Posts tagged Mirror Images RSP

Mirror Images: Vernon Davis and Patrick Willis

June 29, 2013 0 Comments read Players, Tight End

Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis mirror images? Easily. Photo by Jason Ku.

I can’t think of an easier Mirror Images tandem than teammates. Cian Fahey profiled Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu. I’m following suit with a pair of 49ers with freakish athleticism and great versatility.

It’s only natural to me that two of the best all-around athletes with great scheme versatility – Vernon Davis and Patrick Willis – are mirror images. The fact that they have sometimes been limited by system changes and happen to be teammates only reinforces my point.

If I were feeling particularly wild I could throw Navarro Bowman into the equation and create a three-way, fun house mirror. But I don’t want to disorient anyone.

Let’s address one point right away: The interaction between an inside linebacker and tight end isn’t as frequent as say an outside linebacker or tight end or a safety and a tight end, but the comparison works from a pre snap perspective. The offense is accounting for the middle linebacker and the defense is accounting for the tight end. So these two positions might not face each other, but they are the positions their teammates have to account for every down.

When a team has a tight end or inside linebacker with the versatility to excel in every facet of the game, it places tremendous pressure on their opponents during the pre snap phase of a play. Because both players present mismatches, it’s not just a matter of getting into the best possible alignment to neutralize them. Individual players still have to execute against them and as we know, it’s easier said than done to win snap-to-snap battles with Davis or Willis.

I’ve said this before, but I think Vernon Davis is the best tight end in football. Rob Gronkowski is the more popular choice and as an athlete at the tight end position he’s in the conversation with the Davis. However, I think the Patriots have been the best in the NFL at showcasing the tight end position as a primary statistical weapon. It may not be a popular opinion, but I think Davis or Jason Witten could have thrived as much as Gronkowski if Bill Belichick and company somehow acquired either one.

Davis makes these two teammates look good a lot more than you think. Photo by Football Schedule.

Davis has 4.3-speed, receiver’s hands, and the body control of a vertical threat and can get open as an in-line tight end, H-back, slot man, or split wide from the formation. He also possesses the acceleration, strength, and agility to make life miserable for the back-seven of a defense as a ball carrier. You may not see Davis hurdling opponents in the open field, but that’s because he’s quick and agile enough to defeat defensive angles without resorting to these tactics.

Willis mirrors Davis’ athletic prowess on defense because of his terrific sideline-to-sideline range. He can stop plays up the middle or on the perimeter. Just like Davis, Willis has the explosive strength and quickness to disengage from opponents early and find the open area to make the play. Willis is also just as adept as a 3-4 inside linebacker as he is a 4-3 middle linebacker. Although he hasn’t had to do so, I think Willis could be a fine outside linebacker if called upon.

The reason is that the 49ers linebacker also has the athleticism, field awareness, and skill to blitz the quarterback. Willis has shown in the past that he’s a most disruptive presence when the team has opted to employ interior perimeter pressure with an inside linebacker. We don’t see this often from Willis, because his skills in coverage are in greater demand for the schemes used in San Francisco.

At times during his career in San Francisco, Davis also been limited by scheme. Mike Martz did not employ an offense that minimized the receiving skills of the tight position and it meant the team’s best weapon – apologies to Isaac Bruce during that time – was used in pass protection. Davis is a fine run and pass blocker, but you don’t ask a thoroughbred to be a plow horse if you have a stable of capable plow horses that can’t run.

Even if Davis and Willis aren’t always posting the box score stats that match their potential, both players are integral parts of the 49ers’ success because their presence makes life easier on teammates to excel. When called upon, they can also dominate an opponent with game-changing plays.

Whereas Roethilsberger and Polamalu are the ultimate improvisers that require schemes to bend to their will in order to maximize their prowess, Davis and Willis have become great team players who fit anywhere and everywhere. The scary thing is that I still don’t think the 49ers have exploited their full potential.

Vonta Leach and Red Bryant: My Amish Electricians

June 27, 2013 0 Comments read Players

Bryant brings a lot of horsepower to his unsung role. Photo by JC Winkler.

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

Editor’s Note: A game I’ve been playing in my head in recent months is to take an offensive player and find his mirror image on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. For example, Joey Galloway and Darrell Green were stylistically mirror images of each other. Both had amazing speed that sometimes overshadowed their underrated displays of craft at their respective positions over the course of lengthy and productive careers. Now I’m putting it on the blog and having some of my friends play.

It’s no secret that everyone loves superstars. Even as kids we’re brought up to worship the superstars on our father’s favorite team. Instead of getting jerseys with the name of the long-snapper or the punter, we get the quarterback or running back’s jersey. Our eyes naturally follow the football, so it makes sense that we would naturally follow the guys who are carrying it.

More than maybe any other sport, football emphasizes the importance of those without the ball. Everyone has some level of association with the ball or puck in soccer, baseball, hockey and basketball, but in football there is a different breed of talent on the field from week-to-week. In football, some of the most important players on each snap are players who don’t touch the ball. There are even some who will never touch it even once during careers that span more than a decade, yet those same players can make it to the hall-of-fame.

Often, it’s those guys who are actually more interesting than the superstars. Although, that may be just because there is a certain niche to appreciating what a guy like Vonta Leach or Red Bryant does from play to play.

Leach you will likely know. He was recently released by the Baltimore Ravens after a few seasons of excellent lead blocking for Ray Rice. Leach is by far the best run-blocking fullback in the NFL and his consistency playing to an elite level is simply outstanding.

Yet, he was just released? Released by one of the most well-respected general managers in the NFL? That doesn’t really make sense on the onset. Leach is the Aaron Rodgers of fullbacks, him being released is the fullback equivalent of the Green Bay Packers releasing their star quarterback?

This is the negative side of being a superstar. The shadow it casts over the reputations of those who don’t get the same headlines. Being a superstar isn’t really about being a good player, it’s more about your reputation. That’s not to say that Aaron Rodgers isn’t both elite and a superstar, but rather to point out that Vonta Leach can still be elite and not a superstar.

Imagine Leach as the Madden Cover model. If you truly can he's a superstar. If you can't but know he's excellent then he's just an elite player. Photo by Jeffery Beall. — Imagine Leach as the Madden Cover model. If you truly can he’s a superstar. If you can’t but know he’s excellent then he’s just an elite player. Photo by Jeffery Beall.

Leach was released, primarily for financial reasons and because they like one of their younger players who is also cheaper. However, Leach being released is more about the positional value of the role he plays. He and Red Bryant aren’t superstars because of the era they play football in. Both are elite pieces either for or against the running game. As I’ve already said Leach is the best run-blocker in the NFL, he punishes tacklers and keeps them away from the back he is chauffeuring, but Bryant is there to counter that by swallowing up offensive linemen.

Bryant is the rare run-stuffing 4-3 defensive end specialist who is still a starter. Unlike a Demarcus Ware or Von Miller, Bryant doesn’t get sacks, he has two in his whole career, he doesn’t fit the mold of your expectations for an orthodox edge-defender in today’s game(a Jason Pierre-Paul or Aldon Smith type). Instead, Bryant is a former defensive tackle who didn’t look to lose weight when he moved from the interior of the offensive line to the edge.

You see, Bryant and Demarcus Ware actually have a lot more in common than one would think. They are polar opposites, but both are specialists in their crafts. While Ware is racking up sacks, Bryant is shutting down rushing attempts to his side of the field on almost every single snap. Both beat double teams, but for different reasons and both are elite players, even though only one is a superstar.

Leach and Bryant are decidedly unsexy. At least, according to the accepted definition of sexy they are. Yet, there is nothing sexier than winning and both players contribute massively to their team’s success with their outstanding levels of play. Not to mention, both players have that intimidating level of toughness that helps them create an aura of leadership on the field.

Because this is an era of football when passing records are falling faster than the quarterbacks of the 2012 rookie class, Vonta Leach can be cut by a Super Bowl winning team and Red Bryant will never get the credit he deserves from the mainstream media despite the growing clout of his Seahawks. In a way, both must feel like Amish electricians, they can be as talented as they like, but job security and mass appreciation is always going to be a pipe-dream.

You won’t see many fans in Red Bryant or Vonta Leach jerseys off the field, but you won’t see many players who play in their style or to their level of class on the field either.

Mirror Images: Darren Sproles/Charles Woodson

June 23, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

Charles Woodson still has it. Perhaps not for very long, but long enough to help my team as a veteran presence and versatile option. Photo by Elvis Kennedy.

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

Here’s an idea. Take 11 offensive players and 11 defensive players. Whoever you want, there are no limitations to who you want to choose. Set up in whatever formations you want, run whatever plays you want, but every single play must work to the strength of every single player you have on the field. You can’t run a screen with Calvin Johnson and you can’t drop Demarcus Ware into coverage. Easy, right?

Okay, now do the same, but you have to include Darren Sproles and Charles Woodson on the field. Where do you put them? What do you ask them to do?

You can probably rule out running the ball with Sproles, but you still have to figure out where he should line up and what route he should run. Is he best as a slot receiver? Releasing from the backfield? In a receiving position behind an offensive tackle? Behind a receiver in a bunch?

Once he’s lined up, should we run a screen for him? Use that screen as a decoy? Give him an option route in space? A quick pass in the flat so he can turn the corner in space?

What about Woodson? Let’s put him outside on a top receiver, or maybe move him into the slot to cover a quicker possession receiver? If he is in a safety position he can come up in run support or read the quarterback’s intentions though? Should we blitz him off the edge? Spy the quarterback? Put him in a zone or ask him to trail someone in man coverage?

It’s next to impossible to figure out how to best use Charles Woodson and Darren Sproles. Yet, no matter where you put them and what you ask them to do, you’re more than likely going to get something spectacular after a handful of snaps.

Woodson and Sproles have always shared a skill-set in my eyes. They don’t look anything like each other from a physical point of view. Woodson is 6’1″ and has somewhat of a lanky frame with long arms and a stretched core. Sproles on the other hand is a very compact 5’6″ without any real wingspan to speak of. What links the duo is their versatility and ability to create from anywhere on the field in any situation.

Sproles is considered as a receiving back rather than a running-back, and his usage over the years supports this suggestion, but the Saints have had great success with him running the ball since he came over from the San Diego Chargers in 2011. Sproles averaged 6.9 yards per rushing attempt during his first season and 5.1 yards per carry during his second, most recent season in New Orleans.

He’s not Adrian Peterson, but he’s also not LaRod Stephens-Howling. Sproles might not run over people often, but he uses his considerable bulk combined with his low-center of gravity to break tackles and gain forward momentum in space and at times between the tackles.

Having the ability to run between the tackles, run outside, catch passes out of the backfield, and run screens is like being a cornerback who can line up on either side of the field, in the slot, as a seventh piece of the front seven, while being able to blitz, play the run, drop into zone coverage, spy the quarterback, and play man coverage. In other words, it’s like being Charles Woodson.

Woodson has never been Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman in their prime (that’s presuming each is at their peak now, which may be foolish to presume). He won’t lock down one receiver and allow the defense to forget about that side of the field for the day, but he will scare the life out of any quarterback that has to throw at him. Much like Sproles, it’s not the quantity of positive plays that Woodson accumulates, it’s the quality of the few that he makes that are the difference.

Every single time the Saints draw up a play for Sproles, it has the potential to go the distance to the end zone. Every time the offense falls into the trap of throwing towards Woodson, they risk seeing a defender take it the distance.

Woodson and Sproles are the NFL's version of Vinnie 'the Microwave' Johnson. Photo by Elvis Kennedy. — Woodson and Sproles are the NFL’s version of Vinnie ‘the Microwave’ Johnson. Photo by Elvis Kennedy.

Woodson has 11 career touchdowns, 55 interceptions, and 24 forced fumbles. He is a black hole on the field who is returning to the original black hole in Oakland. Big plays find their way to Woodson, just like they do to Sproles.

Of course, the players I’ve described above are not the same versions of Sproles and Woodson we’ll see moving forward. Both players are past their prime. As a running-back, even considering his limited usage, the 30-year-old Sproles will be entering the twilight of his career.

Woodson has already extended his career past the point where most consider him an impact player. The soon-to-be 37-year-old returns to the Oakland Raiders and hope to provide enough big plays to make a difference. Although both players are in decline and those plays are fewer and further between, they still strike fear into their opponents.

Mirror Images: Ben Roethlisberger-Troy Polamalu

June 18, 2013 0 Comments read Matt Waldman

All Pittsburgh, all the time for the former Browns scout Matt Williamson. Photo by Alex Abboud. — Big risks yield big plays – and big mistakes. Photo by Alex Abboud.

By Cian Fahey, Pre Snap Reads

Probably the saddest and most disturbing story of this off-season has been that of young Titus Young. I shouldn’t really call the wide receiver “young”, because he’s actually older than I am. But I feel there is a certain level of empathy that everyone can feel with the troubled star and his issues aren’t a reflection of youth, experience, or anything like that. For whatever reason, Young embarked on a misguided journey full of reckless actions this off-season, reckless actions that ultimately landed him in prison and out of the league.

For the moment at least, Young’s recklessness will force him to focus on fixing his life rather than concentrating on reclaiming his career. Plenty of players have proven that they can rebound from personal struggles to build a successful career. What Young has done isn’t impossible to recover from.

However, this story is not about Young. It’s about the character trait of recklessness.

Young was reckless with his decision-making both as a football player and a citizen. It’s the on-field perception of the term that interests me. Being reckless isn’t something that is supposed to be celebrated unless it’s the affable rogue in some adventure film. In today’s league it is typically associated with off-the-field decisions like Young’s or the much-maligned head shots defensive backs deliver in the passing game.

Still, there are reckless players who we celebrate. It’s the first quality that comes to mind with Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ teammates have many positive traits that are often celebrated first. Both have two Super Bowl rings, and nearly earned another. Both have a plethora of Pro Bowl trips under their belts and both have been considered amongst the best in the league at their positions for most of their careers.

Both are great individual players, but have special skills as improvisers that make fitting into a team’s structure a difficult balance for bringing out the best in these star players while maintaining team efficiency.

No season shows off the similarities between Roethlisberger and Polamalu more than the 2008 trip to the Super Bowl.

Bruce Arians and Dick LeBeau had built their offensive and defensive schemes around their two superstar players. Roethlisberger was given free rein while working under Arians. He wasn’t asked to win games in the same way Peyton Manning or Tom Brady were. He didn’t lead a high-powered offense based on precise timing that comes from spotting flaws in the game film and pitch-perfect technique.

Instead he was asked to produce a handful of big plays and clutch scoring drives when the team needed him most – often doing it in the moment.

Fewer timing routes. Less reliance on an internal clock set to unload the ball when the pocket got hot. Roethlisberger was not only allowed to extend plays and endure the punishment of the opposing defense, he was encouraged to play “backyard football”. Arians called plays, but some of the team’s most important plays throughout the season were whatever Roethlisberger and his receivers were going to create on the fly. He broke all the rules of pocket-passing and disregarded any consideration for his health behind an already questionable offensive line.

On the other side of the ball, Lebeau’s defense didn’t just allow Polamalu to freelance. He made the safety’s improvisational skill a crucial part of their overall setup. From snap-to-snap, Polamalu would either be jumping over the line of scrimmage to sack the quarterback, intercepting a pass in a position where he never should have been in the first place, or making a massive hit in the open field to prevent a big play.

Just like Roethlisberger’s (in)famous touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes Baltimore, Polamalu’s signature play came against the Ravens when he intercepted Joe Flacco for a game-sealing touchdown, sending the Steelers to the Super Bowl.

Even though Roethlisberger threw 15 interceptions to 17 touchdowns, the 2008 season was a success because the team embraced the a risk-reward philosophy that embraced the idea that they could make big mistakes if they were consistently aggressive. This approach lowers overall consistency, but demonstrated that a team could ride the ebbs and flows to a championship.

When Roethlisberger extends plays he exposes himself to more hits, stresses his offensive line. and tires out his receivers. He also increases the potential for turnovers. When Polamalu freelances, he stresses Ryan Clark’s ability to cover for him. His aggressive approach to tackling also yields some big misses. Since the 2008 season, Polamalu has missed close to 40 tackles despite missing the bulk of two seasons.

Roethlisberger and Polamalu are players who live on their physical prowess, natural football ability, and most importantly, game-changing plays. Without those game-changing plays, they quickly lose their luster and both players have shortened their careers with their approach to the game. Roethlisberger is just 31, but has taken the punishment of a player who is 35-36. Polamalu has missed 22 regular season starts in the past four years.

Both will go down as great players for a franchise that has more great players in its history than an egg-timer has grains of sand. Both will have strong cases for the NFL Hall of Fame even if neither actually makes it. And both have signature moments that will forever be chronicled and replayed as the years go by.

Roethlisberger and Polamalu epitomize the positive side of reckless.