Zone blocking scheme outdated?

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by Arky

Can't you get a quicker/athletic guy in the medium or even large variety?

Eric Winston's take on the Jets game.

That's what I look for every draft. I was somewhat surprised that Caldwell fit into our "quicker/athletic" guy. You can probably do a search and see what kind of OL I'd be looking for from a Combine Stats kind of thing. Of course they still have to be able to block, or you end up with Gallery.

Can't say that I'm happy with Myers, but I'm even more dissappointed that Brisel is a starter. If Caldwell can't beat that guy out for the RG position, we may have wasted a pick.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by Roy P

....If Caldwell can't beat that guy out for the RG position, we may have wasted a pick.

I think he's in the grooming process right now..... Roster actually has him listed as a "C" (center). Also, sounded like Studdard won a lot of brownie points during camp and pre-season....

[Fonz the Boss]

In short, the ZBS didnt work this week because the Jets defense had bigger, faster, and stronger guys than our offensive personnel.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by Roy P

That's what I look for every draft. I was somewhat surprised that Caldwell fit into our "quicker/athletic" guy. You can probably do a search and see what kind of OL I'd be looking for from a Combine Stats kind of thing. Of course they still have to be able to block, or you end up with Gallery.

Can't say that I'm happy with Myers, but I'm even more dissappointed that Brisel is a starter. If Caldwell can't beat that guy out for the RG position, we may have wasted a pick.

I agree with you about Caldwell. When I watched him he seemed top heavy when out in space. I really didnt think he fit this scheme.

[TexanJedi]

Originally Posted by mussop

I agree with you about Caldwell. When I watched him he seemed top heavy when out in space. I really didnt think he fit this scheme.

Bama runs a zone scheme. Maybe he's not a prototypical Denver-style lineman, but he comes from a ZBS background, ironically run by Joe Pendry (under Saban). The Texans have a bad habit of not always playing the best player so I can't hold that against him.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by TexanJedi

Bama runs a zone scheme. Maybe he's not a prototypical Denver-style lineman, but he comes from a ZBS background, ironically run by Joe Pendry (under Saban). The Texans have a bad habit of not always playing the best player so I can't hold that against him.

when has this happened? we've never had good enough depth for good players to not play.

[TexanJedi]

Originally Posted by barrett

when has this happened? we've never had good enough depth for good players to not play.

Sage Rosenfels not playing (over Carr), Green over Slaton for a while, Anyone over Myers, DelJuan Robinson last year, Weaver over Bulman, getting rid of a perfectly good Sam LB in Danny Clark.

I'm not saying that these guys playing would have equaled playoffs (our coaching staff seems slow to make adjustments when something does not work and that kills this team), but clearly guys like Weaver, Myers, and Green were playing because of the money they were signed for. I mean how can Caldwell or White be worse than Myers?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by TexanJedi

Sage Rosenfels not playing (over Carr), Green over Slaton for a while, Anyone over Myers, DelJuan Robinson last year, Weaver over Bulman, getting rid of a perfectly good Sam LB in Danny Clark.

I'm not saying that these guys playing would have equaled playoffs (our coaching staff seems slow to make adjustments when something does not work and that kills this team), but clearly guys like Weaver, Myers, and Green were playing because of the money they were signed for. I mean how can Caldwell or White be worse than Myers?

Those are terrible examples. Green started 1 game when Slaton was a 3rd round rookie who had never played a down of NFL football.

Robinson and Buhlman were questionable upgrades last year but still got more of a chance from this staff than anyone else in the NFL ever gave them.

And you say anyone over myers, but do you realize that we started Mike Briesel last year for 16 games? That should tell you what our interior OL depth looked like last year. And Myers salary is not high, but if Myers was playing because of salary then why was Studdard also ahead of White and Caldwell at G. Or Brisiel for that matter. It's because those guys are currently not very good.

We have some personnell issues, but they're about not having good enough players. It has nothing to do with not playing our best guys.

[HPF Bob]

Those with long memories may recall how the Ravens used to routinely brutalized the Broncos whenever the two teams met. Considering Kubiak is essentially running the Broncos playbook and Ryan is running the Ravens', the result in hindsight might have been more predictable.

I wouldn't pronounce the ZBS dead. Very ordinary RBs still have very good days using it. However, the ZBS was dealt a big blow when the cut block was outlawed. Cutting defenders neutralized some of the height/weight differential that made lighter ZBS lines effective against the big bullies of the league. With that gone, lines have to rely on quickness and positioning instead of opening holes by getting defenders down on the ground or getting them more concerned about their knees instead of the ball carrier.