wide zone and the outside zone are not the same thing. WZ is a one-cut (and ONLY one- cut) offense that demands a good read from the running back as the lineman move laterally down the line. Mixon is a plus wide zone back. The OZ isn’t really a scheme so much it is a play call. It’s fell out of favor because the line judge and the down judge propensity to call holding on TE’s and tackles. Something that is in favor is the pin-and-pull play (which Oregon runs a lot of) which uses edge blockers angle blocking down and pulling lineman running to the edge. Kind of like a screen play with a hand-off and a QB bootleg- RPO on the backside.
2. I casually watched a couple of Vikings games today - came away very impressed with Reilly Reiff.
3. Bobby Hart is the 3rd highest lineman on the Bills roster via PFF (or so I’ve read)
4. Fred Johnson’s “natural” position isn’t really tackle. He played far more guard in college and generally was viewed as not having the footwork to play tackle in the NFL by most pundits. His awful play last year is because he is strictly a development player. A likely cut this year IMO.
5. Lots of this boards OL picks and mocks don’t take scheme fit into consideration at all. I realize a ton of draft guides don’t either but it naturally leads to negative feelings down the road when someone achieves better success when the player wouldn’t add anything to what this team is trying to do. Kind of like development picks too. The Bengals should align with JB’s timeline.
6. I expect a day 1 starter either in the 1st round or 2nd. I’m fine with that but on am on a Team Sewell FWIW. A day 3 depth piece. UDFA which could very well lead to an excellent player. And don’t forget veterans released post-draft or in training camp. Lots and lots of opportunities to upgrade this line.
Quinton Spain was a nice emergency signing last year that stabilized a terrible situation on the Bengals o-line. He didn’t play particularly well mind you and it represents back-to-back years of declining play for him. This from someone who has started 74 starts in 79 games. What gives?
I went back a few years to see what has precipitated his apparent decline. #1, Guards generally age poorly compared to centers and tackles. That is widely known. Part of it is on them. A lot of guards, generally stated, don’t take as good of care of their bodies. He carries too much weight and that has directly affected his declining movement skills. They naturally decline with age anyways (part of it is the smash-mouth nature of guard play) and unfortunately it is only exasperated by a less than ideal fitness level.
#2, he has adjusted poorly from a change from gap-power from his early career to an inside zone scheme brought in by the Bills in 2019. Bengals fans should be painfully aware of that problem as Turner failed in that regards with many of young o-lineman on this team for each of his two years. I personally don’t get it, inside zone should be eas not harder but there you have it. Spain’s passing sets have been basically the most consistent part of his game. If he does end up the starter, this is why.
Which brings me to a prediction. I think XSF may very well the starter at LG rather than the more experienced Spain. He has more lateral mobility and is just more of a finesse guy which is more in line with Pollack’s wide zone. I think he would match up well with Jonah and Trey.
Now a couple of notes of a few things I have read over the last week.
1. The wide zone and the outside zone are not the same thing. WZ is a one-cut (and ONLY one- cut) offense that demands a good read from the running back as the lineman move laterally down the line. Mixon is a plus wide zone back. The OZ isn’t really a scheme so much it is a play call. It’s fell out of favor because the line judge and the down judge propensity to call holding on TE’s and tackles. Something that is in favor is the pin-and-pull play (which Oregon runs a lot of) which uses edge blockers angle blocking down and pulling lineman running to the edge. Kind of like a screen play with a hand-off and a QB bootleg- RPO on the backside.
2. I casually watched a couple of Vikings games today - came away very impressed with Reilly Reiff.
3. Bobby Hart is the 3rd highest lineman on the Bills roster via PFF (or so I’ve read)
4. Fred Johnson’s “natural” position isn’t really tackle. He played far more guard in college and generally was viewed as not having the footwork to play tackle in the NFL by most pundits. His awful play last year is because he is strictly a development player. A likely cut this year IMO.
5. Lots of this boards OL picks and mocks don’t take scheme fit into consideration at all. I realize a ton of draft guides don’t either but it naturally leads to negative feelings down the road when someone achieves better success when the player wouldn’t add anything to what this team is trying to do. Kind of like development picks too. The Bengals should align with JB’s timeline.
6. I expect a day 1 starter either in the 1st round or 2nd. I’m fine with that but on am on a Team Sewell FWIW. A day 3 depth piece. UDFA which could very well lead to an excellent player. And don’t forget veterans released post-draft or in training camp. Lots and lots of opportunities to upgrade this line.
